TABLE OF CONTENTS


Welcome to Pelkey's Ponderings 

Your One-Stop Destination for

Multi-Dimensional Meanderings

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Contact: markallenpelkey@gmail.com

 

Consciousness is the facility and willingness to examine the antecedents of one's behavior and thus anticipate the consequences therefrom.

       A Moment's Muse:

Everything in the Universe - from galaxies colliding thousands of light years distant to the lowliest earthworm converting dirt into humus - is happening . . . right . . . now

 

 


 

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July4, 2024

Evidently the perception of irony has grown dormant in those who called today to buoyantly express “Happy 4th of July!!”on what must surely be the gloomiest Independence Day in  modern times.

 

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July 3, 2024

 

A Thoughtful reason to reject “intelligent design” as an explanation for the complexity of the universe, is the very word design itself which implies purposeful intent.  The universe lacks intent and has no purpose – it merely permanently exists…

 

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July 2, 2024

 

The “music of the spheres” is perceivable all the way from sub-atomic particle spin all the way up to galactic spin.

 

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July 1, 2024

 

Willful ignorance is the price one pays for the comfort of religious faith or belief in the supernatural.

 

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Vision

June 28, 2024

 

It does not require eyesight to have vision.

 

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Asshole

 

June 26, 2024

 

To paraphrase a line from the movie “Love Story”:

 

Love means never permitting yourself to act like an asshole.

 

 

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Photonic Vision or…

June 24, 2024

 

Since  eyesight/vision occurs when photons are received by the retina, how do we mentally “see” something with our eyes closed?


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2020 10 06 – Social Dynamics

To attempt to measure humanity's governing systems  against an inflexible philosophical ideal is absurd - no government can be wholly “socialistic” or “capitalistic” - elements of each of these social dynamics must be seen to be interactive with enlightened self-interest as expressed by managed free enterprise and capitalism. It is imperative however, that self-interest be seen as stemming from the good-will of others who are benefiting from one's actions rather than as the result of taking advantage of the frailties, vanities or gullibility of others.

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June 1, 2024

 

Time and Space

 

Time has no meaning in eternity and space has no boundaries in infinity. 

   These facts notwithstanding, time is the measure by which conscious entities perceive change and space is the medium upon which such change is manifested.

   No matter how chaotic, desolate or unnameable, the Universe does exist, has always existed and will always exist. 

 

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May 31, 2024

 

Consciousness is, among many other things, the delivery system for the Vibrant Force permeating the Universe. In living creatures, it is the ability to use information in the actions necessary for survival. In self-aware beings it is the facility and especially the willingness to accumulate and categorize such information so as to sculpt more purposeful and thus meaningful futures.

 

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HIATUS MECHANICAL

 

Computer glitches across state lines; Pondering; resume below

 

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SCIENCE and SPIRITUALITY

 

May 17, 2024

 

The 3-Minute Exercise

 

 

Often, we'll find ourselves or someone we know to be staring out into space, so to speak, with a blank or perhaps vacant expression in their eyes or on their countenance. When queried, as “Say, what were you thinking of just then?” the answer is invariably, “Oh, nothing.” In reality such moments are more aptly and evocatively defined as “everything”.

      Much of what we have studied during the past weeks indicates that we are psychically connected to a vast and fascinating Universe. Thus, when we are allowed by time and circumstance to engage in DAY-DREAMING OR “wool-gathering” we are actually opening our imagination to virtually limitless possibilities from our connection to that Universe.

 

 Most such opportunities occur spontaneously and at random. The meditative technique I'm going to outline is a mechanism to engage such freedom of thought at will.

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 THE 3-MINUTE EXERCISE   

 

This exercise requires one tool (apart from your mind of course) – a timepiece.  A clock or watch with a sweep second hand is preferred but any device that permits you to observe the passage of a single minute will suffice.

 

 Arrange yourself in a comfortable sitting position where you can see the clock. Then, sit motionless (breathing of course – we're not practicing fakirism here) for one minute by the clock. You'll be surprised at how challenging it can be to sit without moving or fidgeting in some fashion.

 

For that motionless minute let no thought hold your attention – no matter how compelling it might seem.  This can seem to be as challenging as remaining motionless – the tendency might be to grab a particular musing and hold it in reverie. However, within the confines of this exercise the admonition is to “let it go”.  Over the years I've known various people to use different terms – one lady I knew would think to herself “ShooShoo”; another person would intone “Begone!”. For my part I found the simple repetition of “let it go, let it go” to be sufficient to clear the brainwaves for the next thought.

 

All forms of meditation, just as does physical exercise training, depend upon repetition/conditioning and this one is no exception. Once a day is a good start though more often can't hurt.

 

Now comes the tricky part: you repeat this exercise until you don't recall the first minute, then you add another minute. When you've found yourself motionless and mentally meandering for two minutes, you add a third minute.

 

I know this exercise seems absurdly simple and it definitely lacks any of the mystique or sexiness of more popularly practiced meditation techniques. All I'll say about it is that it works. And by “works” I mean that it provides an aperture into the broader, wider relationship to “consciousness” as we have been examining.

 

 What typically happens is the three-minute exposure to silence, motionlessness and openness of thought becomes rather seductive and one tends to add a minute, then another, and another and so on till one reaches the level of comfort within oneself that is satisfactory. As an aside, if

 

God, or Buddha, or Vishnu, or even Nasrudin sneaks in while you're looking the other way, well, as the saying goes “stuff happens”...

 

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

ISNESS

 

When the myriad, yammering voices that roam one's intellect

are gently and softly stilled for the moment,

and one's ego has tiptoed off to a remote

corner of the mind for timely nap,

then can a deeper and pervasive “sound” can   be “felt”

-  informing of an encompassing Cosmic Consciousness that transcends time and space and possesses the fascinating quality of simple IS-NESS

 

 

 

 

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May 12,2024

Existential Resonance

 

The existential resonance of vitality establishes the inescapability of perception. So long as perception continues to revere and elevate love and beauty the rhythms of spiritual yearning will propel the expansion of consciousness.

 

 

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May 11, 2024

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CELESTE!!

 

Sixty-four years ago today, in the city of San Francisco, in a hospital room overlooking Golden Gate Park, my dearly beloved sister made her entrance into this fascinating though peculiar world.in all the years intervening we have maintained a relationship manifesting an extraordinary level of love and trust and this I cherish always.

 

My love and respect for you and your accomplishments is boundless. ---brother Mark

 

 

 

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May 10,2024

 

May 10, 2024 Pondering On July 5, 2002 I found this gentle admonition written by A.R. Orage:

"A person should spend half, or at least a third, of their life in pondering."

 

 

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May 9, 2024

  

Four Phases

Science indicates the life (as we know it) comes into being in the following four phases: sub-atomic particles, atoms, molecules, form.

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May 8, 2024

 

Evolution x 2

 

Pondering: the distinction between somatic evolution and psychological evolution.


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May 7, 2024

 Moss

A rolling stone gathers no moss – and therefore no nutrients.

 

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May 6, 2024

Lying

 

A sad by-product of being a successful liar is that the liar eventually loses respect for those that they are deceiving.

 

 

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May 5, 2024

 Frogs and Demagogues


Frogs don’t eat glass insects; if they were to emulate this example citizens would not follow demagogues.

 

 

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May 4, 2024

Universal Solvent

 

In his ongoing quest for more stuff to learn Tom Doubter visited a major university where he was granted a tour. While in the chemistry lab he asked one of its white-coated experimenters what he was working on.

 

“I’m developing a universal solvent.”

 

Tom mused on this for a moment then asked, “What are you planning to keep it in?”




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Vibrant persistence

 

The action of the vibrant force is evident in life’s inherent persistence, even on a microscopic scale. A paramecium may not know that it's alive but it nonetheless struggles to remain living.

 

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May2, 2024

Cooperation

 

While walking along a dimly lit lane one evening Tom Doubter spotted Mulla Nasrudin searching beneath a streetlamp. Tom stopped and asked, “Mulla, what is it that you seek?”

   Nasrudin replied, “My car keys; I fear I have lost them.”

   Tom asked “Where do you recall seeing them last?”

     The Mulla replied, “Across the street where I dropped them.”

    “But...why do you search here?”

   “Because the light is better here.”

   “But Master that is foolish!” exclaimed Tom.

   “Not so. For, did not the light permit you to perceive me here, in distress? And thus, with the introduction of cooperation, what once was lost may now be found.”

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May 1, 2024

 

Inconceivable

 

Tom Doubter: The human mind, while not the sole thinking device on this planet, is probably unique in being able to conceive a God that possesses a mind which is unfathomable to the conceiver.

 

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HIATUS – The Long Version ends

 

Now ready to resume Public Ponderings

 



 

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Tom Doubter revived!

 

Tom Doubter observe: There are no paradoxes in infinity -   only  unresolved questions.



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 Auras and Love

 

It has been established that each of us supports an “aura” of energetic emanation that incorporates and extends beyond the more readily observed physical body. When two people find themselves embracing in a loving connection their auras enmesh and beautifully create a dynamic wherein ,1+1 no longer equals merely 2 but drifts toward an element of infinity.

 

 

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 Religious Belief Systems

 

 

Religious belief systems are the mind-killer. Such belief systems permit the users to disengage the element in their brains that enables critical thinking.




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February 16, 2023

 

According to evidence manufactured by Pelkey the Universe is a vast living organism and we humans are elements of its myriad sensory organs.

 

 

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February 15, 2023

 

RETURN OF THE MUSE…

 


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January 11, 2023

 

Humanities Pelputt: When addressing an audience, it is useful to picture yourself sitting in the front row of the audience and listening intently.

 

 

 

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January 10, 2023

 

A Malthusian Contemplation

 

Tom Doubter muses cynically: The old adage goes: if you give someone a fish they can eat for a day; if you teach someone to fish, they can eat for the rest of their life.

 

The modern version goes:  if you build someone a fire, they will be warm for the night; if you set someone on fire, they will be warm for the rest of their life.

 


 

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January 9, 2023

 

 

It seems probable that “life” as we know it resulted from the intersection of solar energy and the radiant energy emanating from the magnetic core of the Earth. Such intersective interaction would produce a catalytic environment conducive to the manifestation of the Vibrant Force intrinsic to the cosmos.

 

 

 

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January 8, 2023

Biological cultures are opportunistic – where there is food supply they take root and flourish, mostly unmindful of depletion of their bounty. When the medium is exhausted, they perish.

       Along the seacoasts and in other fertile land areas of the Earth humans have flourished in much the same fashion, and with this same disregard for the environment that sustains them. Thus does humanity's hubris command all the majesty of a Petri dish.

       Of course, having invented Gods, humans can comfortably imagine themselves to be immune from the strictures of biology and toddle off to imaginary Paradises in blissful oblivion.

 

 

 

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January 7, 2023

 

Is reincarnation a solely human state of being? Or, do our animal cousins also climb and descend the web of life? Does a salamander reincarnate as an anaconda? Or perhaps a rattlesnake? Does a raccoon find a new life as a grizzly bear?

      Perhaps the consciousness that permeates all life is indifferent as to its next manifestation, slipping seamlessly from one vibrant form to the next in an endless quest for experience.

 

 

 


 

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January 6, 2023

 

There is a measure of satisfaction available in the contemplation of humanity as an element in a vast, cosmic thinking machine that spends its time reveling in its beauties while striving to mitigate its errors.

 

 

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January 5, 2023

 

Humanities disinclination to

engage in critical thinking is

augmented by its

willingness to ignore the inescapable.

 

 

 

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January 4, 2023

 

The intense insistence of Life manifesting is revealed in the almost infinite adaptations observable in Nature here on Earth. Incredibly minute changes in physiology permit the survival of species and sub-species to survive and even thrive at the cornucopia of our planet's natural resource base. There seems to be a virtual infinity of mechanisms by which Life can be extracted from this inestimable bounty.

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CHRISTMAS-NEW YEAR VACATION

 

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December 23, 2023

 

The phenomenon known to

both science and

spirituality as "higher

mind" has guided human

intellectual evolution

since the emergence of

self-consciousness. The

fundamental truth of this

is demonstrated in both  

research and intuition.

Inspiration can be viewed

as the serendipitous

intersection of these

two dynamics. Sometimes

the fit is so poignant as to

be regarded with such

reverence as to make one

think of "God." Yet in

reality it IS better

recognized as vitality and evolution.

Thus

does Higher Mind instill in 

us grace in our pursuit of

purpose.

 

 

 

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December 22, 2023

 

[A darkly humorous, semi-prophetic squiblet from three years ago]

 

 2020 12 16 –

 

Tom Doubter observes: “It will be fascinating to see which enforcement body removes Trump from the Oval Office: Secret Service, Capitol Police, the Marines, the Green Berets, UN  blue helmets,  or the Munchkins of Oz.”

 

 

  

 

 

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December 21, 2023

 

When considering humanity's position in the overall scheme of life it is useful to regard our keen intellect as a sense, akin to the other five senses we observe. Many of our animal cousins have far keener individual senses than have we: birds have keener eyesight; sharks and many other sea creatures have a keener sense of smell; whales have a far keener sense of hearing. It is not unreasonable to conclude that, as a survival dynamic, that we humans have developed a far keener sense of ratiocination which may have had the effect of realigning our reliance upon other senses.




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December 17, 2023

 

 In "Lone Survivors" by Chris Stringer, he provides convincing arguments that interbreeding took place, back in the day, between possibly 6 or 7 different non-sapiens hominid species, all the way up to and including our buddies Neanderthal. And when you consider that normal, rational humans of today can apparently mate with Republicans and conceive viable offspring I suppose you must conclude that the practice continues even now.

 

 

 

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December16, 2023

 

It is vital that we come to understand that space exploration is a survival dynamic, not an interesting scientific “option”. The only solution to our natural resource depletion disaster is to begin harvesting raw materials from a broader base – the solar system.


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December 15, 2023

 

The Way

 

Lao Tzu advises via the Tao de Ching  “The Way is not the Way”.  This seeming game-stopper is, nonetheless true since a boundless oneness is fulfilled in seeking The Way. Each individual path is unique and is invariably traveled alone, though not in loneliness.

 

   There are myriad texts and teachers one encounters along The Way. Many will appear to be a True Path, though each is but a sliver of reflective light cast upon the backdrop of one's own inescapably individual enlightenment. Many wisdoms can and will be useful as guides, and all are part of the ever-changing destination that is The Way. The Seeker will drink from various streamlets or rivers of knowledge, perhaps lingering for a timeless moment of comfort, then move on.

 

    No Seeker's journey can be the same as another's though fellow travelers of the quest will be found, and then spiritual communion will be experienced and cherished as joy. Movement continues and such communions, pleasantly fulfilling, serve to brighten and polish the mirror of self-revelation, but The Way is infinite and individually travelled alone

 

The Seeker is wryly reminded that alone can be considered a contraction of “All One”.

 

 

 

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December 14, 2023

 

That many, if not all, animals display elements of consciousness is incontrovertible; that they make decisions is obvious. But Is it possible for a chimp, dog, parrot, dolphin or elephant to make a behavioral decision based upon an ethical or moral consideration?

 

 

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December 13, 2023

 

Once, as I lay half-asleep I imagined myself to be a spark of light/ “consciousness” , tucked into my little bed-hideaway surrounded by the vast dark mass of life - the surging ocean, the green brooding trees, the very earth itself teeming with its almost infinite population of microbial life...

and – this is a true representation of reality.

 

 

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December 12, 2023

 

 

“The Universe is the externalization of the soul.”

 

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Concomitantly 

 

“A soul is the internalization of the Universe.”

 

--- Mark Allen Pelkey

 

 

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December 11, 2023

 

Feckless Innocent: “Is there then no room for God or religion in

         your philosophies?”

Tom Doubter: “To the contrary! God is everywhere

Present as nature. Where all religions stumble Is in assigning god a personality.”

 

 

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December   10, 2023

 

A penny saved each day will net you $1000 in approximately 273 years.

 

 

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December 9, 2023

 

Tom Doubter laments: “What's an anguished environmental preservationist to do when it is discovered that one endangered species is consuming another endangered species for supper?”

 

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December 8,2023

 

The glory of the ever ongoing, phenomenon of creation is its infinite diversity –

and in the ways our differences combine to create

 beauty and inferentially, meaning.

 

 

 

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December 7, 2023

 

I find it useful to consider the dark matter of our cosmos as an inchoate, undifferentiated, unaffiliated collection of quarks and other sub-atomic particles/waves serving as a sort of uterus for what we perceive as matter.

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December 6, 2023

 

Intelligence vs. Consciousness:

intelligence, the ability to perceive and organize data, and to react to same, can be observed almost everywhere life is found. Consciousness is the ability to know that you are doing what is described above.

 


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December 5, 2023

 

 

Tom Doubter: The human mind, while not the sole thinking device on this planet, is probably unique in being able to conceive a God that possesses a mind which is unfathomable to the conceiver.

 

 

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December 4, 2023

 

Peace is more readily obtained in the embrace of divine discontent, than in the seductive slumber of complacency.

 


 

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December 3, 2023

 

Beliefs, while comforting, cannot be permitted to overshadow common sense and more profoundly, critical thinking, a sadly absent ingredient in the currently perceived recipe in politics and societal construction.

 

 

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December 2, 2023

 

Did God have Free Will while establishing the Universe? Or, was he/she required to work within the constraints imposed by an overarching,

Cosmic Nature?




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December 1, 2023

  

The more you think the more you know, the more you know the more you think. Such a cycle can lead to frustration due to a certain lack of conclusions. The frustration is best relieved through the discipline of meditation/prayer which tends to evoke a feeling of  “divine discontent”.

 

 

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November 30, 2023

 

So long as there exists faith in the elevation of beauty, the existential yearning for that which is beautiful will propel the expansion of consciousness.


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November 29, 2023

 

That humans possess the attribute of compassion is not to be doubted; their willingness to employ this natural birthright Is rather less obvious.


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November 28, 2023

 

The more you think, the more you know; the more you know the more you think. An unfortunate outcome of this apparent positive feedback loop is often a sense of frustration stemming from a lack of conclusion. The depth and the beauty of the practice of meditation is that it allows for a temporary release from the cycle, thereby providing a sense of perspective - leading to what can pleasantly be  described as Divine Discontent.

  

 

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November 27, 2023

 

 

Our intentions form our perceptions of ourselves and the steady practice of self-observation serves to refine, clarify and manifest such intentions.

 

  

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November 26, 2023

 

Ghosts, goblins, angels, demons and other such apparitions, are the province of the mad, and the overly hopeful.

 


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November 25, 2023

 

Given Earth's long history, perhaps an argument can be made that self-consciousness occurs quite rarely in the Universe. After all, it took five planet-wide near-extinction events and innumerable species start-ups and extinctions over three and a half billion years to finally arrive at the homo -sapiens, known as us.

 

  

 

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November 24, 2023

 

 A person who is blind must, on occasion, make oneself ostentatiously visible to maintain connection with society.

 



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November 23, 2023

 

When contemplating the “music of the spheres”, it is perhaps comforting to remember that each of us is an individual string on the harp of infinity.

 

 

 

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November 22, 2023

 

 

If during a meditation session you need to concentrate on not-concentrating, place a jewel of your choice in the middle of your forehead and direct all your extraneous thoughts to be preserved in that jewel while you are mentally free-wheeling.

 


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November 21, 2023

 

No belief system, religious, spiritual or scientific can be considered truly legitimate that does not include room for doubt and potential reinterpretation.

 

 

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November 20, 2023

 

Matter/ annihilation Antimatter creates energy in all forms, including appearing as those as “physical” reality.  Animation, which is an aspect of this energy, is  invigorated by the vibrant force that is an essential element of the  nature of the universe.

 

 

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November19, 2023

 

“A person should spend half,

 or at least a third, of their life pondering”. 

--- Alfred Richard Orage (1873-1934)

 

 

 

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November 18, 2023

 

It is frequently pleasant, and occasionally useful, to recall to mind that we are embraced by a star-clad universe.



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November 17, 2023

 

Tom Doubter reproves: The Biblical observation “As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen” was apparently mistranslated. It should have read: “As was always, is now, and ever shall be.And so it is…”

 

 

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November 16, 2023

 

 

   Creation exists in the form of evolution; each new mutation represents a creative act on a subatomic or molecular level.

   

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November 15, 2023

 Troublesomely, creation is often associated with the idea of an initial “Creator”. The universe has an infinite and eternal existence and never had and never will have a Creator; it can only be a continually creating event.

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November 14, 2023

 

A nifty way to start one’s day –

 

From musicians Jethro Tull:

 

:

“…looking for a sign

That the Universal Mind

Has written you into a passion play

 

Skatin away on the thin ice

Of a new day… “

 

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November 13, 2023

 

Tom Doubter observes, posthumously : …and so it was found that humanity was so blindly infatuated with the experience of existing that they bred and polluted themselves into oblivion.


 

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November 12, 2023

 

Tom Doubter: Humans typically invent gods that are superior to themselves. Since most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child it is necessary to also creates a parasitic priestcraft to intercede on behalf of the woe-begotten humanity.

 

 

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November 11, 2023

 

Wisdom will garner much in this world but common sense is essential for the acquisition of happiness.

 

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 November 10, 2023

 

Common sense is the lubricant that facilitates  the smooth transmission of wisdom.

 

 

 

 

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November 9, 2023 

 

Willful ignorance is the price one pays for the comfort of religious faith or belief in the supernatural.

 

 

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November 8, 2023

 

The thing I like about infinity is that there is always something around the next corner or over the next rise.

 


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November 7, 2023

 

Behind the universe(s?) of time, space and change there exists a fundamental reality within which all of these are expressed.

  

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November 6, 2023

 

The thing I like about eternity is whichever way one looks there is always a corridor of forever.



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November 5, 2023

 

A conundrum for Evangelicals: What if Jesus came back as a woman? Photoshop that beard off, add a couple of strategically placed bumps and the traditional image is transformed into a pretty nice looking female. Certainly “Jesusa” would arrive equipped with a full complement of feminine attributes – compassion, nurturing, empathy, etc.

 

 

 

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November 4, 2023

 

Each human being is a unique concentration of energy and time, existing as a dynamic fulcrum point, where the eternal past tilts toward the infinite future.

 

 

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November 3, 2023

 

It seems that a pretty good theory of life's origins suggests that opportunistic meteors, carrying their complement of amino acid compounds plopped into a friendly environment here on Earth. As these chunks of space debris bumped and scraped each other in the primordial soup, where they abraded each other until such time as they became agitated enough that their inherent motility was converted into animation.

 

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November 2, 2023

 

At the UN there is an ongoing hue and cry for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the Israel/Gaza war. Commendable, but I wonder where was/is a similar outcry for the innocent dead and injured Ukrainians?

 

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November 1, 2023

 

Metaphysically there is only the now – our challenge is to extract the most benefit available from the experience of this ever-present, ever-changing now.

 

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October 31, 2023

 

Though this site is primarily devoted to my personal observations, I couldn't resist borrowing and posting this gem:

“I don't know if God exists but it would be better for his reputation if he didn't.” ---- Jules Reynard

 

 

 

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October30, 2023

 

Tom Doubter ruminates: One ostrich egg is the equivalent of twenty-two hen eggs. Therefore , you can expect to make six or seven omelets from one ostrich egg.


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October 29, 2023

Tom Doubter: When it comes to religion, Humanity's propensity to misinterpret the obvious is superseded quaintly by a willingness to embrace the improbable.


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October 28, 2023

Given that ongoing procreation is the driving force behind all life on this planet, what survival dynamic is served by the prohibition of sexual pleasure that characterizes Christian and Islamic doctrine?

 

 

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 October 27, 2023

 

If the “Big Bang”—that theoretically created our cosmos— was an event rather than the event, it follows that in an infinite universe there must be countless other cosmoses being created back and forward in time.

 

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October 26, 2023

 

     As American citizens who participate in and enjoy the benefits of the democracy guaranteed by our unique and humane constitution, we are as philosophically oathbound as any president-elect to “preserve, protect and defend” the aforesaid Constitution.

     It is to be hoped that each of the citizens in our society will be  intelligently informed as to the intentions and behavior of any of the elected officials we have entrusted with the safety of our democratic rights and traditions.     However, in this era of sound-bites, twitter and opinion presented as news it is increasingly challenging to remain so informed.

 

The responsibilities associated with citizenship in a democracy can be subtle and often unstated. However, the right and obligation to vote for what we believe to be ethically necessary is obvious and readily to hand.  Failure to exercise this opportunity to demonstrate one's moral convictions is an insult to both citizenship and self-esteem.

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October 25, 2023

 

Employing the word destiny to define or explain one's actions is either an act of hubris or moral cowardice.

 

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October 24, 2023

 

…the Muse did not visit today…

 

 

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October 23, 2023

 

Hints from Helouise-Pelkey:

 

A toothbrush works as well or better than any fingernail brush and lasts almost indefinitely.

 

When dealing with a too-tight jar lid try gripping the lid and twisting the jar; the additional mass contributes force to the effort.

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October 22, 2023

 

Humans can successfully mate with lower forms – witness the existence of Republicans.

 

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October 21, 2023

 

Upon crossing the threshold of the halls of Congress those elected are seemingly transformed into exalted beings freed from the bonds of morality, ethics, common decency and any connection to those who naively elected them.

 

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 October 20, 2023

 

Tom Doubter bitterly observes: It does not require religion to perceive the existence of Hell- life on Earth will suffice until something worse comes along.

 

 

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October 19, 2023

 

Assuming, for the purposes of argument, that panspermia actually is the operative dynamic that governs our cosmos and perhaps universe at large, it wouldn't be all that strange an idea that the DNA sequences that led to life and consciousness here on this planet would not in fact be elsewhere evident on a pretty constant basis.

 

 

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October 18, 2023

 

One cannot expect freedom from desire so long as a desire for freedom remains in the heart.

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October 17, 2023

 

How can we amend the Turing test to include the non-presence of love, an emotion that no machine will ever duplicate?

 

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October 16, 2023

 

Astronomers and cosmologists have determined that the cosmos is virtually filled with a myriad of energetic radiation called “cosmic rays”.  These rays penetrate our atmosphere and interact with life here on Earth, including the very DNA that controls how life is made manifest. Cosmic rays are frequently described as destructive and dangerous because they can interfere with the natural reproduction of genetic coding thus creating mutations which are often non-viable. However, some mutations result in more survivability traits rather than less. a current theory proposes that cosmic ray-induced mutation led to human speech.

 

 

 

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October 15, 2023

 

Tom Doubter stopped by the other day to observe that God doesn’t exist, only Man’s belief in God.  There is however, power in this though there is nothing supernatural, just the powers of mind that are humanity’s innate birthright.

 

 

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October 14, 2023

 

Humanity has no ordained destiny because the universe is not governed by intention, meaning or purpose.

Human consciousness however seems to crave these notions and sculpts them into such concepts as “manifest destiny” – perhaps the cruelest form of unwarranted hubris.

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October 13, 2023

 

Mysticism 1.1

 

 

Mysticism is the study and practice of disciplines that permit the seeker to, for a timeless moment perceive, experience and travel in a oneness with all existence.

 Such oneness is perceptible in the knowledge the that the atoms that compose our minds and bodies are the very same as the atoms that compose everything else in the cosmos.

 

  

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October 12, 2023

 

Mysticism 1.2

 When the myriad, yammering voices that roam one's intellect

are gently and softly stilled for the moment,

and one's ego has tiptoed off to a remote

corner of the mind for a timely nap,

then can a deeper and pervasive “sound” can   be “felt”

-  informing of an encompassing Cosmic Consciousness that transcends time and space and possesses the fascinating

quality of simple IS-NES - - - a condition born of the vibrant nature of the universe and invigorated by the attraction, some  have identified as love.

 

 

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October 11, 2023

 

 

It is not necessary to believe in God to recognize the power of the myth of god  – it is demonstrated  in the deep c consciousness  that manifests in the compassion and  inspiration that humanity exhibits periodically  . 

   Sadly this same myth has resulted in imponderable cruelty and an unimaginably high death toll for those who didn’t subscribe to the same body of myths.

 

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October 10, 2023

 

 At this point in history, human beings are the only lifeforms on this planet (and perhaps the entire universe) to demonstrate an ability and need to invent spirituality and science so as to explain existence.

  

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Occtober9, 2023

  

Many species of animals exhibit behaviors that reveal myriad levels and forms of intelligence. However, human  mentality and ingenuity are clearly demonstrated to be orders of magnitude more sophisticated and complex.

 

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October 8, 2023

 

Spirituality can be defined as the innate and deeply intuitive knowledge that more will be revealed.

 

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October 7, 2023

 

Tom Doubter ruminate: “Human Life, it seems, is a part of Cosmic reality and is expressing spirituality as an essential element of the assembly of factors that comprise reality. It is the spiritual component of Life that provides the capability to perceive and participate in evolving toward Life’s purpose and meaning. The ongoing challenge is one of translating Life’s purpose and meaning into a reality.  That would seem to be the task of Life that we have inherited. All the components and capabilities are available and the process is continuing.  Energy is transformed into reality by converting the state of its structure and human spirituality is a significant device for implementing a pattern for the structure of future reality.”

            Robert Callan 

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October 6, 2023

 

   Creation exists in the form of evolution; each new mutation represents a creative act on a subatomic or molecular level. Troublesomely, creation is often associated with the idea of a Creator. The universe has an infinite and eternal existence and never will have a Creator it is only a continually creating event.

 

It is impossible for the universe to have a Creator because, pause for effect, where would such a Creator being have been enjoying existence prior to creating the universe??

 

The universe in its magnificence and omnipresence is entirely capable of creating an environment that would lead to the existence of very powerful beings who could create any number of things that we might think that only could be done by God like creatures. However, such God like creatures could not invent themselves therefore the universe must be infinite and eternal in order to provide the background for which all of creation can take place and is taking place on a steady and ongoing basis.

 

The writing on the blackboard and the language that is used to write upon the blackboard can change, will change, must change - these are the forms however, the blackboard itself has always been available for the writing to be written upon.

 

 

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October 5, 2023

 

Hugh Pelputt muses: So, retro-brain McCarthy is no longer second-in-line for the office of president. The disturbingly poignant question of the moment becomes, which sociopathic Republican empty-head will sink to the vacancy?


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October 4, 2023

 

 

When the myriad, yammering voices that roam one's intellect

are gently and softly stilled for the moment,

and one's ego has tiptoed off to a remote

corner of the mind for a timely nap,

then can a deeper and pervasive “sound”  be “felt”,

-  informing of an encompassing Cosmic Consciousness that transcends time and space and possesses the fascinating

quality of simple IS-NES - - - a condition born of the vibrant nature of the universe and invigorated by the attraction some have identified as Love.

 

 

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October 3, 2023

 

At a science fiction convention held in Santa Rosa CA, I attended a panel on the subject of censorship. After listening to a number of semi erudite observations about the miserable qualities of what censorship might represent, I submitted that perhaps the most insidious kind of censorship is self-censorship. Self-censorship can only be born of a fear of reprisal or repercussions obviously from some authoritarian body or community that makes one fearful to speak out loud.

 

That was in 1986….

 

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 October 2, 2023  

 

Well, standing at the intersection of Infinity and eternity I'm struck by the fact that my long ago grandfather a supernova and that awhile long ago grandmother's womb was nestled in the dark matter that comprises most of our cosmos.

 

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October 1, 2023

 

It is greatly to be hoped that the unnecessary drama associated with the now averted government shutdown will be laid at the feet of the ignorant MAGA Republicans in the House of Representatives. While this is true, it is also useful to take note of the fact that the unwillingness of two senators, Mansion and Cinema contributed to the elevation of these dangerously mean-spirited characters by refusing to carve out an exception to the filibuster rule to permit votes on voting rights.

 

 

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September 30, 2023

 

Perception is a vital element of being, manifesting as awareness. The more one broadens perception the greater degree of spirituality he or she acquires.

 

 

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September 29, 2023

 

Tom Doubter muses: Perhaps the fifth commandment should be more broadly interpreted as – “Thou shalt not kill the environment”.

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September 28, 2023

 

If the “Big Bang” that theoretically created our cosmos was an event rather than the event, it follows that in an infinite universe there must be countless other cosmoses being created back and forward in time.

 

 

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September 27, 2023

 

As a younger man when I contemplated the ideas of Infinity and Eternity, I concluded that the human mind was not capable of encompassing such concepts. Now as an older and more meditative man I find it impossible to conceive of a universe that is not infinite and eternal.

 

 

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September 26, 2023

 

I took the day off to get vaccinated – Covid and flu; obvious procedure due to inept planning by the administration here.

 

 

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September 25, 2023

 

The primary act of free will is deciding whether one chooses awareness of one’s existence or ignores such awareness.

Put another way: Shall I choose to consciously act proactively to the events in my environment; or more predictably, react to stimuli collected from the environment?

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September 24, 2023

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

to my   sister MICHELLE!

 

 

Many miles, many trials, augmented by many smiles – we’ve covered a lot of territory in sixty nine years  Though we traveled  different paths I have never failed to cherish the affection that characterizes our connection.  Perhaps more poignantly my respect and admiration for  you  grows ever more profound with the passage of time. What better time to acknowledge this than the occasion of your birthday.

 

I love you very much --- brother Mark

 

 

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September 23, 2023

 

As a young man I contemplated concepts as Infinity and eternity and concluded that the human mind was not capable of encompassing such dimensions.  now older and more meditative I find it impossible to conceive of a universe that is not infinite and eternal. Space the prospect of beginning and ending when dealing with something on the scale of a universe seem holy inappropriate; only change in form is the constant dynamic of such a universe.


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September 22, 2023

 

Tom Doubter sez: I continue to buff out an identity  statement useful as a handy reminder. The latest version reads as follows: I am that I am being here now at the intersection of eternity and infinity.


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September 14, 2023

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 

TO MY BELOVED BROTHER

 SCOTT

 

Lots of miles,

Lots of smiles,

And, of course some occasional tears,

All dd up 68 unforgettable years.

 

I love you Bro!

 

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September 13, 2023

 

NOTE: PERSISTENT INTERNET AC PROBLEMS HAVE MADE POSTING INTERMITTENT AT BEST. STAY WITH ME AS WE’RE HOPING FOR RESOLUTION VERY SOON.

 

Your Arizona correspondent --- MarkCCs

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September 9, 2023

 

Recently Jean and I were acquired by athoroughly engaging, 15 pound, 10-year old cat, whom we have dubbed, “Ebony.  (More tomorrow as is here now demanding some food and attention…)  

 

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Friday Sept 8 handout

 

SCIENCE and SPIRITUALITY

September 8, 2023

 

“Brainstorming 3”

 

1 – Should soccer be outlawed in favor of higher education?

 

2 – Did Truman make the right decision?

 

3 – Should popcorn and catsup be considered staples in school lunch menus?

 

4 – Should lobbyists be publicly executed?

 

5 – What element of consciousness permits salmon, turtles, lobsters and eels (to name a few) to return  to their spawning grounds?

 

6 – Why does Mars get to have two moons while here on Earth we only get to have  one?

 

7 - ???

 

8 - ???

 

++++++++++++++++++++

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

Tom Doubter: Why do we bother thinking anyway? It generally serves to make us uncomfortable.

 

Hugh Pelputt: Well, I suppose it’s because the examined life is worth living…

 

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If, as Nat King Cole sings it, “Time and the River”, we and all other conscious entities in the cosmos are tributaries.

 

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September 6, 2023

In the human condition of being movement is distinctly preferable to sententiousness.

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September5, 2023

 

Because the universe has

no purpose or function beyond its unbegun and unending existence, it falls to the conscious entities produced herein to manifest at least function if not purpose.

 This FUNCTION is the transmutation of insubstantial thoughts into manipulable   substance.  In this context, a poem and a bridge are of equal value.

 

   Put another way, converting thought into substance is THE essence of being alive – whether amoeba or Einstein.

 

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September 4, 2023

 

Upon being asked where he lived Dee Pak Chopra replied “I live in the now” – Unquestionably true but functionally nonresponsive.

 

My answer would be slightly different: “I live in the now progressively”

 

 I am that I am – being here now…and … now …now now … … …

 

 

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Sept 3, 2023

 

Hu Pelputt:  Bases on observation of behaviors similar to that exhibited recently by Sen. McConnell, a safe prediction is that he will be gibbering within three months and be dead in four.

 

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September 2, 2023

 Though I can’t bring myself to believe in any form of supreme being presiding over the peculiar and frequently hideous  behaviors of humanity there are, however, many attributes of godliness that are useful and worthy of promulgation. Chief among these are compassion and blessings being especially poignant.

 

Compassion is an innate human quality that, unfortunately, emerges most prominently at times of emergency or disaster.

 

Blessings are those pockets of grace we humans create when we meld our compassion into transcendent enfolding of one another's hopes, aspirations, and dreams.

 

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September 1, 2023

 

Awhile back I programmed my Alexa alarm to awaken me to the sound of  “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” a song that always intrigued me.  Moved to contemplation I concluded that this song is an anthem to life and survival emanating from the cradle of humanity’s origins. 

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August 31, 2023

Tom Doubter suggests salaciously: The US House of Representatives would employ its energies more  profitably by  emulating our bonobo cousins who spend virtually all of their waking hours copulating(either hetero or homo) or masturbating.

 

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August 30, 2023

 Is consciousness the natural evolution of life – or -

is life the inevitable manifestation of consciousness? 

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August 29, 2023  

As the presumed stewards of Life on planet Earth --Perhaps in service to a broader intentional Cosmos -- We’re deputized to protect and enhance.  Our home’s fundamental vibrancy that manifests itself  as the power of Love.

 

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August 28, 2023

 (with apologies to Rev. Dodgson)

 “…and hast thou garnered yet another year,

Then let us fill our hearts with cheer -

O! Frabjous Day! Calloo, Callay!

For Victor Mortel was born this  . . .”Day…”

 

+ + + + + + + +

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Duke, Tom Doubter, Hu Pelputt

 

 

 

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August 25, 2023

 

 Tom Doubter muses…  as we witness Trump very publicly surrendering at the Fulton County jail it occurs to me that he would like nothing better than to be incarcerated . In the fetid pink BLOB that occupies the space between his ears he will have convinced himself that such durance vile, however minimal, would put him on a par with his, unacknowledged but nonetheless obvious role model, Adolf Hitler.  Further, such incarceration would give him the opportunity to employ ghost riders so that he could then publish his very own version of” Mein Kampf”.

 

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August 24, 2023

 

“Cosmos” defines and describes the phenomenon that

we find ourselves living in. ‘Universe” is the blackboard upon which such a cosmos is written. Cosmos has a beginning and an end; the universe always has been an always will be – it is presence.

 

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August 23, 2023

Hu Pelputt poses the question: Define the difference between “creation” and “creativity”?

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August 22, 2023 

Perhaps it is poetically useful to regard Science as the study and employment of motion in the physical world, and Spirituality as the contemplation of and immersion into the motion of thought,which allows us to perceive that science.


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August 21, 2023

An elemental goal of meditation is the promotion of a continuing and expanding intimacy with both the concept and the practice of consciousness.


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August 20, 2023

 Matter/ annihilation Antimatter creates energy in all forms including appearing as those as” physical” reality.  Animation, an aspect of this energy, manifesting as “life” invigorated by the vibrant force is thus an essential element of the nature of the universe.

 

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August 19, 2023

No belief system, religious, spiritual or scientific can be considered truly rational that does not include room for doubt and potential reinterpretation.


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August 18, 2023

Tom Doubter observes: in a moment of clarity it dawns on me as to why trump made off with all of those boxes: knowing that he had lost the election, in that twisted organ that serves as a brain, he figured he could set up a “government in exile”.

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August 17, 2023

That which is beautiful is almost never static; rather beauty is vibrant, motivating

shifting in perspective, and fundamentally dynamic.

 

So long as there exists faith in the elevation of beauty, the existential yearning for that which is beautiful will propel the expansion of consciousness.

 

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August 16, 2023

 

As a secular humanist, I find the concept of “God” to be unnecessary to explain the existence of the universe. The universe is more realistically perceived as an infinitely large, eternally present tablet upon which myriad depictions of creation, destruction, and reconstitution are endlessly enacted.

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August 15, 2023

 

Consciousness is, among many other things, the delivery system for the Vibrant Force permeating the Universe. In living creatures it is the ability to use information in the actions necessary for survival. In self-aware beings it is the facility and especially the willingness to accumulate and categorize such information so to construct more

  purposeful and thus meaningful futures. 

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July 29, 2023

 Stephen Hawking suggested that that time travel is   unlikely to exist since we have never been visited by someone from the future.  I find his reasoning faulty in  

 

that time travel simply hasn't been invented yet. 

 

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July 28, 2023

 

An interesting fact about eternity: in its embrace time is constant, linear, and permanent.

 

Consider: everything in the universe left paren including all of the activity in our own section of the cosmos at right paren is happening right now;

 

time is best considered as a device for measuring change;

And, Signs portents and probabilities notwithstanding, the future does not exist because it hasn't happened yet.

 

 

…yet time marches on . . .

 

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July 27, 2023

 

Since the universe has no purpose or function beyond its unbegun and unending existence it falls to the conscious entities produced herein to introduce at least function if not purpose per se.

   This is the transmutation of insubstantial thoughts into manipulable  substance.  In this context a poem and a bridge are of equal value.

  Put another way, converting thought into substance is  the essence of being alive – whether amoeba or Einstein.

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BACK IN THE SADDLE  AGAIN . . . .

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June 11, 2023

New drug for bladder control make Pelkey sleep markmark….  ---  zzzzz

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June 5, 2023

 as of Thursday June 1st we have a new addition to our family and her name is Joella in honor of her godfather Joel Buehller. She is a 10-year-old British shorthair cat black with green eyes weighing in at approximately 12 pounds. She is a loving friendly and very docile though active cat; one of her favorite things to do is while Jean and I are sitting next to each other on the side of the bed Joella crawls onto Jean’s lap and then plants her  forefeet, head and shoulders on my immediately adjacent thigh thus managing to occupy two laps at once – very fetching. . We are going to make her a resident of both apartments but y we'll do it slowly she will spend most of her time with Jean but she will also know my apartment she'll spend the night here occasionally uh. This is the first time I've been as close to a cat  and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

 

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June 4, 2023

Contemplative Sunday – musing, snoozing . . . . zzzzz

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June 3, 2023

In the succeeding weeks I intend to explain define understand, Einstein's theories possibly even supplanting some of them. This space will not be wholly dedicated to this proposition you will find that my observations on Einstein's Max Planck middles bar et etc. uh we'll be interspersed with observations from Tom Doubter and his associate Humanities Pelputt. The long-range goal will be to collect the various nuclear physics observations into a paper. This will be the most ambitious undertaking of my, humorously put, literary career.

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June 2, 2023

The so-called “emerging nations” can hardly be expected to regard western plutocracy, frequently miss described as free enterprise or just plain capitalism, as any kind of a model upon which to base their own emerging democracies or social organizations. In America it is obvious to the world at large that the more money you have the more power you have the more power you have the greater influence you have. America stands as a remarkable example of do as I say do as I do reveal all too readily its distaste, disgust even hatred for the disenfranchised. And yet, the disenfranchised represent the greater population of the planet...

 

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June 1, 2023

Tom Doubter: it seems that Trump was misinterpreted steadily. When he intoned “Make America great again” what he really meant was “Make America grate again” – as in “irritate”.

 

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2023 05 31

  Internet at Beatitudes is out. More soon.

 

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2023 05 24 

"If there is ever another war in the country, it will be between capital and labour. I mean between greed and manhood. And I'm as ready to march now in defense of American manhood as I was when a boy in defense of the South." 

Frank James

 

If he were alive today I wonder which way he would interpret Trump’s moronic drivel …

 

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2023 05 23

 

Tom Doubter muses: If an omniscient God could foresee Satan’s fall why would he have bothered inventing  gravity??

 

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2023 05 22

Not everything that is alive “knows” that it is alive. Nevertheless, all that lives struggles to remainalive. This persistence is an implementation of the Vibrant force. This force is ranged along with the four forces recognized by current science and predates the not-unique Big Bang.  

   

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2023 05 21

Tom Doubter observes:  frogs don't eat glass insects and thus inferentially United States Congress members should not adopt falsely implicative propositions


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2023 05 20

To paraphrase Mark Twain: imagine that you are in a suicidally oriented abattoir.

   Now imagine that you are trapped in the currently configured  US House of Representatives . . . hmmm, I appear to be repeating myself.


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2023 05 19

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - addendum

 

The intrinsic compassion embedded in “humanity” is axiomatic. The actions and behaviors we engage in as we employ this natural birthright is manifest balance. “Fairness” and “justice” are ethical and moral tools used to put into effect our innate and intuitive knowledge of this balance.

It is nevertheless important to recognize that, just as in the physical realm, balance is not a static condition but a dynamic. The cosmos we live is ever in motion and that motion is the eternal balancing interaction of forces working toward a constantly shifting equilibrium: the persistent outcome of which is life.

 

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2023 05 11

Today is the day that I get to sing

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

 To my beloved “Baby” sister who has now attained the tender age of 63 years.  how well do I recall the adventures, both physical and spiritual that we have shared over the years - - I love you more than words can ever express. ---your Markie

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2023 05 09

Internet is still not accessible at Beatitudes.

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2023 05 05

With all of these raging lawsuits and appeals a critical question seems to have been overlooked and that is will America's position on morality be decided ultimately legislatively or judicially,,, and further is either one the correct forum?

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2013 05 06

Having watched today’s coronation ceremonies for King Charles the Third of England I find myself in agreement with the king that a trimmed down monarchy makes more sense in this era. I might add however, that a trimmed down version of the moaning bleating screeching choir that festooned the proceedings would elicit a sigh of relief from the world at large.

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2023 05 04

FREE WILL

The primary act of free will is deciding whether one chooses awareness of one’s existence or ignores such awareness.
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2023 05 03

Etiology and teleology are merely expressions used to describe the efflorescence maturity and disintegration of various kinds of form – forms is  as expansive  as our cosmos and as minute as the bacteria crawling around in our bellies.


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2023 05 02   

“The Universe is the externalization of the soul.”

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

“A soul is the internalization of the Universe.”

--- Mark Allen Pelkey

 

 

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2023 05 01


Western science is so rooted in Newtonian physics that it simply fails to recognize that energy expressing through the Vibrant force will manifest in an infinite number of forms and infinite variety. These manifestations will necessarily include animate forms such as human beings.

 

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2023 04 30

CHARITY

 If you give a man a fish he will eat for a day; if you teach a man to fish he will eat for the rest of his life.

 

A slightly scewed version:

If you build a man a fire he will be warm for a night if you set a man on fire he will be warm for the rest of his life.

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2023 04 29

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog’s back.

 

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2023 04 28

When the myriad, yammering voices that roam one's intellect are gently and softly stilled for the moment, and one's ego has tiptoed off to a remote corner of the mind for a timely nap, then can a deeper and pervasive “sound” can   be “felt” - informing of an encompassing Cosmic Consciousness that transcends time and space and possesses the fascinating quality of simple IS-NES - - - a condition born of the vibrant nature of the universe and invigorated by the attraction we have identified as love.

 

 

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2323 04 27

Though the necessary words of science may baffle or seem incomprehensible, the underlying truths they represent are often found in more accessible forms such as poetry, prayer and meditation. 

 

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2023 04 26

An elemental goal of meditation is the promotion of a continuing and expanding intimacy with both the concept and the practice of consciousness.

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2023 04 25

It seems that most people have forgotten that it was the trail of breadcrumbs that resulted in Hansel and Gretel getting lost in the forest

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2023 04 24

The grass may be greener on the far side of the fence but the cow pies are likely to be rather larger and more numerous.

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2023 04 23

The Internet is still a big question mark here on the campus. We'll send more as time circumstance and opportunity permits.

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2023 04 22

Planes, boats, trains and cars dash I've tried them all. If I can have my way I will never again subject myself to the crush of fellow citizens who insist on using airports at the same time that I wish to fly anywhere.

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2023 04 21

 

With all of these raging lawsuits and appeals a critical question seems to have been overlooked and that is will America's position on morality be decided ultimately legislatively or judicially: and further is either one the correct forum.



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2023 04 17

There is still no internet at the Beatitudes. This was posted by my friend, Lee.

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2023 04 15

Reality is the persistence of existence, form notwithstanding.

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2023 04 14 The Power of God

I don’t have to believe in God to recognize the power of the myth of god – it is demonstrated in the deep c consciousness  that manifests in the compassion and inspiration that humanity exhibits periodically  .  

   Sadly, this same myth has resulted in imponderable cruelty and an unimaginably high death toll for those who didn’t subscribe to the same body of myths.


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2023 04  13 – Choice

Tom Doubter muses: It strikes me that the most poignant free-will decision I can make is whether to be acutely aware of my existence or to merely participate in the passing parade.

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 2023 04 12

Rabbits and Wolves

 Why would a rabbit “choose” to not be eaten by a pursuing wolf? For that matter, how does the rabbit “know” that the wolf wants to eat it?

Answer: The universally pervasive Life Force via its delivery system, consciousness, imbues the rabbit brain with the dynamic, “continuity,” which we identify and label as “ins

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2023 04 11

Well friends in this panel you see the first modification of the appearance of the Ponderings this change is precipitated by my shift from a visually oriented environment to an audibly one. The simpler presentation requires less formatting and thus is more ready-to-hand as a repository for the musings of a scattershot mind.

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2023 04 10   – Continuity

This body which I have borrowed from Earth' fecundity will give up its current shape and transition to other elements of life. Its constituent parts will reassemble into other forms. Some will merge with the soil, becoming food for micro-organisms and worms. Some will be consumed by other animals such as vultures, coyotes, and bugs. Some will evaporate into the atmosphere, to eventually return to Earth as rain and snow, useful in revitalizing new growth.

   But in every case, continuity persists – not in form, but in essence, which is life.

  The question that arises in the self-aware being can be stated as, “Does participation in the construction and maintenance of a “self” establish a persistent personality,  perhaps identified as a “soul”? And does this coherent but non-corporeal “soul” exit the now-defunct body to take up residence in some other dimensional region of the cosmos?

    Alternatively, is some fragment of such a “soul” to be found in each of the myriad elements of reconstitution?

    Put another way, when we shed our bodies, do we bequeath a minute bit of self-awareness to our microscopic heirs? Does a bacterium become slightly more enlightened as a consequence of having been part of one of us?

   Science continues to grapple with the first of the above propositions; as to the second, no work that I’m aware of has been undertaken to examine continuity of consciousness on a cellular level. For now, such speculation remains in the playing field of us spiritual adventurers.

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2023 04 09 – Destiny

Employing the word destiny to define or explain one's actions is an act of either hubris or moral cowardice.

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2023 04 08

Snoozing,,,zzz

2023 04 07

Gone Fission,,,

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2023 04 06 – Manifest Destiny

 

Humanity has no ordained destiny because the universe is not governed by intention, meaning or purpose.

   Human consciousness however seems to crave these notions and sculpts m them into such concepts as “manifest destiny” – perhaps the cruelest form of unwarranted hubris.

 

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2022 12 23 To Convene

When reading or hearing an enigmatic or confusing Nasrudin story, it is useful to convene a “classroom” in the mind and extract an opinion from each “student” and then sift through that which resonates with the greatest clarity.

22 12 22 Oneness Harp Reconsidered

When contemplating the “music of the spheres” it is perhaps comforting to remember that each of us is an individual string on the harp of infinity.

2022 12 21  Mysticism

Mysticism is the study and practice of disciplines that permit the seeker to, for a timeless moment, perceive, experience and travel in the maximum existence of being.

2022 12 20 Tom Doubter Visit Tom Doubter stopped by the other day to observe that God doesn’t exist, only Man’s belief in God.  There is however power in this thought there is nothing supernatural, just the powers of mind that are humanity’s innate birthright.

2022 12 19 An Amendment

Humanity has no ordained destiny because as noted below the universe is not governed by intention, meaning or purpose.

   Human consciousness however seems to crave these notions and sculpts them into such concepts as “manifest destiny” – perhaps the cruelest form of unwarranted hubris.

2022 12 18 – Destiny

Humanity has no destiny. This is because the universe humanity lives in has no destiny – the universe simply is; it was is-ing before the current incarnation has eaten itself out of existence and will continue is-ing as it reconstitutes the resultant waste into new forms.

2022 12 17

PURPOSEFUL MACHINES

A dear and respected friend once observed “You don’t build a machine without a purpose”.  I would add “…even if the only purpose is the reflection of such abstractions as beauty and love”.

   The problem with this proposition is that it was employed to theorize a purposeful universe. Such a theory presupposes the existence of a “purpose-maker” or intelligence responsible for design of the machine.

2022 12 10 – Wet Dreams

Hu Pelput ruminates: Urination and contemplation are often coincident.

2022 12 09 – Deliberation

Living spontaneously is best sculpted within a conscious environment of deliberation.

2022 12 08 – River of Hope

You can’t walk into the same stream twice – the flowing water is ever renewed, replenished, re-invigorated.

   A birthright of consciousness is the ability to change horses in mid-stream – to assess altered circumstances and re-sculpt accordingly.

2022 12 07 - Peace

Peace is more readily obtained in the embrace of divine discontent than in the seductive slumber of complacency.

2022 12 06 – JAWS

Today spent practicing on the JAWS screen-reader program from Freedom Scientific so I failed to ponder much; tomorrow is of course, another day.

2022 12 05 – Today

Today is tomorrow's yesterday; therefore, I shall build work that permits me to awaken tomorrow with a sense of accomplishment – always good way to start the day.

2022 12 04 – Indifference


An indifferent universe is nevertheless wholly embracing of life in all of its manifestations .

2022 12 03 – Tom Doubter Update

Tom is recuperating from a transplant procedure to replace his iron cynic gland which had been utterly depleted the past six years. Full recovery augmented with acerbic transfusions is anticipated soon.

2022 12 02 - BEAUTY

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After much rumination it appears that Love and Beauty are the only values worthy of our aspiration.

   Friendship, society, civilization, even honor are all subsets of love.

   The universe, however chaotic and tumultuous it may appear is a subset of the beauty of an intense cosmic symmetry.

2022 12 01 – Hiatus

I've been awhile constructing the conversion from a visually defined compositional platform to an aural one. The work is by no means finished, but now the foundation has been established and the Ponderings shall again proceed.

2022 10 06 – Peter Cobb

 

Typically, this site is the domain of my personal pondering, though exceptions exist – Lao Tse, Tom Charlesworth, Rumi, Maggie van Putten, others …

Today it is to be my friend Peter Cobb:

 

I WONDER A LOT

 

I wonder a lot about a lot of things.  I have wondered all my life, as I suppose most people have.  Will I grow up to be successful at some trade or occupation or profession?  Will my investments grow as much as I hope?

How long will I live?

. . . and a million other wonderings

   during a lifetime of not knowing.

 

I wonder if there really are such things as

Spirits or Souls which

are what is left of me after death.

 

And I wonder if ‘Spirit’ is needed for a one- cell organism to self-divide.  And if not, at what point in the evolution of life does “Spirit” appear?

 

 

I wonder whether the primitive Neanderthal man had a soul, and if so, was it more primitive than my soul, and if so, in what regard was it more primitive?

And is it a soul I might meet in heaven?

 

I wonder, when I die does my soul leave my body immediately, or is there a time delay to get everything prepared for the coming events and my new world. And when I (my soul or spirit or both) leave my body for my                          journey, hopefully to heaven, how long a trip will it be?

 

And I wonder, do I aim for the stars,

Do I aim for the horizon, 

Or do I just float on the breeze?

 

And I wonder what I will find at my destination.  Is my soul in human form for easy identification?  Do I have my mental powers of thinking and analyzing, and observing and forming opinions and dreams?

 

I wonder if I will be able to find the souls I love, and identify them among the billions of souls that must already be in Heaven. Will we each have the same common memories we parted with? Will they include love, compassion, forgiveness?

 

And will the Gatekeepers spot

hate and greed and selfishness and jealousy?

And if so, how does anyone achieve entrance into heaven?

Makes me wonder.

 

I wonder what my relationship with God will be;

distant and impersonal,

or close and active.

 

And I wonder if my presence in Heaven means I have already been judged by God, or do I still have some serious interrogation to undergo.

 

 

I wonder, if God is all-forgiving, can I still get in trouble there?

I wonder if there are lots of do’s and don’t’s to cause me problems.

 

And I wonder if we can explore new places and things, and learn new concepts. And can we watch the goings-on back on earth?

 

I wonder if the souls have opportunities to connect with the folks back home.  And if contacts are not permitted,

will we be able to arrange for them

surreptitiously?

 

I wonder if the souls in Heaven get to choose the colors of the robes they wear.

 Pink, dark blue, chartreuse?

 

And I wonder what the souls in Heaven do with their minds. Do they play dominoes or poker or shuffleboard to be active, or do they sit around and stare at the other soul for the rest of Time?

 

I wonder if there is a lot of easy-to-get

ice cream and cherry pie in Heaven,

or do we not need to sustain and enjoy our souls.

 

 

I wonder if the souls have opportunities to read for enjoyment or to increase their knowledge.   

And if not, what is the degree of boredom among the population?

 

I wonder if there are opportunities to travel to and explore other places in and around Heaven and the universe: our galaxy, black holes, worm holes, neutron stars, other planets, other dimensions.

 

And if we can explore, how do we travel? And can we travel

  faster than the speed of light? 

 

I wonder if the Big Names from Earth get any extra goodies or consideration on arrival, or are they even

acknowledged as such.

 

I wonder what God is thinking as he watches

his children destroy the habitats he created for them,

as we kill off all humans, wildlife, insects and flowers,

And everything else larger than microbes.

 

I wonder what the welcome to God’s facility will be when the Great Migration begins.   

 

I wonder if God answers questions about his creation of the universe, and why He wanted to create the whole shebang all at once, rather than just the little blue marble of the Earth to begin with.

 

And I wonder if I will be able to find the souls of Adam and Eve among all the souls in Heaven.  And if I can find them, will I be able to get the true skinny about what really happened in the Garden of Eden?

 

I wonder why God used such trite symbols as “Apple” and “Snake” for such a monumental event in the Garden of Eden, when some

frisky cuddling on a cold night

 would set the stage for establishing the concepts of Love and Humanity.

 

I wonder if God merely wanted some folks to be around to keep him company. And if he did start with the Big Bang, then wait for millions of billions of years for the matter to settle into stars, constellations, planets, and the Earth, and then wait more millions of years for humans to evolve, and endure, and be taught

to adore him and praise him.

What amazing patience and self denial.

 

And I wonder, if He was not lonesome,

why did He bother with such a major project.

 

Then I wonder if, at the time He pushed the magic button, He understood that He was also initiating the passage of ‘time’ --

though perhaps not for all eternity.

 

I wonder if I can send a letter to God and

      expect to receive a courtesy reply,

       as I would from Santa.

 

I wonder if the Souls in Heaven have freedom of Interest and Opinion, and Desires, and Thoughts.

 

And I wonder if the Souls of innocent babies are treated differently from mature souls in Heaven.

 

 

I wonder, if God is ethereal, how we can be made in his image.

 

And I wonder if there is an endless number of smaller and smaller specks of matter for us to envision and search for. And I wonder if we will ever understand how two specks a great distance apart can be so entangled as to require them

to dance together

the same dance

at the same time.

 

I wonder if God so loves his souls on earth, why he treats so many so unlovingly.  I wonder why he permits such a large number of his innocent children to be starved to death, or murdered by bad people,

or otherwise die so needlessly.

 

And I wonder, if he so loves his children, why he lets them be born with inhumane physical and mental deficiencies, or lets them die of cancer and other horrible causes.

 

All this and more,

in spite of countless and endless prayers begging and beseeching him to intercede and give the children a chance

    to live the life they were conceived to live.

 

And I wonder if he celebrates their birth

      before he permits them to die.

 

I wonder what the parents of the

    school massacre children would think if

   they overheard someone at the scene say

  “There but for the grace of God go I.”

 

And I wonder if a priest

standing at a school massacre scene could still avow that God is all powerful, all knowing, and all loving.

And pray to him and believe in his mercy and his love.

 

I wonder how God chooses his angels, and can a soul become an angel, and how long they can stay an angel.  And how do angels relate with God and with souls?  And what are angels assigned to do, and are they rewarded for doing a good job; and can they refuse the assignment and stay just souls?

 

And I wonder if I would really want to be an angel.


2022 10 05 -

A “created” cosmos (as the one in which we seem to exist) is a reasonable idea – but a “created” universe is functionally impossible.

E PLURIBUS UNUM

 The Cosmic Connectedness (or Conscious-ness) perceived as Divine Oneness that permeates the Universe is undeniable. Equally undeniable is that the unique individuations that are created by experience provide the dynamic by which this Oneness is made manifest. Every one of us is an invigoration of the spark of Life that is present as Cosmic Connectedness, while at the same time being utterly and beautifully unique in presentation – as is every star in the universe.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2022

On this date in 1954 my dear sister Michelle came into this now strangely altered world.           

    You were my boon companion on innumerable camping and fishing trips plus various jaunts both North and South.

      You also gave me houseroom and recuperative space after my lengthy and ultimately rather witless stay is Southeast Asia.

      In many other ways I wouldn't have come as far in this wacky world without your compassion and support which I cherish and respect beyond measure.

I love you and wish

a very Happy Birthday!

143Mark

2022 09 18 – Not Pondering Today

Pondering seems to be inducing snoozing; so be it...

2022 09 17 – Why to Eschew Religion

 

Where religion has fouled human consciousness is in its attempt to ameliorate suffering and distress its promises an “afterlife” of joy, peace, elation...

   This completely unsubstantiated fantasy induces a kind of psychic lethargy that suppresses ambition as well as critical thinking.

2022 09 16 – Moving Migrants

 

Tom Doubter ruminates: Governors deSantis and Abbott have hit upon the  novel notion of shipping what they obviously consider refuse out of state to the North. Clearly other metropolitan areas should establish similar programs featuring fleets of dump trucks and tankers delivering garbage and sewage to Florida and Texas.

2022 09 15 – Whistle Stops

When planning your day, it is useful to including a couple of “whistle-stop pondering” pauses to evaluate how your time is being best employed.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SCOTT PELKEY,

BROTHER, ROOM-MATE, BOON COMPANION, CONFIDANTE, GUIDE.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER BUZZ!

I LOVE YOU

2022 09 13 – Consciousness as Integral

Consciousness is one of an infinite number of mediums by which the vibrant force that permeates the cosmos expresses. Consciousness is thus an integral component of the cosmos. And, self-awareness is a subset of consciousness.

2022 09 12 – King Charles III

Though custom and tradition dating from the deposition of James II in 1689 effectively preclude an English monarch from political activism I believe that social activism shuld be well within the purview of oany world citizen. In this context it is my fervent hope that Charles will not be cowed by the legacy of demure non-controversy so revered in his mother and be willing to speak forthrightly on at least two subjects known to be of importance to not only himself by our world at large – the environment and climate change.

    I believe that by employing the language of science an activist, albeit non-political King can be a vital force for good by not standing by, ceremoniously mute.

2022 09 11 – Stupid Mistakes

Observed Nasrudin: Performing a stupid mistake in the public eye can be an effective teaching device, though doing so to extremes can prove fatal.

2022 09 10 – Life Exists

Life exists so that the question can be asked “Why does life exist?”

2022 09 09 – Dark Matter of the Brain

Although, from the point of view of science, Dark Matter is still unfathomable, from a poetic perspective it is easy to regard the human brain as a microcosmic rendering of Dark Matter.

   The traditional view of our cosmos is of huge areas of visible, detectable matter:  galaxies, stars, black holes, etc. Now astrophysics informs us that there exist much vaster areas of invisible, unidentifiable matter much larger than anything we can see. This “dark matter” is only detectable by its unfathomable interaction with the known, visible matter. 

   Our brains are composed of an estimated 100 billion neurons, capable of over 300 trillion synaptic connections. Each of the

se connections produces a subatomic electrical field that interacts with other fields, creating neural networks. Some of these neural networks result in thoughts, ideas, emotions -- identifiable characteristics of the thinking process. 

    However, the vast majority of these connections do not become engaged and thus are temporarily unrecognized free-floating potential. This potential can be thought of as the Dark Matter of the brain and regarded as the nursery of thoughts.

2022 09 08 – SciSprt Description

The Science and Spirituality Study Group is dedicated to the proposition that science and spirituality are actually two sides of the same coin. That coin can be recognized as humanity's quest for an increasingly profound comprehension of reality, tangible as well as ephemeral.

  From time immemorial, Mankind has sought answers to the deep questions related to “beingness” and consciousness.

  Spirituality, mostly cloaked in myth and superstition, provided early answers. With the advent of what we know as the scientific method, established largely by Aristotle, what had been called mysterious began to be recognized as naturally occurring dynamics and processes. As more is revealed, spirituality begins to mature into more intellectual abstraction and is therefore more philosophically tantalizing.

  Thus, the Science and Spirituality Study Group operates as a sort of laboratory where we examine the dynamic intersection of current scientific research and the deep intuition that manifests as seductively rresistable curiosity.

2022 09 07 – The Queen

My sources indicate that the Queen's last words were, “Put Trump in The Tower.”

2022 09 06 – Me, Windows 10 and JAWS

Another very productive day with my JAWS tutor. Afterwards I succeeded in transferring several documents from the non-speaking Windows 7 machine into the mechanically garrulous JAWS-laden Windows 10 rig.

    An interesting aspect to this is that of late I’ve saved any incoming documents at 36 point type so as to facilitate reading. However, since the new rig can't possibly care what size type it employs to read to me, I can now save material at much smaller font sizes. In so doing I’m conserving electrons as well as storage space.

     More revelations to come.

2022 09 05 – Labor Day

For some improbable reason whenever Labor Day comes around, I imagine women all over Earth straining to give birth...

2022 09 04 – Dark Libations

Tom Doubter suggests that the

bourbon-and-branch being

currently served in Jackson

MS will induce some downright

peculiar intoxication moments.

2022 09 03 – Secrets, Top and Otherwise

Tom Doubter wonders, will Trump realize enough money from the sale of our nation's secret document hoard to cover his legal fees after current crop of lawyer-toads initiate their proceedings of collection?

2022 09 02 – Science and Spirituality Study Group

Today the SciSprt group tackled some preliminary contemplations on the subject of Dark Matter, as noted below. We will spend the next 2-3 weeks continuing to try and unravel the ambiguities that baffle cosmologists and astronomers alike. With our peculiar forms of insight, I feel certain that we will offer some imaginative enlightenment for these diligent scientists.

2022 09 01 – Learning JAWS

Today I had my third session with Don Knowles, my assigned tutor from ILB. We continue as we began, finding points of parallel in our approach to using the JAW screen-reader program – some prosaic, some quixotic. Don describes the program as “layered” and asserts that no one will ever grasp all of its intricacies. This suits both of us since we have generally similar uses – composition, file retrieval and editing, email and any such ancillary applications that might enhance these activities.

   Don and I will be meeting two days per week for hourly sessions. My off time is spent in practicing what I have gleaned from each such hour – homework one might say.

   More updates as I continue to master mouse-less and monitor-less computing.

2022 08 31 – Voyager and Dark Matter

In 1977, two Voyager deep-space probes were launched. Now xx years later, they have reached the outer edge of our solar system, 11 billion miles out from the Sun. That's 118 astronomical units (AUs). An AU is the distance from the Sun to the Earth: 93,000,000 miles.

At this distance the solar wind intersects with interstellar space. Far from empty, this space is laden with uncountable cosmic rays. These energetic rays, coming from neutron stars, supernovas, black holes, and no doubt other yet-undiscovered sources, present potentially deadly radiation.

Voyager found that, even at the great distance of 11 billion miles, the solar wind was able to repulse these cosmic rays, thus protecting us (and any other life forms that may exist in our solar system) from harm.

However, in deep space where we imagine dark matter to be found, no such protection exists and these cosmic rays would bombard the trillions and trillions of sub-atomic particles existing there. This interaction could provide the force necessary to bind these free-floating sub-atomic particles into forms that are useful in the construction of the visible cosmos.

Thus, if dark matter can be thought of as the nursery of stars, the cosmic rays, though deadly to us, can be seen as the “formula” that nourishes them.

2022 08 30 – Lies, Damn Lies...

When Mark Twain intomed that “There are lies, damn lies and statistics he obviously regarded statistics as the worst of the lot.

Certainly incomplete and improperly arranged statistical information can be employed ill intent. However, legitimate data compiled statistically is a bedrock of scientific, social and compassionate decision making.

2022 08 29 – Suffering

The only way to decrease suffering is to decrease ignorance.

CONSTRUCTION ZONE-

ZONE

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][[][][]

2022 08 28

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAREST FRIEND,

VICTOR MORTEL

++++++++++++

Sent with love, respect and deeply heartfelt thanks for more than 54 years of friendship, support and growth.

HAIL AND FELICITATIONS!



2022 08 27 – Religious Spider Web

Religious belief in our culture can be likened to a sticky spider web that has been draped over our brains, creeping and sinking into the many crevices of the cortex.


2022 08 26 – The Gods Themselves

In contemporary America there is wisdom and some small solace in the words of Fredrich Schiller: “Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.”

    Schiller's observation being poignantly obvious, the secular humanist is bequeathed the birthright and obligation to polish the lamp of enlightenment wherever possible.

2022 08 25 – Alpha Maleness

In the currently evolved plutocracies that dominate the Western or so-called “First World” alpha males no longer thump or bash rivals for supremacy – they outbid them.

2022 08 24 – AUGUST-ING

AUGUST APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN MOSTLY A MONTH OF GATHERING, SORTING AND PONDERING...

                            ruminatingly yours, the author

2022 08 24 – Infinity + Eternity

Time is a convention used to measure change. Space is a convention used to measure distance - - - neither have meaning or purpose in an infinite and eternal universe.

Mearing and purpose are injected by momentarily manifest concentrations of consciousness identified as “lives”.

2022 07 31 – July Passes

Seems that the last days of July 2022 have been more journalish than ponderfuls; sometimes it be's like dat...

2022 07 30 – Sleepy Day

The various meds prescribed to alleviate discomfort associated with Thursday's procedure have made it deceptively easy to drift into greater and lesser degrees of consciousness – and so have I done today.

2022 07 29 – Prostate Follow-up

I was surprised and gratified to receive an early morning phone call from my urologists office checking to see how I had fared during the night succeeding yesterday’s procedure. Happily, I was able to report that all reactions were within anticipated parameters so we both were able to end the conversation with a cheery disposition.

2022 07 28 – Prostate Procedure Day

A date that will live in the annals of Pelkey exposure.

    The procedure is called Uro-Lift and the effect is the widening of an aperture through which some of our precious bodily fluids are released from the subject’s body.

      The first step was straight forward – the insertion of an IV used to inject a sleeping potion into my nervous system, presumptively to ensure that I wouldn't panic at the sight of my genitals being exposed and try to leave the room.

    Next, I was instructed to remove my pants (and underpants if any). Unhesitatingly I complied.

    The next step caught me a bit off-guard as I was instructed to place my feet in a set of raised stirrups. As any of the ladies reading this can attest, this position engenders in one a peculiar sense of vulnerability. I was however assured by the young lady technician that “We're going to put you sleep”. Nodding assent, I waited. A few minutes more of prep and the young repeated, “We are going to put you to sleep” to which I agreed was a good idea. A bit more arranging of utensils and dials, whereupon the young lady once more advised “we are going to put you to sleep”. Feeling fully informed of their intentions I wondered if I was ignoring some critically useful response, I asked  mock frustration, “Would  like   me to tell you when I'm asleep?” The mood in the room though never heavy as cheerfully lightened by this bit of repartee.

    The procedure went flawlessly and the Doc sent me home with the observation that I was good candidate for this procedure and all looked very well.

2022 07 27 – Preparations per pending Pelkey  prostate procedure proceeding  placidly; practioners propound personal patient  participation prerequisite.

2022 07 26 – The Urge to Ponder

On some days the urge to ponder is not forthcoming; not unlike those days when the prompt to evacuate one's bowels never quite seems manifest.

2022 07 25 – The Long Wait

Today I accompanied Jean to an eye doc appointment. Typically, there is an uncomfortably long stay in the waiting room but today the wait was an unconscionably long two hours before even being prepped for their treatment, a couple of eyedrops and a subsequent pause for them to take effect.

   I said to Jean that were this my doctor I would ask for a reference to colleague whose practice permitted a more respectful appreciation of the patients’ time.

2022 07 24 – A Rather Dull Sunday

I would have avoided watching a football game, but there were none scheduled. So, I avoided watching various networks rehash news snippets and offer tiresome speculation about what the implications might be derived from said news.

2022 07 23 – Doldrums

pondering flat water and no wind...

2022 07 22 – Deeply-rooted Fallacy

Recent rulings by the Supreme Court, combined with the misperceived “rise” in Christian Nationalism, reveal the deep and prevalent, if misguided, reliance upon religious improbabilities in the American populace. Upon consideration, it is of small wonder that we disturbingly continue to deface our currency with the empty motto “In God We Trust”.

2022 07 21 – Dental Hygiene – Part 1

By 1972, I found that after years of slipshod attention and a couple of years living on the road, I had drifted away any regular practice of dental hygiene.

   I thus found it necessary to devise a mechanism that would prompt me to brush my teeth each day. Mustering my mighty intellect, I came up with a plan: in large lettering, I wrote and then pasted on my bathroom mirror a sign which read “BRUSH YOUR TEETH”.

   Looking back, I find interesting that I chose to address myself in the second person, as if I were being admonished by some perhaps metaphysical authority figure. I could just as easily written “BRUNCH MY TEETH”.

   Now, some 50 years later, I attach no great significance to this choice beyond a moment of self-observational pondering

2022 07 20 – Beauty in its Various Aspects

The words “beauty” and “beautiful” are invoked to instill emotional and psychological substance to a wide variety of human experience. A sunset can as readily be described as beautiful as can a painting. Interesting that the one is motile and dynamic, the other, technically, static.

    A well-executed high-dive, a graceful dance performance, a steeple-chase can all be described as having been accomplished beautifully. The quality of beauty can be ascribed to a meteor shower as easily as to a rainbow trout.

    A symphony is regularly identified as beautiful music and an opera star is commonly said to possess a beautiful voice.

   I could go on but the point is that “beauty” is a multi-faceted experience of the human condition. And, while beauty is truly “in the eye of the beholder” the effect of the interpretation is intrinsically evocative.

-+-+-+-+-+-

I choose to understand this as an example of the individuated commonality of consciousness and thus a “portal” to the experience of cosmic unity of dynamism, often characterized as “oneness.”

2022 07 19 – Proposed Texas Justice

I'd like to see the derelict police officers and the differing city officials (as well the deranged governor Abboott) be required to spend a night sleeping on the blood-soaked floors in the school rooms of the Uvalde elementary school. I don't believe in ghosts but I’m convinced that the specters evoked by the environment in combination with human imagination would serve to horrify and humiliate these criminals of omission.

2022 07 18 – Feng Shui Not So Good

2022 07 17 – Information

Despite theories to the contrary, information can no more be “lost” or destroyed than can energy. Information can be coded, encrypted, garbled, misfiled or hidden but in the long run it will manifest. The challenge is for conscious entities to manage and employ information in temporal manifestations that best promote efficacious compassion.

2022 07 16 – Assembled Rather than Created

Seeing as how all the constituent parts have always been eternally available it is   semantically it is more precise to describe the elements of our cosmos as being “assembled” rather “created”. 

2022 07 15 – zzzzzz...   

Pondering enzymes not secreting this morning --- sigghh...

2022 07 14 – Bastille Day

I wonder if the Bastille could be revivified but this time as an intake facility as a comfy insane asylum for The Dumpster and his cronies?

2022 07 13 – Hu Pelputt Rings In

Hu Pelputt responds to Tom Doubter's query below: It would make sense to gther corroborative evidence from Gioulboob and ButtBuddy to build an ironclad case against Weaseal-in-Chief, leading to an indictment.

2022 07 12 – Dr Pangborn revised

2:15 in the morning, 95 degrees F – Life is good in this “best of all possible worlds” . . . even in Phoenix AZ.

2022 07 11 – Judicial Bafflement

Tom Doubter muses confusedly: How is it that the Georgia attorney general sees fit to issue subpoenas for Rudy Gulianaboob ond the South Caralia Flamer, Lindsey Booty-Buddy but overlooks the Vote-Manipulator-in-Chief?

2022 07 10 – Wisdom

Wisdom provides a fertile constructive zone for insight; common sense invokes the employment thereof.

 2022 07 09 – Black Hole-Ness

It now appears that black holes are not infinite gravity wells. They expel vast amounts of gamma rays.  This permits a novel and very practical interpretation of their role in the cosmos. As they gather in and absorb all manner of cosmic detritus from stars, planets, meteors, asteroids, comets etc. they can be perceived as cosmic trash compactors. In this dynamic their immense gravity compresses all apparent matter into its subatomic fundamental constituency and then reintegrates the released energy back into the cosmos. Gamma rays are known to interact dramatically with what they encounter and I would surmise that upon encountering dark matter/energy they may well provide the catalyst that galvanizes the inchoate subatomic particles therein more employable forms which then materialize as constructive elements in the visible cosmos.

2022 07 08 - ?-?-?-?

PONDEROSO POQUITO...

2022 07 07 – Not Moving But Becoming

 

Many years ago, I was bemused by the odd notion that rather than moving through our environment we are actually becoming the next available space. And, by extension all other perceived motion was similarly describable by the transcendental dynamic.

     Admittedly a rather peculiar and bizarre rearranging of the function of physics, but the confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson/field and such subatomic behaviors as quantum entanglement and quantum tunneling it no longer seems quite so far—fetched.

2022 07 06 – Life Begins

It seems probable that “life” as we know it resulted from the intersection of solar energy and the radiant energy emanating from the magnetic core of the Earth. Such intersective interaction would produce a catalytic environment conducive to the manifestation of the Vibrant Force intrinsic to the cosmos.

2022 07 05 – Life Energy

Upon the transition we perceive as death the energetic fields which had coalesced to form a coherent entity do not dissipate but are variously reconstituted in myriad new forms. Possibly such new formations bare an integral imprint carried over from the previous incarnation.

2022 07 04 – Independence Re-vitalization

 

In these dark times of judicial social retrogression, I find that the most effective defense against despair lies in some form of meditation. Among other advantages meditation provides the platform of perspective that permits one to practice being “in the world but not of it”.

2022 07 03 -

Referencing posts 2022 06 26 and 2022 07 02 I find that I have accumulated 71+ years of “being here now” moments; some vividly re-livable, others merely dimly recalled, yet all present in sculpting of my ongoing.

2022 07 02 – I Am...

...not a sensualist

...an intellectualist

...not a religionist

...an atheist metaphysician

 

and finally:

I am that I am,

being hero now

2022 07 01 – A New Catchphrase

 

Tom Doubter observes:  The recent decisions by the US Supremee Court suggest that some variation of “6-3” or perhaps just the number “623” will become a synonym for repression, police state, or simply retrogressive ideologies.

2022 06 30 - ...-isms

It would be an oversimplication to attribute the world's ills to either capitalism or communism.

    Rather, an absence or blunting of compassionism can be more readily seen as the culprit.

   This deduction prompts a distressing existential question: is the condition inherent in humanity or a vestigial survival dynamic gone amok?

2022 06 26 – A Notable Date

71 years ago today I began my independent existerce on this planet. Rather disappointingly this is the only planet I have any recollection of living on. My abiding sense of continuity however suggests that there exist other possibilities.

2022 06 08 – Ponder Wonder

They are not adrift who persist in wonder,

For is such musing not akin to pondering

to stretch one's mind to horizons yonder?

2022 06 07 – Known vs Unknown

 

Life is a steady process of the unknown becoming the known. For they who are wiling to engage in critical or implicative thinking the process may be irksome at times but never will it be terrifying or immobilizing.

2022 06 01 – Blessings

 

As a secular humanist, I find the concept of “God” to be unnecessary to explain the existence of the universe. The universe is more realistically perceived as an infinitely large, eternally present tablet upon which myriad depictions of creation, destruction, and reconstitution are endlessly enacted.

    There are, however, many attributes of godliness that are useful and deserving of promulgation, blessings being especially poignant.

   Blessings are those pockets of grace we humans create when we meld our compassion into a transcendent enfolding of one another's hopes, aspirations, and dreams.

2022 05 31 – Resonance as Faith

 


The existential resonance of vitality establishes the potential for faith. So long as there exists faith in the reverence and elevation of love and beauty, the rhythms of spiritual yearning will propel the expansion of consciousness.

2022 05 30 - Beauty

That which is beautiful is almost never static;

rather, beauty is vibrant, motivating, shifting in perspective,

and fundamentally dynamic.

2022 05 29 - Is-ness

 

There are three citations listed below that will be summarized in the final conclusion.

 

Rene Decartes: “I think, therefore I am.”

 

William James: “I may doubt that I exist, but I cannot doubt that I doubt.”

 

Baba Ram Dass: “Be Here Now.”

 

therefore:

 

I AM THAT I AM

2022 05 08 – PONDERING UPDATE

Regular readers of this currently rather irregular posting repository will have observed a paucity of pertinent ponderings.  I do not cogitate less but am in a period of transition from a visually oriented environment to a aurally oriented one. New machinery plus a revamping of my mental landscape has resulted in a more slowly developing learning curve than anticipated.

     New horizons of rumination, cogitation, and pondering, some characterized by limitation, others enhanced by those very limitations, await, stymied only by my traditionally lackluster work habits.

   In short, still here, still unraveling that which induces pondering, I will return to print as quickly as the dint of effort and the  osmotic accretion of new disciplines permits.

Love,

-   - - Mark

HiatusHi

2022 03 21 – Chemistry vs Biology


Recently I heard an interesting question on a program about the origins of life: “How does chemistry become biology?”


For some time I have phrased this question as: “What catalyst transforms molecular replication and aggregation into animation?”


In his book, A Short History of Nearly Eerything Bill Bryson frames the question thusly: "At some point a bag of chemicals twitched and became animate.”


In each of these presentations of the question there is a key word describing the action of transition into that.

2022 03 20 - Language and Thought

We are at great moral and ethical peril when we substitute language for thought.

2022 03 19 – The Promised Land

In the early days of domestication of animals it was regularly necessary to move the herds from seasonally inhospitable areas to perhaps unknown new grazing fields. At such times the itinerant herdsmen were “pormised” by their leaders and shamans a return to the familiar environments. Such is the origin of “The Promised Land” now warped to accommodate false religious and political destinies.

2022 03 18 – Chosen People

If humanity represents “Gods Chosen People” it seems that He/She made a pretty poor bargain. Either that or He/She is one sadistic entity.

2022 03 17 – St Patrick's Day


Some facts not commonly known on the subject:

1 – St Patrick was not Irish - he was born in Cornwall;

2 – In all early depictions of St Patrick show him not in green robes but blue;

3 – He did not drive any snakes from Ireland – there were no snakes in Ireland;

4 – The first ever St Patrick's Day parade was held in New York City; the folks back in the Emerald Isle liked the notion and ran with it.

Cat burial day...

2022 03 15 – ides

Not the best day to be Julius Ceasar...

2022 03 14 – To Be or to Be What?

Descartes observes: “I think therefore I am”. This however leaves room for smidgen of doubt – I could imagine that I think.

William James clarifies: “I may doubt that I exist but I cannot doubt that I doubt”.

a topical note

2022 03 13 – Putin's Dementia

Vladimir Putin seems determined to etch his name onto the scroll of world history, if not by re-establishing the now-dismantled and always illegitimate USSR, then by any means necessary.

It is likely that his use of chemical and/or bacteriological weapons in his criminal assault on Ukraine will prove ineffectual in cementing him as dastardly in history.

The only remaining outlet for his demented narcissism will be the deployment of nuclear weapons. This option, however, may reveal a surprise. It seems probable that he will encounter a rival in such a descent into madness.

It may well be that North Korea's Kim Jung-un would be equally seduced by the prospect of becoming only the second man to deploy atomic power in the annihilation of fellow humans.

Neither prospect is especially attractive.

2022 03 12 – Half Glasses

A different take on the old saw about a glass being “haif-full or half-empty” - a half-empty glass can be perceived as potential waiting to be fulfilled.

2022 03 11 – Infinity Has No Purpose

Infinity has no purpose – only its inhabitants have such.

An infinite and eternal universe cannot have a definable purpose. Purpose is goal oriented and infinity is total goal achievement – the embodiment and supercedure of all goals.

2022 03 10 – Higgs Portal

Life” as we know on Earth is not a result of the interaction of the currently recognized four forces. Rather it is a unique force unto itself, an integral component of the the make-up of the Universe – The Vibrant Force. As with the other identified forces. The Vbiroawn Force is not divine, is devoid of peresastiy, utterly lacking in “purpose” and indifferent to the hopes and aspirations of humanity.

This force exists as potential throughout the Universe, becoming manifest viable conditions emerge. Our cosmos is one such example of this viability. ...dark matter/energy... > Higgs Boson as a primal conjunction of subatomic particles lasting only so long enough for these particles to establish integrity before separating into the constitutive element we perceive as our cosmos. Think of dark matter/energy as a reservoir or sort of subatomic nursery and the Higgs Field as the exit portal. --- [and gamma radiation emanating from black holes as the stimulant for quark coalescence into protoatomic nuclei.


2022 03 09 – Consumerism Amok – or Buy More, Store More

I just heard a commercial for a subscription service/product that sends the subscriber each month a box of nifty “stuff”. It is isn't enough that this consumption-driven culture has preduced a grouwth industry out of the need for rental storage space to keep all the stuff we think we need to possess. The drive to accumulate has spawned an offshoot industry that will provide us with “stuff” sight unseen, that we never even knew we wanted – a monthly fix the accumulation addicted, delivered right to your door.

2022 03 08 – Reincarnation

Is reincarnation a solely human state of being? Or, do our animal cousins also climb and descend the web of life? Does a salamander reincarnate as an anaconda? Or perhaps a rattlesnake? Does a raccoon find a new life as a grizzly bear?

Perhaps the consciousness that permeates all life is indifferent as to its next manifestation, slipping seamlessly from one vibrant form to the next in an endles quest for experience.


022 03 07 – Truncated Haiku


The cosmos implies,

I infer...

2022 02 06 – What if...

Hew Pelput frets: “What if it turns out that Earth's human occupants are the most evolved form of consciousness in the cosmos??”

2022 03 05 – No Paradoxes

Tom Doubter observe: “There are no paradoxes in infinity - only unresloved questions.

...lengthy hiatus...
Too much  SciSprt, eyeball and kidney distraction

2022 02 18 – Meditation Moments

An interesting effect reported by many who engage in regular periods of meditation is a noticable increase in the occurance of moments of synchonicity and serendipity in their lives.

2022 02 17 – Science is NOT the New Religion

Religions, especially Western religions, promote the ideas that an omnipotent being will rescue us from calamity. One need look no further than the middle of the 20th century to see how wrong this idea is.

To suggest that “Science is the new religion” is simply to reiterate the same sort of misapprehension.

To rather loosely paraphrase Einstein, one cannot use the spade that dug the pit one is in to dig oneself out.*

----------------------

*Einstein famously said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

2022 02 16 – False Halcyons

As America slips into an artificial bliss wallowing in a non-existent halcyon past where all was well we see that they who preach a gospel of “tried and true” as contrasted to “different and new”, will hold the power to mold societies...until the revolution.

2022 02 15 – I Sing the Body Metaphysic

The vibrant force insists that animation blossoms. We are literally forced into existence. As consciousness matures and “i am that I am” increasingly clarifies it is more and more evident that I am not the body but rather I am the ability to occupy a body, I am not the emotion, I am the capacitf to experience of emotion.

2022 02 14 – Instinct as Consciousness

An easily overlooked aspect of the pervasive nature of consciousness is what is commenly described and then dismusseivelly categorized as instinct.

Most frequently instinct is perceived in the realm of non-sapien life-forms – suckling, scorpion stinging, bees navigating, etc.,etc. It is also a somewhat more elusively part of human awareness, recogizable asthe instinct of fear when no obvious danger is perceptible. Other such examples abound.

Apparetly consciousnes can be ascertained to exist in myriad manifestations and formation. We ignore this dynamism at our peril.

2022 02 13 – Soul vs Body

is the body the envelope that permits the souhl to express? Or perhaps is the soul that empowers the messaging system manifested by the body?

2022 02 12 – Intercosmotic Interval

The universe is infinite, our cosmos is likely finite. The existence of our cosmos, if finite, implies the existence of other cosmic formations.

I therefore introduce a new term into the lexicon associated with the study of the universe: intercosmotic interval.



This term to be used to describe non-descript “voids” in time and space separating various cosmi.

2022 02 11 – Science and Spirituality Mission Statement


MISSION STATEMENT

The Science and Spirituality Study Group is dedicated to the proposition that these two disciplines are not mutually exclusive but rather each can enhance the consciousness that invigorates both. An example of what is meant here is that “science” has served to demonstrate reality that underlies many the insights formerly only the province of mystics, seers and visionaries. For instance, Democritus of Greece, working without microscope or any any other form physical perception, theorized that the cosmos was composed of tiny objects he referred to as “atoms”. It wasn't until the 20th century that his “theory” was demonstrated to be true via the scientific method. There are countless other examples of knowledge preceding verification and this is where spirituality and science intersect, and therefore what is being studied and discussed weekly in the Science and Spirituality Study Group.


2022 02 10 – Cell Division Pondered


Hue Pelput cogitates:

What quality of The Vibrant Force instigates mitosis?

2022 02 09 – Mi Cosmos, su Cosmos


A COSMIC POINT OF VEW


We find ourselves living on an extremely fertile planet that revolves on its axis at about 900 miles per hour while traveling its orbit around its star, our Sun, at roughly 66,000 mph. And while this is very energetic, it is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the dynamics of the Milky Way galaxy and the cosmos in which it exists.



But, not only do we live on this Earth, we are composed of it.



From conception to disintegration each of us is a discrete bundle of Earth's natural resources. And these natural resources are composed of elements that come from the hearts of exploding stars, having traveled almost unimaginable distances to be accumulated in the gravitational vortex that became our Solar System. As Carl Sagan put it “We are star-stuff”.



However, astrophysicists, astronomers and cosmologists tell us that fully 95% of our Universe is not observable to our senses or instruments. This star-stuff, which composes everything we see around us, is only 5% of the mass of the Universe.



In other words, science has only this 5% of observable phenomena with which to construct theories and models to explain the other vast regions, known as Dark Matter and Dark Energy.



So it is that our desire for more comprehension, our imagination, our very consciousness, compels us to seek answers beyond the scope of science. This questing is fueled by the unshakable sixth-sense that promises, however subtly, that answers are there to be accessed.



This deep intuition is most conveniently summed up in the word spirituality.



Put another way, the quest for knowledge can be described as science, the deep intuition that assures us that such knowledge is our birthright can be described as spirituality. -


This combination of science and spirituality,



which we embody,


provides a fascinating perspective:



We are in fact the eyes and ears of the Universe,


employing self-knowledge in the ongoing processes of Creation.

2022 02 08 – Non-Compasionate Vibrancy

Nature, manifesting as The Vibrant or Life Force is without compassion. Compassion is a consciousness develepment of intellect. Its source is self-awarenss which tends to mature into an awareness of others, initionally as kinship. …

.kinship>clan>tribe>...and if Dr Pangloss morality which includes compassion.

[does compassion lead to moraltiy or morality to compassion? Is one a subset of the other? If moraltiy is the fundamntal understnadnig that your welfare is similar to mine then compassion is a tool of moraltiy...]

2022 01 26 – Imponderable Resolved

Tom Doubter: Why would any poor people vote for Republican candidates?

The Ponderer: Because the disenfranchised feel the most imminent threat from boom&bust economies and conservative mealymouths invariably promise a return to the “good old days”, which of course only exist in 1950's television.


2022 01 25 – Infinity has no Limits

Funny thing about infinity: in infinity anything that can happen will happen...

2022 01 24 – Time has its Limits

Funny thing about time: in eternity it has no meaning...

2022 01 23 – Minority Rule

America's Republicans brandish their ignorance of history like scythe, hacking human rights, moral and ethical precepts and customs, and fisally their own legs out from under themselves.

Minority rule has been shown throught history to ultimtely ieffectual and ultimately suicidal.

2022 01 22 – Tortillas, French Toast, Kitty Litter, etc.

I am puzzled at the absence of reported miraculous sightings of the fhe face of Trump on the above mentioned media.

2022 01 21 - Knowing vs Expressing


Mulla Nasrudin: Merely knowing a thing to be so does not instill in the knower the ability to express such knowledge in either words or life activities.


Tom Doubter: Master, I do not understand. If I know a thing, am I not the automatic expression thereof?


Nasrudin: Consider: A man may know that kindness evokes more satisfactory social interaction, but may fall prey to a foul mood and behave in an unkindly fashion to his detriment.


Tom Doubter: Well...I know that I am composed of atoms and molecules that burst from the hearts of exploding stars. But how can such subtle knowing be expressed in daily life and interactions?


Nasrudin: Hmmm...Try acting with reverence to such origins which make you at one with all – all that lives as well as all that will someday be alive. Pause sometimes to kiss the very ground from which you sprang.


Tom Doubter: But Master, I sprang not from the ground but from my Mother's womb.


Nasrudin: And while you were growing in your Mother's belly, whence came the nourishment that permitted you to grow big enough to spring forth? Did it not come from the food and drink she consumed so as to pass on to you? Is not the source of this nourishment the very same Earth I urge you to treat with reverence?

Tom Doubter: Why, yes! Of course this is so!


Nasrudin: Therefore I encourage you to savor fully that which you eat and drink, for it too is of the same source. To be sure, the destiny of all that exists in the universe is vibrancy and life in some manifestation.

2022 01 18 --- WORKING

2022 01 17 - “No-Vac” “Joke-O-” vic

So, the World's top-ranked tennis pro has found his arrogant ass unceremoniously deported from Australia. Strike a blow for the deconstruction of hubris!

2022 01 16 – Shameless vs Shameful

Let's examine the linguistic and social behavior implications in the application of these two words... more to come

2022 01 15 – A Topical Sports Note

The world's #1 ranked tennis player, Novak Jokovic has had his Australian visa revoked and therefere cannot compete in the Auntralian Open. The revokation stems from his lying abut his vaccination status, claiming to have been vaccinated against Covid 19 when in fact there is no record of such.

During this time of pandemic Australia has barred entry into the country to any non-vaccinated person but apparently the tennis pro considered himself exempt from such pedestrian regulations or perhaps his status would suggest to the Australian immigration authorities that they should overlook his dishonest behavior. So for, not so. The matter is currently under adjudication in the Australian courts.

In my opinion Mr Jokovic should be fined $1,000,000 for lying and potentially endangering the host country; deported fortwith and banned from re-entry to the country for at least two years. Harsh? Perhaps, but sports figures in our culture have attained and undeserved heroic status and are therefore held to an enqually undeserved ethical standard. (And by-the-way: I think Aaron Rogers should receive equally harsh treament from the NFL ann the Green Bay fandom.)

At this time in world history no one should be allowed to flout regulations designed to protect the health and safety of their fellow citizens, no matter how hard they can hit a small round object or hurl and oblate spheroid.

2022 01 14 – Knowing vs Expressing

Mulla Nasrudin: Merely knowing a thing to be so does not instill in the knower tha ability to express such knowledge in either words or life activitios.


Tom Doubter: Master I do not understand. If I know a thing am I not the automatic expression thereof?


Nasrudin: Consider – a man may know that kindness evokes more satisfactory social interaction but may fall prey to a foul mood and behave in an unkindly fashion to his detriment.


Tom Doubter: Well...i know that I am composed of atoms and molecules that burst from the hearts of exploding stars. But how can such knowing be expressed in daily life and interactions?


Nasrudin: By acting with reverence to such origins which make you at one with all – all that lives as well as all that will someday be alive. Kiss the ground from which you sprang; saver that which you eat and drink for it too is of the same source. To be sure, the distiny of all that exists in the universe is vibrancy and life in some manifestation.

2022 01 13 – Earth without Rocks

Imagine for a moment Earth without rocks, sand, crust, mantle, core – all that is commonly regarded as inanimate. What would be left?

A very large aggregate composed of all manner of flora and fauna - a pulsing, seething mass of one-celled animals all the way up to giant sequoias and blue whales (not to overlook a large mushroom in Oregon) – in other words - life.

2022 01 02 – An Updated Enforcement of Assaul Law

During this time of pandemic any person refusing to wear a mask in public is guilty of assault and should be subject ta arrest and quarantine.

2022 01 01 – Is Life Required

Is life a requisite element for the existence of the universe? DesCartes cogito ergo sum might suggest that it is but this is obviously anthropocentric. It is reminiscent of the Zen koan “if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it does it make a sound?” The answer is of course the sound waves reverberate – but does it matter?


Pondering...

2021 12 29 – NIH Report on Long-Haul Covid

I submt that the following may be the most disturbing thing I has ever read

---------------------------

Harvested from CNN:

THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER – INTERVIEW WITH DR. ZIHAD AL-ALI (sp?) OF THE ST. LOUIS VETERANS HOSPITAL

------------------------------------

SYNOPSIS OF NEW NIH REPORT - DEC 28, 2021


COVID IS NOT MERELY A RESPIRATORY OR LUNG VIRUS; IT IS A SYSTEMIC VIRUS THAT AFFECTS THE ENTIRE BODY. AFTER THE ACUTE PHASE RECEDES, THE VIRUS IS STILL FOUND IN THE KIDNEYS, HEART, BRAIN, PANCREAS, LIVER, AND THE ENTIRE BODY.


LONG-TERM EFFECTS RANGE FROM: CONTINUED WEAKNESS, LINGERING FATIGUE, BRAIN FOG, MEMORY LOSS, NEW ONSET KIDNEY DISEASE, DIABETES, HEART DISEASE, LIVER DISEASE, AND MANY OTHERS.


THESE CONDITIONS ARE MEASURED SOMETIMES IN WEEKS, SOMETIMES IN MONTHS, SOMETIMES IN YEARS – OR THEY CAN BE PERMANENT.


LONG-TERM COVID AFFECTS MANY, POSSIBLY ALL, THOSE INFECTED.


THESE LONG-TERM COMPLICATIONS WILL AFFECT MANY, POSSIBLY ALL, THOSE INFECTED WITH COVID, YOUNG OR OLD.


THERE IS NO PREDICTABILITY.


CURRENTLY, THERE ARE AN ESTIMATED 3-4 MILLION AMERICANS WITH LONG COVID.


EQUALLY DISTURBING IS THE STEEP RISE IN PEDIATRIC CASES IN MAJOR URBAN AREAS – AS MUCH AS 200% TO 500%.

2021 12 18 – Reading Blahs

I'm currently reading Steinbeck's East of Eden; 5 chapters and so far it ain't grabbing me. Beacause it's Steinbeck I’ll continue but with dogged curiousity rather than real interest.

2021 12 11 – Peace-Out and In

Peace is not something you wish for; it's some0thing you sculpt, something you do, something you are, something you broadcast from within and something you receive in return – known through the ages as the flow of energy “out and in, out and in...out and back...”

2021 12 10 – Joy as Being

Joy may not be a steady-state featuro of existence but its presence is a permanently accessible element of Being.

2021 12 08 – One in a Millon

When suggesting to someone that they are “one in a million” you are identifying said person a member of a set comprised of 7,400 persons.

2021 12 07 – Evangelists and Other Tambourine Bangers

Such folks make fundamental error of redundancy: It is not possible to let God andlor Jesus into your heart” because you are already a constitient element of the Nature that permits the existence of what we recognize as God-ness.

2021 12 06 – Tears of Hope

The tears of the compassionate are the moisture for the gardens of hope tended by the righteous.

2021 12 05 – Interval

Interior design is surprisingly akin to music. The blank space surrounding the pictures, photos, etc. hung on the walls are every bit as definitive as the intervals between the notes of a musical composition.

2021 12 03 – Resonance as Faith

The existential resonance of vitality establishes the potential for faith. So long as there exists faith in the reverence and elevation of love and beauty the rhythms of spiritual yearning will propel the expansion of consciousness.

2021 12 02 – Olbers

Rsecent cosmological revelations seem to indicate that the color of space is actually biege rather than black. This would seem to be the diffusion of the light of billions of stars, spanning the subset of infinity we peceive as our cosmos.

The attenuation of light also explains why we see blackness in the local space that is defined as our solar system. Imagine a solitary streetlamp at the center of the 50-yard line in a football stadium. While standing under the lamp it is easy to read a book. As you move further from the circle of the lamp's light the words on the page are increasingly obscured. Yet look from the endzone and the light, while clearly visible no longer provides illumination enough to read by. Given the vast distances that define the cosmos it becomes easy to undtand why starlight is recognized as points of light rather than sources of illumination.

Further, stars do not shine forever and though the light generated by their existenc may take billions of years to reach Earth and may continue flowing for quite a long while, it will eventually wink out.

For these reasons it is illogical to suppose that the Earth would be so bathed in ambient light as to obviote darkness.

2021 12 01 – Hope, Faith, Knowledge

Hope grants grace in patience; Faith provides confidence in outcome; Knowledge is certainty unassailed.

2021 11 30An Existential challenge

Think subatomically, act inagglomeratively.

2021 11 29 – Knowledge and Expression

To know something intellectually is not the same as to expruss yourself as the that knoweledge

2021 11 28 – Xeno's Paradox Resolved

The resolution to Xono's Paradox is revealed in subatomic quantum physics: the arrow does not penetrate the target. Rather , two energetic fields intersect producing the appearnce of pnetration.

2021 11 27 – Breeding

If a centipede is cross-bred with a millipede would the offspring have 1100 legs?  ... or 100,000?

2021 11 26 – Truth Considered as a Placebo

If indeed truth is stranger than fiction how then to explain Trumpism wherein exists an abundance of strangeness yet not one iota of truth?

2021 11 25 – Pall of Corruption

When a significant number of articipants in a community or society in a culture feel compelled to react with relief, jubilation nnd rejoicing at the manifestation of an intrinsically correct moral and ethical precept it is a clear indication of the pall of corruption that hangs over said culture.

2021 11 24 – Oscar Wilde

Be yourself – everyone is already taken.”

2021 11 23 – Jack Sprat Revisited

Jack Sprat could net no fat,

and his wife could eat no lean;

atd so the poor sap succumbed to malnutrition while che increasingly chubby Missus sumply exploded in due course.

2021 11 22 – The Faceted Jewel

as an exercise in meditation consider the nascent COREM as an extremely dense, infinitely faceted jewel. This jewel is suddenly shattered by an infusion of the Vibrant Force. Each shard provides a personal reflective moment into eternity.

2021 11 21 – Stewardship

As repositories of the past, via history, and stewards of the present, we are architects of the future.

Observing the woeful state of planetary health (both physically and mentally) it is apparent that the load-bearing foundation of such architecture must have an intrinsic element of spirituality in its basic structure.

And so, how then to define “spirituality” in this context?.

I submit that spirituality is the innate, deeply intuitive knowingness that the phenomenon of existence is synergistically comprised of more than that which is contemporaneously observable or manipulable.

2021 11 10 --- 20 – Rumination...


Tom Doubter: Hey Hugh! Where in the world have l you been the last 10 days?

Humanitys PelPutt: Uh... pondering...

Tom: Aw shucks, that's what you said when I asked you yesterday.

Hugh: ...didn't finish...

2021 11 09 – Gamma-Gamma

Cosmologists have apparently determined that black holes expel streams ofgamma radiation. Neuroscience identifies certain brain emanations as gamma waves. Shall we undertake an analysis of potential similarities?

2021 11 08 – Half Glass

The old optimism/pessimism question, “is the glass half-empty or half-full?” can be pursued to an interestingly upbeat conclusion. The “half-empty” glass can be perceived as fertilo potential awaiting fulfillment.

2021 11 07 – 3 Myths That Confound Progress

Three deeply held but deeply flawed human assumptions work to frustrate efforts to manage our planetary sustainability.

They are:

1 - “God” or gods will intervene and provide;

2 - Science will fix;

3 - Earth's bounty is inexhaustible.

Far too many people still fundamentally believe in the fiction of gods.

Far too many educated people regard science as having attributes of the miraculous.

Mathematics is elusive and thus most people do not understand the finite relationship between the apparent vastness of the planet's resources and the ever-increasing population burden which must employ these resources to survive. This problem is exacerbated by a cannibalistic capitalist paradigm which confounds effective and compassionate resource management and distribution.

2021 11 06 – Water of Life

Given that hydrogen is the most plentiful element in the cosmos and oxygen is the third most plentiful, and further given that these two element in combination produce water, an essential for the existence of life as we know it, it seems an odds-on bet that there are creatures similar to ourselves lurking past, present or future beyond the reaches of our solar system.

2021 11 05 – Non-Renewables

Humanitys Pulputt laments:

To take a particularly unappealing gander at our rapacious consumer culture, after we've eatan all the coal and drunk all the oil all that will remain are piles of poop and pools of pee. 

2021 11 04 – The Feckless Innocent

As a youngster, the Feckless Innocent observed and absorbed everything presented on TV and the Internet.

However, after encountering Tom Doubter, reliance on the flickering imagery and vapid rhetoric became fractured. These apertures of query eventually blossomed into a career in epistemology. It doesn't pay much, but it beats the hell out of being shuttlecocked from one podium of propagandistic non-sequitur to another.

2021 11 03 – Rupture vs Rapture

Given the woeful state of planetary health (both physical and mental) as rather accurately described by John Michael Greer in his book Dark Age America, it would seem that the Rapturists are only off by one letter. We are not approaching Rapture but Rupture.

--- Tom Doubter

2021 11 02 - Condensing Mentons

The Mejier/Delft hypothesis states that a functional manifestation of consciousness is a sort of torus enveloping living bodies. This torus serves as a dynmic interface connecting the pervasive consciousness of the cesmos with individual brain receivers. In this framework our bodies and their auras have evolved as condenced and compacted attroctors of the subatomic, photon-like “wavicles” identified as mentons.

We might then roughly compare ounselves to radios or other sophisticated receiving devices, needing only practice in fine-tuning to bring into focus the illumination the invigorates spiritual transcendence.

I humbly submit that the many forms of meditation represent the tuning device.

2021 11 01 - Meditation and Exercise

Meditation, just like physical exercise, produces the greatest rewards as a result of repetition.

2021 10 31 – Green Grass

The grass may look greener on the other side of the fence but the cowpies are likely bigger.

2021 10 30 – Died With Their Boots On

Funny how some ideas get twisted over time and misuse.

No cowboy wanted to die with his boots on – this was demonstration of a violent, likely unhappy death. Through the Dime Novel and especially the Hollywood wostern the phrase came to be associated with the somehow heroic or honorable.


2021 10 29 – Galactic Bodies

As an exercise en mind-stretching, consider the myriad galaxies in the cosmos as organic entities, akin perhaps to the cells in our bodies.



2021 10 28 - Sibilant

The soft, pliable, nearly pink, almost sibilant ectoplasmic consciousness slips into the hard-skin form of the crocodile and begins to feel its way around – the chitinous scales, the curving, sharp teeth, the incredibly powerful jaws - all so different from the previous form as an eagle; and that so distinct from the jellyfish before that.

2021 10 27 - Hugging

Anyone who underestimates the power of hugging will come to know the sadness of inconsolable sorrow.

2021 10 26 – Vibrant Consciousness

Consciousness is, among mnay other things, the delivery system for the Vibrant Force permeating the Universe. In living creatures it is the ability to use information in the actions necessary for survival. In self-aware beings it is the facility and especially the willingness to accumulate and categorize such information so to construct more.

purposeful and thus meaningful futures.

2021 10 25 – Bread Crumbs

Dialog regarding a lost child:

The Feckless Innocent: “I'm sure she will have left a trail of bread crumbs.”

Tom Doubter: “Oh, I must have misunderstood. I thought you wished to find the child.”

The Feckless Innocent: “Well, of course we want to find her!”

Tom Doubter: “But a trail of bread crumbs would not help. Birds ate the bread crumbs left by Hansel and Gretel and so they could not find their way home as they had done before by leaving a trail of white stones.”

The Feckless Innocent: “oh.”

2021 10 24 - Purpose

I have long maintained that the universe has no purpose. I an w amend that position insofar as to reflect that indeed the universe has a “purpose” and that purpose is to be.

The human perceptual mistake is to misapprehend “birth” and “death as beginning and ending.

What, after precedes birth – billions of years of genetic information bundled into a condensed form to facilitate communication. And what succeeds death – energetic transformation into fertilizer and trascendent imagination.

2021 10 23 – Not Infinite Mind


What has been described as “The Life Force” shall hereinafter be called The Vibrant Force or perhaps The Force of Vibrancy. It is not to be confused with “Infinite Mind” as used by some metaphysical and mystic disciplines. Nor can the delivery system of thought, identified here as “mentons,” be confused with mind, intellect, or cognition. The menton is a fraction of a thought – a single menton, ­only as potential to be realized in coherence with other mentons and possibly other subatomic entities.

By comparison, a single photon is of little consequence but, when intertwined with more of its kind, the phenomenon of visual light becomes manifest. A single musical note, even if it is infinitely sustained, does not constitute music. Only in relation to other notes and intervals is music achieved.

Infinite Mind suggests fully formed thoughts, ideas - even discrete personalities such as The Mind of God. A menton is a constructive element of thought, no more.

2021 10 22 – Stewardship

If we accept the possibility that we are “stewards” on this planet, maybe one of our functions is nurturing our animal cousins in the practice of increasingly sophisticated consciousness. Perhaps we cousd teach elephants and apes to meditate...

2021 10 21 - Continuity

Why would a rabbit “choose” to not be eaten by a pursuing wolf? For that matter, how does the rabbit “know” that the wolf wants to eat it?

Answer: The universally pervasive Life Force via its delivery system, consciousness, imbues the rabbit brain with the dynamic, “continuity,” which we identify and label as “instinct.”

2021 10 20 – 2 Sides of a Coin

Tom Doubter observes dryly:


We are regularly treated to some sports figure intoning after a victory, “God was on our side today,” or sentiments to that effect.

On the other hand, one never hears players on the losing side reverently lamenting that “We didn't have God on our side today.”

Interesting how God always gets the credit, never the blame.




2021 10 19 - CMB Revealed

A panspermia, steady-state (albeit infinitely motile) universe obviates the propostion that CMB represents Cosmic Microwane Background noise as an echo of a non-existant Big Bang. This cosmic background is more readily identified as the susurrant pulse of the Life Force that is the eternal teleology of the universe.

2021 10 18 – Amimal Morality

Can an animal make a decision based on a moral or ethical consideration? Are any animals capable of sadism or masochism?

I suggest not. We may observe behavior that appears grim or mean and likewise kind or compassionate. The moray eel is a particularly evil-looking creature, but is it really “evil” or merely hungry? Most carnivorous animals inflict pain in the process of survival. Many different species exhibit cooperation as an alternative manifestation of survival.

But: do any of these acts involve evaluation that takes into account the effect upon the subjects?

Intelligence in varying degrees is obviously present in animal behavior, but does their intelligence provide a mental environment that encompasses any distinction between “right” and “wrong”?

2021 10 15 - Intersection

When we pause at the intersection of thought and action, idea and construction, emotion and reaction, we are enjoying a moment of that which makes us most human. The ability to exploit such moments does not make us separate from our animal cousins. Rather, it is the exhibition of faculties of consciousness not as yet fully developed in them.

As humans we possess the additional grace that permits us to employ meditation and prayer to extend these moments of conscious contemplation.

2021 10 14 – God Encompassed

If the Judeo/Christian/Islamic “God” does exist he/she/it does so as a fellow traveler in the infinite universe.

Put anotherway, “God” did not create the universe, rather, ever-existant universe provided a medium in which such a creature could flourish.

2021 10 13 – The Big Four

The four forces thus far identified by Western science to define the dynamics of the cosmos are considered elemental in that no one of them can be described as dependent upon any of the others. However, taken all together they remain insufficient to explain quantum physics.

This is of course why noted nuclear physicist Richard Feynman was moved to observe, “If you think you understand quantum physics - - you don't.”

2021 10 12 – The Monotreme

Upon reading the previous entry Tom Doubter rejoined:

Though biology supports no evidence of reproductive union betweene hominids and reptiles, there does exist the order monotremata. The egg-laying mamaals. Noting this, it is readily conceivable that a common ancestor produced both the duckbilled platypus and Mitch McConnell.

2021 10 11 – Interbreeding

It has been establisbed that homo sapiens were capable of interbreeding with homo neanderthalis. However no such biological viability has ever been established between any hominid species and reptiles. Thus the existence of Republicans remains a perplexing mystery.

2021 10 10 – The Power of Inference – part 1

with or without a “Big Bang” the universe can only be comprehended infinite and eternal, and by inference, alive.


It all came from somewhere because it is not possible for something to come from nothing. The fact that elements of the somewhere remain unperceived does not nogate the necessity of existance.

The inference that the universe is actually alive stems from the transition from inductive reasoning to deductive reasoning to demonstrable empiricism.

As applied to life, inductive thought, reasoning from the specific to the general, suggests that since life is so manifestly insistent here on Earth it must be so elsewhere in an infinite universe.

With the introduction of increasingly sophisticated perceptual tools it becomes easier to deductively reason that that life is likely to be ubiquitous in the universe, though as yet we have no empirical evidnce to that effect.

Finally, since the four elemental forces thus far identified by science do not possess sufficient dynamism to result in animation it is reasonble to infer the existence of another force charaterized by wibrancy and vatiality – The Life Force.

2021 10 09 - Misapprehension

in an infinite universe there is room for a being or beings potent enough to sculp a planet such as Earth. Such beings or being could readily be misaprehended as gods. Sadly, given human history it would appear that if such were the case an exceedingly sadistic element was inculcated in the construction.

2021 10 08 – Afterlife

Is is misleading to ask “Is there Life after Death?” There is unquestionably continuity of life sebsequent to the disintegration of any form or manifestation. The life force that is the very nature the cosmos insists upon it.

The bothersome question that vexes humans is whether there exists sustained memory of acts, behavior and acquired personality.

2021 10 06 – Anthropomorphic Deities

God” and gods are quite predictable and comforting anthropomorphic personification of the dynamic forces that are the nature of the universe.

This personification makes it possilble for the human mind to compartmetalize and thus “file and forget” the awesome implications assoctiated with infinity and eternity.

2021 10 05 – Life Force Addendum

As noted below (soo 2021 09 24) and 2021 10 01) the four forces that science idenfies as providing the fundamental structure and dynamics of the universe are presented as discrete. Each has a unique and profound contribution to how the universe functions.

So too with the Life

Force. It neither stems from nor depends upon the relative dynamics of the other four forces. Rather, it underpins each and employs the specific energy of each in the time and place required to effect tho manifestation of vitality and vibrancy.

2021 09 24

SCIENCE and SPIRITUALITY

September 24, 2021


Electronic Soup and The Force of Life

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ELECTRONIC SOUP

Ever since Marconi demonstrated wireless transmission of information, we have lived in an increasingly populated soup of electronic signals. Our living rooms are literally awash in thousands of discrete radio-transmitted messages. We use various forms of decoding devices to manifest these signals into audible and visual accessibility: radio, TVs, WiFi, etc. If we had the proper devices at our disposal, we could listen to the beeps from far-flung space probes. All of these data exist around us as invisible, inaudible noise until we convert the data into discernable signals.


Intriguingly, we also live in an entirely separate data set that is equally ubiquitous. This data set has existed not from the time of Marconi, but rather from the fundamental organization of the cosmos and is composed of subatomic particles or waves. Motile neutrinos bombard and pass through the Earth and its inhabitants at a rate of billions per second. The Higgs boson appears to be a field that induces energy into forms that we intrepret as mass. The Earth itself is swathed in a magnetic field emanating from its core and extending outward above the atmosphere.


Surely we will, in time, master technologies and methods of employing and manipulating this subatomic soup, just as we now do with Marconi's discovery.

-----------------------------------

As noted above, we live in a veritable swirling sea of electronic and subatomic information. We have devised tools to convert this invisible and inaudible noise into discretely accessible formatted packets.

What follows is an expansion of the facts above into somewhat more metaphysical and spiritual considernations.


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2021 09 04 – The Life Force

Science has identified the four forces thought to explain the motion and dynamics of the universe we occupy. Science has, however, been reluctant to give a name to a fifth and magnificently obvious force, herein referred to as the life force.


The four forces are:

1 – The electro-magnetic force, the employment of which is rather obvious;

2 – The strong nuclear force, which binds sub-atomic particles such as quarks together in the protons and neutrons in the nuclei of atoms;

3 – The weak nuclear force, which holds electrons in orbit around the atom's nucleus,

4 – The force of gravity, the invisible force that seems to govern motion.


Each of these forces is deemed to be unique in that none is considered to stem from the others.


The fifth force mentioned above, the life force, supercedes and encompasses all the others. The first four forces are the tools by which the inherent vibrancy of the universe is made manifest.


(For quite some time, I imagined consciousness to be this fifth force. I now understand consciousness to be in fact the delivery system of the all-pervasive life force. Thus invigorated, consciousness irresistibly underpins perception, integration, and employment of the forces presently known to be dynamic, and suggests the existence of more yet to be discovered.)


The life force is readily accessible in the virtually incomprehensible profusion of vitality here on the Earth. And, since we now know that there are countless Earth-like planets in our galaxy alone, we can surmise that such fecundity is to be found out there also. The basic constituents of life are found in meteorites and comets, further advancing such surmise.


This view of life force transcends the traditional definition of what is alive: that is, to consume, excrete, and reproduce. A star gathers mass, expels energy as light and heat, and finally explodes, spewing vital elements used in reconstitution/reproduction. A living entity as seen on Earth eats, excretes, and replicates. These dynamics are the same, differing only in scale.


It is inductively apparent that the life force is so ubiquitous that it must be recognized as the common denominator of all dynamism in the universe.


The universe is fundamentally composed of life force, all-pervasive, eternally reconstituting, and alive.


That this life force pervades the entire cosmos seems thus undeniable. The obvious insistence on vibrancy and vitality is perceivable via the less obvious, but nonetheless inescapable, quality of consciousness. It is reasonable to suppose that consciousness would, in the same fashion as light and all other forms of energy, require a carrier or medium of transmission. Borrowing from the photon that transmits light, the as-yet unrevealed subatomic conduits of consciousness might be termed mentons.

Various forms of photo-sensitive receptors are manifested here on Earth, such as eyes and photosynthetic plants. Receptors for mentons can be found in the central nervous system (or equivalent). The degree to which consciousness is displayed and/or communicated is determined by the relative sophistication of the receptive entity. For our purposes, to date, Mankind exhibits the most profound and poignant such sophistication.

The Delft research conducted by Dr Dirk Mejier et al, proposes that individual consciousness exists as a torus surrounding the human central nervous system (and most probably other entities as well). Such a torus effect can readily be ascribed to the electro-magnetic field known to exist and regularly identifietd as aura. Such fields would in effect intercept and concentrate the free-floating mentons. These concentrations then interface as thoughts with the brain, possibly through the action of the Higgs Boson, or God Particle.

Just as photons don't make their presence known without coherence, so do mentons require consciousness to become manifest as ideas, thoughts, emotions, inspiration, et cetera.


Using light again as a comparative, undifferentiated photons are converted into information by various mechanisms evolved for that purpose. Likewise undifferentiated mentons are collected, organized and employed as thoughts, ideas and inspiration by similarly evolved mechanisms.


These faculties and many more yet to be revealed are impelled and invigorated by the inexorable and fundamenal Life Force that is the unbegun and unending nature of the universe.


****************

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY


While composing today's material, an old parable came to mind. It is known as “Nail Soup” or “Stone Soup,” depending upon who is telling the story. It can be a lengthy sermon-esque monologue or a brief anecdote. Today it is presented as the latter.

-------------------------

STONE SOUP


The Mulla Nasrudin set up his itinerant camp on the public square of a small village. He built a small fire and arranged a pot of water over it. He then dropped a stone the size of a plover's egg into the water.

His doings aroused the curiosity of some passers-by. When asked about his somewhat odd behavior, he replied, “I am cooking my evening meal.”

Scoffing, the small crowd agreed aloud that he must be mad. To this the Mulla retorted, “Ah! I see that none of you has ever savored the mysteriously enticing flavor of stone soup.”

He gently stirred the water, careful not to dislodge the stone. Then, after rummaging in his rucksack, he frowned and said, “Alas, I have foolishly misplaced the small amount of garlic I usually add.”

Someone in the gathering crowd of onlookers produced a clove of garlic and gave it to the Mulla. Gratefully adding the herb and sighing wistfully, he then observed that sometimes the garlic only brought forth its true quality with the aid of a carrot. Generously, a carrot was offered.


[Here the story shortens, as the audience can readily see how the Mulla cleverly concocts a delicious stew, as he wheedles each new ingredient from the happily willing crowd.]

In this parable, the fire represents the Life Force, the pot humankind, the water consciousness. The stone is the individual foundation or personality, which gathers unto it and coalesces the many ingredients of experience. Finally, the stew represents the infinite combinations of “flavors” that comprise Being.

*************************************************

2021 10 01

Science and Spirituality

October 1, 2021

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1 – Conclude “Electronic

Soup” and “Life Force”

2 – Panspermia etc.

---------------------------------

Re-cap: Electronic, subatomic and cosmic soup. ---- segway:

The four forces:

1 – the electromagnetic force;

2 – the strong nuclear force;

3 – the weak nuclear force

4 – the force of gravity.


Introducing the fifth force, the Life Force.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

picking up from last week:

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

That this life force pervades the entire cosmos seems thus undeniable. The obvious insistence on vibrancy and vitality is perceivable via the less obvious, but nonetheless inescapable, quality of consciousness. It is reasonable to suppose that consciousness would, in the same fashion as light and all other forms of energy, require a carrier or medium of transmission. Borrowing from the photon that transmits light, the as-yet unrevealed subatomic conduits of consciousness might be termed mentons.

Various forms of photo-sensitive receptors are manifested here on Earth, such as eyes and photosynthetic plants. Receptors for mentons can be found in the central nervous system (or equivalent). The degree to which consciousness is displayed and/or communicated is determined by the relative sophistication of the receptive entity. For our purposes, to date, Mankind exhibits the most profound and poignant such sophistication.

The Delft research conducted by Dr Dirk Mejier et al, proposes that individual consciousness exists as a torus surrounding the human central nervous system (and most probably other entities as well). Such a torus effect can readily be ascribed to the electro-magnetic field known to exist and regularly identified as aura. Such fields would in effect intercept and concentrate the free-floating mentons. These concentrations then interface as thoughts with the brain, possibly through the action of the Higgs Boson, or God Particle.


Just as photons don't make their presence known without coherence, so do mentons require consciousness to become manifest as ideas, thoughts, emotions, inspiration, et cetera. Using light again as a comparative, undifferentiated photons are converted into information by various mechanisms evolved for that purpose. Likewise undifferentiated mentons are collected, organized and employed as thoughts, ideas and inspiration by similarly evolved mechanisms.


These faculties, and many more yet to be revealed, are impelled and invigorated by the inexorable and fundamental Life Force that is the unbegun and unending nature of the universe.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

PANSPERMIA


[NOTE: Some of what follows is taken directly from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia) and includes references and contents not included in this document.]

Panspermia (from Ancient Greek πᾶν (pan) 'all', and σπέρμα (sperma) 'seed') is the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe, distributed by space dust,[1] meteoroids,[2] asteroids, comets,[3] and planetoids,[4] as well as by spacecraft carrying unintended contamination by microorganisms.[5][6][7] Panspermia is a fringe theory with little support amongst mainstream scientists.[8] Critics argue that it does not answer the question of the origin of life but merely places it on another celestial body. It was also criticized because it was thought it could not be tested experimentally.[9]

Panspermia hypotheses propose (for example) that microscopic life-forms that can survive the effects of space (such as extremophiles) can become trapped in debris ejected into space after collisions between planets and small Solar System bodies that harbor life.[10] Panspermia studies concentrate not on how life began, but on methods that may distribute it in the Universe.[11][12][13]

Pseudo-panspermia (sometimes called soft panspermia or molecular panspermia) argues that the pre-biotic organic building-blocks of life originated in space, became incorporated in the solar nebula from which planets condensed, and were further—and continuously—distributed to planetary surfaces where life then emerged (abiogenesis).[14][15]

Contents

Panspermia and the Life Force

  • [NOTE: The following essay uses the acronym COREM in the place of Big Bang. “Big Bang” was laughingly coined by English astronomer Fred Hoyle as term of ridicule. Hoyle favored a steady-state theory of cosmology akin to panspermia.

  • COREM is an invented acronym meaning Currently Organized Reconstitution of Energy/Matter.]

The problem with the current understanding of panspermia is that it doesn't go far enough. Such theories invariably limit scope to the COREM. The Life Force transcends this as it is enfolded in infinity/eternity.


The trouble would seem to be rooted in the generally accepted, though false, proposition that infinity and eternity are concepts incomprehensible within human consciousness. The stumbling block is an insistence on “beginning” and its inevitable counterpart, “ending.” This concentration fosters a reductionist exploration for the “first cause” which can never bear fruit. Much very valuable research and insight increasingly reveals more examples of the manifestation of life force throughout the cosmos.


There also exists a striving to establish an irreducible elemental “particle” of construction. Yet quantum physics seems to indicate that no such “particle” exists. Instead, a complex series of energetic interrelationships serve as the constructive dynamics of existence.


While this is adequate in describing the cosmos the universe is far more encompassing than the COREM.

The universe is in fact the medium by which any such cosmos is made manifest. Sort of like an infinitely immense blackboard upon which various equations of the Life Force are written and re-written eternally.

The Life Force that is the universe is endlessly unbegun and sustains unquenchable vibrancy embracing eternally unique forms and manifestations. There will appear and disappear, periods of quiescence which will be contrasted with periods of monumental intensity. But nothing is “created,” nothing “destroyed,” only transformed.


***************************

**********************

THOUGHT FOR TDE DAY


to be determined

2021 09 24 – Happy Birthday

Today is September 24, a momentous day for an uncountable number of people I have never met and never will. For, on this day in the year of somebody's lord nineteen hundred and fifty four was born the infant who would become , Capt. Michelle Pelkey, USPHS (Ret.) , my sister.

In her career as a medical professional she has provided solace, comfort, healing and life to more people than I can imagine.

For my part she has been and remains a compassionate and steadfast friend who has pulled my nuts out of the fire in a number of my peculiar adventures. “Thanks” hath no depth or breadth of my esteem.

Respected and beloved by all who know her, friends and family alike, but perhaps none more so than by her big brother.

143MARK


2021 09 22 – Chrysalis

2021 09 21 – Indifference and Morality

  1. It is obvious that weather and fire behave indifferently and with great potency. It is safe to say that the forces of the cosmos are similarly unrestrained. Thus it is for humanity to infuse morality, justice, kindness and compassion into the life force. To assist in this endeavor we have invented various gods and goddesses along the way. It is however, easy to lose sight of the fact that these were and are our creations. “God” did not make us in his image, rather we created deities as repositories of our own best hopes and aspirations. (With some notably insane goofs tossed in for comic relief.)

2021 09 20 – Climate's A'comin'

With each season bringing its own grim harbinger one ponders upon just how long it will take for the plutocratic rulers of business, industry and politics to conclude that a more compassionate interprettation of growth, sustainability and resource management will prove more profitable than consumption, degradation and environmental insult.

2021 09 19 --- pondering
2021 09 18 --- ruminating

2021 09 17 – Electronic Soup – part 2

As noted in the post for September 16 we live in a verible swirling sea of electronic and subatomic information. We have devised tools to convert this invisible and inaudible noise into discretely accessible formatted packets.

2021 09 16 – Electronic Soup

Ever since Marconi demonstrated wireless transmission of information we have lived in an increasingly populated soup of electronic signals. Our living rooms are literally awash in thousands of discreet radio transmitted messages. We use various forms of decoding devices to manifest these signals into audible and visual accessibility – radio, TVs, WiFi, etc. if we had at our disposal we could listen the beeps from far-flung space probes. All of this data exists around us as invisible, inaudible noise until we convert it into discernible signals.


Intriguingly we also live in an entirely separate data set that is equally ubiquitous. This data set has existed not from the time of Marconi but rather from the fundamental organization of the cosmos and is composed of subatomic particles or waves. Motile neutrinos bombard and pass through the Earth and its inhabitants at a rate of billions per second. The Higgs boson appears to be a field which induces energy into forms that we interpret as mass. The Earth itself is swathed in a magnetic field emanating from its core and extending outward above the atmosphere.


Surely we will in time master technologies and methods of employing and manipulating this subatomic soup in similar fashion to how we now do with Marconi's discovery.

2021 09 15 – Gravity

If God hadn't intended Lucifer to fall he wouldn't have invented gravity.

2021 09 14 – Happy Birthday

Today is September 14th and I have no doubt that any number of momentous and/or remarkable events have occurred on this date over the long years of Earth's history.

However for me in the year of somebody's lord nineteen hundred fifty and five denotes the year that held the September 14th that brought forth the babe who would grow up to be my beloved brother, Scott Thomas Walter. We have shared many miles, many smailes and a few travails and through all we have maintained love and occasionally hard-fought respect.


143MARK

2021 09 13 – GAIA Revisited

The Gaia hypothesis is useful

as an admontion that is vital

to our survival. But it is

nevertheless an

anthropomorphic

misapprhension - the

Universe, while

fundamentally alive behaves

so without sentiment and

without "respect" for the

creations of its vitality. The

Gaia hypothesis too readily

suggests a certain conscious

intention which I must reject.

That the event of

consciousness grows ever

more sophisticated, complex

and self-reflective seems

demonstrably axiomatic

(albeit in seeming

controversion to entropy),

but it does so naturally,

without reason or teleology.

Another way of addressing

this is to note that it is a

mistake to grant Gaia an

"identity" or "personality".

(Though in a figurative

cosmic view both might be

applied to Earth by some

other Gaia-type ecosystem

denizens; in this view we

humans might be seen as

"spokescreatures" for our

Gaia.)

2021 09 12 – Confession, part 2

The Catholic concept of confession and absolution illegitemately robs the individual's right and obligation of self-confrontation and resulution. To rely upan an oddly attired man to act as a conduit for the delivery of grace from an invisible and ouite obviously indifferent “diety” is preposterous. Moreover, the Church in promoting such surrender of personal responsibility promulgates a spiritual cowardice by shifting the fucus from the penitent to the illogically perceived grantor of absolution.

2021 09 11 – Confession

The Catholics (unsurprisingly) have this concept all wrong. “Confession” properly undestood is a subset of self-observation – sef-confrontation.

Priests are not sin-eaters or conduits to some non-existant god. Nor can they grant forgiveness or absolution – both are false concepts. Forgiveness is a grace achieved between the wrong-doer and the wronged, even if the two parties involved are but aspects in one's mind resolving a moral dilemma. Absolution is a pernicios lie suggesting that one is magically freed form the responsibilitios associated with some harmful action, be it to some other or to oneself.

Soelf observation in the form of self-confrontation is the recognition that all we perecive is reflected in the mirrors of our experience and interpretation thereof. Absolution is thus the act of polishing and refining our perceptual devices so as to achieve greater clarity and therefore more expansive2vision.



2021 09 10 – H2O

It is fascinating to cootemplate that hydrogen, an explosive gas, and the most mot common element in the known cosmos, when combined with a corrosive gas, oxyhen, forms water, an essential tool of the Life Force.



2021 09 09 – Simple Language

As regards the Covit Crisis the world-wide mandate must hereafter be:

VACCINE OR QUARANTINE”

2021 09 08 – The Lament

Humanities Pelputt's Lament: (with apolgies te Rick Blaine):

Of all the plaets in all the galaxies in all the universes I had to get born on one populated with Republicans and jellyfish Democrats.

2021 09 07 – Eating an Idea

A seeker asked Nasrudin to explain the difference between involvement and commitment. The Mulla replied,

It is like a breakfast of ham and eggs – the chicken is involved, the pig is committed.”

2021 09 06 – Disintegration


When the body exhausts its ability to replenish vital energy, it “dies” and disintegration commences. This “disintegration” is of course nothing more than life reasserting itself in different forms. At this point, the body is obviously of more use to its previous occupant.


It seems not unreasonable to assume that much of the survival dynamics useful in coping with a four-dimensionaly constrained environment would likewise be found to be superfluous.

But a person is more than a collection of coping mechanisms, and therefore it seems possible to imagine an existential dynamism associated with the previous occupant, morphing into an extra-dimensional state of being.

2021 09 05 – A RE-PRINT; ORIGININALLY COMPOSED AS NOTED. TOM DOUBTER OBSERVES SOMEWHAT WRYLY THAT THE MATERIAL IS RATHER MORE BROADLY ADDRESSED IN THE TWO ENTRIES BELOW THIS ONE.

-------------------------------------

2013 07 09

An increasing body of evidence suggests that the nature of the Universe is to be alive, sometimes in potential, other times in motile dynamism.


2021 09 04 – The Life Force

Science has identified the four forces thought to explain the motion and dynamics of the universe we occupy. Science has, however, been reluctant to give a name to a fifth and magnificently obvious force, herein referred to as the life force.


The four forces are:

1 – The electro-magnetic force, the employment of which is rather obvious;

2 – The strong nuclear force, which binds sub-atomic particles such as quarks together in the protons and neutrons in the nucleus of atoms;

3 – The weak nuclear force, which holds electrons in orbit around the around the atom's nucleus,

4 – The force of gravity, the invisible force that seems to govern motion.


These forces are deemed to be unique in that none are considered to stem from the others.


The fifth force mentioned above, the life force, supersedes and encompasses all the other forces. Each of the first four forces are the tools by which the inherent vibrancy of the universe is made manifest.


(For quite some time I imagined consciousness to be this fifth force. I now understand consciousness to be in fact the delivery system of the all-pervasive life force. Thus invigorated, consciousness irresistibly underpins perception, integration, and employment of the forces presently known to be dynamic, and suggests the existence of more yet to be discovered.)


The life force is readily accessible in the virtually incomprehensible profusion of vitality here on the Earth. And, since we now know there are countless Earth-like planets in our galaxy alone, we can surmise that such fecundity is to be found there also. The basic constituents of life are found in meteorites and comets, further advancing such surmise.


This view of life-force transcends the traditional definition of what is alive: that is, to consume, excrete, and reproduce. A star gathers mass, expels energy as light and heat, and finally explodes, spewing vital elements used in reconstitution/reproduction. A living entity as seen on Earth eats, excretes, and replicates. These dynamics are the same, differing only in scale.


It is so inductively apparent that the life force is so ubiquitous that it must be recognized as the common denominator of all dynamism in the universe.


The universe is fundamentally composed of life force, all-pervasive, eternally reconstituting, and alive.



2021 09 03 – Extinction and Life

In the Earth's past, the planet has undergone five major extinction events in which upwards of ninety percent of all life was extinguished.


With each such extinction, vast amounts of vibrancy and vitality, which may be characterized as Life Force, are released into the environment. Since all life depends upon the reconstitution of some previous life-form, such release is best interpreted as fertilization in the inexorable and insistent manifestation of the Life Force.



2021 09 02 – Deranged

Today's woeful inaction by the Supreme Court is but a harbinger of the pain to be inflicted upon US citizens as a consequence of electing a deranged man as their President.



2021 09 02 – Deranged

Today's woeful inaction by the Supreme Court is but a harbinger of the pain to be inflicted upon US citizens as a consequence of electing a deranged man as their President.


2021 08 31 – Out of the Mouths of Asses

Tom Doubter relates this story about his friend Nasrudin:

A neighbor, whom Nasrudin didn't like very much, came over to his compound one day. The neighbor asked Nasruddin if he could borrow his donkey. Nasrudin, not wanting to lend his donkey to a neighbor he didn't like, told him, "I would love to loan you my donkey but only yesterday my brother came from the next town to use it to carry his wheat to the mill to be ground. The donkey sadly is not here."


The neighbor was disappointed, but he thanked Nasrudin and began to walk away. Just as he got a few steps away, Mulla Nasrudin's donkey, which had been in the back of his compound all along, let out a big bray.


The neighbor turned to Nasrudin and said, "Mulla, I thought you told me that your donkey was not here."

Mullah Nasruddin turned to the neighbor and said, "My friend, what do you wish to listen to? The voice of a Mulla or the voice of as ass?"

2021 08 30 - Starlight

Though massaged by the light of uncountable trillions of stars, we still too often embrace the darkness of ignorance.


2021 08 29 – Comfort and Oblivion

God came to me in a vision and said, “You are keenly aware that I obviously don't exist but, since oblivion is the logical conclusion to existence here, it might be kinder to to encourage folks to conjure their favorite fantasy afterlife so as to comfort their last fading glimmers of consciousness.”

2021 08 28 – Glass and Life

Heat converts sand into glass with all of its myriad perception options – from micrope to telescope and vastly  more.

     In like fashion does the almost unimaginable heat and pressure of the supernova convert the raw materials of nuclear physics into the myriad components of Life.  

08-27-21
Waiting for Inspiration...

5021 08 26 – A Placebo

This morning as I was pausing over a stray thought or two, I was reminded that the sub-title of my book is “Life Considered as a Placebo.” A whimsical afterthought at the time of composition, it now seems to me have an odd ring of truth.

2021 08 25 – Irony and Humor

Since the cosmos is by nature indifferent to the state of things on planet Earth, it likewise has no sense of humor or irony. Fortunately, evolution has provided humankind with an incisive acuity of perspective, permitting us to employ both humor and chagrin as we bear witness to our foibles and absurdities.

2021 08 24 – Brains and Minds

   Brains do not think, minds think. The brain is the medium in which inchoate thought coalesces. Consciousness is the mechanism by which thought is made manifest.

    This invisible but dynamic interelationship is present in all living matter in due measure. At present, homo sapiens demonstrates the most sophisticated expression of such manifestation. The dynamic is nonetheless observable in animal instinct and light-seeking plants.

2021 08 23 – Free Will

Free Will cannot be held to exist within any religious context. How indeed could one be expected to exercise  unrestricted choice while living in a cosmos governed by omnipotent authority - an authority that invariably prescribes rules and guidelines of behavior.  To suggest that one has the freedom to flout this authority is to suggest that one has the power to choose damnation in eternal agony as desirable.

     Submission to the Will of God can hardly be deemed to be free choice when the alternative is exclusion from the Grace of an all-powerful  God.

2021 08 22 – A Day Off

I'm taking the day off to wander the trackless paths of Infinite Mind. See you tomorrow (if I make it back...)

2021 08 21 – New Philosophy: Afterstart

This morning as I mutter/grumbled and pattered through my AM essentials of toothpaste, urination, tomato juice and cashews I thought to myself, “Ahh, I don't feel like meditating today”.

     Then I paused and chuckled, musing, “Oh bullshit! I always feel like meditating - - after I start to meditate”.

2021 08 20 – The Way      

Lao Tzo advises via the Tao Te Ching that “The Way is not the Way”.  This seeming game-stopper is nonetheless  true. Despite the fact that a boundless oneness is fulfilled when seeking The Way, each individual path is unique and is inescapably traveled alone, though not  in loneliness.

   There are myriad texts and teachers one encounters along The Way and many will appear to be a True Path. But each is a sliver of reflection playing against the backdrop of one's own inescapably individual enlightenment. Many wisdoms can and will be useful as guides, and all are part of the ever-changing destination that is The Way. The Seeker will drink from various streamlets or rivers of knowledge, perhaps lingering for a timeless moment of comfort, then move on.

    No Seeker's journeys can the same as another's.  Yet brethren of the quest will be found, and then spiritual communion will be experienced and cherished as joy. Movement continues and such communions, pleasantly fulfilling, serve to brighten and polish the mirror of self-revelation, but The Way is infinite and individually travelled alone. The Seeker is reminded that “alone” is but a contraction of  “All One”.

2021 08 19 – Parthenogenesis

Though the biological phenomenon of parthenogensis is not currently known to occur in humans, Nature has been seen to introduce some rather peculiarly imaginative quirks and sports.  Therefore it would seem to be ill-advised to  invite someone like Citizen D. Trump to “go fuck yourself” -  the resulting freakish virgin spawn might well prove to be immensely unappealing.

2021 08 18 – Religion

In the quest to continue the exploitation of human females as mindless sex objects suitable for slavery, nothing seems to excel quite like religion. Herein the Taliban leads the way but you are not to imagine that they are in any way unique in their veneration of misogyny.


2021 08 17 – Help for Haiti

Compassionate Citizen - “It is distressing not to know how best to offer aid to Haiti in this time of crisis.”

 

Tom Doubter - “Be at ease. Private Citizen and Mock Billionaire D.J. Trump arranged an in-person visit to the ravaged country, bringing with him 150 rolls of paper towels with which to aid in mop-up and to  restore the shattered infrastructure.”

2021 08 16 – A Puzzlement

What processes of mind provoked Rumi or Harun al-Rashid or Buddha to so clearly grasp the insubstantial nature of reality, as now apparently  revealed by the investigations into quantum physics? How is it that the minds of primitive shamans could so readily encompass what even today eludes science – a unified theory of cosmological existence? The intersection of science and myth/religion seems to me to represent the cutting edge of epistemology and philosophical thought and that's the mental environment I  seek to occupy these days – even in Phoenix.

2021 08 15 – Promotional Blurb

An elemental goal of meditation is the promotion of a continuing and expanding intimacy with both the concept and the practice of consciousness.

2021 08 14     The More I Know....

The adage “The more I know, the less I know” not only sharpens our appetite for discovery, it also helps us move further and further away from the necessity of using gods and magic to make our universe understandable.

2021 08 13 – Intersection

An energetic field extends outward from the Earth's core enveloping the entire planet. Likewise a much larger field emanates from our Sun. These two fields necessarily intersect and the dynamic of this intersection establishes  the vibrant and fecund environment we know as Life.

2021 08 12 - Alignment

 The Earth generates a field of magnetic energy emanating from its swirling iron core. The planet is encased in this field which extends outward into space before turning back around and regenerating at the core.

    All living things on and in the Earth likewise generate a field of energy around them as see in Kirlian photography and idendified as as an “aura”.

    In meditation it is useful to imagine these fields aligning and thereby establishing a palpable unity, often referred to as “oneness” in various mystical writings. The perception/experience of this oneness draws forth feelings and insights that border on the inexpressible. Poets,  shamans and musicians have worked for centuries to capture this elusive yet vital essence.

2021 08 11 – Ancestry

It is perhaps comforting yet disconcerting to realize that we are, each of us, present here and alive as progeny of billions of years of animation. Look anywhere back on any ancestral line and you will find a biological antecedent connected to you – you could not be here otherwise. This reality requires no religious enfablements; even the most committed atheist cannot escape the implacability of animate continuity.

2021 08 10 – Ritual

Humans are the only creatures who ritualize an awareness of our embodiment in a broader, cosmic scheme. … simple awareness of self is not sufficient to explain ritual behaviors as evidenced by the veneration of the so-called  “sacred”. Though many of our animal cousins demonstrate self-consciousness and engage in mating “rituals” they  do not call upon unseen deities or spirits to effect these traits. 

2021 08 09    The Wise Fool

As Nasrudin was walking one morning he came upon a house under construction. He saw that one of his students was on the roof nailing shingles in place. As he watched for a spell he noticed that as the young man pulled nails of out the bag at his side he examined each one and threw roughly half of the nails away.

Curious, Nasrudin called up to the young man asking, “Why are you throwing away so many nails?”

The young man replied, “Mulla, the heads are on the wrong end.”

Young man”, The Mulla reproached him, “you are not thinking as I have taught you. Consider a moment and ask yourself if it maks sense that there would be so many incorrectly made nails in your bag.”

The young man's brow wrinkled a bit as he ruminated. Then his face lit up and he proclaimed, “Master, I see it now. Those nails are made for the other side of the roof!”

Ah”, said Nasrudin and walked on, somewhat bemusedly.

2021 08 08 – The Way

The whey that seems to be the whey is not the Way – it is the curds.

2021 08 07 – Reputation  

I don't know if God exists but it would be better for his reputation if he didn't.

2021 08 06 – Even in Phoenix

Some time back I began to ask myself how it was that the “ancient wisdom” could so closely parallel what today's science seems to be making commonplace, if not altogether employable.

What manner of thinking allowed Democritus to suggest the existence af atoms? What processes of mind provoked Rumi or Harun al-Rashid or Buddha to so clearly grasp the insubstantial nature of reality, as now revealed by the investigations into quantum physics? How is it that the minds of primitive shamans could so readily encompass what even today eludes science – a unified theory of cosmological existence? The intersection of science and myth/religion seems to me to represent the cutting edge of epistemology and philosophical thought and that's where I try to live these days – even in Phoenix.

2021 08 05 – Conceiving Babies

I wish I could like the concept of babies a bit more than in fact I do. Be it sad or otherwise, I find that I regard pregnancy, birth and rearing to be distinct interruptions to the natural intellectual maturation that is the birthright of sentient beings. Tragically, fertility and potency come biologically far too much in advance of wisdom. No one should became a parent before the age of 40 when putative maturity will have set in.

2021 08 04 – Wisdom's Child

Wisdom can be an unanticipated child of intuition and common sense. Sometimes the parents will seem estranged but the offspring will often prove instructive.

2021 08 03 – Peculiar Customs, part 1

 

We humans are an odd lot in many of our witless customs.

    My shower curtain tends to leak a bit and thus the bathmat is frequently drenched. Living as I do in Phoenix returning the mat to a state of dryness by draping it my patio for a brief time. Such draping would be an uncomplicatedly simple matter requiring only the barest of hint of imagination but for the peeking eyes of Modesty.

     Accustomed as I am to showering absent the encumbrance of clothing, when done the most direct method for transferring the dripping bath mat is to walk while still naked out onto the balcony.

     However, appearing on my balcony in a state of nubity is not permissible in our culture. Therefore, I am required to occlude my otherwise exposed “private” parts from view lest some vigilant neighbor grow titillated and become faint with unrequited lust.

    Thus to ensure the psychological equilibrium of my fellow citizens it is necessary that I interrupt my trek so as to don some article of apparel such as underpants; and this despite the incontrovertible truth that everyone knows what is being hidden! In fact the very act of covering-up serves to focus attention upon the offending body parts engendering what can only be interpreted as lascivious mental meanderings.   

2021 08 02 – IVERMECTIN

AS OF THIS DATE I AM DEVOTING TIME AND WIT TO   STUDY OF THE DRUG IVERMECTIN  USED BOTH PROPHYLACTICALLY AND THERAPUETICALLY TO COMBAT COVID 19.

2021 08 01 – Earthquakes and Creation

I find it difficult to reconcile the Judeo/Christian Creation myth with the reality of volcanoes and earthquakes. The destruction, devastation and horror associated with these geological events seems to be at odds with the qualities of omnipotence and compassion usually ascribed to God.

   

      Was the Almighty Architect perhaps interrupted in his act of creating the earth?

 

    Possibly he was called away on urgent family matters on some other planet elsewhere in the cosmos. If so he left his construction plans to be resolved by the Earth's shifting crust and various continents moving abruptly until stabilization is achieved.

2021 07 31 – Future Archeology

Archeologists of the future when reviewing the era immediately preceding the sixth extinction will likely conclude as follows:

   Humanity sybaritically bred and polluted themselves and many fellow creatures out of existence”.

2021 07 30 – Getting Poked

Feckless innocent: People who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid infection should be taught a lesson in civic responsibilty.

 

Tom Doubter: No, people who refuse vaccination should be rounded up and quarantined in Antarctica.

2021 07 29 - Young-Old

I played while I was young, invulerable and full of whiskey;  I shall work now that I am old , venerable and full of wisdom.

2021 07 28 – Virus Humor

Tom Doubter observes sardonically: If this Covid entity has a sense of humor it must be laughing wickedly at the imbecilic behavior of the unvaccinated disease spreaders currently infecting themselves as well as the vaccinated.

2021 07 27 – Workload

We're all here on temporary assignment the nature of which is attracting wisdom while practicing kindness.

2021 07 26 – Wisdom part 2

Common sense is the lubricant that allows for smooth transmission of wisdom.

2021 07 25 – Wisdom

Wisdom will garner much in this world but common sense is essential for the acquisition of happiness.

2021 07 24 – Cleveland Who?

Tom Doubter ruminates: So the Cleveland Indians baseball team shall henceforth be known as the Cleveland “Guardians”. This change is being undertaken to further undo the misappellation foisted upon the indigenous inhabitants of two continents by the geographically challenged Cristopher Columbus.

     While I surely agree with the sentiment it would have been  philosophically and morally more satisfying to have renamed the club “The Cleveland Native Americans” and thereafter confining their draft  choices to descendants of Jim Thorpe and likewise appropriate candidates.

2021 07 23 – Comestibles

Frogs don't eat glass inserts nor do the Gods decline to consume ambrosia.

2021 07 22   Reprised from Febuary 2014


In Colorado at present a sad travesty is unfolding.


In an attempt to expiate a sense of civic frustration a morally vainglorious court, invoking an unassailable self-righteousness, will conduct a grindingly vigilant prosecution of James Holmes, whose guilt is not in question. This rare surviving lunatic will be subjected to a spectacular “trial” and thus made to carry water for all the other lunatics who succeeded in evading “justice” by either selfishly killing themselves or getting themselves killed by the authorities. The viewing/consuming public will participate in a satiating catharsis of pathos while congratulating themselves that at last someone is going to pay the price for bewildering our comprehension with their inexplicable acts of violence.Unfortunately, there is no justice at work here, only a misplaced application of retribution. It is a wholly specious prosecution of an obviously insane person serving only to alleviate the public's sense of impotence when confronted with madness.

2021 07 21 -  The Will of God

Submission to the will of God is simply adopting the often-burdensome willingness to think with all of the mind that can be mustered. The degree to which people are unwilling to do this is the foundation of most human tragedy.

2021 07 20 – Insanity

In the annals of science fiction Earth has been depicted as a sort of cosmic insane asylum. The planet's cruelly blood-soaked and frequently sadistic history surely invites such characterization.

    At this time the human population is being wracked  by a deadly and highly contagious disease. Despite that fact that the disease has been demonstrated to be containable if properly managed, mankind persists in justifying the aforementioned characterization by repeatedly relaxing such vital containment measures.  To repeat a known-to-be destrictive behavior while expecting a different result is a recognized definition of insanity.

    The current manifestation of this mental aberration is on view in Great Britain. There, the prime minister while himself in isolation as a result of exposure to the disease, has declared Monday, July 19 to be “Freedom Day” thereby lifting all containment restrictions in the nation. This in defiance of the fact that in every city, county or courtry where such preventive measures have been relaxed a tragic resurgence of the disease has followed.

   To quote Pete Seeger, “When will they ever learn?”

-----------------------------

footnote: if the condition described in the opening sentence above proves true a persistent mystery can be  cleared up – all these UFO sightings are of  interplanetary tourists gawking at the inmates of  the nuthouse.

2021 07 18    Longevity-Not

Interestingly, mere longevity does not guarantee that a species will gain mastery of the Earth's natural resources or attain communicative intelligence. The dinosaurs were not wiped out by runaway campfires and no one has ever read a poem written by a turtle (not that that wouldn't be utterly fascinating but no have got).

2021 07 17 - Exceptionalism

The recognition of human exceptionalism is not most accurately described as species-ism.

 

   Rather it is the pragmatic perception that human exploitation of the planet's resources is exponentially more broad-based and encompassing than that of any other species has ever manifested.

2021 07 16 – Persistent Life

A paramecium may not know that it's alive but it nonetheless struggles to remain living.

2021 07 15 - Inexcusable

Humanities disinclination to

engage in critical thinking is

poignantly parallelled by its

willingness to ignore the inexcusble.

2021 07 14 – Back in the Saddle

Made it to the gym today for the first time in two years. Got there almost under my own power; got a wee bit lost both going and coming but repetition will cure that.

   Being gracious in accepting help isn't especially taxing though the internal acknowledging of the need can feel belittling. More challenging has been finding ways to graciously say “No thanks,  I’m learning to get arund on my own”. Not only do I fret about hurting feelings or seeming unappreciative, I know it causes others discomfort to watch someone fumble and possibly risk injury while trying to find their way. People really want to be helpful and kind and I don't wish to to deny them the opportunity but it will be much easier to accept when I no longer need it. Pationce and time will be the great accommodating factors.

   The time at the gym although short was very satisfying. The place is a veritable obstacle course of  outlandishly configured machines, all designed to trip, gouge or entrap the unwary (or in my case the unseeing). Here again time, repetition and familiarity will serve me well if I can overcome my ADD enough to “endeavour to persevere” as Chief Dan George quoted to Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josy Wales.

2021 07 13 –  Cooperation and The Lost

While walking along a dimly lit lane one evening Tom Doubter spotted Mulla Nasrudin  searching beneath a streetlamp. Tom stopped and asked, “Mulla, what is it that you seek?”

   Nasrudin replied, “My car keys; I fear I have lost them.”

   Tom asked “Where do you recall seeing them last?”

     The Mulla replied, “Across the street where I dropped them.”

    “But...why do you search here?”

   “Because the light is better here.”

   “But Master that is foolish!” exclaimed Tom.

   “Not so. For, did not the light permit you to perceive me here in distress? And thus with the introduction of cooperation what once was lost may now be found”

2021 07 12 – Homo Evaporatis

How shall we call the next generation of homo? That breed of humanity that has figured out that cooperation, both with Nature and its own citizens is the only survival dynamic that is sustainable? homo satisfactus? - homo satiatious? - homo compassianus? - or sadly, perhaps it will turn out to be - homo evaporatus.

2021 07 11 – Space: The Farcical  Frontier

Today Sir Richard Branson, at enormous expense of money, resources and time, launched himself into almost-space. This culmination of self-indulgence was hailed as a step toward the “democratization” of space and a major accomplishment. This despite the fact that the event was a mere shadow of events that took place more than sixty years ago.

    Witlessly hailed as a triumph of free-enterprise, it is in fact yet another setback in humanity's quest for a position in an environment broader than the confines of Planet Earth.  Branson has spent billions of dollars in competition with two other equally profligate “space entrepreneurs” - Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. This triplication of effort mirrors the stupidity of Earth's governments individually creating exploratory space programs in competition with one another. It is obvious that cooperative effort in such an endeavor would be far more efficient and far lass costly.

    When and if we encounter beings from other planets we will be perceived by these beings as Earthlings -  not individuated political entities or species.

    Rather than wasting money and resources in governmental and private duplicative exercises of technological one-upman-ship we would be better served directing science and expertise toward preservation of this planet.

2021 07 10 – Thinking Machine

There is a measure of satisfaction available in the contemplation of humanity as an element in a vast, cosmic thinking machine that spends its time reveling in its beauties while striving to mitigate its terrors.

2021 07 09   The Word

Post morning meditation, after my usual breakfast, with a wee bit of composition accomplished and at the conclusion of a short nap - I awaken with strong but ungraspable knowledge of the secret word - a word that exists just beyond my ability to hear but nonetheless imbues in me a warm sense of blithe assurance. It is as if the word has been invoked just before I come to consciousness and is my intangible talisman of confidence

2021 07 08    Wrong is Wrong

I recently saw an ad campaign that concluded: “1.3 million subscribers can't be wrong!”

I don't know why not - more than a billion Christians and a similar number of Muslims certainly are.

2021 07 07 – A Matter of Perspective?

When considering humanity's position in the overall scheme of life it is useful to regard our keen intellect as a sense, akin to the other five senses we observe. Many of our animal cousins have far keener individual senses than have we: birds have keener eyesight; sharks and many outher sea creatures have a keener sense of smell; whales have a far keener sense of hearing. It is not unreasonable to conclude that, as a nurvival dynamic, that we humans have developed a far keener sense of ratiocination which serves to compensate for our weaknessess in outher sensory realms.

    Thus the term “sixth sense” becomes less metaphysical and more palpably accessible.

2021 07 06 – Meditation Birthright

As I emerge from my meditations and again don the mantle of ego... I find myself at liberty to embrace and cherish all of the beauty and the terror that possessing a perceiving self entails. These experiences, both joyful and sorrowful, are the birthright of us humans - just as is the ability to step back, go inside, and know only oneself, however briefly

2021 07 05 - Isness

When the myriad, yammering voices that roam one's intellect

are gently and softly stilled for the moment,

and one's ego has tiptoed off to a remote

corner of the mind for timely nap,

then can a deeper and pervasive  “sound” can   be “felt”

-  informing of an encompassing Cosmic Consciousness that transcends time and space and possesses the fascinating quality of simple IS-NESS

2021 07 04 – Ironydependence Day

It is a bitter thought that the symbolic fireworks deployed tonight to celebrate the emergence of a noble social conception of humanitarian civil liberty may soon be replaced by the very real explosions ignited by reaction to racial and economic inequities perpetrated by the US Congress.

    Though not acting alone this body stands as the focal point for a disease best identified as the maladroit, if not malevalent, manifestation of the failure of critcal thinknig in America.

2021 07 03 – Infinity redux

If you'd like to get a feel for infinity stand at the ocean shore, watch the sunlight flicker off an incoming wave and contemplate the reality that each such wave is a once-only assembly and arrangement of water molecules, impossible to ever repeat, capturing for just that instant a batch of streaming photons from the Sun reflecting into your eyeball receptacle for that one fleeting moment of perception. And then look at another wave...

2021 07  02 - Cut Me Not

Topiary sculpture, however attractive is nonetheless an affront to Nature's exuberant fulfillment of the inexorable thrust of Life.

2021 07 01 – Deep Thoughts...

...seem to be evading me at present and my meditations, though wallowing in the almost unimaginable fecundity and variety of Life here on Earth, invariably take me farther afield. Subsequent to an experience of unimpinged “being here now” (thank you Baba Ram Dass) consciousness enfolds a cosmos-at-large. Galaxy after galaxy stretching out in every direction, each potential horizon another vista of infinity, and I, a citizen by birthright, of every iota of the creative dynamic that is Life.

2021 06 30 - Revivified Date for a New Resolution

I resolve to continue to be irresolute in my commitment to accomplishing any specific thing, but likewise resolve to remain resolutely fascinated by everything.

2021 06 29 - Two for the Price of One

If you have two apples and you give me one of them we each have one apple - a pleasant outcome no doubt, although your supply of apples has been pointedly diminished. Contrastingly, if you have a thought and I have a thought and we exchange these thoughts we each now have two thoughts - our supply of ideas has been increased.

2021 06 28 - Congressional Goodwill 

Primatologists inform us that male baboons stroke and fondle each other's scrotums to indicate friendship. I feel certain that the establishment of a similar practice in the chambers of the United States Congress.would greatly enhance the possibility of bipartisonship...

2021 06 27 – Diversity

The glory of creation is its infinite diversity –

and in the ways our differences combine to create

beauty and inferentially, meaning.

2021 06 26 - Beauty

That which is beautiful is almost never static;

rather beauty is vibrant, motivating shifting in perspective,

and fundamentally dynamic.

2021 06 25 - Quarantine

NOTICE: BY ORDER OF THE W.H.O,  Effective 30

September, 2021 all people worldwide who have not

received a vaccine for the COVID 19 virus shall be

arrested and placed in quarantine. To assure

complete isolation the island of Greenland will be moved

to 36 degrees north latitude and the unvaccinated will be

delivered there by remote controlled transports. Fresh

water will be available from the melting glaciers and

regular food drops of C-nations, K-rations and MRE'S

will continued until the dwindling population no

longer warrants such.

                           edict issued by Thomas Doubter

                           Assistant Vice-Executive for

                           Sub-standard Projects – W.H.O. (World Hoax Organization)

2021 06 24 – On Wondering

Those who wonder can never be truly lost. To wonder is to search

and to search is to question. And the spiritual birthright that is

consciousness instills in us an intuitive confidence that questions

have answers.

    As Daniel Boone put it when asked if he'd ever been lost: "No, but

I was once bewildered for three days".

 

2021 06 23 – The Sixth Extinction

Just watched a disturbing documentary outlining the rapidity with which we humans are exntinctifying our home. It appears that the one of the more telling harbingers of a forthcoming extinction event came be witnessing the rate of our fellow species being driven to obliteration. It seems that the current of species extinction is 12 times that which has been paleantoligically recorded heretofore. The implications seem obvious to me: we are are in the process of establishing a non-viable ecosphere on this once fecund corner of the the galaxy. Well, to barrow from Douglas Adams -

"So Long and Thanks for All the Fish|"

2021 06 22 – Love as Synergy

It has been established that each of us supports an “aura” of energy that incorporates and extends beyond the more readily observed physical body. When two people find themselves embracing in loving connection their auras enmesh in an enrichment of beauty. 1+1 no longer equals merely2 but drifts toward an element of infinity.

---------------------------------------

2021 06 21 – Identity

We tend to perceive ourselves as being composed of our beliefs and habits, bundled up in a fleshly construct made up of our planet's natural resources.

     In reality, our true identity is the capacity to imagine, conceptualize and utilize these utterly unique characteristics.

2021 06 20 – Consciousness Revisied

Consciousness is the facility and willingness to examine the antecedents of one's behavior and thus anticipate the consequences therefrom.

    An elemental goal of meditation is the promotion of a continuing and expanding intimacy with both the concept and the practice of consciousness.

--------------------------------------

2021 06 19 -Underpants

“Did the Romans wear panties beneath their togas?  Enquiring (albeit somewhat salacious) want to know.”    ---- submitted by Tom Doubter.

-------------------------

2021 06 18 – Fumigation

Reporter to Biden: What do you plan to do on your first day in office?

 

Biden replies: Well, of course we'll have to fumigate..."

------------------------------

2021 06 17 – Not God

The intrinsic vitality of the  Universe is not created or governed by some over-arching personality or supernatural being. Prayers, supplications, and the satisfactions derived therefrom are manifestations of the temporarily unrecognized innate spirituality that is the birthright of all humans.

---------------------------------------------------------------


2021 06 16 – Dream vs real

A possible explanation for why there is no contact after death would be that once past the death-point the experience of being is akin to awakening from a dream. You cannot re-enter the dream nor continue to converse with those in the dream because your level of consciousness does not permit such complete attentiveness to the dream-state. The awake-state has its own set of busy protocols and is thus completely absorbed in attending thereto. So it is with the "post-vivo"-state. Non-communication with those left behind is not a matter of choice - it is a functional impossibility.

 

***********

"Dreams are real while they last. Can we say more of life?"

- Havelock Ellis, 1853 - 1939

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

2021 06 15 - Mentons as the subatomic particles of thought.

 

Other particles may stimulate brain acidity or be the product of axon/dentrite interaction, but the menton is tho the vibrant messenger of “thought” per se; the carrier wave of consciousness perhaps.

------------------

2021 06 14 - Stewardship

As the presumed stewards of Life on planet Earth --perhaps in service to a broader intentional cosmos –we are deputized to protect and enhance our  home’s fundamental vibrancy that manifests itself  as the power of Love.

------------------------

2021 06 13 – Chicken or Egg

Is consciousness the natural evolution of life – or -

is life the inevitable maifestation of consciousness? 

 _________________________________________________

ELDERS FOR A

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

************

MISSION STATEMENT

 

             

                                                                                     

To demonstrate the commitment of our generation to ponder out and disseminate viable programs and ideas designed to ensure a healthy planetary environment for generations to come...

adopted June 12, 2021-------------------------------------

2021 06 11 - Etiology-Teleolgy

Etiology and teleology have a place in the study of the organic workings of the universe we live in, but are meaningless when applied to an attempt to grasp a cosmological whole. "Beginning" and "End" have zero significance in a Universe that is necessarily infinite and eternal.

 

----------------------


2021 06 10 - Micro-Macrocosms

 

Attempts to

integrate the seeming

incompatibilities between the

invisible micro-cosmic

dynamics of quantum

physics and the

macro-cosmic dynamics of

the apparent world

continue to baffle science.

The conclusion

appears to be that a

steady elevation of

consciousness -- fueled by

the power of intuitional

love -- is the only available

tool that will satisfy our

innate, spiritually driven

curiosity.

 

2021 06 09 - ISNESS

When the myriad, yammering voices that roam one's intellect

are gently and softly stilled for the moment,

and one's ego has tiptoed off to a remote

corner of the mind for timely nap,

then can a deeper and pervasive  “sound” can   be “felt”

-  informing of an encompassing Cosmic Consciousness that transcends time and space and possesses the fascinating

2021 06 08 - Grace

Grace is not automatically dispensed, it is acquired.

Not by the accomplishing of good works, but rather by the work of intellectual and intuitional striving.

That good works evolve naturally from such effort is, happily, the inevitable pulse of the Cosmos.

2021 06 07 - Education

Real education is a process:

First, skepticism;

Second, reasoned questions;

Third, acceptance of mystery as non-threatenin

2021 06 04 – Infinity

Infinity” is virtually impossible for the mundane mind to encompass. Both the use of psychedelic drups and many forms of meditation can provide the “exerience” of perceiving infinity. However, the application of the linguistically tortured term “infinitely small” used in a quantum-based explanation for the so-called Big Bang is absurd. Infinitely small can only translate as non-existant and is thus a valueless concept.

2021 06 03 - Higher Mind

The phenomenon known to

both science and

spirituality as "higher

mind" has guided human

intellectual evolution

since the emergence of

self-consciousness. The

fundamental truth of this

is demonstrated in both

research and intuition.

Inspiration can be viewed

as the serendipidous

intersection of these

two dynamics. Sometimes

the fit is so poignant as to

be regarded with such

reverence as to cause such thoughts as “miraculous” or “inspired by God”.

Yet in reality humankind is better served by the

recognition of such inspiration as the manifest vitality of a blossoming Cosmic Consciousness.

Thus can a concept such as Higher Mind instill grace in our pursuit of

purpose.


*****************************

- 30 -

2021 06 02 – Non-Human Morality

That many, if not all, animals display consciousness is incontrovertible; that they make decisions is obvious. But Is it possible for a chimp or a dog or a parrot or an elephant to make a behavioral decision based upon an ethical or moral consideration?

2021 04 29 - Uncle Tim's Cloakroom


Last night we were treated to a visionary exhortation about the nation's future, delivered by President Biden. Unfortunately, this was followed by a ugly excursion from "Uncle Tom's Cabin" to Uncle Tim's Congressional Cloakroom, narrated by Senator Tim Scott. There are few things sadder in our current world than a black person who has been conned into believing that the Republican party offers any hope or compassion for their race.

2021 04 07 - Time

“Time” is oddly unpredictable. We are required by our constricted perception of dimensionality to arrange our lives in slices of parceled moments. Nevertheless, our religions and mysticisms require that we embrace a concept identified as Eternity which cannot be squished into any such temporal framework.

2021 04 06

Involved in vehicle accident with no injuries.

2021 04 04  Covid Dialog

Reckless citizen “hey Tom, Why are you still wearing that dumb mask?”

Tom Doubter (reformed) “Because if you catch one of the virus varients I’de like to feel confident that I didn’t give it to you.”

End of the long hiatus!

2020 12 20 – WHAT and WHERE

Whenever there occurs a whatever vitality emerges. In this specific COREM* the dynamics of existence are at the moment confounded by an inability to reconcile the behavior of matter and energy in quantum environments with the the equally palpable manifestations perceived in the Newtonion construct field of brick and mortar interaction.

Many approaches to integration of these seeming disparate dynamics are being pursued, all appear to be confined in a “appearances-only” paradigm that obscures or frustrates the intuition spark that ignites inspiration.

---- End part 1; more to follow

-----------------------------

*COREM: “C”urrently “O” organized “Re”constitution of “E”nergy “M”atter – an acronym that is more useful than the rather sophomoric “Big Bang”


2020 12 19 – Let's Do It

Birds do it,

Bees do it,

Humanitios Pulputt observes:


Even cows and calves do it,

Why do we do it,

Let's crap in pastures...

2020 12 18 – Infinity

Infinity” is virtually impossible for the day-to-day mind to encompass. Both the use of psychedelic drugs and many forms of meditation can provide the “experience” of perceiving infinity. However, the application of the linguistically tortured term “infinitely small” used as a quantum-type explanation for the so-called Big Bang is logistically preposterous. “Infinitely small” can only translate as non-existent and is thus a valueless concept.

2020 12 17 – Club of Budapest

The Club of Budapest, established by Ervin Laszlo and associates is devoted to the study and promotion of planetary survival dynamics.

More information at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_of_Budapest
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_of_Budapest

2020 12 16 – Trump leaves office

Tom Doubter observes: “It will be fascinating to see which enforcement body removes Trump from the Oval Office: Secret Service, Capitol Police, the Marines, the Green Berets, Vladimir Putin's Elite Guards, or the Munchkins of Oz.”







2020 12 15 - Fumigation
Reporter to Biden: What do you plan to do on your first day in office?

Biden replies: Well, of course we'll have to fumigate..."

2020  12 14 - Nipping

Philosophers nip at the edges of abstraction until such time as those edges become so frayed that a full-blown concept emerges. In similar fashion Science chips away at religious myth and superstition slowly insinuating reason into the common consciousness.

2020 12 11 - Micro-Macrocosms


Attempts tointegrate the seeming incompatibilities between the

invisible micro-cosmic dynamics of quantum

physics and the macro-cosmic dynamics of

the apparent world continue to baffle science.

The conclusion appears to be that a

steady elevation of consciousness -- fueled by

the power of intuitional love -- is the only available

tool that will satisfy our innate, spiritually driven

curiosity.

2020 12 02 - Higher Mind

The phenomenon know to both science and

spirituality as "higher mind" has guided human

intellectual evolution since the emergence of

self-consciousness. The fundamental truth of this

is demonstrated in both research and intuition.

Inspiration can be viewed as the serendipitous

intersection of the these two dynamics. Sometimes

the fit is so poignant as to be regarded with such

reverence as to make one think of "God" yet in

reality it is better recognized as vitality and

perhaps somewhat abstractly as love.. Thus

does Higher Mind instill in us grace in our puruit of

purpose.



2020 12 01 -  First Day of  Winter

I recently heard a TV meteorologist describe

Dec 1 as the "meteorological" first day of winter.  This in contrast

to the "astronomical" first day which occurs on Dec

21, the winter solstice - the shortest day and

longest night of the year.  I have never heard of such a

distinction and interpret this as a misapprehension of

global climate change.
2020 11 29 - 6th Extinction

Just watched a disturbing documentary outlining

the rapidity with which we humans are extinctifying

our home. It appears that one of the more telling forthcoming extension

event came be witnessing the rate of our fellow

species being driven to obliteration. It seems that

the current rate of species extinction is 12 times that

which has been paleontologically recorded

heretofore. The implications seem obvious

to me: we are in the process of establishing a

non-viable ecosphere on this once fecund corner of

the galaxy. Well, to borrow from Douglas

Adams - "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish!"
2020 11 24 - A Long Time

Well, it turns out that Nov 3 was not the day-of-days.

We have been subjected to  a seemingly endless

recalcitrance from the obvious loser in this year

of 2020.

Blessedly, tho Man With No Conscience has finally opted to acknowledge the

standards of decency embodied in what we recognize as the the Rule of Law - a

virtue of our culture he has persistently  chosen to flout.
 
We now await the outcome of a messy run-

off election in Georgia that will determine whether the

astonishingly incompassionate Turtle-Turd McConnell will be emasculated,

thereby delivering power and prosperity back into the

more gentle hands of an American populace that is,

broadly speaking, kinder and more empathic than

the self-aggrandinzing kleptocrats who have

slithered into our apparently flimsy halls of governing.

2020 11 03 – TODAY IS THE DAY

2020 11 02 – 1 Day and Counting

2020 11 01 – 2 Days and Counting

2020 10 31 – 3 Days and Counting

2020 10 30 – 4 Days nd Counting

2020 10 29 – 5 Days and Counting

In the murky world of “Unintended Consequences” it now appears that with so much “new”, “analysis” and “BREAKING NEWS”, the entire phenomenon of information delivery has been trivialized to the point where the report of 90,300 new cases of Covit-19 has roughly the same impact as a toothpaste commercial. Actually, the announcement of some new, gleaming which dentfrice is probably delivered with more jittery excitement and passion than can the talking heads who are putatively bringing us the the ather more dire information pertaining to our needs and perhaps survival.

Perhaps instead of the erudite but whiney Rachel Maddow, or Quaalude Laurence O'Donnell, or the wistfully sympathetic Brian Williams, we ought be being exposed to the raw and abrasive rhetoric of Keith Olmermann.

When a member of the White House has an unanticipated bowel movement is treated as “BREAKING NEWS” how can we as onscienciouous patrons of legitimate news be expected to sift through such shredded hogwash?

To paraphrase The Last Poets, “Wake Up Peons or You're All Through!”

2020 10 28 – 6 Days and Counting

The looney shit continues among the political nabobs but I don't propose to talk on this today.

20 years ago today occurred an event with profound implications for three special people, me among them. On October 28, 2000 Victor and Denyse were joined in marriage – a ceremony which sadly I did not attend, being 9000 miles away in Thailand. I had failed to make appropriate preparations to get te the States in time for the wedding and the regret and shame attendant to this failure engendered profound effects in my life thereafter.

Denyse and Victor remain happily married and I remain wistfully chastened.

(for more details on this subject go to “Rehab Notes” in the Table of Contents on this page)


2020 10 27 – 7 Days and Counting

Last night the quisling Clarence Thomas administered the oath of office the newest associate jurist on the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett. Mrs. Barrett is a Catholic with seven children and a self-admitted foe of the Affordable Care Act. She gives the Court a putative 6-3 conservative advantage. She was unethically and hypocritically rushed through confirmation in an attempht to conceivably grant Trump an advantage int the event that election results wind in the Court as happened in the year 2000.

Woe betide they who champion compassion and civility in the days, months and years to come.

2020 10 26 – 8 Days and Counting

Last night we got to watch the Dumbbell-in-Chief walk out on an interiew with Leslie Stahl on 60 minutes because her questions were too pointedly on target. This man clearly demonstrated that he lives in an alternate universe.

2020 10 25 – Uncancelling

On Wednesday, Oct 21 I attended a meeting of a group of people for the first time since February when I initiated the shut-down of meetings here on the Campus by cancelling the Science and Spirituality Study Group meeting for February 14.

It is little known, oft-forgotten and of scarce import but I was the first here to act upon the implications inherent in the early reports about the virulence of Covit-19.

The Campus administration very soon followed suit and the many group activities and social gatherings common to life here at The Beatitudes were brought to a halt. The Campus has remained under various degrees of lock-down, shut-down and isolation until very recently when it seemed safe to very carefully began to permit circumspect socialization again. It was within this context that I gratefully attended the first Low Vision Support Group meeting, moderated most ably by my dear friend Jessica Meyer.

The administration at The Beatitudes has done outstanding work in protecting and safe-guarding the health, well-being and psychological equilitbrium of residents and Staff during this crisis. They are to be commended and hopefully duly noted as exemplary in their compassion, dedication and obviously tireless work in keeping this environment safe, healthy and vibrant.

I only mention for my personal record that I was there first.

2020 10 24 – I voted

On October 22nd I cast my ballot, via the USPS. I voted for Joe Biden/Kamialla Harris and against Prevarication Inc. I also voted for Mark Kelly and agianst the first female fighter pilot, who apparently breathed too many jet fuel fumes, as demonstrated by her willingness to inhale and regurgitate the wretched exhaust spewing from the Great Pravaricator.

2020 10 23 – E PLURIBUS UNUM

The Cosmic Connectedness (saometimes known as Consciousness or Divine Oneness) that permeates the universe is undeniable. Equally undeniably,S unique individuations that are created by experience provide the dynmamic by which this Oneness is made manifest. Every one of us is an invigoration of the spark of Life that is present as Cosmic Connectedness while at the same time being utterly and beautifully unique in presentation –

as is every star in the universe.

2020 10 22 - Consumption

We observe that once assembled, molecules have

the “ambition” to duplicate, then to animate,

then to replicate; at each level of biological

sophistication the native consumes a slightly larger portion of its surroundings. At some point in evolutionary history something crawled out of the sea to eat something on land; eventually we came along and began to consume everything.






2020 10 07 - Blessings and Grace

It is worth noting that the construct "God" isn't necessary for the universe to exist. It is however a word that serves as a useful mechanism for expressing the elusively ineffable sets of phenomena that persistently baffle us. (This pursuit of un-bafflement is of course why my participation in the Science and Spirituality Study Group is so rewarding.)

And "blessings" are those pockets of grace that we humans create as we meld our compassion into the transcendent enfolding of one another. This is why I don't feel hypocritical when I occasionally say, “God Bless You.” or “Merry Christmas”.

2020 10 06 – Social Dynamics

To attempt to measure humanity's governing systems against an inflexible philosophical ideal is absurd - no government can be wholly “socialist” or “communist” - elements of each of these social dynamics must be seen to be interactive with enlightened self-interest as expressed by managed free enterprise and capitalism. It is imperative however, that self-interest be seen as stemming from the good-will of others who are benefiting from one's actions rather than as the result of taking advantage of the frailties, vanities or incomprehension of others.


2020 10 05 – Abstract Philosophy

Philosophers nip at the edges of abstraction until such time as those edges become so frayed that a full-blown concept emerges. In similar fashion Science chips away at religious myth and superstition slowly insinuating reason into the common consciousness.

2020 10 04 – Gone and (mostly) Forgotten

Consider for a moment the unimaginable mass of genetic information that has disappeared permanently as a result of species extinction, including at least six hominid cousins of our forebearers.

2020 10 03 – Chowtime Conundrum

Tom Doubter observes: “What's an anguished environmental preservationist to do when it is discovered that one endangered species is consuming another endangered species for supper?”

2020 10 02 - TrumpSick

With Trump now COVID positive some TV talking-head doctor was heard to be fretting that the presidont might become too sick to carry out the duties and responsiblities of his office. I would tell such Dr that he need not worry on that score since Trump had been in such condition from the moment he removed his hand from the Bible on Jan 20, 2017.

2020 10 01 – Science and Spirituality

The Science and Spirituality Study Group is dedicated to the proposition that science and spirituality are actually two sides of the same coin. That coin can be recognized as humanity's quest for an increasingly profound comprehension of reality, tangible as well as ephemeral.

From time immemorial Mankind has sought answers to the deep questions related to beingness and consciousness. Spirituality, tions., mostly cloaked in myth and suporstition, provided eorly answers. With the advent of what we know as the scientific method established largely by Aristotle, the previously mysterious began to be recognized as naturally occurring dynamics and processes. As more is revealed spirituality begins to mature into more intellectual abstraction and therefore more philsophically tantalizing.

Thus the Science and Spritiuality Study Group operates as a sort of laboratory where we examine the dynamic intersection of current scientific research and the deep intuition that manifests as spirituality.

2020 09 30 – Aura and Love

It has been established that each of us supports an “aura” of energy that incorporates and exntends beyoond the more readiy observend physical body. When two people find themselves emracing in loving connection their auras enmesh and beautifully, 1+1 no longer equals merely 2 but drifts toward an element of infinity.

2020 09 29 – Pleasant Fiction BS

The pleasant fiction that we somehow maintain a ego-oriented presence after the flesh crumbles is seductive but fails the test of reason.

`Better we toss our thinking caps into the emulcent cauldron that simmers atop the smoldering intuition thac grants us the grace of continuity.

2020 09 28 - WARM SPRINGS REHAB FAREWELL


After three months in an alcohol rehab facility and a number of epiphanies, I had this to say in a public address upon my departure:


Most of you know that I came up this Hill an Atheist. Now you hear a lot of talk about God up here and that made things kind of difficult for me.

I also heard a lot people talk about having the experience of finding God up here. So many in fact that I had to conclude that they weren't all hallucinating or insane and I wondered how I might come to know what the hell they were talking about. Having no use for the concept of god, I turned to the only thing I did know, which was a certain stillness found in meditation.

In that stillness I found that I could feel the pulse and throb of this mmense universe we all participate in. This then was a power greater than myself. And I found, that for brief moments, I could become one with that  dynamic chaos morphing into order, drawing strength therefrom.

Now,,, the challenge was to find some way to make that feeling/knowingness more readily accessible. One day sitting here in a meeting I composed a little poem that goes like this -

          My Higher Power is a Tower

          I built from brick and stone,

          And in this Tower I can sit

          And see just how I've grown,

          And from this Tower I can see

          What scares and troubles me,

          And take the time to draw the line,

          Between alcohol and me.


Not particularly great poetry - Shakespeare ain't quakin', but it works for me as the reminder of what I'm trying to accomplish with this discipline.

As time went on I added jewels to that tower - a diamond representing clarity, a ruby for the heat of passion that is required to keep focused on the goal of sobriety, and an emerald to remind me of many friends I've made here.

Now, in the Big Book there is a passage that reads - "...if that were true (referring to atheism) it would follow that the Universe came from nothing, is going nowhere, and means nothing".

Boy, when I read that I said to myself, "Hey, these guys might really be on to something". Of course I later had to conclude that the authors probably had something different in mind.

Nevertheless, that passage exactly reflects my view of the Universe, my cosmogony if you will. And because that's true I think it's all the more important for each of us to live in a fashion that infuses intention, meaning and purpose into our lives. This program, as practised here on this Hill seems to show the way to that end.

So, I'm still an Atheist. It's just that now I'm an Atheist with a Higher Power.

And that Higher Power isn't annoyed by or frightened of words, so I'll leave you with this:


   May all the gods that ever were, and ever shall be, grant each of us grace. mercy and clarity of vision as we walk these paths of freedom.


...and with that, I'm out.

.


2020 09 27 – False-Hope Intervention

The notion that an invisible hand of benevolence will somehow spare us the tragedy and ache associated wih the loss of those who have been prematurally removed from us is a demonstrable fallacy – the famalies and friends of more than 200,000 needlessly deceased people who have been sacrificed to the insane ego of American's current president.

2020 09 26 – The Mind Killer

Religious belief systems are the mind-killer. Such belief systms permit the users to disengage the element in their brains that enables critical thinking.

2020 09 25 – Creation-Another view

The combination of science and spirituality, which we embody,

provides a fascinating perspective:

We are in fact the eyes and ears of the cosmos, employing self-knowledge in the ongoing processes of creation.

2020 09 24

WELL TODAY IS THE DAY THAT I AM PREVILEGED TO SHOUT OUT “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” TO MY SISTER MICHELLE PELKEY.

1954 SEEMS AN ENTIRE AGE OF THE WORLD FROM OUR CURRENT PERSPECTIVES BUT IT IS NEVERTHELESS THE YEAR WE

WERE GRACED WITH THE PRESENCE OF THIS VERY ADMIRABLE WOMAN. I AM PROUD TO KNOW HER AS MY SISTER AND MY DEEPLY ESTEEMED FRIEND. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE --- 143MARK


2020 09 23 -

2020 09 22 -

2020 09 21 –

2020 09 20 – Uniquely Human

While it is clearly evindent that virtually all animals have intelligence to one degree or another, only humans have the mental capacity io imagine a being with a form of intelligence that is incomprehensible to the inventors.

2020 09 19 – Non-Human Morality

That many, if not all, animals display consciousness is incontrovertible; that they make decisions is obvious. But Is it possible for a chimp or a dog or a parrot or an elephant to make a behavioral decision based upon an ethical or moral consideration?

2020 09 18 – Why Do I Meditate

Sometims I’m asked (and occasionally ask myself) “Why meditate?” Well, one really simple answer is that I like myself better whet I do.

2020 09 17 – Mentons

I propose the existence of an as-yet unidentified sub-atomic particle I’m calling a “monton”. Similar to a photon this particle is ubiquituous throughout the cosmos. Just as our eyes have ovolved to receive and interpret light our brains have ovolved to capture, interpret and organize these “particles”. Just as the information carried by photons is interpreted as light, the information carried by mentons eventually manifests as ideas that we able to express.

2020 09 16 – Choice

Tom Doubter observes: Each of us has an intriguing choice to either seek to s: become conscious of our personal ontology and thus establish independent free will, or merely to be buffeted by weirdly metaphyical forces beyond our control; gods come to mind...

2020 09 15 – Concentrations

It is often useful to contemplate that every living being on the Earth is an animate concentration of the enregy and natutral resources that originated with the initial formation of the Solar System.


2020 09 14

WELL TODAY IS THE DAY THAT I AM PREVILEGED TO SHOUT OUT “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” TO MY BROTHER SCOTT PELKEY.

1955 SEEMS AN ENTIIRE UNIVERSE AWAY FROM OUR CURRENT PERSPECTIVE BUT IT IS NEVERTHELESS THE YEAR WE WE WERE GRACED WITH THE PRESENCE OF THIS VERY ADMIRABLE MAN. I AM PROOUD TO KNOW HIM AS MY BROTHER AND MY DEEPLY ESTEEMED FRIEND. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT --- 143MARK


2020 09 13 – The Weather is Us

What a strange pity it is that for as much science that we have, we cannot manipulate rain to where it would be useful, as in the Gulf and West Coast.

09 2020 09 12 - Consc plus elements

Consciousness is the facility and willingness to examine the antecedents of one's behavior and thus anticipate the consequences therefrom.

An elemental goal of meditation is the promotion of a continuing and expanding intimacy with both the concept and the practice of consciousness.

2020 09 11 – The Mind-Killear

Religious belief systems are the mind-killer. Such belief systms permit the users to disengage the element in their brains that enables critical thinking.

2020 09 10 – Cacophany

The cacophany of intellect atd sensory input obfuscates the abiliity to concentrate.

2020 09 09 – Aura and Love

It has been established that each of us supports an “aura” of energy that incorporates and exntends beyoond the more readiy observend physical body. When two people find themselves emracing in loving connection their auras enmesh and beautifully, 1+1 no longer equals merely2 but drifts toward an element of infinity.

2020 09 08 -Vicarious Life

A quote from a presently unknown source

We're amusing ouselves to death” in reference to TV, sports, concerts – all forms of vicarious energy drains.

2020 08 25 – Mathew etc, etc

Sometimes cited as the 11th and 12th commandments, we find in Matthew 22:36-40 - (KJV)


Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”


Jesus said unto him,


Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment; And the second is like unto it - Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

**************************************

As a Secular Humanist and a fan of Christian principles (if not Christianity as practiced these days) I choose to interpret these injunctions thusly:


Lord” = the dynamics of the cosmos that have made Life a possibility;


Heart” = the bounty of sentient emotions – both in us human and our animal cousins;


Mind” = the intellect that permits us to comprehend enough of the universe to ask meaningful questions;


Soul” = that in us that acknowledges the existence of mystery and provides an ineffable sense of confidence that more will be revealed.

2020 08 24 – Life Love and etc...

Science indicates that matter and anti-matter must annihilate each other, leaving only energy as a signature of their existence.


Einstein postulates that energy can neither be created or destroyed, but rather re-configured.


As Descartes observes rather poignantly, “I think, therefore I am” (and by implication, so does everything else in the Universe...)


Thus the conclusion seems obvious:


the result of matter/anti-matter intersection is energy manifesting as “life”, invigorated by the as yet mysterious quality we know in a gentle fasionas “love” or more clinically as “consciounsess”.

2020 08 23 – As One Wonders

What evolutinary twist of circumstance cursed we males with genitalia that so closely resembles a Mexican pinnata???

2020 08 22 – Underpants

Did the Romans wear panties beneath their togas? Enquiring (albeit somewhat salacious) want to know. ---- submitted by Tom Doubter.

2020 08 21 – A Long Road

It has taken so much time and and cost so much of Life's energy to get us vertegates to where we now stand able to interpret one language to another – merely to communicate thought to thought – let us not cast away such progress at the weird doorstep of an accidental and vapid political figurehead.

2020 08 20 – Skating Away

Today I borrow from Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull:

....looking for a sign

that the Universal Mind,

has written you into the passion play,

Skating away, skating away-ay, skating away

on the the thin ice of a new day...”

2020 07 21 – Quaranteened

On this last day of my 14-day Covit-19 quarantee I will observe that while Time flies, Boredom trudges.

2020 07 20 – The Silver Cord

Sometimes the Silver Cord snaps suddenly and we are shocked and bewildered; other times it degrades, strand by strand and we watch helplessly as our loved ones slip further and further into oblivion.

2020 07 19 – Gonad Physiology

Memo to the "Intelligent Design" crowd:

placing primate male gonads in such a position as to make them appear to be some form of sexual piñata seems unnecessarily cruel…

2020 07 18 -Food Irony

pull-quote from Channel News Asia, Oct 2013:

The United Nations marked World Food Day on Wednesday, warning against food waste as 842 million people go hungry and stressing the importance of healthy diets amid rising obesity.”

Some compositions simply transcend irony.

2020 07 17 – GlobWarm Wildfires

Headline: GLOBAL WARMING LINKED TO WILDFIRES

Upon reading this Homer Simpson was heard to mutter, “Duh”

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/global-warming-linked-to/856892.html

2020 07 16 – Intell vs Cansc

Intellegence vs consiousness:

intellegence, the ability to perceive and organize data and to react to same, can be observed almost everywhere life is found. Consiousness is the ability to know that one is doing what is descriibed above.

2020 07 15 – Self-Observation – pt LXIX

There is nonetheless beauty and love embedded in the occasionally brittle moments of self-observation.

2020 07 14 – Bastille Day

A good day for reflection – perhaps we ought contemplate freeing our country rrom the perfidy of the insane orange autocrat and his henchmen.

2020 07 10 – Neutrino Oneness

it would seem that with the discovery and isolation of the neutrino Science has provided a “tangible” explanation of what mystics and shamans have for centuries been describing as the “Oneness” of all things

2020 06 28 - EtioTeleo

Etiology and teleology have a place in the study of the organic workings of the universe we live in, but are meaningless when applied to an attempt to grasp a cosmological whole. "Beginning" and "End" have merely temporary significance in a Universe that is necessarily infinite and eternal.

2020 07 10 – Neutrino Oneness

it would seem that with the discovery and isolation of the neutrino Science has provided a “tangible” explanation of what mystics and shamans have for centuries been describing as the “Oneness” of all things

2020 06 26 – Hot Lips

Well, I've crawled the chonological ladder one notch more  and to quote Sally Kellerman portraying Hot Lips Houligan in the movie M*A*S*H

SIXTY NINE IS DIVINE!”

2020 06 26 – Constructive Imagination

We suppose ourselves to be composed of our beliefs and habits, bundled together in a construct of our planets natural resources. In reality our true identity is the capacity to imagine, conceptualize and utilize such ideas.

2020 06 17 – Indifferent Cosmos

What an indifferent universe can’t grant us we are compelled to inculcate. The cosmos does not provide meaning or kindness but we do by recognizing and instilling these qualities.

2020 06 16 – Humane Environmentalism

Those who seek to de-construct the environmental movement as “anti-human” fail to grasp that in fact environmentalism demonstrates the highest form of regard for Humanity – the quest to preserve and sustain Earth's bounty for ourselves as well as succeeding generations.

2020 06 15 – It's a Gas!

Contemplate this:

What do you get when you combine a combustible gas (hydrogen) with a corrosive gas (oxygen)?

Answer: H2O, also known as, water.

2020 06 14 - Humansong

Sometimes in meditation I find myself embraced by and enswirled in cacaphonous yet glorious humansong...

2020 06 13 - Overbreeding

Extra-terrestrial historians may one day observe that the human race found the experience of being alive so compelling that they bred themselves out of existence.

2020 06 12 – Barometer of Hope

If, as it seems, the mood of the times isone of dispair I may still maintain my ability to manufacture a believable psychological mechanism for hope – I do not care to think of myself as barometrically connected to the zeitgeist.

2020 06 11 – Transcend Despair

It is necessary to recognize existential angst as the creative goad that it must be if we are to

d transcend despair.

2020 06 10 – Alcoholic Religion

Speculation exists that along with such baffling phenomena as storms, dreams and death, alcoholic intoxication may have been one of the factors that propelled early societies toward organized religion.

I'll drink to that...

2020 06 09 – On a War Footing

It finally dawns on me that North Korea's Kim Jung Un wants to put his country on a war footing. Under war-time conditions he can propagandize his citizens into nationalistic fervor and thus convert deprivation and austerity into noble sacrifice in the name of patriotism.


2020 06 08 – Intellectual Suicide

It is intellectual suicide to hold an opinion simply because it is consistent with a body of thought identified as a “conservative” or a “liberal” viewpoint. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds".

2020 06 07 – Half and Half

The conundrum relating to perceiving the glass as half-full or half-empty takes on a rather different and more positive perspective if one considers the half-empty glass as potential waiting to be fullfilled.

2020 06 06 ---- D-DAY


D-ump Trump – D-ispense with Pence”

2020 06 05 – A Walk in the Forest

A naturalist (who was coincidentally an atheist) was hiking one day in a lush forest. While admiring all the sights and sounds of this pristive woodland he turned a corner and was confronted by a very large and presumably hungry bear.


Not having been born an atheist he instinctively fell to his knees and cried out, “Oh God! Save me!.”


The forest grew suddenly still and montionless. A commanding, though perhaps gentle voice was heard to say: “You deny my existence for all of these years and even credit creation to a 'cosmic accident'. Yet now you appeal to me in a moment of extremity to intervene on your behalf. Am I to consider this a moment of conversion”?


Noting the continuing stillness the naturalist counters: “Well Sir, that might be an overstatement due to circumstances. But perhaps you could convert the bear.”


Hmm...Very well; Let It Be So!”


The forest resumed its natural motion and the bear was seen to clasp its paws together and rather miraculously utter this short prayer:

:

Thank Thee O Lord for the bounty of these Thy gifts which we are about to receive. Amen”


***************************

****************


2020 06 04 - Solf-Deception

Inasmuch as it is impossible to free oneself from all elements of self-deception it therefore seems wise to learn to pick and choose which ones we will permit ourselves to engage in.

2020 06 03 – Egg Ruminations

I am sometimes given to quizzical arithmetic notions. Like, how many hens eggs equals one ostrich egg? Or the corollary, how many omelets can you expect to make from an ostrich egg? (22 and therefore roughly 7)

And then there's this one: how many human eggs would it take to make an omelet...?

2020 06 02 - Reputation

Though this site is primarily deveted to my personal observations, I couldn't resist borrewing and posting this gem:

I don't know if God exists but it would be better for his reputation if he didn't.” ---- Jules Reynard

2020 06 02 - Reputation

Though this site is primarily deveted to my personal observations, I couldn't resist borrewing and posting this gem:

I don't know if God exists but it would be better for his reputation if he didn't.” ---- Jules Reynard

2020 06 01 - Trump Blaspemy

On this day it seems appropriate that Christians should recall that in their belief system all of us are God's Children and, thus, akin to Jesus, God incarnate. It would be an abdication of intellect to refuse to accept this responsibility.

2020 05 31 – God vs Free Will

Did “God” have free will while establishing the universe?

Or, was he/she required to work within the constraints imposed by a certain

over-arching cosmic nature?

2020 05 30 – Free Will

It is no longer possible to ignore the 900-pound gorilla sitting in our living rooms: the Corona Pandemic.

As time goes on, it becomes more and more tempting to contrast the irritation and discomfort of “cabin fever” with the exhilaration associated with our deeply ingrained belief in “freedom of movement” that is perceived as a uniquely American birthright.

This temptation is emotionally seductive and surely gives rise to “ itchy feet.” It can however be more productively seen as a critical series of moments of self-observation. And with self-observation comes the recognition of our relationships in a broader social and compassionate environment.


The information we have collected from the medical professionals who are allowed to speak makes it clear that we are in a long-term phase of sociological re-orientation.


Currently we are presented with a perhaps misleading interpretation of “free will.” This “willfulness” contrasts sharply with the profound underpinning of social empathy and responsibility that have always been hallmarks of American society. As such, clear signposts of decision can be obscured. It appears that our culture, as manifested in the behavior of its citizens, faces a daunting existential challenge, a challenge that can only be addressed by the conscious applicatation of free will, guided by a spiritual intuition and reverence for the persistently evolving nature of cosmic Life.

2020 05 25 – When Reason Recedes

When reason recedes

And emotion holds the ears,

Much of religion,

Philosophy

And

Common sense

Will be set aside in the

Service of

Popularity...


Let this not be our fate

2020 05 24 – Culture etc

All cultures come into being as manifestations and mchanics of survival dynamics of the people existing within them. Our task at this time in history is to recognize, acknowledge and cherish the underlying spiritual intuition that unites us in consciousness and thus, compassion.



2020 05 23 – Harp-Worn Fingers

LISTEN TO THE HARP-WORN FINGERS

OF SOME BEAuTIFUL PEOPLE

THRUMMING A GRACE WE MIGHT

NOT HAVE OTHERWISE KNOWN.

BLESSINGS TO THEM AND THEIR

STRINGS OF LIFE

2020 05 22 – Culture etc

All cultures come into being as manifestations and mchanics of survival dynamics of the people existing within them. Our task at this time in history is to recognize, acknowledge and cherish the underlying spiritual intuition that unites us in consciousness and thus, compassion.

2020 05 14 – Anniversary

Today marks the 6th anniversary of my residence here at The Beatitudes, a place I always considered merely a stop-over while I attended my Mom, now passed these three years. I find that I’ve remained here because it is comfortable and rewarding given the various projects I have associated myself with. Further I have established meaningful relationships with a number of people I’d rather not abandon. This is especially true with respect to Carolyn Jean Blitz (nee Cobb) with whom I am in love. (Against all odds...more on that later.)

2020 05 13 – Time for Science


In this time of a crisis in the health and safety of our Nation, valid and reliable scientific information is of critical importance. Further, this information must be delivered in an accessible and believable presentation. Unfortunately in our current era science has been tainted political and economic interests. While an economic crisis requires addressing, no political distress can be morally, ethically or pragmatically acceptable.

It has been observed in this room on a number of occasions that “Science can be thought of as the new Religion”. At no time in the history of the world could this be poignantly true. At this critical juncture the citizens of the world must rely upon the workings and admontions of the scientific community. And at the same time ignore the self-serving bleatings of politicians and old-school religionists.

Science is not miraculous and often moves more slowly than might be considered satisfactory to the general population. But science inevitably produces tangible, practical results. It is enirely possible that the pace of science will not keep pace with the lethality of the Corona vires in the short run. However, that pacing will result in far less death than a politically motivated rush attempt to reestablish an unachievable return to a “normal”.

On the morning of 9/11/2001 a friend observed “Well, everything's different now”. In similar fashion every thing is different now in the wake of this vicious pandemic. Glib happy-talk about “opening” our economy from less than informed public figures will not lessen the impact of the disease. Only in being attentive to the voices of science can hope be established and health be restored.

2020 05 12 – Call and Chosen

Many are called,

but few are chosen”

If this adage is applied to our Federal government,

and an element of such choosing is considered to be compassion, very few indeed could be

identified as “chosen”

2020 05 11
TODAY IS THE DAY THAT I GET TO WISH "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" TO MY DEAR SISTER, CELESTE - I'VE WAITED 60 YEARS TO BE ABLE TO SAY TO HER, "HAPPY 60TH!!"

2020 05 09 – Ongoing Creation

It seems evident that “Big Bang” is just a scientific metaphor for “Creation”. This language fills the human need for beginnings (and by implication endings).” ----- Tom Doubter

2020 05 10 – God and Free Will

Did “God” have Free Will while establishing the Universe? Or, was he/she required to work within the constraints imposed by a certain

Cosmic Nature?


2020 05 01 – 3 Ignorant Propositions

Three deeply held but deeply flawed human assumptions work to frustrate efforts to manage our planetary sustainability.

They are:

1 - “God” or gods will intervene and provide;

2 - Science will fix;

3 - Earth's bounty is inexhaustible.

Far too many people still fundamentally believe in the fiction of gods.

Far too many educated people regard science as having attributes of the miraculous.

Mathematics is elusive and thus most people do not understand the finite relationship between the apparent vastness of the planet's resources and the ever-increasing population burden which must employ these resources to survive. This problem is exacerbated by a cannibalistic capitalist paradigm which confounds effective and compassionate resource management and distribution.

2020 04 30 – Free Will

The responsibility associated with the exercise of free will can be both exciting and daunting. If employed consciously such exercise will result in that which is even more exhilerating – free thought.

2020 04 29 – Alive?

Do we know we are alive because we are conscious? Or are we conscious because we are alive?

2020 04 28 - Lysol and bl

One can only hope that those whe took Not-Pres Dump at his word and began drinking disinfectants and bleach in a lethally vain attempt to word off the Covid-19 virus were in ct the same morons who voted for this master-mind of dopiness.


2020 04 27 – Motility and Contemplation

Perhaps it is poetically useful to regard Science as the study and employment of motion in the physical cosmos, and Spirituality as the contemplation and immersion into the motion of thought which allows us to perceive such Science.

2020 04 26 – Life and Love

Science indicates that matter and anti-matter must annihilate each other, leaving only energy as a signature of their existance.


Einstein postulates that energy can neither be created or destroyed, only re-shaped.


As Descartes observes rather poignantly, “I think, therefore I am” (and by implication, so does everything else in the Universe...)


Thus the conclusion seems obvious:


the result of matter/anti-matter intersection is energy manifesting as “Life”, and the deepy poignant and pervasive phenomeon of Love.

2020 04 25 – 1984

Des nobodyy in today's world ever botherto read to "1984" ???

2020 04 24 – Korea-Iran wan idea

a good idea is to encourgage NKorea to engage in war with Iran - we don't need to be invlted - let little dick Kim Jung Stupid have a shooting war with crusty-butthole Khameni.

2020 04 23 – Mouth/Brain in sync


I feel fairly confident that the words coming ouf of my mouth are connected with the thougts emanating from my brain.

2020 04 22 – Credit Death

How ironic: bugs may succeed where political activism and revolution failed to dismantle the the corporate hegemony on the planet Earth.

2020 04 20 – The Beatitudes vs The Virus

The Adminstration here at The Beatitudes is to be commended for its compassionate and courageous approach to the safety and protection of a vulnerable community. By making virtually prescient (not to mention, unpopular) decisions regarding movement restrictions and strategic quarantines, they have kept this Campus infection-free. I am personally grateful as has been everyone I speak to by phone or internet.

It is my confident hope and trust that no-one here – staff or resident -- will be seduced by the propagandistic gibberish coming out of Washington. This pandemic is not abating simply because Trump waves his orange hair at it. We are in this for the long haul and any relaxation of the difficult yet necessary protocols being enforced by our campus Administration are to be welcomed, encouraged, and applauded with gratitude.

As a further thought, the methods, mechanisms, and implementation techniques should be well documented so as to pass on to other such institutions nationwide -- because this plague is not going away soon.

2020 04 19 – Souls etc

Souls are not automatically dispensed, they are acquired. Not by the exploitation of good works but rather by dint of intellectual and intuitional striving. That good works evolve naturally from such effort is merely the inevitable pulse of Nature.

2020 04 18 – Evolution in Action

These Trump-inflamed “protesters” of the health- inspired safety measures are little more than childishly petulant non-thinkers (aided in no small part by a small coterie of equally small politicians). They cause one to think of the darker side of Darwinism manifest. Or, as science fiction writer Larry Niven put it, “Evolution in action,” since the dead don't pass on their stupidity genes.

2020 04 17 - Sociopaths
People with a mindset such as that of Mussolini, Stalin, MaoZebong, (and and some other notables) the destruction of human lives - even cultures - is the collateral damage associated with the establishment, or perhaps more  accurately, the preservation of an economy.
    As an atheist who aderes to Christiiao values - absent any belief in gods or saviors, I find this manner of thinking to be immoral, unethical, represensible, Ferengi.

2020 04 08 – Prutrid Polls

I wish the English language provided sufficient expletive adjectives that would express how vile are “polls” in our electoral environment. The stench of shit is more attractive than the putridity wafted into cultuer via “polling”.

2020 04 07 - ...conclusions

'Twas briggig and the slithy toves,

Did gyre and gimbol in the wabe,

All mimsey were the borogoves,

And mome wraths outgrabe.

2020 04 07 ...endings
2020 04 06 ...the Fathers glee
"And hast though slain the Jabberwack?
"Come to my arms my beamish boy!
"Oh frabjous day! Clloo Callay!"
He cchortled in his jjoy.
2020 04 05 - ...more...
One two, one two, through and through,
The Vorpal blade went snicker-snack,
He lefft it dead,and with hits head,
He went gallumphing back
2020 04 04 - ...and while in uffish he stood,
The Jabberwok with aflame ,
came whiffling through the Tulgey Wood,
and it burbled as it came...
2020  04 03 - He took the Vorpal sword in hand,
Long- time manxsome fue he sought.
Then rested he by the tum-tum tree,
and stood awile it thought...
2020 04 02 - ...and then...
Beware the Jabberwok my son,
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch,
Beware the Jub-Jub bird,
and shun the  frumious Bandersnatch.
2020 04 01 - Jabberwocky? ... or Trump
'Twas brillig and the slithy toves,
Did gyre and gimbal in the wabe,
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe...
2020 03 31 - Death Considered
Death will either answer or obviate key existential questions.

2020 03 30 – JackAss Speaks

Some boob was heard to exalt President Dufus and exhort Americans to “pray and we'll get through”. My take: Shit in one hand and pray in the other and see which one fills up first.


2020 03 22 – It's Sunday and I'm back!

In this time of crisis it is a comfort to recognize the good and effective safety measures instituded here at The Beatitudes Campus. For the time being suffice it to say that this enclasve is sufficiently insulated and can be identified as a model of how to cope with a deadly infestation.

2020 03 03 – Belief vs Thinking

Beliefs, while comforting, cannot be permitted displace common sense and more profoundly, critical thinking, a sadly absent ingredient in currently perceived recipe for politics and societal construction.


2020 03 02 – Matter vs AntiMatter 20pt

In the beginning was the Word – and Word was violent. Matter and anti-matter were present in near near equal proportions but given that these two dynamics annhilate one another matter must have been slightly more in presence since existence is so.

2020 03 02 – Matter vs AntiMatter 15pt

In the beginning was the Word – and Word was violent. Matter and anti-matter were present in near near equal proportions but given that these two dynamics annhilate one another matter must have been slightly more in presence since existence is so.

2020 03 01 – Daunting Metaphysics

The metaphysics of being alive in this continuum can be confusing, though considerably less so when one accepts that mystery need not be daunting if perceived as challenge.

2020 02 29 – Free Will Expanded

The responsibilities associated with the exercise of free will can be both daunting and exciting. If employed consciously such exercise will result in that which is even more exhilarating - free thought.

HIATUS - ACUTE BACK PAIN

2020 01 15 – Divine Free Will, a question

Did God have Free Will while establishing the Universe? Or, was he/she required to work within the constraints imposed by a certain

Cosmic Nature?

2020 01 01 - Greed, Obligement and Impossibility


Nasrudin said: “None can understand Man until they realize the connection between greed, obligement and impossibility.”

The student complained: “This is a conundrum which I cannot understand.”

Nasrudin responded saying: “Never look for understanding through words and conundrums when you can attain it through experience.”

With that, he took the student to a nearby marketplace, thence to a small shop where robes were sold. Upon entering the shop Nasrudin announced, “Show me your best robes, for I am in a mood to spend extravagantly.”

A most beautiful robe was produced and an extremely high price was asked.

It is very much the kind of robe I desire” said Nasrudin “only I would like some sequins around the collar and a touch of fur trimming.”

Nothing easier!” said the seller of robes “for I have just such a garment in the back of my shop.”

He disappeared for a few moments and then returned, having added sequins and fur to the self-same garment.

And how much is this one?” asked Nasrudin

It is twenty times the price of the first one.” said the robe seller.


Excellent!” said Nasrudin, “I’ll take both of them.”

2019 12 31 – I am That I am

Many years ago I was taught that in every human language there exists a sometimes secret word that can be expressed as “I-am-I” or “I am that I am”. Over the years I have come to cherish this sentiment and have added this short addendum -

I am at one with the Cosmos”

2019 12 29 – On The Bridge

The Master and an acolyte were crossing a bridge over a river and stopped to relieve themselves. The Student, thinking himself to a bit of a wag,

Observerved, “My, the water in the river is quite cold.”

To which The Master responded,

...and deep”

2019 12 28 – 3 Ignorant propositions

Three deeply held but deeply flawed human assumptions work to frustrate efforts to manage our planetary sustainability. They are:

1 - God will provide;

2 - Science will fix;

3 - Earth's bounty is inexhaustible.

Far too many people still fundamentally believe in the fiction of God.

Far too many educated people regard science as having attributes of the miraculous.

Mathematics is elusive and so most people do not understand the finite relationship between the apparent vastness of the planet's resources and the the ever-increasing population which must employ those resources to survive.

-------------

orighanlly published October 30, 2013

2019 12 27 – Freedom

Freedom is only useful if the freed can exercise the right to think, act and behave in an anarchistic environment.

2019 12 26 – Blessings and Gracae

It is worth noting that the construct "God" isn't necessary for the universe to exist. It is however a word that serves as a useful mechanism for expressing the elusively ineffable sets of phenomena that persistently baffle us. (This pursuit of un-bafflement is of course why my participation in the Science and Spirituality Study Group is so rewarding.)

And "blessings" are those pockets of grace that we humans create as we meld our compassion into the transcendent enfolding of one another. This is why I don't feel hypocritical when I occasionally say, “God Bless You.” or “Merry Christmas”.

2019 12 25 – A Christmas Muse


E PLURIBUS UNUM


The Cosmic Connectedness (or Consciousness), also perceived as Divine Oneness that permeates the Universe is undeniable. Equally undenibly the unique individuations that are created by experience, provide the dynamic by which this Oneness is made manifest. Every one of us is an invigoration of the spark of Life that is present as Cosmic Connectedness while at the same time being utterly and beautifully unique in presentation –

as ore our siblings - every star in the Universe

2019 12 24 - Gratitude

My contribution on this subject is that in every foreign country I've traveled, my path has always been gently smoothed by quickly learning the local words or equivalent of

Thank You”

2019 12 23 – Education

Real education is a process:

First: skepticism;

Second: reasoned questions;

Third: acceptance of mystery as non-threatening

2019 12 22 – Earned Grace

Grace is not automatically dispensed, it is acquired. Not by the accomplishing of good works, but rather by the work of intellectual and intuitional striving.

That good works evolve naturally from such effort is, happily, the inevitable pulse of the cosmos.

2019 12 21 – On Meditation

When the myriad, yammering voices that roam one's intellect are gently and softly stilled for the moment, and one's ego has tiptoed off to a remote corner of the mind for timely nap, then a deeper and pervasive “sound” can be “felt”- informing of an encompassing osmicConsciosness that transcends time and space andpossessesthefascinatingquality of simple is-ness.

2019 12 18 – Profound vs Mundane

I don't seek the profound; merely the mundane comprehended as the naturally divine.

2019 12 17 – Ham and Eggs

Mulla Nasrudin was lecturing a group of followers on the subject of commitment. A student asked:

Master, can explain to us the difference between involvement and commitment?”

Nasrudin replied:

It is much like when you are having ham and eggs for your breakfast. The chicken is involved, the pig is committed.”

2019 12 18 - SPECIAL

CRIMINOUS PRESIDENT IMPEACHED TODAY. R

2019 12 15 – Twilight

Twilight comes, to mock each dawn,

Yet e'en in the dark the mind carries on,

In half-wakend dreams we ponder our Fate,

Heroic to self, in minds meager or great,

Night creatures keep watch as Dark's

curtain is drawn,

Implacable and inevitable as the oncoming

Dawn,

The morning brings light and new thoughts

are shown,

The cycle persists and Twilight once

more must be known.

2019 12 14 – Douglas Fairbanks Sr.

The following is a narrative poem about a journey

made by Maggie and me in 1976, largely told from her perspective, though written by me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train-ride done we walked LA's streets awhile,


Our train-ride complete at Union Station,

We walked a bit to our next destination,

As whimsical Fate might have inclined,

Our wandering steps found those now declined,

Yes, it was a burial ground

for some Hollywood figures of some renown,

Many folk lie there in absent rest,

But among the most extravagant best,

Lay a 60-foot long reflecting pond,

In memory of a Fairbanks not gone beyond.

That pool was home to some swimming things,

Their mute vibrancy testament to life that clings,

We emptied our bag of dope

and scooped some up in cheerful hope,

That ….

We wended our way to a small set of stairs,

home to a friend not known to me,

But dear in the heart to my lover who cares,


My companion set out in search of some beer,

When our soon to be host then chose to appear,



So sat I there on the warm Hollwood stoop,

and spoke to a stranger while holding a bag of goop,


. “You must be Victor and these are Fish!”

2019 11 26 – Elements

At 68+years and many more days,

I hardly think I'm wasting away,

And yet there's an element that can't be denied,

Memories that magically come to the fore,

Brougtht into focus by chat and converse,

Of course it's not possible to run things in reverse,

Yet our memories define us

As we sculpt the new day,

Some are older and some rather young,

our task is always to give voice to their tongue.

2019 11 25 – Medition and Desire

With respect to the idea and practice of meditation, it must never be interpreted as a “need” to so engage, but rather as a desire to enter that realm of thought.

2019 11 24 – Nightlight – Daylight

When the Light is lit by stars alone,

Thoughts are hid that should be seen,

But when the Moon adds its sheen,

More ideas can be known,


But when the Sun comes into sight,

Having swept away ill-murky clouds,

Then can our thoughs forgo their shrouds,

And sing the songs that exult The Light.

2019 11 23 – Poetic Science

Perhaps it is poetically useful to regard Science as the study and employment of motion in the physical world, and Spirituality as the contemplation of and immersion into the motion of thought, which allows us to perceive that science.

2019 11 22 – The Truth Will Not Set You Free

Too often the obvious proves to be obscured by prejudice, denial or willful hopefullness. Abscent critical tihnkning this obsurity can become codified into an unassailble belief system that is resistant to even the most gentle ministrations of reason.a

2019 11 21 – Love as God?

Love is that dynamic which gathers together all that invigorates and motivates not only life as we know it here on Earth but everywhere else in the Cosmos. And so, if you'll forgive my saying so, Love thus may well be considered as a face of God, should any such entity reasonably be believed to exist.

2019 11 20 – Science and Philosophy

Philosophers nip at the edges of abstraction until such time as those edges become so frayed that a full-blown concept emerges.

In similar fashion science chips away at the myths of religion and superstition, slowly insinuating Reason into the Common Consciousness

2019 11 19 - (sent to me from from Bill Chase)



Someone on Quora asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?" Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

A few things spring to mind.

Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.

For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.

So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump's limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever.

I don't say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.

But with Trump, it's a fact. He doesn't even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.

And scarily, he doesn't just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It's all surface.

Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.

Well, we don't. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.

Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.

He's not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.

He's more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.

That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy' is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.

After all, it's impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.

He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.

In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:

'My God... what... have... I... created?

If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

Source: jobsanger: British Writer Pens The Best Description Of Trump I've Read


2019 11 18 – Elevation of Beauty

So long as there exists faith in the elevation of beauty, the existential yearning for that which is beautiful will propel the expansion of consciousness.

2019 11 17 – Dynamic Beauty

That which is beautiful is almost never static;

rather beauty is vibrant, motivating

shifting in perspective, and thus fundamentally dynamic.

2019 11 16 – Stewardship

As the presumed stewards of Life on planet Earth -

perhaps in service to a broader intentional Cosmos -

we are deputized to protect and enhance our home's fundamental vibrancy that manifests itself as the power of Love.

2019 11 15 – Corporate Ills

The global corporate manipulation of our planetary resources is steadily evaporating life-sustaining environments. The Trumpian isolationism and the concomitant world-wide emphasis on nationalism are manifestations of an ineffectual conservatism which looks backwards toward an imaginary golden age.

2019 11 06 - I like Eternity
What one can appreciate about eternity is that it looks the same in either direction - an endless corridor of possibility...
2019 11 04 - Petals
When the flower's blossoms drift to the fecund dirt below, they represent not decay or death, but more poignantly, reinvigoration, Life revivoried, always finding new or renewed manifestation.
2019 11 03 - Fecundity
If life were any more fecond on this planet it would be ever-present; or perhaps it is...
2019 11 02 -Gods and humans
When gods begin to behave as erratcically as their human counterparts hope for spiritual  emancipation is eviserated.
2019 11 01 -
At every point where humans invoke the intercession of "God" it diminish the potency of the human concsiousness. This is insulting, demeaning.  and misleading.   Tragically,  this reliance upon unsubstantiable entities is entirely uneccessary. 
2019 10 31 - Halloweeny
I reckon y'all know why the wizard fathered no children . . . he had crystal balls ---- good night --- <:-)
2019 10 30 - The Gift of Memory
As we age and become the recepticle of an increasing compendium of memories, we don't necessarily lose these memories but begin to encounter a faulty capaciity to recall some specifics, often meaningless, but not less irritating in their absence.

2019 10 29 – Glass Insects

Frogs don't eat glass insects.

2019 10 28 – Blue is Blue

the ceons are deep

the sky is wide

what is blue above

is samewise blue below,

the birds of the air

marry the fishes of the sea

in the myriad dance of life

in ephemal eternity

2019 10 27 – Sometimes the Light

Sometimes illumination is the Light,

granting solace on a over-embracing night,

Sometimes the Light must abandon sheen

for not all things are meant to be seen,

At times the Light is bright as day,

at other times it will be hidden away,

But when all is done, said and shown,

it is via Light that grace shall be known



2019 10 26 – Eternity or

If one has to choose between etiology or teleology why not settle on the the rather simpler proposition: eternity.

2019 10 25 – Conceivable

The human mind, while not the sole thinking device on this planet, is probably unique in being able to conceive of a god that possesses a mind which is unfathomable to the conceiver.

2019 10 24 – Ego-Death-OK

It seems more comfortable to reject the notion of continuation of the ego-centric personality beyond the currently perceivable sphere of existence. That consciousness will persist seems implacable (if a bit incomprehensible to those of us who remain here). But to misapprehend this persistence of consciousness as evidence of an over-arching “Supreme Being” that somehow governs or directs the events perpetrated by human behavior is not supportable. Conscioussnss may well be an invigorating force in our cosmos but to suggest that it is “purposeful” is an unwarranted assumption, born of human hubris and craving for teleogic affirmation.

2019 10 23 - created or CREATED

A “created” cosmos (such as the one within we seem to exist) is a reasonable idea – but a Created Universe is functionally impossible.

2019 10 22 – What is Fair

"Fairness” and “justice” do not exist outside of human perception and consciousness. A constantly rearranging balance is the fundamental dynamic of the universe but it is neither fair or just. It is misleading and dangerous to confuse fluxing equilibrium - balance - with the concepts of fairness and justice. Such confusion leads to the myth that ethical and moral guidelines are dispensed from some higher authority when in fact the administration of such ideals is solely the province of human compassion.

2019 10 21 – Underlying Truths

Though the necessary words of science may baffle or seem incomprehensible, the underlyng truths they represent are often found in more accessible forms such as poetry, prayec and meditation

2019 10 03 – Faithful Thinking

If you think you have faith – you do;

If you have faith in your thinking

your thoughts will elevate you.

2019 10 02 – Critical Thinking

An arranged agreement with the inevitable grants one a placidity that enables the intellectual platform that encourages critical thinking.

2019 10 01 – Unexamined

Although perhaps incidentally irritating to those who must tolerate being in the company of such, an unexamined life is mostly exhaust. --- Tom Doubter, 1969

2019 09 30 - Listening

Listen first – talk later;

and when listening always strive to evaporate

the wax of prejudice fromyour ears.

And never forget that when you do speak

you are also listening --- to yourself.

2019 09 29 – Why Meditate

I have asked myself and have been asked by others; “Why meditate?” After due consideration the answer is simply, “Because it feels good.” Spiritual attainments, a sense of Oneness, even transcendence are bonuses

2019 09 28 – Gratitude

Wear your gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life.”

                                       Jalal ad-Din Rumi,

                                     Sufi poet, scholar and visionary

2019 09 27 – Responsible Free Will

The responsibilities associated with the exercise of free will can be both daunting and exciting. If employed consciously such exercise will result in that which is even more exhilerating – free thought.

2019 09 24 – Alive or...

Do we know we are alive because we are conscious or we conscious because we are alive?

2019 09 08 – Love so to speak

Love is that dynamic which gathers together all that invigorates and motivates not only life as we know it here on Earth but everywhere else in the Cosmos. And so, if you'll forgive an atheist saying so, Love is god manifest.

2019 09 07 – Oblivion plus

If the conclusion of this manifestation of vibrancy that we identify as “Life” turns out to be oblivion rather than a matriculation to Heaven/Hell --- so what? How would we know or care? I'm inclined to think that our last thoughts are better served as being those of peace and gracee.

Inasmuch as the whole experience of “reality” is largely constructed of belief-oriented hallucinations, why not invent some end-of-life comforting fantasies that provide a greasy way of exit. Just don't invoke gods, angels, devils or other forms of “imaginary friends” or other forms of parapsychological bullshit.


And as Tom Doubter might say, “After all, oblivion does grant peace.”

2019 09 06 – Presidental Floss

It now appears that President VomiTurd has lost what little grip upon reality he might have been assumed to have had. Troublesomely, in the past when insane men were elected to this off ice, America was not in position to steer global dynamics. Sadly, now we are, and the implications are tragic.

2019 09 05 – Dictionary Dithers

Dictionaries of the near-future will feature this as an exampule of the word “stooge” - Mitch McConnell

2019 09 04 -Homilies and Ad Hominem

D Trump = gibbering jingoistic homilies intermixed with ad hominem excoriattions.

oOOPS ! SK

2019 09 03 – Purposeful Not Purpose

To suggest that the Universe is not imbued with an overarching “purpose” does not evaporate the need to live a purposeful existence for consciousness, especially as manifest in our very own human race.

2019 09 02 – Sleep, perchance to dream

Although a physiologically refreshing necessity, sleep can also be a retreat from the rigors of reality.

2019 09 01 – Creation Not So Much

A “created” cosmos (as in the one in which we seem to exist within) is a reasonable idea – but a created Universe is functionally impossible.

2019 08 30 – Faith and Thinking

If you think you have faith – you do;


If you have faith in your thinking

your thoughts will elevate you

2019 08 29 – Vulnerability

The willingness to accept the vulnerability that is attendant to the desire to want to help ethers is the only known route to salvation in the human condition for theist and atheist alike.

2019 08 28 – An Unmade Bed

"I have found that an unmade bed is like a open wound – it needs a dressing." ------ Tom Doubter.

2019 08 27 - Acceptance

The willingness to accept the vulnerability that is attendant to the desire to want to help ethers is the only known route to salvation in the human condition for theist and atheist alike.

2019 08 26 test

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back

and then entered and robbed the Fifth National bank where he belienved he had ample kibble on deposit, only to disconver that back rats had chewed through his safe-deposito box and devourved his precious stash.

2019 08 25 - Matter-AntiMatter

Science indicates that matter and anti-matter must annihilate each other, leaving only energy as a signature of their existance.


Einstein postulates that energy can neither be created or destroyed, only re-shaped.


As Descartes observes rather poignantly, “I think, therefore I am” (and by implication, so does everything else in the Universe...)


Thus the conclusion seems obvious:


the result of matter/anti-matter intersection is energy manifesting as “Life”, and I will suggest - invigorated by “Love”

2019 08 14 – Created -Not

A “created” cosmos (as in the one in which we seem to exist within) is a reasonable idea – but a Created Universe is functionally impossible.

2019 08 13 - Inconceivable

The human mind, while not the sole thinking device on this planet, is probably unique in being able to conceive of a God that possesses a mind which is unfathomable to the conceiver.

2019 08 12

An equation of indolence:

Full belly + empty bladder + empty bowel  == nap timae

2019 08 09 - Stewardship

As the proposed stewards of Life on planet Earth, perhaps in service to a broader intentional Cosmos, we deputized to enforce the power of vibrancy that manifests itself as Love.

2019 06 31 – Hypothetical Universii

A “constructed' cosmos (such as in the one in which we seem to exist within) is a reasonable idea – but a Created Universe is functionally impossible.

2019 06 30 -It's the 30th of June- halfway through yet another peculiar year --- and

---

SERENDIPITOULY



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF MY DEAREST FRIENDS!


(and BTW: tell Ray that I consider him to be a fucking lucky and blessed young man having you in his life)


LOVE TO YOU BOTH ---

COWBOY BOB


2019 06 28 – Truth and Beauty

So long as there exists faith in the elevation of beauty, the existential yearning for that which is beautiful will propel the expansion of consciousness.

2019 06 27 – Exhaust

An unexamined life is little more than exhaust

-------- Tom Doubter, 1969

2019 06 26 – Tough Love Bullshit

So-called “tough love” is nothing more than an egocentric sophistry designed to insulate and distance the “tough-lover” from the existential pains associated with reality. Narcissistic at best, sociopathic at its root.

2019 04 30 – Intersection

The intersection of science and spirituality,

which we embody,

provides a fascinating perspective:


We are in fact the eyes and ears of the Universe,

employing self-knowledge in the ongoing processes of Creation.

2019 04 29 – Velocity vs Perception

Tom Doubter observes: The faster you go the more you'll be exposed to; but paradoxically, the more you will miss.

2019 04 25 – Dervish Alliteration

Mulla Nasrudin observes: "Determind dervishes detachedly dance, deftly describing developing destinies."

2019 04 22 – Faith and Thinking

If you think you have faith – you do.

If you have faith in your thinking your thoughts will elevate you.

2019 04 11 – Nick's Birthday

I'm off to Southern California to join the celebration of Nick's 60th birthday. Victor will meet me at the Burbank airport, then dinner with Saul and Carla, breakfast/lunch with Marc, then Saturday Victor, Denyse and I will drive up to T-town. Home again Monday, fliying out of the very pleasant Bakersfield airport.

2019 04 10 – Purpose?

To suggest that the Universe is not imbued with an overarching “purpose” does not evaporate the need to live a purposeful existence for consciousness, especially as manifest in our very own human race.

2019 04 04 – My Hobby

To my surprise I discover that I have a hobby - I am constantly constructing new language and metaphors to make the ineffable experience encountered in meditation more conventionally accessible.

2019 04 03 – Frogs in Heaven

The number of frogs in Heaven is but a fraction of the number of angels in Hell.

Please Note

APRIL FOOLS DAY HAS BEEN CANCELLED AS BEING INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM CURRENT REALITY.

2019 04 01 – Divine Repositories

Tom Doubter observes:

We humans create Gods as repositories for our moral and ethical aspirations.”

2019 03 31 – Persistent Creation

It seems preferable, if somewhat unnerving at times, to think of “creation” as a persistent, ongoing condition rather a series of starts and stops as depicted by such theories as the Big Bang and the attendant theories regarding the End of the Universe (none of which actually manke any sense...)

2019 03 09 - ERA

The Feckless Innocent: "I consider it a national embarrassment that the United States failed to pass the ERA."
Tom Doubter: "Well, I consider it a human embarrassment that such an amendment was found to be necessary."

2019 03 08 – Cosmic Orgasmic

Ruminating on the concept of an Infinite Cosmos may be a form of masturbation – but the orgasms are star-studded.

2019 03 07 – Perfection Myth

A thing that has achieved “perfection” can be thought of as “complete”, “finished”, “unchangable”. Therefore we know that our universe is in fact imperfect because its very essence is motion, transformation, constructing and deconstructing everywhere, at all times. It would seem that our job is to bring this motion into a realm of conscious control so as to create, not a perfect world but one wherein harmonious interaction is more universally encouraged. With attentiveness such harmony is made manifest not only in our “physical” presences but more profoundly in our connection to a broader, more inclusive, Cosmic Consciousness.

2019 03 06 – Humanity vs Humane

Our race's “humanity” is not in question. Our willingness to consciously employ this natural birthright in humane and compassionate manifestation is a somewhat more dubious proposition.

2019 03 05 - Baboon Scrotums

Primatologists inform us that male baboons stroke and fondle each other's scrotums to indicate friendship. I feel certain that the establishment of a similar practice in the chambers of the United States Congress.would greatly enhance that body's public image.

2019 03 04 – Putting Off

Never put off till tomorrow what you can

get someone else to do for you today

2019 03 03 – Unsolicited Advice

Unsolicited advice is often misinterpreted by the giver as wisdom, sometimes with amusing results.

2019 03 02 – Stupid Questions

The only stupid question is the one you

didn't ask. (of course nobody said you have to ask me!)

2019 03 01 – Kernels of Truth

The cornier the saying the more likely it contains a kernel of truth.

2019 02 28– Justice reviewed


"Fairness” and “justice” do not exist outside of human perception and consciousness. A constantly rearranging balance is the fundamental dynamic of the universe but it is neither fair or just. It is misleading and dangerous to confuse fluxing equilibrium - balance - with the concepts of fairness and justice. Such confusion leads to the myth that ethical and moral guidelines are dispensed from some higher authority when in fact the administration of such ideals is solely the province of human compassion. In the Bible, the Q'uran, the Vedas and all religious apocrypha, God and gods exhibit manifestly unjust behavior. Likewise, most activity on Earth, such as “Nature, red in tooth and claw”, volcanoes, earthquakes etc. is random and governed only by balance as the animals eat and the rocks shift. Only with the rise of self-consciousness does balance take on the aspects of fairness and justice - critical manifestations of empathy and compassion.

2019 02 27 – The Beauty and the Terror

There is a measure of satisfaction available in the contemplation of humanity as an element in a vast, universal thinking machine that spends its time reveling in its beauties while striving to mitigate its terrors.

2019 02 26 – Is Humility the Answer

Meeting the infinite universe head-on can have a humbling effect. Is humility then the key to engendering compassion and thus cooperation in the human condition?

2019 02 25 – Ltr to a dying friend

Hi Larry,

So many moments to remember...when someone, like me, comes to treat the JB as their living room many emotional and compassionate expressions of the human condition are played out therein.

Lives were lived, loved and lost within those walls and your presence, whether actually on the premises or not, imbued the environment with a grace of camaraderie the like of which will likely never be duplicated. Art Bradley and I have commiserated on the subject at length.

My many tabs... failed then redeemed checks... spilled drinks... various other faux pas, all submerged in ambiance of gentle bon homie that pervaded and defined John Barleycorn.

I met two women that I almost married (but not really being the marrying type nothing came of either affair; Maggie, now in Australia and Lee, now in Bakersfield).

The first printing press to grace Pelkey's Printing Palace (or as you once put it, “...and alliteration parlor) was purchased with my winnings in the SuperBowl pool of Jan 1989.

Certainly I remember your kind visit to me in the hospital when I had suffered that broken jaw – I still have the pick-up claw you and Lesley gave me to pinch nurses with.

The night of the earthquake when the JB became the focal point for friends and relatives to confirm safety.

The opportunity to offer a eulogy for Jerry Sagar.


Larry, I could go on but others will have equally evocative stories to share as well so I’ll close now with this poignant promise: you and what you created with the John Barleycorn will remain in my memories for as long as I persist here and, who knows, perhaps even somehow thereafter.


Fondly, Mark Pelkey

2019 02 24 – Souls etc

Souls are not automatically dispensed, they are acquired. Not by the exploitation of good works but rather by dint of intellectual and intuitional striving. That good works evolve naturally from such effort is merely the inevitable pulse of Nature.

2019 02 23 – Peace-So to Speak

Peace is not something you wish for; it's something you sculpt, something you do, something you are, something you exude and something you receive in return. As the saying goes, “out and in, out and in”.

2019 02 22 – Two Sides of Survival

The struggle for survival can be witnessed in two very distinct extremes. In a sparse envirenment survival depends on the ability to extract the most from the least. In contrast, in Amazon rain forest survival depends upon the ability to overcome the fecundity of other species of plants and animals.

2019 02 21 – Normal and Denial

When flying I advise the airline when booking that I am need of some assistance getting from check-in to boarding, suggesting that they might assign me a walking partner. They invariably choose to put me in a wheelchair, which, while immensely convenient, is simultaneously somewhat embarrassing. I have always tried to be perceived as "normal" - I did my best at the various sports we had at school; I taught myself to shoot a rifle with accuracy at 100 yds; I tried to learn to drive a car (without much success, possibly to the advantage of many unsuspecting Southern Californians); and in all respects sought to distance myself from the word "handicapped". I suppose that anyone reaching a certain age must come grips with a somewhat diminished capacity to accomplish rather ordinary tasks, but I find that I resist such relenting with an especially personal sort of vehemence, stemming no doubt from a habitual form of denial.

2019 02 20 – War on Unhappiness

Why are humans inclined to take drugs or drink alcohol? The obvious answer is that they do so to mitigate and anaestthize the pain of existance. The more profound question is, why is existance painful? Instead of a “War on Drugs” why don't we we underwrite a “War on Unhappiness”?

2019 02 19 – Not Perfection

A thing that has achieved “perfection” can be thought of as “complete”, “finished”, “unchangable”. Therefore we know that our universe is in fact imperfect because its very essence is motion, transformation, constructing and deconstructing everywhere, at all times. It would seem that our job is to bring this motion into a realm of conscious control so as to create, not a perfect world but one wherein harmonious interaction is more universally encouraged. With attentiveness such harmony is made manifest not only in our “physical” presences but more profoundly in our connection to a broader, more inclusive Cosmic Consciousness.

2019 02 18 – Flattering God

"The most preposterous notion that H. sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history. " Robert A. Heinlein


2019 02 17 – Female Jesus

A conunbrum for Evangelicals: What if Jesus came back as woman? Photoshop that beard off, add a couple of strategically placed bumps and the traditional image of Jesus is transformed into “Jesusa”. It is easy to conclude that this incarnation of “divinity” would arrive equipped with a full complement of feminine attributes – compassion, nurturing, empathy, etc.

2019 02 16 – Brevity Exposed

I saw one excellency was within my reach; it was brevity and I determined to obtain it.”

- John Jay, 1745 - 1829


In character, in manners, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.”

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807 - 1882


For too long I listened to and was encumbered by advice such as Longfellow's and Jay's. Eventually I came to recognize such thinking as another example of Amercan anti-intellectualism. Simplicity and brevity are fine for the pithy comment or poetic moment but to apply such admonitions in a broad, pedantic manner is to ignore the beauty and depth of language that is available to us as a birthright of our evolution.---- Mark Pelkey

2019 02 15 – No One Knows

None of us can know who we'll never see again.

2019 02 14 – Why Meditate

I have asked myself and have been asked by others; “Why meditate?” After due consideration the answer is simply, “Because it feels good.” Spiritual attainments, a sense of Oneness, even transcendence are bonuses.

2019 02 13 – Gravity Biggest

If a black is presumed to have gravitic forec such that even light cannot escape its valance, then obviously the “speed of light” is surpassed by this gravity pulling the back in. Hence we are compelled to conclude that gravity transcends the “speed of light” as it “pulls” photons into it faster than they can escape. Further, it would appear that gravity, of all the four forces that present as the fundamental dynamics of the cosmas, may be the most powerful.

2019 02 12 – Quantum Defined

A BRIEF (AND INCOMPLETE) EXAMINATION OF QUANTUM THEORY AND MECHANICS


We'll start with a couple of definitions - - -


physics: the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy.


Quantum: a discrete quantity of energy proportional in magnitude to the frequency of the radiation it represents. In English this simply means the smallest unit of detectable matter/energy. Quantum is taken directly from Latin, meaning a single unit.


The science of physics can be broadly interpreted as Newtonian physics and quantum physics. Quantum physics is the science of the very small. It explains the behavior of matter in terms of energy on the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. By contrast, Newtonian physics only explains matter and energy on a scale familiar to human experience, including such things as diverse as the behavior of astronomical bodies and relationship between wood, metal and plastic. Functional necessity requires that Newtonian physics is still used in the various manipulations of modern science and technology.


However, the study of the very small, all the way down to sub-atomic particles has revealed that world of Newtonian physics, while convenient to our human purpose, is astonishingly insubstantial. It was long accepted that the smallest units of construction of all matter were atoms. These atoms were thought of as clumps of little balls called protons and neutrons that were orbited by othe little balls called electrons. The image of an atom familiar to most of us still reflects this.

In the early part of the 20th century, working with theories developed by men such as Max Planck, Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein, it became possible “break apart” an atom into its various parts and thus observe their behaviors. No microscope has ever seen a sub-atomic particle. Their existence is determined by their behavior when broken from their atomic bonds by exposure to very high velocity impact with other particles in a cyclotron, more commonly known as an “atom-smasher”. The first such a machine was developed at the Fermilab near Chicago. (This early “atom-smashing” led to the development of first atomic bombs, a somewhat sad commentary on the human condition.)


Editorial comments aside, atom-smashing grew increasingly sophisticated till by the 1960s it was discovered that the three known sub-atomic particeles – the proton, neutron and electron were not the smallest particles of matter. In fact they weren't actually “particles” at all but more closely resembled unique bundles of energy. It was at about this time that “quarks” were discovered – the first of the “sub-sub-atomic” particles. (The term “particle” is still used even though technically inaccurate.) There now in excess of 37 known sub-sub-atomic particles with names like “lepton” “fermion” “tachion” “muon” and my favorite “gluon”. (The word “quark” comes from a poem in James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, “Three quarks for Master Mark”.)


I'm only going to deal quarks in this essay and it sufficient to know that six quarks have been identified and categorized by their characteristics – up, down, top, bottom, strange and charm. How these six words translate into behavior would require a more indepth study of nuclear physics than I am currently willing to invest. However, it is known that a proton, the positively charged “particle” at the center of an atom is composed of 2 up plus 1 down quark.


The study of the inter-relationships of all of these sub-sub-A's make up the dynamics of the Universe and construction of everything we know and perceive. It is theorized that the action of consciousness, expressed as thought and emotion can also be understood to be definable within a sub-A context. It is useful to bear in mind that current science is in its infancy in this study and such observed events such as quantum entanglement and quantum tunneling represent as yet inexplicable forms of motion.


Quantum entanglement describes the simultaneous motion of two sub-A's that are unconnected yet when one is placed in motion its counterpart moves in exactly the same fashion with no passage of time. It's as if a beach ball floating on Lake Havasu were set spinning and a beach ball floating in our swimming pool began to spin at exactly the same moment. This action reveals motion at a speed greater than the speed or light or radio waves, casting doubt upon Einstein's proposition that the speed of light is the upper limit of motion.


Quantum tunneling describes an observed event where a sub-A dissappears from one location and instantly reappears at another. Both of these phenomena suggest the possibility of such things as “warp drives”, “faster than light travel” and interstellar exploration – but that's a subject for another day.


Science cannot explain either of these events so it's small wonder that quantum mechanics remains difficult for we laymen to grasp. Further, while the existence of the many unique sub-atomic particles is confirmed by the atom-smashing events recorded from cyclotron experiments, determining exactly how they all fit together is the essence of the science of quantum mechanics/physics.


In conclusion we find that quantum mechanics/theory as evidenced by smashing atoms, informs us that the Universe is composed of 37+ sub-atomic “particles” which behave as interactive energy relationships. Further, that that which appears solid does so only a result of the bonds established by the four identified forces of the Uninverse – the electro-magnetic force, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force and gravity. EM and gravity are self-explanatory if not fully understood. The strong nuclear force can be expressed simply the force the binds the deep interior of an atom together – quarks to form protons, protens and neutrons to one another. The weak nuclear force is the force that holds electrons in orbit around the atom's nucleus. It is called “weak” because electrons are constantly in motion and “travel” from atom to atom. This is most obvious in the form of electricity which occurs as electrons move in such a fashion as to create accessible energy.

2019 02 11 – Edifice of Ideas

Perhaps a human can be described at the end of life as an “edifice of ideas”; and perhaps such an “edifice” can be considered to be the construction material of a “soul”.

2019 02 10 – The Realm of the Soul

In a Gurdjieffian context, the multitudes are the chaff - what is the wheat? What constitutes “higher consciousness”? My own perception is one of almost mind-numbing inclusiveness, oneness with the energy flow of the Universe. But - so what?? Beyond the excitement of knowingness what is the point? The human race and this planet are meaningless in a universal context. The questions I perennially ask remain the same - does consciousness exist independent of biology or form? What is the natural realm of a “soul”, once acquired?

2019 02 09 – Unfolding Epistemology

The history of humanity is one of continuous, ongoing, unfolding discovery. What was dark and unknown yesterday becomes illumined and accessible in the light of today's progress. Many things that were profoundly mysterious to men of the past are commonplace knowledge today. Many things that are mysterious today will likewise be revealed as the future unfolds. As the full implications of this dynamic are apprehended it becomes less and less nececessary to rely upon what might termed the “divine mystery of complexity”.

[add material about the unease of not knowing...]

*******************************

[ues a similar intro but canted to 'death”


Once mystery is translated from imponderable to potentiality the need to employ God as an explanation for the unknown evaporates. What remains is the fundamental and true reason mankind invented gods: unwillingness to accept death and therefore the need to believe in some form of personal continuity. But even this provides no legitimate rationale for the existence of God. The drive to continue existing, and its corollary, fear of death, is not divine it is reflexive. From single-celled microbes to the complexity that is Man all that is living struggles to continue being. Just as an electron must circle a proton so must all that is animate insist on continuing to be in motion.

And if, as religion purports, God exists without beginning or end why can’t the mechanical universe be seen in the same light?

2019 02 08 – Law vs Justice

When justice is the goal look to the heart not the books of law.

2019 02 07 – Self-Healing

There is no route to self-healing that does not involve meditation or mental discipline of sort.

2019 02 06 – Coin of Ambition

Why are humans inclined to take drugs or drink alcohol? The obvious answer is that they do so to mitigate and anaestthize the pain of existance. The more profound question is, why is existance painful? Instead of a “War on Drugs” why don't we we have a “War on Unhappiness”? I suppose that the argument can be made that the irritation of discontent fuels a0 ambition but it seems to me that an awful lot of misery is minted as the coin of such ambition.

2019 02 05 – Truth and Beauty

Where beauty is absent there is no truth. Like heat and fire, rain and water,

the two are inseparable.

Our role is only to see - to cultivate a consciousness that is sensitive

to ever more subtle expressions

of the beauty inherent in all things.

```````

``------- The Theosophical Society

2019 02 04

In the Tao de Ching Lao Tzu warns that “... the way that looks like the way is not the Way.”

m.scott peck proposes that - The Road Less Traveled is a useful route;

Jesus suggests that –“ I am the Way, the Truth and the Life...”

Tom Doubter observes: “Any path illuminated by divinity, however dimly lit, leads us to our hearts and that path we must embrace --- for thus is the kingdom, the power and the glory made manifest --- for a very long time...”

2019 02 03 – Chicken or Egg

A modern version of the old “chicken or egg” conundrum: Does the sophisticated organization of energy/matter lead inexorably to consciousness, or does some incorporeal form of consciousness manipulate the organization of energy/matter?

2019 02 02 – Diversity in Nature

Nature, manifesting as the Universe, especially as observable as Life here on Earth, is so rich, diversified and omnipresent, there simply is no room for gods, only mystery that is vulnerable to our insatiable curiosity.

2019 02 01 – God's Vanity

The vanity is in the presumption that a God as potent as this is portrayed could be so insecure that he could be offended by such a trifle as the language of doubt.

2019 01 31 – The More I Know...

The adage, “The more I know, the less I know” helps us move further and further from the necessity of using gods and magic to make our universe explicable. The adage, “The more I know, the less I know” helps us move further and further from the necessity of using gods and magic to make our universe explicable.

2019 01 30 – The IMP

Most of Mankind's religions mistake the biological imperative to replicate for some kind of Intention, Meaning and Purpose, or what my friend Tom Doubter refers to as, “The IMP” that plagues human consciousness.

2019 01 29 – Why Prohibit Sex

Given that ongoing procreation is the driving force behind all life on this planet, what survival dynamic is served by the prohibition of sexual pleasure that characterizes Christian and Islamic doctrine?

2019 01 28 – Train Whistles

I am convinced that regular exposure to the Doppler effect produced by train whistles must be somehow psychologically therapeutic.

2019 01 27 - Jellyfish

I was watching a nature program that featured a segment on jellyfish and I found myself sort of pissed off about the nasty aspects of jellyfish, specifically their capacity for stinging. As I mused however it occurred to me that the jellyfish hadn't saked to to be born, brought into an existence it wasn't even “aware” of beyond the need to eat now and then. It seemed rather witless to bear anger toward a creature that lacked intention to do harm.


2018 12 22 - Divorce

Our steady challenge is to divorce ourselves from habituateted behavior and thought-streams so that new thought, new interpretations of self can slip in.

2018 12 21 – The Way

In the Tao de Ching Lao tzu warns that –“ the way that

looks like the way is not the Way..”


m.scott peck proposes that - The Road Less Traveled is a

useful route;

Jesus suggests that –“ I am the Way, the Truth and the Life...”


Tom Doubter observes: “Any path illuminated by divinity, however dimly lit, leads us to our hearts and that path we must embrace --- for thus is the kingdom, the power and the glory made manifest --- for a very long time...

2018 12 17 – Gospel John-Pelkey

Paraphrasing John 3:16 - - -

For God (Nature) so loves the world that he gives his only begotten son son that this Love is absorbed more broadly and deeply throughout the human experience.

2018 12 16 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BELOVED FRIEND, LEE CRAFT, WHO HELPS MAKE THIS SITE AVAILABLE

2018 12 15 – Consciously Alive

Are we conscious because we are alive or does consciousness arrive at conception as a mechanism to invigorate us?

2018 12 14 – Consciousness

Consciousness can be defined as the facility and willingness to examine past behavior and make useful predictions therefrom.

2018 12 13 - Intentions

Our intentions become our perceptions of ourselves and the steady practice of elf-observation serves to refine, clarify and manifest such intentions.

2018 12 12 – 3-Minute Exercise

Often we'll find ourselves or somenone we know to be staring out into space, so to speak, with a blank or perhaps vacant expression in their eyes or on their countenance. When queried, as “Say, what were you thinking of just then?” the answer is invariably, “Oh, nothing.” In reality such moments are more aptly and evocatively defined as “everything”.

Much of what we have studied during the past weeks indicates that we are psychically connected to a vast and fascinating Universe. Thus, when we are allowed by time and circumstance to engage in “wool-gathering” we are actually opening our imagination to virtually limitless possibilities from our connection to that Universe.


Most such opportunities occur spontaneously and at random. The meditative technique I'm going to outline is a mechanism to engage such freedom of thought at will.

*************************************************

THE 3-MINUTE EXERCISE

This exercise requires one tool (apart from your mind of course) – a timepiece. A clock or watch with a sweep second hand is preferred but any device that permits you to observe the passage of a single minute will suffice.


Arrange yourself in a comfortable sitting position where you can see the clock. Then, sit motionless (breathing of course – we're not practicing fakirism here) for one minute by the clork. You'll be surprised at how challenging it can be to sti without moving or figdeting in some fashion.


For that motionless minute let no thought hold your attention – no matter how compelling it might seem. This can seem to be as challenging as remaining motionless – the tendency might be to grab a particular musing and hold it in reverie. However, within the confines of this exercise the admonition is to “let it go”. Over the years I've known various people to use different terms – one lady I knew would think to herself “ShooShoo”; another person would intone “Begone!”. For my part I found the simple repetition of “let it go, let it go” to be sufficient to clear the brainwaves for the next thought.


All forms of meditation, just as does physical exercise training, depend upon repetition/conditioning and this one is no exception. Once a day is a good start though more often can't hurt.


Now comes the tricky part: you repeat this exercise until you don't recall the first minute, then you add another minute. When you've found yourself motionless and mentally meandering for two minutes, you add a third minute.


I know this exercise seems absurdly simple and it definitely lacks any of the mystique or sexiness of most meditation techniques. All I'll say about it is that it works. And by “works” I mean that it provides an aperture into the broader, wider relationship to “consciousness” as we have been examaning.


What typically happens is the three-minute exposure to silence, motionlessness and openness of thought becomes rather seductive and one tends to add a minute, then another, and another and so on till one reaches the level of comfort within oneself that is satisfactory.

(As an aside, if God, or Buddha, or Vishnu, or even Nasrudin sneaks in while you're looking the other way, well, as the saying goes “stuff happens”...)

2018 12 11 – Levels of Thinking

There always exists 4-5 levels of thinkingness vying for the attention of the cook-pot that is our brain.

And when the anthropological imperative brings into focus that insight which had been hitherto obsure, kicks in and we cogize as empathy unveils some previously unascertained insight about how consciousness is manifest, we become almost divinely inspired. as the muse takes us and we compose.

2018 12 10 – Gurdjieff redux

Gurdjieff humilitated the habitual human condition and elevanted the divine that is manifest in the “awake” state.



2018 12 09 – Ghosts

Ghosts, angels, demons and other such apparitions are manifest to the mad and the overly hopeful.

2018 12 08 – Cooperative Dynamic

....rather, it seems that our occupancy hereon is merely another phase of existence/consciousness, leading to a more sophisticated form of life that is significantly more cooperative than we have been able to manifest. [see Pelkey's Ponderings on the subject - “Survival of the Fittest” being the survival of the most cooperative] - if that next incarnation of the life-force is insectoid, who would wonder? - [cf - Orson Card, Kafka and others] [also cf - “Animal Wise” specifically as to the ants]

***********

Then there also exists the question - why would deeply social communities, such as insectoid, be more desirable than the individualistic? Mere survival of a life-form/force is not sufficient for me. [Asimov-”Let There Be Light”/Clarke - 9b Names Of God and “The Sentinel”; Kafka “Metamorphosis”. The common denomiator is the continued sophistication of llfe interpreting life - by whatever means possible. In other words, a pervasive quest for self-ness; perhaps existentially more poignant, a persistent re-constitution of identity.

2018 12 07 - Another View of the Brain

The thesis that the brain actually produces consciousness poses a problem that exercises the mind of philosophers and pragmatic thinkers. David Chalmers, for example, asks how “something as non-material as consciousness” can arise from “a source that is apparently as non-conscious as the mere collection of matter.?”


How immaterial consciousness would manifest out of non-conscious stuff (matter) seems to present a puzzle to empirical brain research. Neurophysiologists and neurosurgeons deal only with gray matter, and” matter” is pretty definitely not conscious. This, according to Chalmers, is the “hard problem.” Chalmer's question resolves down to this - “How does the observable phenomenon of consciousness arise from inert matter?”


It is a perplexing problem for, as philosopher Jerry Fodor pointed out, “Nobody has the slightest idea how anything material could be conscious. Nobody even knows what it would be like to have the slightest idea about how anything could be conscious.”


Physicist-philosopher Peter Russell responded that Chalmers’ problem is not just hard but impossible – at least within the context of the standard world concept of the sciences.


[MICKEY - INTERRUPT PLEASE....]


Fortunately it does not need to be “solved” per se because Western science concepts are not the best interpreters on this subject. Our fascinating task is to continue to explore how the phenomenon of consciousness emerges from basic “awareness”

into self-consiousness. The general implication seems to be that the very essence and constituency of the cosmos we live in is fundamentally conscious.


There are those who would suggest that it is a mistake to think that matter is “real”. In the current analysis what appears as matter is a semi-stable bundling of energies manifesting as particles, bundled in atoms, further bundled in molecules and crystals, and finally looking like rocks and human bodies. The cells of the brain – the neurons – are themselves bundlings of molecules, atoms, and energetic moments that are conversing with one another at a rate of speed that transcends even the speed of light. It seems that this energy configures into complex wave-fields extending throughout the cosmos. (Well, that's a stretch...but fun nonetheles)

2018 12 06 – More Henrietta Humble

Henrietta Humble counsels: Whether it's fucking or puking do it with gusto – extract the fullest possble experience from the moment.

2018 12 05 – Henrietta Humble

Henrietta Humble advises: Scoop as much as possible from the stream of Life – be it thinking or skiing, praying or skydiving – scoop till it overflows.

2018 12 04 – God in Nature

Naive Youth: “Is there then no room for God in

your philosophies?”

Tom Doubter: “To the contrary! God is everywhere

present – as Nature. Where all religions stumble is

in assigning god a personality.”

2018 12 03 – Why Write?

I’ve often wondered – why do I write??

Well, today's answer is: I write because I can't stop thinking...

2018 12 02 – Dosia on Againg

My friend Dosia Carlson has a vritually miraculous attitude on aging - “I’m so active that I don't have time to get old.”

2018 12 01 – Soul-Not Soul

Does the continuing evidence of the non-physical nature of reality in nay way suggest the existence of a personality sustaining non-biological coherency, which we might cal a “soul”?

We know that while we live we exude an aura; does the aura have an integrity separate from the elcetrical energy generated in a biologiacl entity or does it fade with cessation of that electricity?

2018 11 19 – Concentration

If during a meditation event you need to concentrate on not-concentrating, place a jewel of your choice in the middle of your forehead and direct all your extraneous thoughts to be preserved in that jewel while you are mentally free-wheeling.

2018 11 18 – East vs West

Anthropologists tell us that modern humanity left Africa in two waves. It appears that who first wave migated in an Easterly direrion while the second seems to have migrated in a Westerly one. The fundamental differences in religious philosophy are obvious. Could it be that awakening each day with the rising sunn one's facitg countenance created a different perspective than arwakening each morning with the rising sun at one's back?

2018 11 17 – Drunks and Hogs

The drunk who lays down with hogs, though mostly lacking in public respect, is more worthy of social approbation than the inebriate who drives his car into lethality.

2018 11 16 – The Anarchist

Buried under many layer of policical acumen and  intuiti beats the heart of an anarchist and sometimes the heartbeat thumps loudly enough to engender occasional social embarrassment.

2018 11 15 – Maggie's Poems


(received 2018 08 29)


To be published in Creatrix 42 online


Another Birthday

Now with more time behind than ahead,

ahead of me looms the last unknown.

Unknown, as once was this Great South Land –

land of my rebirth, where I travelled far,

far enough to return at last, home.



To be published in Like Water anthology, Wild Weeds Press

Please Submit a Brief Biography

I’m a rainbow, double,

look quick or you’ll miss me.


I’m a saxophone, noteworthy, gold and shiny, sensuous curves.

Hear me

that song you can’t get out of your head.


I’m a skeleton key in the jailhouse –

the word hiding behind my eyes is free.


I can juggle popcorn. I can linedance fairy floss and bend icicles.


My place is a zodiac fern bar full of belllylaughs.

Drop by anytime.



Good Morning

Our paper’s in the bushes again

but easy to find in the five am starlight.

The dog stretches into a yoga pose,

shakes herself then trots to the fridge

where she sits, eyes full of hope.

My husband works on the crossword

as the coffee machine hisses and gurgles.

The rich aroma warms the kitchen

as the liquid fills the cups, bone china,

hot milk, one sugar, set next to a plate

of fruit toast puddled with butter.


Later, from the train window,

familiar suburbs are lush with growth

dressed in jade green by a wet winter.

A friend waits at the station. We hug,

then walk off, both talking at once.

2018 11 14 – The Hopefules

It is appropriate that the tears of the righteous be used to water the incipient gardens of those who are hopeful.

2018 11 13 - Extinction

It seems likely that the human race will eat and pollute itself out of existence. The question is: how many innocent life forms will take with us?

2018 09 24

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BELOVED SISTER – CAPTAIN,

MICHELLE PELKEY -

we traveled many thousands fo miles together; you have always been my "runnin' partner" and I guess we'll cover some more ground soon. I cherish the camping-fishing trips of our younger days and frequently spin yarns stemming from those adventures - sleeping with termites in a an offshoot of  Hwy 199(?),  building a tiny fire to cook our dinner in a deadfall area that was mostly tinder (but we  were very circumspect), Hurricane Ridge, Neah Bay and an incredibly dark and silent stretch of road between  where? and where?;  collecting other folks trash from wherever we camped; and a hundred other snapshot memories --- lv, Mark

2018 09 14


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BELOVED BROTHER

               SCOTT PELKEY

So many miles, sometimes including some  trials; (didn't matter in the long run though) we've traveled and loved along the ways   --- up and down US101, 99,  I-5, and I can't even guess some of the backroads, turn-asides, re-routes and stop-overs - but we're here today and here to stay.    -----   Love Mark

2018 09 14 – Democracy and Critical Thinking

Democracy in America should not be defined by the abrasive relationship between its intellectual Coasts and its lunkhead Heartland, but rather by a more level playing field of critical thinking.

2018 09 13 - COREM

With respect to the subject of Creation, I submit that The Big Bang is more correctly interpreted as AN event rather than THE event. And so, for clarity, I coined a more descriptive term - COREM - an acronym for Currently Organized Reconstitution of Energy/Matter. From this perspective I regard Creation as a persistent, ongoing dynamic that is manifesting simultaneously throughout a vast cosmos as well as in the continuing revelations of our mind. -------- Mark Pelkey

2018 09 12 – Concentration

If during a meditation event you need to concentrate on not-concentrating, place a jewel of your choice in the middle of your forehead and dircet all your extraneous thoughts to be preserved in that jewel while you are mentally free-wheeling.

2018 09 11 – Hate vs Love

Paraphrase President Nelson Mandela:


No one is born hating another person. People must be taught to hate, whereas love comes naturally to the human heart and consciousness. Furthermore, there is no slot for hate in the broader perception that is Cosmic Consciousness –


Hate is self-consuming --- Love is universally nourishing

2018 09 02 – Pinkett and Moyers

It is a marvelous thing to witness Bill Moyers interviewing Paul Krugman as they discuss Thomas Piketty's book, “Capital in the 21st Century” - truly disturbing and informative. Unfortunately, it is also meaningless. First of all an unimaginbly small handful of Americans watch the Moyers program; and even assuming that Piketty's book becomes a best-seller fewer than 500,000 people will ever read it. What is needed in America and the world is pamphleteering - the message must get to the masses. Not in 700-page tomes that simply cannot appeal to the common man's willingness to read but in comic strips, WalMart ads, shaving utensil commercials, billboards, Budweiser ads, weight-loss promotions, etc., etc.

2018 08 29 - Departure

Every religion in the world is at its core an attempt to ameliorate the imponderability associatetd with the finality and sadness of death perceived as departure.

2018 08 27 - Solitude

Solitude is characterized by both inspiration and desolation, determined by time and circumstance.

2018 06 07 – Vision

It is useful to keep in mind that a person does not require eyesight to possess vision. (Though it is handy when manipulating kitchen utensils.)

2018 06 06 – Cat and Mouse

As the old proverb suggests, “When the cat is away, the mice will play”. Trouble is, the mice, being a more socially dynamically organized species, are probably a bit more clever than than El Gato, who tends to live more disdainfully with regard to social interaction.

2018 06 05 – Soft Consciousness

The soft, pliable, nearly pink, almost sibilant ectoplasmic consciousness slips into the hard-skin form of the crocodile and begins to feel its way around – the chitinous scales, the curving, sharp teeth, the incredibly powerful jaws - all so different from the previous form as an eagle; and that so distinct from the jellyfish before that.

2018 06 04 – Motion and Motion

Perhaps it is poetically useful to regard Science as the study and employment of motion in the so-called physical world and Spirituality as the contemplation of and immersion into the motion of thought.

2018 06 03 – Of What We Speak and What We Know

I am convinced that conversations centering on the the subject of the fringes of human perceptivity provide an aperture through which the ephemeral yet palpable dynamic of consciousness can seep into the mundane.

2018 06 02 – Some Thoughts on Godism


The history of humanity is one of continuous, ongoing, unfolding illumination. What was dark and unknown yesterday becomes illumined and accessible in the light of progressive discovery. Many things that were profoundly mysterious to men of the past are now commonplace knowledge today. Many things that are mysterious today will likewise be revealed as the future unfolds. Once one grasps this dynamic the need to believe in God or gods becomes unnecessary.

Any rational person can apprehend the obvious truth of this dynamic and thereby forgo what might termed the “divine mystery of complexity”.

Once mystery is translated from imponderable to potentiality the need to employ God as an explanation for the unknown evaporates. What remains is the fundamental and true reason mankind invented God: fear of death and the need to believe in some form of personal continuity. But even this provides no legitimate rationale for the existence of God. The drive to continue existing, and its corollary, fear of death, is not divine, it is reflexive. From single-celled microbes to the complexity that is Man, all that is living struggles to continue to go on living. Just as an electron must circle a proton, so must all that is animate insist on continuing to be in motion. And such motion is the very vibrancy of our universe. If, as religion purports, God exists without beginning or end what is there to suggest that the mechanical dynamic couldn't be seen in the same light?

2018 06 01 – Dim Sum etc.

I put together some recent leftovers for my Sunday dinner and while it was tasty and varied, when it came to do the dishes one might have thought I'd ordered dim sum at the elephant house.

2018 05 31 – Grace and Hope

The grace associated with hope is constantly poisoned by the fear of immolation, of either self or beloveds.

2018 05 30 – Cooperative Engagement

Somehow it must be instilled in the survivors of the current rapacious culture that the route to personal fulfillment, quantitative and qualitative, is cooperative engagemnent. This is not an ideal to be striven for, but a pragmatism to be employed.

2018 05 29

I find Chris Matthews to be a blustering bag of bombast, who has all the right things to say and not one iota of the grace necessary to get them expressed.

2018 05 28 – Brain Waves

All the concentration on various “brain-wave” measurements are misleading – these wave functionalities are essentially the by-products of what we are now seeking to comprehend. It is akin to placing two chemicals into a beaker and then watching the smoke arise from their interaction, then trying to analyze the constituency of the smoke rather than the dynamic that caused smoke to be the result.

2018 05 11

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BELOVED SISTER –

CELESTE DURHAM

------------------------------

Words all but fail me as I contemplate just how unique and exquisite is the bond we share. As I've said to both you and Nick, as an adult I've never felt more "at home" than when I'm with you. ------ love, Mark

(even when I'm knocking your stuff off the walls...)

2018 04 13 – Glass Insects

Frogs don't eat glass insects.

2018 04 12 – Truth and truths

The effect of concentrating on unarguably true propositions that tend to clear the mind of extraneous thoughts for  time. Moreover, exposure to one true proposition creates a mental aperture that permits further truths to sneak in.

2018 04 11 – Conceiving Babies

I wish I could like the concept of babies a bit than in fact I do. Be it sad or otherwise, I find that I regard pregnancy, birth and rearing to be distinct interruptions to the natural intellectual maturation that is the birthright of sentient beings. Tragically, fertility and potency come biologically far too much in advance of wisdom. No one should ever became a parent before the age of 40 when putative maturity will have set in.

2018 04 10 – Babies?

The only problem with babies is that they grow into adults who demand equality for their ideas - ideas that are often in controversion to the aspirations their parents and family may have imagined for them in the nascent times.

2018 04 09 – Dependent Independence

It is essential to understand that in many circumstances, independence can only be achieved through cooperative dependence. An evolutionary reality made poignantly vibrant from the perspective of a slowly-going-blind person.

2018 04 08 – Old Age

A poignant observation from my 84 year old friend in Thaliand, Jim Shea, who writes:

The amount I've learned about the hassles of old age is only equaled by the size of my determination to enjoy it.”

2018 04 07 - Inconceivable

The human mind, while not the sole thinking device on this planet, is probably unique in being able to conceive of a God that possesses a mind which is unfathomable to the conceiver.

2018 04 06 - Homo Who?

How shall we call the next generation of homo-?  That breed of humanity that (hopefully) has figured out that cooperation, both with Nature and its own citizens is the only survival dynamic that is sustainable? Homo satisfactus?  Homo satiatious? Homo compassianus? - or perhaps, if the lesson be not learned, it will turn out to be - homo evaporatus.

2018 04 05 - Hugs

If you underestimate the power of hugs you will come to learn the sadness of inconsolable sorrow.

2018 03 22 – Sessions Dummkopf

Sessions et al exhibit even more stupidity than is generally credited them. A docile, pot-smoking populace is rather more easily manipulated by conniving plutocrats than an alert, critically thinking body-politic.


2018 03 23

2018 03 21 – Human Sacrifice

As we approach Easter it it appropriate to examine a fundamental element of Christian dogma.

The Eucharist as Human Sacrifice – this is a rather transparent reworking of many primitve belief systems. Note the Celtic cirque and the Hawaiinan custom of burying alive four slaves at the corners of new constructions, to name two georgraphically disparate examples.

Jesus says to his folks - “this is my body which will be given up for you”( which can only be interpreted as some bizarre enactment of ritual cannabalism). Compare this to the sacrificing of the Celtic prince who was strangled, clopped, and finally drowned - all to appease … what? How does the extinction of a single life seem to suggest the preservation of other life?

2018 03 20 - Quantum Mechanics Rules Even The Most Massive Space Objects

pullquote from the above titled article:


Astronomers have been long puzzled by how the warps appear and flourish. The technique is also too complex to be modeled by computer simulations, not to mention expensive.”

----------------

My observation: It is interesting that Isaac Newton, Copernicus, Galileo etc. had no “computer models” to study – they merely relied upon their ability to think...


http://www.techtimes.com/articles/222452/20180307/quantum-mechanics-rules-even-the-most-massive-space-objects.htm

2018 03 19 – Compassion and Death

It is a measure of the depth and breadth of human compassion that virtually no person dies wholly unmourned.

2018 03 18 – Paraphrasing John 3:16

For God (Nature)u so loves the world that he gives his only begotten son so that this Love is absorbed more broadly and deeply throughout the human experience...”

2018 03 17 – Waste Reclamation

(With respect to oil, coal etc. extraction). The energy expended on reclamation must be perceived as an asset - how to do? Of course the answer lies in finding inexpensive ways to decouple atomic structure so as to establish a reconstructive source of supply. Atoms must be freed from their “garbage bondage” and once freed collected and reassigned. (see my essay on cohesion/elan vital in the human body).

2018 03 16 - Egg/Sperm Vitality

Ego-centric elan vital starts with the union of sperm and egg as a pattern is set. 2018Thereafter coherence, replication, duplication and cellular disretion take over until death when elan vital dissapates - but where to? Whence did it come? The egg and the sperm each are vibrant constructs but have no lasting vitality until joined. This is tricky ground for an atheist non-constructionist anti-teleogian.

2018 03 15 – The Special Con-Man

It takes a special kind of con artist to get rich selling people an invisible product for 10% of their income, a product that they can't see or use untli after they die.

And as an added bonus, he doesn't pay tax on the income.

2018 03 14 – Temporary Assignment

We are all here on temporary assignment, the nature of which is the practice of kindness while attracting wisdom.

2018  03 13 – Family Historian
 It's a weird feeling when you find yourself wishing to confirm a point in your past and you think, “Well I'll ask Mom – clunk; I'll ask Aunt Stella – clunk, I'll ask... anybody “ and comes the realization that you may be last repository of family history.

2018 03 12 - E PLURIBUS UNUM

The Cosmic Connectedness (or Consciousness), also perceived as Divine Oneness, that permeates the Universe is undeniable. Equally undeniably, the unique individuations that are created by experience provide the dynamic by which this Oneness is made manifest. Every one of us is an invigoration of the spark of Life that is present as Cosmic Connectedness while at the same time being utterly and beautifully unique in presentation –

as is every star in the universe

2018 03 11 – God vs Magic

A significant challenge in the realm of spirituality is establishing the distinction between divinity and magic. Magic is the proposed manipulation of things or events. All too often prayers to "God" or gods are attempts to effect “magical” intervention in human affairs.

Divinity on the other hand is the deep understanding (nowadays bolstered by science, especially quantum science) that that unseen forces do exist and are accessible, if not necessarily tangible, through meditation and, properly understood, prayer.

2018 03 10 – Identity Prism

Poetically, identity can be perceived as the white light of divinity passing through the prism of individuality.

2018 02 27 – My Song


I wonder where my song will take me,

as I seek to move along,

The notes are clear but some chords are wrong,

Some chime higher than they should,

others ring like tempered wood,


I wonder where my song is going,

I seem to follow it, two steps from knowing,

Hoping somewhere to find,

The secret chord that is my mind,

My dreams are a constant entreaty,

That assails me with Infinity,

Her darker shores beckon - “more! more!”,

A plaintive urge I can't ignore...*

*********************************************************

*[...but there are times I must confess,

If this is more, please give me less.”]

2018 02 26 – Maundering Meds

Having drifted away from my daily morning meditation for some days now, I find that the prospect of resuming to be both seductive and vaguely disquieting simultaneously. Odd.

2018 02 25 – Abbey on Dogs

Today I had to borrow one:

When a man’s best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.” ------ Edward Abbey

2018 02 24 – Fonts are Fun

Sans-serif fonts look to me to be unfinished, incomplete...

2018 02 23 – Resistance

The resistance to anger is definable as the capacity to objectify circumstance.

2018 02 22 – Imaginative Atheism

To be less than hardbound in my atheism would be intellectually dishonest. However, when we get to the inexplicable in science and physics, e.g., quantum theory, it is obviously necessary to mess around with imaginative ideas, as long as they remain unmagical and in some fashion tied to reportable phenomena, such as the continuing flow of information from CERN etc.

20 02 21 - Nihilism

Nihilism is merely a philosophical tool, useful in the deconstruction of both religion and humanism as repositories of "meaning". It is an unsatisfactory epistemological tool in that it fails to recognize that "meaning", while not innate, can be introduced from a conscious perspective if one so chooses.

2018 02 20 – Primordial DNA

We know that all life conforms to a fundamental pattern of DNA structure deeply embedded in every call of our bodies. It seems likely that the basic configuration of this structure will be found to exist in the amino acids found in the meteorites that plopped into the Earth's nutrient-rich primordial soup. That nascent life was shaped by its intersection with this particular planet's unique and invigorating environment.

2018 02 19 - Wordsmiths

Wordsmiths do the job of manipulating the words that the overbrain is the originator of.

20

2018 02 18 - Prophit

The profit motive should not be be the dynamic upon which to bulid a culture.

Or, to borrow from Lao Tzu: The way that seems to be the way is not the Way...

18 02 18

2018 02 17 – Helplessly Hoping

Even though I consider the direction of the world's dynmatic to be ultimatley hopeless, I cannon seem to escape an emotional imperative that sugests that I might somehow help to forestall the truly grim.

2018 02 16

Ego-centric elan vital starts with the union of sperm and egg as a pattern is set; thereafter coherence, replication and duplication take over until death when elan vital dissapates - but where to? Nowhere? Whence did it come? This is tricky ground for an atheist non-constructionist anti-teleogian.

2018 02 15

Although I haven't touched on it yet in my writings regarding meditation this quote from Rilke captures a critical and essential element of what must precede any significant progress that anyone can achieve with meditation. When one first encounters the impossibility of any other state than the aloneness of “self” it can be terrifying, engenedering an emotional sadness of the profoundest nature. However, over time one begins to develop an ability to cherish those instances of deep sharing which invigorate thef bridging the gap of individuality.


Once the realization is accepted that even

between the closest human beings infinite

distances continue, a wonderful living side by

side can grow, if they succeed in loving the

distance between them which makes it

possible for each to see the other whole

against the sky.” ----------- Rainer Maria Rilke

2018 02 14 – In the Beginning - NOT

Creation” is a misapprehended concept except as a product of consciousness manifesting as thought. The “universe” was not “created” - it has always existed, always will exist. The form and presentation will squirm and vibrate to different frequencies but the fundamental “is-ness” is unavoidable.

2018 02 13 – Descartes Revisited

Corollary to Descartes: Inasmuch as I am here, there is no such thing as “nothing”. (And even if I choose to doubt my existence, I cannot doubt that I doubt...)

2018 02 12 – Existential Dynamic

Lacking evidence to the contrary, it is not unreasonable to imagine that we humans are the vanguard of self-awareness in the universe. [Note that it took 4.5b years to arrive at us - fully one-third the lifespan of the COREM*]

If, on the other hand self-consciousness on Earth arises as a result of intervention by gods or aliens, it then becomes reasonable to assume that consciousness is as ubiquitous as life itself. And, neither proposition is mutually exclusive.

In either interpretation we are a sensory element of a vast Universal thinking machine that spends its time reveling in its beauties while striving to mitigate its terrors. In either case the abiding existential imperative is ever-expanding awareness cradled in consciousness. And it matters not whether such awareness is "God" induced or human evolved – the dynamic remains in force.

-----------------------------

*COREM: Currently Organized Reconstitution of Energy/Matter, often referred to as the Big Bang

2018 02 11– Imagine gods

Humans maintain gods so that they can have something to aspire to. Such power of imagination strikes me as being an idea worthy of consideration as a Higher Power.

2018 02 10 – Souls redux

That we enjoy the possession of an implicitly unfulfilled organ such as the brain would seem to indicate our status as growth mediums, incubating the potential to acquire “souls.”

2018 02 09 - Atheist-Agnostic

I refer to myself as an “atheist” because I actively believe there is no such thing as god or gods. Of course in reality I'm an agnostic because none of us can really know...

2018 02 08 - Now

Now” is neither “then” nor “when”

2018 02 07 – Motion and Motion

Perhaps it is poetically useful to regard Science as the study and employment of motion in the so-called physical world and Spirituality as the contemplation of and immersion into the motion of thought.


*********************************

2018 02 06 - Creativity-Creation

We are all familiar with the use of the word creativity as applied in the context of the “arts” but I believe it is useful to link creativity with creation, as in the creation of new intellectual frameworks, patterns of thought and psychological paradigms. It is to our advantage to remember to regard our thinking processes as fundamentally creative in nature. We will not all be artists, songwriters, fiction authors - but we are nevertheless always creating a reinvigorated internal landscape. No matter how small the changes may seem to be, the fact remains that with each passing moment we are creating the universe of our perceptions. This process is constantly with us, is unstoppable and is a reflection of the basic nature of the space/time continuum which is fundamentally motile. Whether one contemplates something as accessible as the movement of planets around their stars or something as abstract and mysterious as quantum mechanics, the underlying dynamic is inexorable motion. And this motion is ongoingly reflected in our consciousness.


********************

2018 02 05 – Condensing Info

In almost an epiphany I suddenly understand that there is too much information for any one of us to encompass and therefore our task and enjoyment must be condensing and then sharing what each of us has been able to glean from the mass of data. I will not, for example be able to capture all of Herman Daly, but Tom will and in turn share with me a digest of what he has learned. And, because a commonality of background and interpretive dynamic exists I’ll be able to grasp much of the essence of what is being presented. What I know of Dark Matter I share with the group; what Michael's poetry reveals of the human candition is likewise accessible due to the same intellectual dynamic. In short, no one of us needs to read everything written on the subjects we hold in common interest as long as we stay in communication.

************************

2018 02 04 - Ears vs Mind

Nasrudin's wife was shouting at him to come home. Angrily she scolded: “Did you not hear me calling you?”

Nasrudin: “My ears did but my mind didn't...”

*****************************

2018 02 03 - Mona Lisa

The reason it has been so difficult to establish the identity of the model for the Mona Lisa is that no one figured out that the model was a boy.

********************

2018 02 02 -Expanding/Accelerating Universe

The key to Universe expansion is time – the “explosion” is still happening, we just don't have a time sense that can grasp an explosion that continues for this length of “time”.

Compare the “age” of the universe to amount of time required for the dissipation of a hydrogen bomb explosion and the amount of “time” that has elapsed since the proposed Big Bang. Then copare the size of the Earth to the proposed “size” of the universe. This will provide a ratio logarithm establishing how long the expansion/acceleration will continue.

***********************

2018 02 01 – Chasing Ideas

It is dimaying when one idea chases another out of mind as another jumps in...it's not appropriate that every new idea be overwhelmed by the next...that memory should exist in such short extant that a connection between one epiphanic moment should be dissociated from its next. But typically this is the case and the ability to coalesce these seemingly individuated moments of comprehension must one of the prominent goals of consciousness.

2018 01 31 - Solace

Does God provide solace, or does the belief in God provide solace?oes God provide solace, or does the belief in God provide solace?

2018 01 30 - The Missed Appointment

The fictional President made an appointment with Nasrudin to have a scholarly discussion. When the day came, the fict-POTUS dropped by Nasrudin's house as planned but Nasrudin wasn't home, having been called to officiate at the baptismal rites of seventeen newly born salamanders. The now-aggrieved Chief Executive angrily took a crayon out of his pocket and scrawled, "Asshole" on Nasrudin's door, and then left.

When Nasrudin finally arrived home after concluding the momentous ceremonies, he of course saw the inscription and realized that he had missed his appointment. Embarrassed, he hastened to the rental property currently occupied by the Chief.

"Forgive my absence earlier," Nasrudin apologized to the Commander-in-Residence, "I was called away at the time of our appointment today. But when I got home and saw that you had written your name on my door, I came here as quickly as circumstance would permit."

2017 12 31 – Cosmopolitan Mistake

Phoenix/Scottsdale is ridiculously spread out - nothing is close to anything else in this sprawlingly inept cosmopolitan mistake.

2017 12 30 - Matter-Antimatter

Science indicates that matter and anti-matter must annihilate

each other, leaving only energy as a signature of their existence.

Einstein postulates that energy can neither be created or destroyed, only re-shaped.

As Descartes observes rather poignantly, “I think, therefore I am” (and by implication, so does everything else in the Universe...)


Thus the conclusion seems obvious:


the result of matter/anti-matter intersection is energy manifesting as “life”,

2018 12 29 – Tuna Remnants

Can you image what it must be like to be a free-swimmig tuna, only to have the last of your essence be the smelly digestive remnants of a bowel movement in Wichita KS??

2017 12 28 – Contradiction etc.

No examined life is free of incidental contradiction; the key to happiness to become comfortable with the notion tha opposing ideas can co-exist in the mind and yet not result in madness.

2018 12 27 – Condensing Info

In almost an epiphany I suddenly understand that there is too much information for any one of us to encompass and therefore our task and enjoyment must be condensing and then sharing what each of us has been able to glean from the mass of data. I will not, for example be able to capture all of Herman Daly, but Tom will and in turn share with me a digest of what he has learned. And, because a commonality of background and interpretive dynamic exists I’ll be able to grasp much of the essence of what is being presented. What I know of Dark Matter I share with the group; what Michael's poetry reveals of the human candition is likewise accessible due to the same intellectual dynamic. In short, no one of us needs to read everything written on the subjects we hold in common interest as long as we stay in communication.

017 12 26 – Soul redux

Tom Doubter ruminates: “Just as the atoms/molecules of a body are held in cohesion by the elan vital so too is the soul/spirit. It is released just as are the atoms released at 'death'“.

2017 12 25 – Conscious Conduits

It can useful to view humans as "conscious conduits of Earth's vitality". As such we can interpret ourselves as focusers of the magnetic emanations from the Earth's core. connecting these focused silver threads to the magnetosphere that energetically envelops the planet, announcing our presence to the Universe at large. Such focused consciousness must be attractive, more attractive shall we say than broadcasting "I Love Lucy" reruns.

2017 12 24 - METAPHYSICS:

1) the branch of philosophy that deals with and seeks to explain first principles and seeks to explain the nature of reality (ontology) and of the origin and structure of the universe (cosmology); it is closely associated with the study of the nature of knowledge (epistemology)

2) speculative philosophy in general

3) esoteric, often mystical or theosophical lore

4) the theory or principles (of some branch of knowledge)

5) popularly, any very subtle or difficult reasoning

*******************************************************Etymology: from the Greek meta and physika, literally "after physics" in reference to location of the Physics in early collection of Aristotle's works.

2017 12 23

A bird in the hand is apt to prove somewhat messy but nevertheless merits our attention.

2017 12 22 - Inspiration

Once mystery is translated from imponderable to potentiality the need to employ God as an interventionary for inspiration evaporates.


 


2017 12 21 – Solstice 3 AM

In a Gurdjieffian context, the multitudes are the chaff - what is the wheat? What constitutes “higher consciousness”? My own perception is one of almost mind-numbing inclusiveness, oneness with the energy flow of the entire Universe. But - so what??

Beyond the excitement of knowingness what is the point? The human race and this planet are meaningless, participation beyond my imagination seems pointless - or is it? The questions I perennially ask remain the same - does consciousness exist independent of biology or form? Does consciousness have an intrinsic meaning? What is the natural realm of a “soul”, once acquired?

-----------------------

F.Scott Fitzgerald:

In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o'clock in the morning...

2017 12 20 – Amino Acid Nursery

We now know that meteoric bodies drifting in interplanetary space often contain amino acid compounds that are basic constituents of life. I find it an interesting musing to consider our Earth, with its enormous fecundity, as a kind of nursery for such amino acids.

2017 12 19 – The Cosmic Community

A philosopher might wonder – Is the human race as we currently know it, the kind of folk we would like to meet in the event of intercourse with the rest of the cosmic community? 

2017 12 18 - Plucks

A human can be likened to a stringed instrument vibrating to the plucks of the universe.

2017 12 17 – Dim Dinosaurs

After 200 million years of occupancy, the rather gigantic saurians never seem to have built a campfire or scribble a message on the interior of a cave. Their thoughts, whatever they may have been are thus lost to us.

2017 12 16

My dismay at the unconscionable ascendency of the nauseating Republican Party in America is contributing to a disintegrating capacity to give a shit...

2017 12 15 – The FBI reviewed

Trump has succeeded in accomplishing the unthinkable: making me wish for the return of J. Edgar Hoover.

2017 12 14 – Consciousness as Substance

Can consciousnees be thought of as substance that permeates the universe waiting to infuse itself into the appropriate organization of matter such as biological units or extremely sophisticated machines?

2017 12 13 – Instinct Examined

The astonishing inexorability and sophistication of replication is evidenced by the odd phenomenon of “instinct”. Watching a pair of budgies prepare to raise a family provokes a great deal of interest. Witness the birds somehow knowing how to arrange their behaviour to include babies - how does that knowledge arrive into their bird-brains? We call it “instinct” and let it go at that but this is patently insufficient.

2017 12 12 – Trickle-down Not

Why “trickle-down” works wrong; more money made available to a corporation is, by necessity of legal organization channelled into more efficiency which almost invariable means more automation. More automation = less manpower = less job moments = less money flow into the economy. Not difficult math.

2017 12 11 – Inexplicable Gun Massacres

Perhaps it will be found that these “inexplicable” mass slayings are actually individuated manifestations of a zeitgeist response to the intuitive awareness of the race's suicidal population pressures.”

-----------------------Tom Doubter, waxing metaphysically

2017 12 10 – The Bell

Sometimes in meditation I hear the whole ring like a bell.

2017 12 09 – Justice C.Thomas

It is Interesting that no one has ever made mention of the fact that Justice Clarence Thomas brings credit to two different affirmative action programs: equal opportunity for people of color as well those who are mentally challenged.

2017 12 08 – Edgy Work

Philosophers nip at the edges of abstraction until such time as those edges become so frayed that a full-blown concept emerges. In similar fashion Science chips away at religious myth and superstition slowly insinuating reason into the common consciousness.

I2017 12 07 - Ties

I find I have deep misgivings about our government when I onsider that critical decisions are made by men who vuluntarily encircle their necks with constrictive nooses.

2017 12 06 – A TIMELY REMINISCENCE

*******************************************

2013 02 25

As we approach the next witlessly manufactured fiscal crisis it is illuminating to recall that the previous House of Representatives vote of 267 to 167 to end the so-called Fiscal Cliff crisis revealed a callous and shameful disregard for the well-being of America. A margin of victory this large clearly indicates that this vote could have been taken mere minutes after receipt of the bill passed by the Senate, 89-8. Instead, a cadre of House Republicans led by Eric Cantor chose to engage in delaying practices that held the vote up for incomprehensible hours, pushing the inevitable decision to a perilous and wholly unnecessary brink. This willingness to subject the public to these extra hours of anxiety was unconscionable to the the point of being sociopathic. It is inexcusable that the peace of mind of the entire country should be sacrificed to assuage the egos of these unwarrantedly self-important individuals.

2017 12 05 - Homo Who?

How shall we call the next generation of homo-?  That breed of humanity that (hopefully) has figured out that cooperation, both with Nature and its own citizens is the only survival dynamic that is sustainable? Homo satisfactus?  Homo satiatious? Homo compassianus? - or perhaps, if the lesson be not learned, it will turn out to be - homo evaporatus.

2017 12 04 – Killers and Why

I am asked why I oppose the practice of capital punishment; and I respond: Because it's not OK to kill. When a culture says that it is OK to kill it unleashes a human quality of savagery that we could well do without. When Hitler preached that it was OK to kill, otherwise normal people began killing their Jewish neighbors. In America when the geographic imperative said it was OK to kill Indians, people suspended their humanity and killed with abandon. There are countless other examples. This willingness to destroy others is apparently deeply rooted in us.

So, what survival dynamic is served by the suspension of empathy that permits one person to deprive another, obviously similar being, of the same life we so personally cherish? Or, differently stated, how is it that the human mind can be so constructed that the death of one so similarly configured can be countenanced blithely? What perceptual quirk exists that permits the failure to register the life-force of the other person as identical to our own?

If our goal is the creation of a kinder, more compassionate, healthier society, from a practical standpoint the question must be: How shall we identify and define that element of human psychology that permits such gross disassociation? And the answer certainly will not be found by destroying, through capital punishment, the repositories of the undesirable, even defective quality.

2017 12 03 – Dream Raft

I like to think of my bed as a raft I float upon as I travel through my dreams...

2017 11 24 – Waves of Light

Each wave breaking upon the shore reflects light differently, perhaps individually if we might anthropomorphize the moment a bit. What intrigues me is that the cascade of thought in the mind seems to have the evanescent quality – though ameliorated by the capacity, fueled by desire, to capture the essential quality of beauty expressed by such a wave.


2017 12 06 – Waves of Thought

Each wave breaking upon the shore reflects light differently, perhaps individually if we might anthropomorphize the moment a bit. What intrigues me is that the cascade of thought in the mind seems to have the same evanescent quality – though ameliorated by the capacity, fueled by desire, to capture the essential quality of beauty expressed by such a wave.


2017 12 06 – Waves of Thought

Each wave breaking upon the shore reflects light differently, perhaps individually if we might anthropomorphize the moment a bit. What intrigues me is that the cascade of thought in the mind seems to have the same evanescent quality – though ameliorated by the capacity, fueled by desire, to capture the essential quality of beauty expressed by such a wave.

2017 11 23 – A Reason for Hope

Some years ago when I lived in the town of Tehachapi California I found that I was gathering something of a library in my little cottage. Much of what was accruing was devoted to philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychology, religion, etc. but with a smattering of humor and science fiction thrown in for variety's sake. Many of my books came from second hand shops around town but I also bought from a couple of sources on the Internet such as Amazon and Alibris. On one such occasion I purchased a copy of an old Fritz Leiber book, “The Silver Eggheads”, a yarn about a future in which books were churned out by machines (computers of a sort).

A couple of days after I had placed the order with Alibris my phone rang and the voice on the other end of the line said that it would be cheaper and quicker if he were to simply come by my house and drop off “The Silver Eggheads”. It seems that Steve Baughman was a seller of used books who just happened to live about a mile away from me. We were to have many such meetings in the days and months to come.

Steve having now reviewed as well a augmented my library, posed a question one day the answer to which I had to ponder over for some time. In fact, I still ponder it.

Noting the preponderance of the kind of books noted above he asked,

“Why all this?”

It had never occurred to me to wonder and I sat bemused for a spell until I finally replied,

“I'm trying to determine if there's reason for hope.”

2017 11 22 – Lambs and Lions

If the blood of lions had been the dining event for lambs, we would be living in a world of very differently organized resource utilization.

2017 11 21 – Aussie Same Sex is OK

Headline “Australian Citizens Overwhelmingly Vote to OK Same-Sex Marriage”

Tom Doubter observes:

And so it develops that the descendants of a population of  criminal deportees to a barren land exhibit more human compassion and common sense than the descendants of Christian emigres to the abundantly rich new world of the Americas.   Irony is not dead”

2017 11 20 – Some Downsides to Tough Love

Provides justification for abandonment;

Allows the “tough-lover” to be relieved of the irritation of the “beloved's” behavior;

Permits one to absolve oneself of the responsibility

of caring...

2017 11 19 - Complacency

Being complacent, albeit it comfortable, must eventually become rather boring;

As my friend Nazrudin once observed:

Well Naz, what are you doing today?”

Nothing”

But, Nazrudin, that's the same thing you told us yesterday!”

...didn't finish.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Science indicates that matter and anti-matter must annihilate each other, leaving only energy as a signature of their existance.

Einstein postulates that energy can neither be created or destroyed, only re-shaped.

As Descartes observes rather poignantly, “i think, therefore I am” (and by implication, so does everything else in the Universe...)

Thus the conclusion seems obvious:

the result of matter/anti-matter intersection is energy manifesting as “Life”, and I will make so bold as to say - invigorated by “Love”.

2017 11 17 – Meditation Birthright

As I emerge from my meditations and again don the mantle of ego... I find myself at liberty to embrace and cherish all of the beauty and the terror that possessing a perceiving self entails. These experiences, both joyful and sorrowful, are the birthright of us humans - just as is the ability to step back, go inside, and know only oneself, however briefly.

2017 11 16 – Eat it Raw

In the world of most carnivores and many omnivores food is generally eaten while the prey is nominally still or freshly killed, often by the eating process itself. Only humans arrange to have food packaged in such a fashion as to bear no resemblance to its source.

2017 11 15 – Imagine gods

Humans maintain gods so that they can have something to aspire to. Such power of imagination strikes me as being an idea worthy of consideration as a Higher Power.

2017 11 14

If legitimate OBE's (Out of Body Experience) could be achieved is it likely that the military/industrial complex would have failed to exploit such? In truth, the same yardstick of believability can be applied to virtually all parapsychological claims.

2017 11 13 – What is Spirituality

Spirituality is the innate knowledge that there is more to be known, that the 'Mind of God” may be accessible to humanity.

2017 11 12 – Space is Flat in all Directions

Somehow, the excerpt below suggests to me an infinitude rather than some counter-intuitively imagined “curved universe” is infacte the operative description of where we live:.

In 2003 The Ultra Deep Field Camera of the Hubble Space Telescope was pointed at what appeared to be the emptiest piece of the night sky and the film was exposed for a million seconds (11.57 days).

The resulting picture showed tens of thousands of hitherto unknown galaxies, each consisting of hundreds of millions of stars, stretching away to the dim reaches of the Universe.

-------- The Book of General Ignorance – John

Mitchenson and John Lloyd.

2017 11 11 -

It seems evident that “Big Bang” is just a scientific metaphor for “Creation”. It fills the human need for beginnings (and by implication endings).”

------- Tom Doubter

2017 11 10 - Inquis-O-Tom

I have given birth to “Inquis-O-Tom” --- the physically  mechanical cousin to Tom Doubter; a robot that carries my mind around while I experience this planet.

2017 11 09

We humans create Gods as repositories for our moral and ethical aspirations.

2017 11 08

An interesting and unlooked-for problem associated with my degenerating vision is that the inanimate objects in my world have grown increasingly stupid as my eysight dims.

2017 11 07

Wisdom is the often peculiar child of common sense and intuition. Sometimes the parents seem estranged but the offspring invariably flourishes.

2017 11 06 – Not Ambitious

Once I knew how a thing was done, even inexpertly in my opinion, the knowing was enough. Becoming actually proficient at something never seemed particularity compelling. At one point in my school career I decided to get a “straight A” report card. I did it and having accomplished it once I knew I could do so any time I wanted; so I never bothered to repeat the phenomenon.

2017 11 05 – Insectoid Empathy

In an insectoid social environment empathy is mechanical, not a conscious or moral decision. An intersection between human “self-consciousness” and the mechanical empathy of a hive may be the outcome of planetary evolution.

2017 11 04 - THOUGHT FOR THE DAY


ADAM: “If the Almighty had

I ntended for us to live

forever the Universe

would be eternal”

EVE: “Umm, I believe it is

2017 11 03 - Bloodstream

In meditative practice the effect of concentrating on axioms is to clear the mind of extraneous thoughts for a time. One such axiomatic contemplation is one's own bloodstream.

The heart pumps about 2,000 gallons (7,571 liters) of blood a day through its chambers." 2,000 gallons per day works out to 83 gallons per hour, or nearly 6 quarts per minute. So it takes about one minute for blood to make the round trip to the heart.

2017 10 22 – Science as Motion

Perhaps it is poetically useful to regard Science as the study and employment of motion in the physical world, and Spirituality as the contemplation of and immersion into the motion of thought, which allows us to perceive that science.

2017 10 09 – Plato and Einstein

Peter Plato and Edwin Einstein met one day at a Cosmic Cafe located at the intersection of Kierkegaard Way and Nietzsche Circle. They quickly acknowledged that neither of them had properly interpreted the operative dynamic of the universe but then shared a bottle of wine in honor of the mystery.

2017 10 08 – Imagine gods

Humans maintain gods so that they can have something to aspire to. Such power of imagination strikes me as being an idea worthy of consideration as a Higher Power.

2017 10 07 - Persistent Misery

It seems certain that more people on this planet live in misery than live in joy. Worse yet, misery is pretty much a steady-state condition while joy tends to be fleeting and circumstantial. Misery becomes a constant state due to unmitigated poverty resulting in unrelenting hunger, thirst, illness and depravity. It is no wonder that humanity at large is afflicted with the myth of post-existence ineffable joy.

2017 10 06  - Be Here Now - and then

Being Here Now is fine for many, possibly blissful, moments. Nevertheless, if attention is not in some measure devoted to how the past has contributed to your moment of Now, the Future can only be described as accidental.

2017 10 05  - Emerson

Today I swerve aside from my usual personal observations to share this rather poignant aphorism from R.W. Emerson:

Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait”

2017 10 04  - Sub-A's as Thought

If we can demonstrate that thought is in fact a function of sub-atomic particle interaction we will be on the threshold of a complete re-interpretation of consciousness and life.

2017 10 03  - Listening as Intimacy

Implicit and explicit, unconsciously automatic or conscientiously employed, the more give and take that can be imbued in a relationship, be it romantic or platonic, exists more the opportunity of intimacy.

2017 10 02  - Drunk-Hung

Been drunk/hung for ten days recuperating from the long road trip and its revelations and implications. Back in the saddle today, so …

Saw wah dee krap – dee mak mak

2017 09 18  - On the Road

Been on the road since July 30, going home this afternoon. Many stories, winding up with a particularly satisfying visit with my sister and brother-in-law, Celeste and Nick Durham.

Should be back in my Phoenix digs by about 1500 hrs and will start catching up thereafter.

Bon chance mes amis!

2017 08 29  -Morality redux

Morality is concocted from behavior and decisions that make you feel good counter-balanced with the empathetic perception that what feels good to me probably feels good to you as well. Doing the “right” thing may not be comfortable but extracting a vicarious pleasure from another's experience seems to promote inner harmony and a sense of well-being.


2017 08 28 - Self-perception

It now appears that life itself is consciousness but self-perception that recognizes identity in perspective to surroundings, while not limited solely to humanity, is nevertheless somewhat more rarified.


2017 08 27 – Universal Survail- Not

The number of unjust and outright idiotic laws that exist in America make for a landscape of potential abuse that argues powerfully against the idea that universal surveillance is an acceptable idea.


2017 08 26 – Witful Inebriate

The inebriate, once seemingly witful,

lately seems more often merely wistful...


2017 08 25 – Mitigation of Misery

The mitigation of pervasive misery by intermittent experiences of joy seems to be sufficient reason to regard life here on Earth os being worthy of prolonging.

-----------------------

Alternate version not used:

2017 08 25

The mitigation of pervasive misery by intermittent experiences of joy seems to be sufficient reason to prolong an existence that is fundamentally meaningless.


2017 08 24 - Beliefism

Faith is a symtom of a condition I shall name as “beliefism”

2017 08 23 – What is thought?

I submit that “purpose” can be described as the preservation and promotion of “thought”, whatever that may turn out to be. So:

What is thought?

What is a thought?

What is the result of engaging in thought?

What occurs as a result of engaging in thought?

I seek to distinguish between creative thought, which might considered imaginative, and reactive thought, which may be considered mechanical.

2017 08 22 – Rule of Law

A question appears in the process of achieving citizenship in the United States: “What is the Rule of Law?” I suspect there exists a by-the-book answer which I certainly don't know. This however is how I would respond to such a question -

The ethical obligation to behave with equanimity in our dealings with our fellows.

[from the internet:

- the restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws.

- the principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced; the principle of government by law.]

2017 08 21 – Eclipse - 0852

I am in Newport, Oregon at the home of my sister Michelle. We are awaiting the total eclipse of the Sun which will pass directliy overhead. The event starts at 0904 and reaches totality at 1017 PDT for a period of 2min 34 seconds.----------------------------------

Back indoors after seeing the totality – full dark, the circle of the corona surrounding a black spot where the Sun used to be – remarkable. Though I had tended toward indifference regarding actually seeing the corona, being content to simply witness the effects of totality, I am convinced and grateful that I have now catalogued a permanent visual experience.

(No gushing emotions however...)

2017 08 20 - Trees in Forests

If a tree falls in the forest it definitely creates sound waves. The degree to which these sound waves are imbued with meaning is determined by the level of consciousness within range of the vibrations. To suggest that “if there's no one around to hear it” there is no sound is preposterously anthropocentric. Since it now seems evident that consciousness in some measure exists in all forms of life, it is reasonable to assume that something is impacted by the falling tree, therefore a “sound” occurs.

2017 08 19 – Moral Abdication redux

As as secular humanist (read “atheist) I am certainliy not one of God's children. I nevertheless choose to follow in the philosophical steps of Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed and some others. Thus In kinship with my religious brethren must acknowledge that in my dealings with my fellow humans, my animal cousins and the environment, I must accept the same responsibility I impose upon them.

2017 08 18 – Moral Abdication

In the Judeo-Christian mythos we are all God's children and thus, like jesus, are also God incarnate. In our dealings with our fellow humans, our animal cousins and our environment it is an abdication of moral conduct to refuse to accept this heritage and responsibility.

2017 08 17 – Life-Consciousness

A POINT TO PONDER:

Is consciousness the natural evolution of life – or -

is life the inevitable manifestation of consciousness?

2017 08 16 - Procto-Journalists

I wonder how a person decides to become a proctologist? I mean, spending your working life being attentive to diseased assholes?

But I suppose it's not all that different from being a journalist covering the current government of the United States.

2017 08 15  - Why no sex?

Given that ongoing procreation is the driving force behind all life on this planet, what survival dynamic is served by the prohibition of sexual pleasure that is so firmly embedded in Christian and Islamic doctrine?” ---- wondered Tom Doubter

2017 08 14 – Surpluses

Surpluses (originally agricultural events, now effectively defined as “money”) must be used to mitigate harmful survival dynamics such as theft, deceit, murder, etc.

2017 08 13 – Micro-Macro Spin

The quality of “spin” that characterizes dynamism in sub-atomic particles may be unique to spiral, spinning galaxies such as the Milky Way. Absent the macro-dynamic of galactic spin would sub-A's spin? Or, would galactic spin occur if sub-atomic particles didn't spin?

2017 08 12 – Spark of Life

Once, as I lay half-asleep I imagined myelf to be a spark of light/ “consciousness” , tucked into my little bed-hideaway surrounded by the vast dark mass of life - the surging ocean, the green brooding trees, the very earth itself teeming with its almost infinite population of microbial life...each being their own individuated spark of life.

and – this is a true representation of reality.

2017 08 11 – Rooting for the Weather

These days I find myself more often rooting for the storms, in hopes that the message will prevail that denying human involvement in global climate change is ostrich-thinking.

2017 08 10 - Embracing the improbable

When it comes to religion Humanity's propensity to misinterpret the obvious is only superseded by a willingness to embrace the improbable.

2017 08 09 - Souls of Light

When on occasion we are compelled to examine a darker moments of our hearts, it is comforting to recall that our souls are composed of light.

Looking back to the earliest formation of life on Earth we find that photosynthesis (or photon bombardment of carbon particles) seems to be the probable initiator of animation, which naturally and inevitably led to us. From there it's not difficult to conceive of each of our cells as tiny envelopes of photonic interaction, and we ourselves as coherent energetic forms held in temporary stasis by an as yet not fully comprehended life force. Because we know that energy can neither be created or destroyed we can know that the "light" inherent in us will, in some form continue.

For my part I am content musing on the notion that the accomplishments of consciousness, compassion and conscience constitute the construction of a "soul". And since awareness, perception and illumination are the tools by which such construction is made manifest, "light" seems a definitive term in context.

2017 08 08 - Matter-Antimatter

MATTER-ANTIMATTER ANNIHILATION MUST BE INCOMPLETE OR WE WOULDN'T BE HERE -

I will postulate that animation, manifesting as “life”, invigorated by “love” constitutes the nature of the inescapable, though still scientifically mysterious imbalance which seems to favor matter.

2017 08 07 - Mind an outcome?

Is mind a natural outcome of the processes that evolved life or are the processes an outpicturing of a substance we will call “mind”, acknowledging that our relationship to this substance is infantile and incomplete?

2017 08 06 - Speed of light-not

Two known events that transcend the speeed of light – the speed of thought and the sub-atomic reactive concomitance known in science as "entanglement".

2017 08 05 - Something I didn't write -

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"

Recorded in August and November 1964 and released December 1964, "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" by The Righteous Brothers became a world wide smash, hitting Number One in both the UK and the United States. According to BMI in a 1999 study this song had more radio and television airtime than any other song ever recorded. The song appears at Number 34 on "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The song is one of the principal examples of Phil Spector's famous production technique called "the Wall of Sound". The song was considered too long for contemporary stands at 3:45, so Spector had the false time printed on the record and single labels, with the song supposedly running at 3:05 rather than its real length. Interestingly enough, a young Cher is one of the background vocalists on the recording.

2017 08 04 - The Six Million

Message to anti-abortion activists:

Your time, energy and money would be more compassionately employed saving the lives of the six million, already living, children who will die this year of starvation and neglect.

2017 08 03 - Sagan on Atheism

Atheism is more than just the knowledge that God does not exist and that religion is either a mistake or a fraud...”

------ Carl Sagan

While I agree with Sagan I will submit that in its inception religion was more a survival dynamic than a “mistake” or a “fraud”. Rather it can be seen as an interpretation of events accomplished with data insufficient from which to draw more sophisticated conclusions. As we accumulate more and more information about the nature and structure of the Universe God and gods become increasingly less relevant.

2017 08 02 - Man-Made Law

In reading The Battle for God I came across a section where author makes reference to the emotion distress suffered by Diaspora jews who had become unfamiliar with the laws and traditions of Judaism but felt disassociated in a culture of so-called Man-made laws.

It occurred me that there are only Man-made Laws. Inasmuch as Man invented God(s) any such rules, regulations and laws stem from, initially survival derived taboos and later political manipulation.

Even the "Laws of Nature" are not laws but dynamics imposed by the ineffable yet undeniable drive to survive, that fifth force of the universe I choose to refer to as elan vital.

2017 08 01 - Eat Garbage

Medical science regularly produces advances that hold the promise of better, longer and disease free life for us humans. Unfortunately, if they can't produce a mutation that allows humans to eat plastic garbage and digest toxic chemicals all research such as this is pointless.

2017 04 25

A conundrum in the pursuit of an understanding of consciousness is how to extract the elan vital from the dross of human experience.

2017 04 24

In a departure from my usual personal aphoristic bon mots, today I offer some practical pointers for posterity. ---- Mark



52 tips for living more greenly:

  • A laptop uses just a quarter of the power required by a desktop computer.

  • Contaminants are tracked into homes on the soles of shoes. Consider becoming a shoe-free household. Clever designs for shoe storage near the front door can keep entries clutter-free and indoor air cleaner at the same time.

  • Generating enough electricity to cook for an hour in a standard electric oven creates 2.7 pounds of carbon dioxide. Here's a list of what can do it for less: toaster oven, 1.3 pounds over 50 minutes; slow cooker, 0.9 pounds over seven hours; and microwave, 0.5 pounds over 15 minutes.

  • If a vehicle's tires have less than recommended air pressure, gas mileage will suffer. Determine the correct pressure level from the small plaque likely found just inside the driver's-side door, but possibly on a rear doorpost, in the trunk/latch area, the glove box, or even on the sun visor.

  • Wrapping a water heater with insulation can keep as many as 1,000 pounds of global-warming CO2 a year out of the upper atmosphere.

  • Using cold water can save up to 80 percent of the energy required to wash clothes.

  • Use safeclimate.net/calculator/ to determine how much your travel by car or plane fouls up the environment by spewing CO2 into the atmosphere.

  • Some commercial air fresheners use chemicals that can be harmful to a baby's development. Instead, lightly spritz the place with vinegar.

  • Vinegar will clean out deposits clogging a steam iron or coffeemaker.

  • A cup of vinegar will clean a washing machine. Run it through a regular cycle -- but not with clothes.

  • If using vinegar as a cleaning agent, pick the white variety. Brown will stain porous surfaces.

  • To create a tub-scum cleaner, mix baking soda and a "green" liquid soap to a honey-thick consistency. Apply it with a little elbow grease and perhaps a splash of white vinegar.

  • Save an average of $90 a year by shutting down a home computer every night. Also, shut it down if you don't expect to use it for the next two hours. Turn off the monitor if the lag is going to be at least 20 minutes.

  • Refrigerators and freezer units account for one-sixth of a home's energy use, so select energy-efficient models when buying a replacements.

  • Fine-tune a refrigerator for optimum energy use by checking to see that the temperature in its main refrigeration box hovers at 37 degrees while the freezer stays at a relatively steady 3 degrees. A weather thermometer will do the trick.

  • There are three household hazardous-waste drop-off sites in Seattle and Bellevue. For details and directions, see goto.seattlepi.com/r606 or phone the county's Household Hazardous Waste Line, 206-296-4692.

  • If it's clear that a train or other barrier will block your vehicle for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine. An idling vehicle burns more fuel than a simple restart. And you won't be polluting when the engine is off.

  • Install a programmable thermostat that lets you automatically lower the temperature when no one is home or when the family is asleep. The Energy Star people say this device can save a family budget up to $150 a year. goto.seattlepi.com/r949

  • Have a plugged or slow-draining sink? Search a hardware store's plumbing shelves for a bacteria-based product. Its goal is to establish colonies of goop-eating, human-friendly bacteria that are supposed to keep drainpipes clear. To allow the critters time to establish themselves, pour in a little just before bedtime, after everyone has quit using the sinks.

  • Pipe insulation tubes will help prevent frozen pipes in winter. And properly installed, they will hold a hot-water pipe's heat for up to an hour after the tap was last used, thus stretching your energy dollar and saving water.

  • Develop a long-range, strategic home-improvement plan that takes energy and resource efficiency into account. It may be possible to make energy-saving improvements part of ongoing required maintenance, reducing the overall cost of going green.

  • When home-buying, look for a residence that requires you to pare down and simplify, rather than encouraging sprawl. Larger homes require more resources to heat and maintain -- and more stuff to fill the extra space.

  • When evaluating a home for purchase, look for green features, such as Built Green and Energy Star certification. Or ask to see the last year's utility bills to get a sense of the home's current efficiency.

  • A home's location directly affects the owner's ecological footprint. Look for a house close to work and shopping, minimizing the need for auto transport.

  • Buy local building products when available, and ask retailers to expand the offerings of regional goods.

  • Formaldehyde, an irritant and cancer-causing agent, is a common additive in interior-grade plywood and particleboard. It also can be present in drapery and upholstery materials. So look for products with few or no warnings about use and exposure.

  • Older showerheads can use three gallons per minute or more. New, efficient models can use two GPM or less. Also look for showerheads that deliver water in multiple small streams, rather than a fine mist; they keep water warmer and make rinsing easier. Avoid designs with multiple heads that compound water waste.

  • An aerator -- that cylindrical device that threads onto the end of a faucet -- reduces the amount of water needed to do jobs such as hand washing and dish rinsing. Look for one at the hardware store; it will be marked with the flow it permits, measured in GPM. A 2.0 GPM aerator is ideal for kitchen faucets, while a 1.0 GPM version works great for the bathroom sink.

  • Situating your water heater as reasonably close as possible to the point of highest use (bathroom or kitchen) will save both water and energy by reducing the time it takes for hot water to reach the tap or shower.

  • If it's time to replumb, consider using PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) pipe rather than copper. PEX pipe has a smaller interior diameter, meaning hot water gets to the point of use faster.

  • Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, but can kill. Gas stoves, furnaces and water heaters, kerosene space heaters and barbecues, as well as automobiles, produce carbon monoxide as a byproduct of combustion. Protect a household with a carbon monoxide detector.

  • Choose low-toxic paints that also are low in volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which convert to gas at room temperatures. Outdoors, certain VOCs react with sunlight to create smog. Indoors, VOCs can irritate lungs and cause allergic reactions. Check the paint label for a VOC level below 150 grams per liter. Zero-VOC paints also are available.

  • If your project calls for fiberglass insulation, look for products that are free of formaldehyde.

  • Laundry activities are the second-biggest water user in a home. New water- and energy-efficient machines can save big on utility bills, and the technologies employed in those machines also can be gentler to your clothes, help you use less detergent and reduce drying time. Look for a WashWise qualified model. Visit savingwater.org for a list of WashWise-qualified clothes washers.

  • Excessive moisture can cause structural damage and mold growth, resulting in compromised indoor air quality and health problems. Common sources of indoor moisture include leaky roofs and windows, plumbing and wet basements and crawl spaces. Establish a maintenance routine that includes inspecting for signs of leakage and water damage.

  • Activities within the home, such as cooking and bathing, produce large amounts of moisture, which can cause structural damage and mold growth. Keep pots covered when boiling liquids, and use ventilation when cooking and bathing. If a bathroom or kitchen lacks mechanical ventilation, install properly sized, energy-efficient fans.

  • Survey your home's exterior for clogged gutters, foliage in contact with the roof or walls (shrubbery should be kept a minimum of 12 inches from the house), and improperly graded surfaces (soils should slope away from the home's foundation).

  • Health experts recommend leaving undisturbed those materials you suspect of containing asbestos. If your remodeling project requires disturbance of an asbestos-containing material, consult with an asbestos abatement professional.

  • Mercury is present in small quantities in fluorescent bulbs, and in larger quantities in older thermostats and some light switches. These items must be disposed of at a hazardous waste collection site.

  • Dimensional lumber that is 2-by-10 and larger often comes from increasingly rare old-growth forests. So for larger lumber and beams, consider engineered materials made of wood harvested from faster-growing tree species and glued together to form a finished product. These products often perform better than solid-sawed wood, which is subject to warping, splitting and cracking.

  • If using solid wood for a project, select products with the Forest Stewardship Council label, certifying the wood was responsibly grown and harvested. Or find salvaged wood products at local used-building materials retailers.

  • Contamination from lead-based paint is especially hazardous in homes with pregnant women and small children. Paints produced before 1978 contained lead, sometimes in astonishing quantities. Sanding painted surfaces, removing trim and working on window frames are common sources of lead dust. Lead released in the home during remodeling can linger for years, especially in carpet. Visit epa.gov/lead to learn how to protect from lead exposure.

  • The efficiency of a furnace for turning energy into heat is described as Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. Older furnaces may have an AFUE rating as low as 50 percent. New models may have an AFUE of 90 percent or higher. Additionally, old furnaces often have pilot lights that burn fuel 24/7. New models feature electronic ignition, eliminating this waste as well. Look for Energy-Star-qualified furnaces with a high AFUE.

  • The average American home contains two televisions, a VCR and/or DVD player and three phones. These home electronics can use more energy than you think. As you replace existing equipment, look for Energy Star models that help reduce carbon emissions.

  • Range hoods help remove excess moisture and combustion gases caused by cooking activities. But when it comes to a fan's air-moving ability, more is not always better, since a powerful fan actually can reverse the flow of exhaust from water heaters, fireplaces and furnaces. The Home Ventilation Institute recommends installing a fan with the capacity to move air at the rate of 100 cubic feet per minute. Also, hood-style kitchen vents tend to be more energy efficient than downdraft models.

  • Follow smart painting practices: purchase quality paint only in the amount you need, ventilate the space by putting a fan in the window (blowing out), properly prepare the surface to be painted, and be sure to fix any underlying moisture issues before getting started.

  • Carpeting acts as a collector for toxins tracked into the home and those released from indoor sources, such as lead-based paint dust. It also harbors dust mites and other allergens. Reduce this hazard with a weekly vacuuming schedule.

  • Many vacuums redisperse small bits of dust. Instead, look for vacuums with HEPA filters (high-efficiency filters that catch tiny particles) and dirt sensors signal when a carpet's clean.

  • Look for products free of added perfumes. Many scented products contain chemicals that can compromise indoor air quality and irritate the skin and lungs.

  • The options for green home and office furnishings are growing. Even mainstream retailers are greening up their lines with responsibly harvested Forest Stewardship Council wood, natural and organic fabrics and floor coverings and more.

  • Garages often contain combustion byproducts (including carbon monoxide) from car engines, as well as pesticides, paints and other hazardous household products. Make sure the door from the house to the garage has a high-quality seal around the entire perimeter, including the threshold.

  • Plain water on a cloth works great for the vast majority of dusting chores. If in need of something more powerful, choose the least-toxic product for the job at hand.



2017 04 23

The one defining element that marks the currently impending “sixth extinction” as distinct from those preciding is the manifestation on Earth of consciousness expressed as self-awareness and perspective. No evidence exists to suggest that this particular incarnation of consciousness was extant at the time of these extinction points:

         Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction - 445 mya

    Late Devonian mass extinction - 360 mya

    Permian mass extinction. - 251 mya

    Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction - 201 mya

    Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction - 65 mya

2017 04 22

A Vaguely EarthDay recollection...

I am plaintively subjected to many sensually evocative memories from my days at the CJ's Guesthouse in Thailand, where I would be awakened by the sound of thunder and the penetrating brightness of the lightning. I would go downstairs and raid the icebox for a beer or two to savor as I sat just enough under the sheltered cover to avoid the drenchingly dynamic downpour descending upon the street in front of me. As the rain continued I could see the street more and more resemble a torrent - first the floating squares of discarded tissue from the lavatories at the top of the Soi; later the plastic detritus from the fast food dispensaries on 2nd Road; and finally whole trash cans still half-full of the  sticky remnant leftovers of human excess. captured temporarily in the roundness of the water's swirling.

    It seemed rather innocuous fun at the time - I didn't really grasp the grimy implications of what was being captured in the flowing waters - whose origins actually stemmed from the grandeur of the sound and brilliant expositions of Nature unleashed.

2017 04 21

Open letter to coal miners etc:

Of course you love coal - it provides you and your family a means to eat and shelter. If that same level of survival were provided to you in the form of digging deep holes to be filled with explosives designed to detonate in 50 years, killing people you couldn't possibly know would you have the same blithe attitude?

2017 04 20

hydrogen > helium > carbon > neon > magnesium >

oxygen > silicon > iron>...consciousness??

2017 04 19

In an era of such seductive misinformation how do we get the true message delivered?

2017 04 18

Recently a topic of discussion was proposed as “Why do we have a Spiritual Brain?” I must suggest that the more accurate question is “How did it come to pass that a congruency exists between biological function and certain types of concentrated thought?”

2017 04 17

When we are admonished that “we are what we eat” I wonder how many of us stop to consider from how afield we absorb such interesting nutrients.

2017 04 16

I find it somewhat ironic that leg-of-lamb is a traditional Easter dinner given that the event celebrates the resurrection of the so-called “Lamb of God”. But I guess it's not so surprising when you consider that most Christians engage in a form of ritual cannibalism every Sunday.

2017 04 15

I heard myself say to someone recently, “I'm an atheist for christssake!” which sounded kind of odd. But upon consideration if Christ could see how religion has perverted his teachings I suspect he'd be an atheist as well.

2017 04 14

The consciousness that permeates us is just as impersonal as the natural resources that our bodies are composed of. At conception this consciousness becomes imprinted with the unique pattern that is an individuated being. Becoming aware of the existence of this consciousness is what makes us human, despite our animal origins.

2017 04 13

Love is the tangible demonstrator of compassion; faith is the unsubstantiated hope that compassion will manifest.

2017 04 12

It seems that a pretty workable theory of life's origins suggests that random meteors, carrying a complement of amino acid compounds plopped into an opportunistic environment here on Earth. These chunks of space debris bumped and scraped in the primordial soup until their abrading produced sufficient agitation that their inherent motility was converted into replication and then, perforce, animation as a more advanced form of the same replicative dynamic.

2017 04 11

What an amazing pipsqueak is this God of the Christians - he seems to have virtually no power to intervene in the pathos of his supplicants, and allows the most astonishing atrocities to take place on what is purported to be his chosen planet. Impotent beyond almost all imagination.

2017 04 10­

It is essential to understand that in many circumstances,independence can only be achieved through cooperative dependence. Avolutionary tale told from the perspective of a slowly-going-blind person.

2017 04 09

By devoting 24/7 babble coverage to the recent events in Syria the idiot talking heads on the so-called “news” channels are granting not-Prez Chump exactly the smoke-screen he and his imaginary administration require to continue to divert public attention from the terrifying fact that a madman is sitting in an illegitimately appropriated office.

2017 04 08

Being Here Now is fine for many, possibly blissful, moments. Nevertheless, if attention is not in some measure devoted to how the past has contributed to your moment of Now, the Future can only be described as accidental.

2017 04 07

Too much law has the effect of obscuring justice.

2017 04 06

It would be gratifying to be respected; such that my opinions are valued, my counsel sought after - save for the fact that such intrusions are annoying.

2017 04 05

If you train a rat to run a maze to get food, will that rat take its offspring through the maze? After how many generations will the offspring be born predisposed to run the maze successfully?

2017 04 04

I have frequently read that such and such a species “...has developed” some trait that contributed to their survival. In evolutionary terms this phrase might be considered to be in the active voice whereas the process is functionally passive. In the case of predators who can eat poisonous frogs those who did not die by eating the frogs were able to reproduce thus passing on an attribute that gave them an expanded food range. They did nothing to change or alter their environment for their benefit - they lived or they died. I'm trying to find or to create a passive voice expression to describe the evolutionary process...

2017 04 03

Muscle: smooth, cardiac, striated - what is common? What makes “muscle” muscle? The abiity to move matter? A mechanism for dircting atom-ic energy biologically? The ability to convert electrical into kinetic energy?

2017 04 02

The contemplation of beauty, the experience of intense liking (some call it love), the absorption of pondering - herein we visit the meaning of life.

2017 04 01

In the early chapters of her book, “Dark Matter and The Dinosaurs” Lisa Randall proposes a version of the “cosmological constant” that employs “dark energy” as its manifestation or prosopon. Since energy is only relevant in terms of “work” an evenly distributed “energy” would seem to be contrary to the fundamentally motile nature of the cosmos.

2017 03 31 – Mastering Technigue

It's a good idea to initiate the practice of a new discipline such as typing or guitar picking or memorizing the lines of a play in the evening when you are tired and a bit clumsy. When you start again in the morning you'll be surprised at how much more easily the practice goes, and this will serve to boost your confidence.

2017 03 30 – ISS is a Sad Joke

The ISS is a cruel joke – not only is not “international” inasmuch as China isn't involved, but it is designed to fall out of space after a pitifully short workspan. The failure to include China is a sad representation of the absurdity of operating parallel (in fact competitive) space exploration programs. The people of Earth, the whole Earth, need space and its resources if we are to survive. Such idiotic lack of cooperation is a huge waste of resources, both physical and, more keenly, mental.

2017 03 29 - Trust

The comfort of mind associated with "trust" is a benison of inestimable value. 

2017 03 28

Life's evolutionary equation is simple: if you can't be eaten because your consumption poisons or otherwise harms those who would eat you, or can by craft or art avoid being eaten, your species will survive and evolve.

2017 03 27

The history of humanity is one of continuous, ongoing, unfolding discovery. What was dark and unknown yesterday becomes illumined and accessible in the light of today's progress. Many things that were profoundly mysterious to men of the past are commonplace knowledge today. Many things that are mysterious today will likewise be revealed as the future unfolds. As the full implications of this dynamic are apprehended it becomes less and less nececessary to rely upon what might termed the “divine mystery of complexity”.

2017 03 26

Stanley Miller's mistake - not a spark but a steady flow of photonic bombardment intersecting the energy emanating from the earth's core.

2017 03 25

A question appears in the process of achieving citizenship in the United States: “What is the Rule of Law?” I suspect there exists a by-the-book answer which I certainly don't know. This however is how I would respond to such a question -

The ethical obligation to behave with equanimity to our fellows.

2017 03 24

I wonder how the American Congress will with a president who committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” before taking office? In other words, what mechanism exists to remedy the situation if we have elected a criminal?

2017 03 19

It seems rather pointlessly self-centered to complain about an exit - the fellow coming out of the bathroom will always have already won the argument.

2017 03 18

I don't wish to stand witness to a collection of phenomena being touted as a “revolution” in science.

2017 03 07

In the long run omnipotence would be boring. Therefore God, if it exists would have to include the fallibility of “free will” into the human equation.

2017 02 19

Yet another definition of consciousness is the capacity to recognize the existence of ego.

2017 02 18

Solipsism is an ontological necessity on two counts.

  1. it is only possible to have secure knowledge about oneself – all else is subject to reinterpretation. One’s existence may be doubted, but the act of doubting cannot be doubted.

  2. one’s complete body of associative knowledge is perforce subjective, owned entirely and exclusively by the native mind. There is no possible piece of information or input that is not inextricably bound up in relation to other such data, all of which is comprised of the aggregate of sense testimony of the native. Even the pure mind of god can only be apprehended through the prism of self. Possibly in some state of deep reverie an objective experience of selfless existence can obtain, but reintegration with the world requires the framework or paradigm of a “self”, thus is solipsistic. These axiomatic observations must not be confused with LSD-laden megalomania or misapprehended notions of self-importance. Obviously solipsism taken to absurdity is sociopathic, insular insanity. But the fundamental aloneness that is the birthright and the tragedy of human existence can only be described in terms of solipsism.


(originally composed 2003 09 21)

2017 02 17

There is so much repetition in psychiatry because a faulty premise or paradigm has myriad out-picturings. A common underlying assumption that is skewed gives misleading answers in many applications. Once you establish that a perception or conclusionng is wrong, that does net mean that it goes away -it can have implications in a thousand small ways. A good therapist spots the tendrils and takes the patient back to the root.

A handy example is smoking: there are many triggers that titillate the imagination into thinking that lighting up will be a satisfying experience -despite the fact that you “know” otherwise. Each such trigger must be transformed into a reflective moment and the stimulus rejected or converted. On a less physiological level a deep-rooted belief in gods must be overmasterd by the intellect, which of course knows that no such things exist.

2017 02 16

Life exists so that life may examine life existing.

2017 02 15

Inappropriate behavior in a bureacratic environment can elicit unanticipated results.

2017 02 14

A human being, or more precisely, a hman mind, is an intriguing crucible where cosmic emanations intersect with radiation coming from Earth's interior.

2017 02 13

About the gentlest thing I can say about the Trump so-called administration is that it is a conundrum characterized by engima resulting in a quandary.

2017 02 12

I have long thought that physical scientists have been somewhat artificially limited by the agreed upon assumption that the speed of light was a defining element of the universe. In the same 20th century that Einstein proposed his theories, it was at one time assumed that traveling at more than 25 miles per hour would cause insanity, and that it was impossible to pierce the "sound barrier". Obviously, both of these “superstitions” proved erroneous. I have always believed that the same will prove to be the case with respect to the speed of light. CERN's experiments seem to underscore this with demonstrations of “entanglement” wherein a sub-atomic particle set in motion in one location produces a simultaneous reactive motion at a removed location - no time elapses between the movement events; thus no "speed of light" equation can be applied.

A further notion, though a bit outside of physical science as we know it, is that the speed of thought far exceeds the "speed of light" - I can "think" my way to the farthest star in an instant. And, given what we seem to be learning about quantum physics, the proposition appears to be less and less far-fetched.

2017 02 11

Herein we find a message of despair - it is no longer possible te imagine victory - the Corporation will grind the proletariat into a bloody slurry of disappointment and irrelevance;

2014 11 25

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised!” Unfortunately, with all due respect to Gil Scott-Heron,, not only is it being televised it is being co-opted, eviscerated, marginalizeed, usurped, commercialized, hijacked, trivialized and slandered by opportunistic reportage. It is being co-opted, trivialized and emasculated by ghoulish corporate media sensationalism.

2017 02 10

I am an instrument upon which certain melodies of the universe play out; how finely tuned eventually becomes a matter of personal decision.

2017 02 09

One who can't talk themselves into doing the right thing has a very tragic vocabulary.


2017 02 08

Does a quark move a thought or does a thought move a quark?

2017 02 07

It's a good thing that we humans can't digest rock - if we could I doubt there would be any continental land mass left on planet Earth.

2017 02 06

As an atheist I reject the term “non-believer” - I firmly believe that the Universe exists independent of the need for gods te make it explicable.

2017 02 05

Biology is virtually imponderable in its scope, and yet is only one product of the dynamic of our universe.

2017 02 04

I offer here a poignantly insightful and rather eerie cautionary bellwether, albeit 241 years of ago. I don't often quote from others on this site but this was irresistible:

Time makes more converts than reason'

---------- Thomas Paine - “Common Sense”


2017 02 03

from a History book circa 2090:

Once there existed white bears who lived in a white land located in the area we now know as the Northern Bahamas.”

22017 02 02

The ego is our passport into this world.

2016 12 15

The Russian revelations leave only one alternative. Although there exists no precedent for such in American politics, the 2016 election must be declared null and void and new election scheduled for six months hence. During that time each state must submit documentary proof that their counting mechanisms are foolproof, even if that means the painstaking and time-consuming process of hand counting paper ballots as a last resort. Failing this the legitimacy of the so-called Trump presidency will always be subject to question.

2016 12 13

My mother, Yvonne Portmann, Pelkey, Johnson, Bierley, Rousculp, Rousculp-Clark is dying now. She has been in hospice care for the past two weeks and has decided that this is where she will die. Her innate tenacity is rather at odds with her decision and she keeps hanging on. She has entertained an almost constant parade of friends and family and my sister Michelle and aunt Rosalee are still on the scene. More detalis later.

2016 12 12

We humans are perfectly willing to believe in a “higher power” i.e. gods, that possess more sublime thought than we are capable of, but unwilling to accept the notion that “lower” beings can possess consciousness and thought.

2016 11 11

The illegitimate election of Donald Trump is the worst thing to befall America since the assassination of Robert Kennedy, which led directly to the manipulated election of Richard Nixon, and the worst thing to happen the world since the earlier illegitimate election of George W. Bush. Both of these events led to the uncalled for and needless deaths of thousands, if not millions of innocent people - deaths brought about by nothing more than monomaniacal political ambition and/or personal aggrandizement.

2016 10 22

Does any other species than homo sapiens exhibit “morality”? We know that altruism in some forms is observable in other species but does this imply morality as well?

2016 10 21

I once observed that, "...our souls are composed of light." If I meander back a good ways in imagination I find that photosynthesis (or photon bombardment of carbon particles) seems the probable initiator of animation, which naturally and inevitably led to us. From there it's not difficult to conceive of each of our cells as envelopes of photonic interaction, and we ourselves as coherent energetic forms held in temporary stasis by an as yet not fully comprehended elan vital. That any post-vivo coherence sustains seems improbable but the possibility can't be wholly dismissed. In any case, I am content musing on the notion that the accomplishments of consciousness, compassion and conscience constitute the construction of a "soul". And since awareness, perception and illumination are the tools by which such construction is made manifest, "light" seems a definitive term in context.

2016 10 20

A human being, or more precisely a human mind, is an intriguing crucible where cosmic radiations intersect with emanations from Earths interior.

2016 10 19

A mutation that causes the eyeball to rotate 15 degrees further to the rear provides a wider feeding range as well as more danger perception. Thus such a creatures would be more likely to survive, propagate and preserve the trait. The creature, during its lifespan finds a particular spot where yummy beetles are plentiful and “learns” to return there. Its offspring will not know of the location unless brought there by the parent – they do not inherit such knowledge but they do inherit the wider view.

2016 09 28

A POINT TO PONDER

The actor Burgess Meredith: He was fascinated by the subject of non-human intelligence, particularly dolphins. He once believed that a dolphin somehow called to him for help in the middle of the night while he was staying at a friend's home on the beach. He ran out and found the dolphin, caught in a net under a dock down the beach, although there was no way he should have been able to know it was there. He released it, saving its life. He believed it had made some sort of connection with him, perhaps telepathic, to call for help.

2016 09 22

At times in the past we've examined the role of consciousness and self-identity or self-possession. A simple example is to observe that I “own” my hand, or my knee, etc. These propositions are rather straight-forward. When it comes to the mind however the implications of “ownership” become more subtle and subject to philosophical and psychological interpretation.

If for example I was raised a Catholic, how much of my mind is mine and how much is the Vatican's? Similarly, if raised a Hindu how much of my mind is mine and how much is Vishnu? In Buddhism, how much is mine and how much is karma? And in a broad overview of all religions how much is the individual and how much is God?


From the perspective of the secular humanist the question, though excluding God, is nevertheless perplexing. How much of what I believe is self-generated idendity and how much is in fact a function of enculturation? How successful can any individual be at adopting true information while rejecting propaganda and attractive fiction? In other words, for both the religious-minded and those who reject religion, the question remains the same - how much of my mind is mine? And by natural extention, how can I make more of my mind a function of self-possession rather than a busy intersection of prejudices and objective realities, whether divine or mundane?

2016 09 18

Herein resides the operative dynamic of the Trump candidacy:

He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense.”
          Joseph Conrad, 1857 - 1924


2016 09 17

MY SONG – (Originally composed July 12, 2014; revised 2016 04 07)


I wonder where my song will take me,

as I seek to move along,

The notes are clear but some chords are wrong,

Some chime higher than they should,

others ring like tempered wood,


I wonder where my song is going,

I seem to follow it two steps from knowing,

Hoping somewhere to find,

The secret chord that frees my mind,

My dreams are a constant entreaty,

That assails me with Infinity,

Her darker shores beckon - “more!, more!”,

A plaintive urge I can't ignore,


But there are times I must confess,

If this is more, please give me less.”

2016 09 16

For some folks swimming in the nude is more a matter of chunky-dunking than skinny dipping.

2016 09 15

Do gods have visions and hallucinations? Or we the enactment such activity?

2016 09 14

There is a profound elationship between the Outhouse, Indoor Plumbing and human socialization. I don't claim to know exactly what that relationship is, but I know it exists.

2016 09 13

If, as I propose to be true, Life is a fundamental component of the universe, the astonishing fecundity of this planet must shine out like a beacon.

2016 09 12

Does the cosmos appear to exhibit an ecliptic plane?

2016 09 11

Breathing is alright I supose, but during the meditation event I find that there are more interesting things worthy of my concentration.

2016 09 10

On those rare occasions when I use the word “God” I am saying internally, “mysteries of life”, a polite substtiution that lubricates social intercourse.

2016 09 09

Maybe the Universe was a “blank screen” prior to the Big Bang - no space-time as we know it. Neverthelss, the screen had to exist for the movie to be shown.

2016 09 08

Every day must include a moment of re-commitment to willpower,  a re-remembering of how one wishes to perceive oneself.

2016 09 07

In both science and philosophy ignorance is vital to progress. However, ignorance absent curiosity results in superstition, prejudice and mayhem.

2016 09 06

Why God is unnecessary.

The history of humanity is one of continuous, ongoing, unfolding illumination. What was dark and unknown yesterday becomes illumined and accessible in the light of progressive discovery. Many things that were profoundly mysterious to men of the past are now commonplace knowledge today. Many things that are mysterious today will likewise be revealed as the future unfolds. Once one grasps this dynamic the need to believe in God or gods becomes unnecessary.

Any rational person can apprehend the obvious truth of this dynamic and thereby forgo what might termed the “divine mystery of complexity”.

Once mystery is translated from imponderable to potentiality the need to employ God as an explanation for the unknown evaporates. What remains is the fundamental and true reason mankind invented God: fear of death and the need to believe in some form of personal continuity. But even this provides no legitimate rationale for the existence of God. The drive to continue existing, and its corollary, fear of death, is not divine it is reflexive. From single-celled microbes to the complexity that is Man all that is living struggles to continue to be. Just as an electron must circle a proton so must all that is animate insist on continuing to be in motion.

And if, as religion purports, God exists without beginning or end why can’t the mechanical universe be seen in the same light.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

And by the by, where did God live before he invented the heavens and the earth??

2013 09 05

The thing I like about eternity is that it really has no forward or backward – in either direction you look down an endless corridor of forever. Thus does cosmic etiology and teleology evaporate.

2016 09 04

Major engineering project: at the mouths of the Earths great rivers erect nutrient harvest barriers. Much care must be given to conserving and redefining ecological balances that can be slowly altered to reflect the human intervention of harvesting and relocating these nutrients.

2016 09 03

Distinctly a point to ponder:

An excerpt from the book Animal Wise by Virginia Morell

********************

[The two dolphins]...Akeakamai and Phoenix are asked to create a behavior and do it together. The two dolphins swim away from the side of the pool, circle together underwater for about ten seconds, then leap out on the water, spinning clockwise while erect and squirting water from their mouths, every maneuver done at the same instant.

None of this was trained,” Herman* said, “ and it looks to us absolutely mysterious. We don't know how they do it, or did it.”

_________________________

*Louis Herman is the director of the Dolphin Institute, Oahu Hawaii

2016 09 02

The soft, pliable, nearly pink, almost sibilant ectoplasmic consciousness slips into the hard-skin form of the crocodile and begins to feel its way around – the chitinous scales, the curving, sharp teeth, the incredibly powerful jaws - all so different from the previous form as an eagle; and that so distinct from the jellyfish before that.

2016 09 01

I do my utmost to ignore polls in the naive hope that my decision to withhold my attention renders them ineffectual. Somebody will win an election and the consequences of the outcome may prove to temporally more or less sociologically compassionate, but that outcome will ultimately have minimal effect on Corporate Earth.

2016 08 18

The non-obvious but nonetheless defacto vertical monopoly on health and quality of life must be deconstructed. Every participant must be enjoined to scale down costs to a level that ensures accessibility to life-sustainting care while at the same time guarantees a reasonable recompense to those who provide such care.


**********

In a reasoned society a doctor's sense of satisfaction comes more from the successful cmpletion of an operation than the envelope that arrives with the check.

2016 08 16

A gentle benefit to be reaped by all Americans at the conclusion of this election cycle will be that we are no longer subjected to the endless drivel spewed forth by the vast parade of talking heads on TV.

2016 08 15

A point to ponder: In the East, that is to say that part of the world dominated by Hinduism and its derivitives, the color associated with mourning and death is white; whereas in the West where cultures are predominantly JudeoChristian, black is the funereal color.

2016 08 14

A note of introduction:

Any of these “so-nesses” can come burdened with a caveat of some sort, mostly in the form of beliefs held by the observer. A mundane example is that, it is so that two large buildings in New York City no longer exist. It is almost certainly not so that the US government allowed this event to happen. Nevertheless some people insist on believing that a government plot was behind the tragedy. Time and again we can observe that against belief reason often has little traction. That notwithstanding I present these “so-nesses” as graspable tenets, ripe for Pondering.

----------------------------------

One element that serves as the foundation, so to speak, of my meditational moment is that the Earth is surrounded by a protective magnetic field called appropriately enough, the magnetosphere. The magnetosphere prevents harmful radiation and cosmic rays from entering our biosphere thus allowing life to develop here. It's source is the churning molten iron core near the center of the Earth. It radiates outward through the various layers of the Earth reaching a detectable point in space where it is reined in and returned through the two poles, to re-enter the core and re-radiate outward again in a ceaseless flowing. You can see a miniature version of this kind of magnetic field by dumping tiny iron filings onto a sheet of paper and then placing a magnet underneath the paper. You'll see the filings arrange themselves in a roughly circular pattern at the poles of the magnet. The magnetosphere is similar except that the “magnet” is a constantly swirling mass of molten liquid iron the motion of which causes the “filings” to be in constant motion which manifests as electrons “flowing.”

{Caveat: How do I know that such an invisible field exists? Scientists using equipment not available to me tell me it is so and I choose to accept this information as so. But - one doesn't have to “believe” in science, ignorance can also be a choice.

As noted above I have chosen to accept science and treat the magnetosphere as being so. An interesting question arises however - how could ancient mystics and shamans know of such a thing? Their writings and traditions make it clear that indeed they were aware of some “force” at work in the environment yet they certainly had no devices that would reveal the source of any such force.

The answer again is found in observable science. Zoologists have discovered that several species of animals - sharks, bees, a number of (if not all) birds - are able to detect the electro-magnetic field and employ it as a means of navigation. Concentrations of the mineral magnetite (also known as “lodestone”) that is found in their bodies responds to the energy of the flowing field and provides information which essentially transcends vision, hearing and olfactory input resulting in a sense of direction. Humans have trace amounts of this mineral in their bodies as well, mostly concentrated around our noses. This being the case it seems reasonable to assume that some humans would likewise have been able to detect the existence of this field, and we would have called them shamans or seers. Recent research demonstrates that anyone can (with the help of some hardware) detect and employ this field in much the same way. The essential point I’m making here is that the field exists and it is interactive. *

To continue:

It is known that animate beings generate an electro-magnetic field that both emanates from and surrounds them. This is evidenced in Kirlian photography** as well the more recent MRI technologies. With respect to human beings (and likely all sentient and semi-sentient beings) in the brain this electrical activity is condensed and intensified creating a more vibrant field. In the natural order of things the magnetosphere and the animate biofield interact, though exactly how they interact in a human context is less apprehendable. It is at this point that so-ness dwindles and interpretation and imagery take on a more significant role. (As does sub-atomic physics which will be addressed in a subsequent chapter.)

For purposes of meditation I propose contemplation of the so-ness of the fields and their ineluctable interaction thus establishing a sense of one-ness with all of creation as we know it. The result of such contemplation is predictably exhilarating.

----------------------------------------------

* As my friend, the poet Michael Conner has it:

Watch you through migrations of solitude,

like high flying sea birds etched in primal blue,

who travel continents by intrinsic calibrations,

magnetic poles, gravitational pull,

invisible schematics, spread wings

on harmonic winds.

---------------------------------

**Though Kirlian's experiments did not provide evidence for an energy field other than the electric fields produced by chemical processes, and the streaming process of coronal discharges (ionization), this is nonetheless an electro-magnetic field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirlian_photography#Scientific_research


NOTE TO SELF - ESTABLISH ONE-NESS AGAIN IN THE BIOLOGY OF DESCENDENCY - POND SCUM TO ME ALSO THE FEEDING PROCESS - 2 SEPARATE ESSAYS

2016 07 20

Consciousness unites us in the recognition that we are indeed all “conscious” (to one degree or another). Further that we are inextricably part of the Earth that is an element of the cosmos. We are in fact constructed of the Earth - from the moment of conception onward we are a collection of the Earth's natural recources. The Earth itself is a construct made up of exploding super-nova guts. So in this sense we one with the cosmos, and, as noted abve with one another.

However, we are also absolutely and irrevocably unique in our collection of perceptions of this cosmos that we are at one with. Each of us is composed of individual collections of impressions, memories and experiences - can't be otherwise. We have very many conceptualizations in common consciousness but each of us brings a specific individuation of perception and interpretation of such.

Take dogs for example. We all know what dogs are and despite the fact that dogs come in wide varieties of breeds, shapes, sizes, colors and temperaments, no one has any difficulty in recognizing a dog when seeing one. The attributes of dog-ness are shared by all dogs. Yet it is quite impossible for any two people to have seen the same dogs in forming a consciousness of this dog-ness and in this sense we are inevitably unique.

What can be said of dogs can also be said of all that makes up our “selves”. The profoundness of this uniqueness is poignantly evident when considering philosophical concepts and finally, God.

2016 07 15

Every animated body is a self-contained generator, converting fuel into energy. Such bio-generation attracts consciousness, which manifests in varying degrees depending upon the relative complexity of the receiving body. An amoeba for example will demonstrate just enough consciousness to be motivated to replicate. Moving up the evolutionary ladder increasingly sophisticated exploitation of the working environment demonstrates an ever-expanding degree of consciousness. At the level of the “mirror test”* self-consciousness begins to become evident. Finally, we arrive at Man where self-consciousness has achieved the degree of sophistication that permits the recognition of Self interacting with and integral to Broader Universe.

____________________________

*The mirror test, sometimes called the mark test or the mirror self-recognition test (MSR), is a behavioural technique developed in 1970 by psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. as an attempt to determine whether a non-human animal possesses the ability of self-recognition.

2016 07 14

I am a bio-energetic field operating interactively with the magnetic field of the Earth, which moves interconnectedly in a matrix of macro-mometum fields identified as the Solar System, the Galaxy, the Cosmos.

2016 06 08

Everyone is entitled to an opinion - no one is entitled to an ignorant opinion where valid information is available.

2016 06 07

To the listener a backspace to correct an error in typing sounds just like any other keystroke. Thus in any environment where one can only hear the keyboard operater that person will sound extremely efficient.

2016 05 26

Communication provides the latticework upon which the tapestry of friendship is woven.

 2016 05 25

_________________________________________

2016 03 12

...there is a certain wistful melancholy attendant to the conclusion of a day like today - a “Sweet Thursday”...

********************************************************

1 - Science and Spirituality mtg was particularly vibrant and “full of love” - not a term I use often;


2 - Low Vision meeting was likewise vibrant and again, very loving (I'm trolling my mind for details but essentially Jess and I put on a very good show);


3 - joined Mary Lou at the Happy Hour and listened a great singer accompanied by her accordian playing husband. She was lively and very engaging; she sang two songs that got right to me - “i Could Have Danced All Night” that Marian used to sing and “Follow the Rainbow” from Finian's Wake, which holds special meaning since I was at the premier.


There events all intermixed with good fellowship throughout the day, all added up to a “Sweet Thursday”.

 

2016 05 24

Can a universe exist without consciousnss? Obviously this one can't but within the context of multiverse, what of the other purported universes?

2016 05 23

The universe does not require a “why” for its existence - only anthropocentric hubris makes this appear so. There is an infinite supply of “how” to make for the appropriate use of human intellectual curiosity and ingenuity.

2016 05 22

Every day must include a promt or reminder that what is desired to be accomplished must be invigorated by an act of will.

2016 05 21

With respect to the subject of creation, I submit that I don't regard The Big Bang as THE event but rather AN event. For my own purposes I invented a more descriptive term - COREM - an acronym for Currently Organized Reconstitution of Energy/Matter. From this perspective I interpret Creation is a persistent, ongoing dynamic, manifest simultaneously throughout a vast cosmos and in the continuing revelations in our human minds.


We are all familiar with the use of the word creativity as applied in the context of the “arts” but I believe it is useful to link creativity with creation, as in the creation of new intellectual frameworks, patterns of thought and paradigms. I believe it is to our advantage to remember to regard our thinking processes as fundamentally creative in nature. We will not all be artists, songwriters, ficiton authors - but we aer nevertheless always creating a reinvigorated internal landscape. No matter how small the changes may seem to be, the fact remains that with each passing moment we are creating the universe of our perceptions. This process is constantly with us, is unstoppable and is a reflection of the basic nature of the space/time continuum which is fundamentally motile. Whether you contemplate something as accessible as the movement of planets around their stars or something as abstract and mysterious as string theory, the underlying dynamic is inexorable motion.


Perhaps it is poetically useful to regard Science as the study and employment of motion in the so-called physical world and Spirituality as the contemplation and immersion into and of the motion of thought.

2016 05 20

The only significant difference between men and women peeing in the forest is the degree of exposure, and therefore vulnerability. In a nudist environment both sexes could quite comfortably relieve themselves au naturale.

2016 05 19

Considering all the energy that is engaged in the profusion of life on Earth - from microbes to blue whales - literally a shell of vibrancy surrounding the entire globe, I must surmise that the planet is broadcasting a sgnal of, at present, non-visible wavelength.

2016 05 18

We are not really so much strangers to death as we might tend to imagine. Each night as we go to sleep we disappear from daily life. Also, and intrigingly, the French language term for orgasm is le petite morte, “the little death”.

2016 05 17

Most people tend to think no further back than parents, grandparents and more recently their ancestors when considering their origins. The more arresting fact is that we all go much, much further back than that.

2016 05 16

From the internet: men speak around 2000 words per day while women speak around 5000 words per day. This suggests to me one more example of how it is that women provide a critical social glue that helps bind cultures together.

2016 05 15

Sometimes cited as the 11th and 12th commandments:

Matthew 22:36-40 - King James Version (KJV)

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him,

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

**************************************

As a Secular Humanist and a fan of Christian principles I choose to interpret these injunctions thusly:

Lord: the dynamics of the cosmos that have made Life a possibility;

Heart: the bounty of sentient emotions - both human and animal;

Mind: the intellect that permits us to comprehend enough of the universe to ask meaningful questions;

Soul: that in us that acknowledges the existence of mystery and provides an ineffable sense of confidence that more will be revealed.

2016 05 14

The brain after all is a part of the central nervous system that permeates our entire body. It cannot stand alone - without heart there could be no brain and intellect is the highly refined thinking tool we employ to entice revelation into manageable focus.

2016 05 13 - Eulogy for a friend

With the passing of Jerry Sager one more light in the firmament of progressive thought has been dimmed. Though we knew Jerry as a curmudgeonly and often argumentative fellow, it would have been wrong to mistake that crusty exterior for the real heart within. Despite having had his share of disappointments and unfulfilled dreams, Jerry never lost the hope that is required to remain a humanist and a progressive thinker.


Sometimes it seemed as if he deliberately adopted a contrarian position just to needle his audience. And actually I'd guess that that's pretty much what he was trying to do. Jerry tended to take it upon himself to educate the those around him - perhaps make us take a second look at some of our "taken for granted" positions. He was a political thinker and a compassionate man. If at times he seemed bitter and world-worn it was not without reason. He was witness to a lot of the hard-won achievements of the labor movement he so cherished, falter and self-destruct as capital interests slowly won the war of attrition with the proletariat. He had also been a frontline participant as well as a chronicler of the transcendent if somewhat Quixotic social and political ferment of the 1960's. No one was likely to mistake him for a hippie but he was certainly no stranger to alternative lifestyles. But here too, just as with the labor movement, bright promise dimmed and we were left with not much more than wistful memories of an unfulfilled adolescent sensuality. And Jerry drank full measure of that cup of bitterness.


The rise of the overly satiated "I'll get mine" era in our culture saw the disintegration of the kind of social conscience that had animated the political movements from which Jerry had always taken comfort and inspiration. Being witness to this deconstruction certainly saddened our friend, but never extinguished his hope for the reinvigoration of this civic (and I'd say "civil") consciousness.


Jerry came from a time when a certain measure of self-sacrifice for a common social goal was an integral feature of the labor landscape; when being "on strike" meant coming home and explaining to your wife and kids that belts were going to have to be tightened, new school clothes would have to wait a while, that Christmas this year was going to be a celebration of spirituality and giving from the heart rather than a festival of toys and new cowboy shirts - all this in the hope that such sacrifice would ultimately accrue to the benefit of all workers. Our culture no longer tends to support such organizing myths but the spirit that invigorated them lived on in the heart of Jerry Sager.


Jerry often treated me like some sort of adopted son - a role I didn't always care for. In the long run however it paid dividends. An example: when the lion of the SF labor movement, Harry Bridges, died it 1990 it was Jerry who admonished me that I needed to be at the memorial service - and how right he was! Gathered together there were the men who had fought the battles and bore the scars of America's labor movement, some even who remembered the general strike in 1934. Amidst the white hats and gruff courtesy of the longshoremen an aura of grassroots power permeated the air and for a moment I breathed of that potent elixir as I stood with Jerry, shoulder to shoulder with these men. To stand in their company was for me a transformative moment. And it was a moment that was a gift to me from Jerry Sager.


Jerry's wit was often sardonic but he never fell prey to or was seduced by the kind of cynicism that has always plagued me.


Being a humanist and an atheist, death is always a little aggravating since for me there is no great beyond, no happy hunting grounds, nor even a great spiritual collective in the sky. Jerry and I won't be eatin' that rainbow stew or drinking that free bubble up at some great socialist picnic in the hereafter. So about the best I can do is to borrow from John Steinbeck who put these words in mouth of Tom Joad as he explained to his mother how it was that he would never be lost to her:


"Maybe it's like Casey says. A fellow ain't got a soul of his own, just a little piece of a big soul, the one big soul that belongs to everybody, then - I'll be all around in the dark - I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be there in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be there in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they built - I'll be there, too."


Some version of Tom Joad's dream, perhaps one a little less tied to the land, a bit more philosophical, moved Jerry Sager and maybe through him a few more who will hold to the light - so , carry on old friend.


2016 05 12

In its quest to help childless couples breed, Western science appears to be obvious to the fact that infertility is Nature's way of saying “enough is enough!”

2016 05 11

Is there a continuity of consciousness byond the disintegration of the human form?

And, is the concentration on this question a grim distraction in the pursuit of spirituality?

2016 05 10

The scale to which life is insistent upon manifesting here on Earth can be glimpsed in the blue whale and the microscopic organisms that flourish in its poop.

AN EARTHWEEK ESSAY BY

TOM CHARLESWORTH

***

Earth Sabbath


Quite a few years ago I attended a Cultural History course in which the teacher imparted to us what she called Axiom 1 in the study of history: “That which is necessary for survival has a tendency to become sacred.”

A brief and rather sweeping look at a few major historical watersheds would seem to give some credence to this idea:

The main activities of hunter-gatherer societies centered around foraging and hunting. Animistic rituals invoked the spirit world to allow favorable outcomes, protection from harm, and sometimes commemorated exploits of the hunt. Hunting and gathering, or foraging culture was the way of life for all humans for roughly 99% of our existence, until the development of farming culture around 10,000 years ago.

With the dawn of agricultural civilization, activities shifted to the planting and harvesting of food. Religious beliefs and rituals often focused on the cycles of nature and fertility, and became more formalized over time.

The Industrial Age, beginning in the 1700’s, but really picking up “steam” in the 19th century, brought with it more complex layers of social organization incorporating a more scientific view of the world. While most of the major world religions are pre-industrial, over time, religious precepts began to imbue faith with reason and and increased focus on accepting and filling one’s role within society and the appropriate modes of behavior and morality expected within it.

Historical ages are not discrete entities, but have evolved naturally, each overlaying what preceded with new layers of concepts and behavior. At the same time, the beliefs and values of prior eras often remain present, and continue to exert a strong influence on the present.

The 10 Commandments, for instance, are pre-industrial, but are central to the beliefs of modern day Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Thou shalt keep holy the Lord’s day,” the fourth commandment, provides the inspiration for this article. The earliest mentions in history of a day of rest are found in Zoroastrianism and among the ancient Babylonians. A day of rest can also be found in Buddhism, among some native american tribes, and in other cultures and religions in addition to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

In our day, the idea of keeping holy the Sabbath, is mostly centered around going to church on Sunday, the synagogue on Saturday, or mosque on Friday. But the observance in earlier times was far more pervasive, and remains so among many orthodox sects. Orthodox Jews, Seventh Day Adventists and some other Christian sects as well, believe that God ceased His labors in the creation, and rested upon the Sabbath, and so humans as well should set aside the occupations of their daily lives, and devote this time to healthful rest, worship, and holy deeds. An orthodox Jew, for instance, refrains from performing any “melachah” on the Sabbath. The word melachah is translated as work, but it really refers to the kind of work that is creative, or that exercises control or dominion over your environment. Some consider this to include activities like driving, or even using electricity.

What was necessary for survival at the dawn of the agricultural age was different than what had preceded it. The same was true as industrialism spread across our planet. For the past several decades, it has become clear to many of us, that what is necessary for survival is once again different than what has come before, and we will have to become very different people than we are today.

According to economist Herman Daly, we now live in a natural resource-constrained world, not a capital-constrained world. He points out that in yesterday’s world capital was most often the limiting factor in economic growth, whereas today it is natural resources. In his book, “Beyond Growth,” he asks us to consider the following:

What limits the annual fish catch — fishing boats (capital) or remaining fish in the sea (natural resources)? Clearly the latter.

What limits barrels of crude oil extracted — drilling rigs and pumps (capital), or remaining accessible deposits of petroleum — or capacity of the atmosphere to absorb the CO2 from burning petroleum (both natural resources)?

What limits production of cut timber — number of chain saws and lumber mills, or standing forests and their rate of growth?

What limits irrigated agriculture — pumps and sprinklers, or aquifer recharge rates and river flow volumes?”

To illustrate the complexity of issues that can arise in a resource-constrained world, consider the fact that more than half of the fish Americans eat now comes from fish farms. Salmon is touted as a heart healthy source of protein because of its high levels of omega-3 fats. In order to keep their omega-3 levels up, farmed salmon had traditionally been fed large quantities of small oily wild fish, such as anchovies, herring, and sardines, but these have become so overfished that their numbers have declined drastically. Instead of small wild fish high in omega-3s, farmed salmon are now being fed byproducts of hog and poultry processing, soybeans, canola oil, corn and other grains, most of which are genetically engineered for the animal feed industry. All of these have none of the beneficial omega-3 fats, but are loaded with low quality omega-6 fats.

At the same time that the evidence of the resource constraints we are facing is becoming increasingly obvious, many of us today find ourselves working longer hours, more weekends, and commuting more hours to and from work than ever. It doesn’t stop there, often our leisure time is spent in activities as energy intensive as our work time, and more businesses than ever are operational to some extent 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Much of this has been enabled by the revolution in information technology which has always held the promise of doing more with less. Information technology is after all, only a tool, and thus far the principal achievement we’ve utilized it for is to increase the speed of transactions, the consumption of resources, and the pace of our lives. As Gandhi once pointed out, “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”

In a brief essay titled “In Praise of Idleness,” Bertrand Russell once wrote:

Suppose that, at a given moment, a certain number of people are engaged in the manufacture of pins – they make as many pins as the world needs, working eight hours a day.

“ Someone then makes an invention by which the same number of men can make twice as many pins as before.

“ But the world does not need twice as many pins – pins are already so cheap that hardly any more will be bought at a lower price.

“ In a sensible world, everybody concerned in the manufacture of the pins would take to working four hours instead of eight each day, and everything else would go on as before.

“ But in the actual world this would be thought demoralizing.

The men still work eight hours, there are thus too many pins, some employers go bankrupt, and half the men previously concerned in making pins are thrown out of work.

There is, in the end, just as much leisure as in the other plan, but half the men are totally idle while half are still overworked – in this way it is ensured that the unavoidable leisure shall cause misery all round instead of being a universal source of happiness.

Can anything more insane be imagined?”

In 2002, I attended the second World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. While there, I learned of the concept of stewardship of the environment being embraced by many religious groups. The thought occurred to me that if we observed a day of rest as fully as a member of an orthodox sect, this could, theoretically at least, represent as much as a 1/7th reduction in our use of energy and consumption of resources. Perhaps even more importantly, observance of an Earth Day, or Earth Sabbath if you will, on a weekly basis rather than just annually, could provide a continual reminder of the new challenges we face and the new values we will need in order to address them, while at the same time reinforcing our sense of faith, reverence for nature, and for one another.

Eventually, I discovered a United Nations Environment Programme publication, “Only One Earth,” had already proposed the idea of an “Environmental Sabbath/Earth Rest Day,” in June, 1990.

What would it take in today’s world to truly observe a day of rest? I don’t have a complete answer to that, but think we would each need to find our own personal way of observing it. The problem is we’ve become so attached to the activities of the industrial world that everything we do, work, recreation, vacationing, even worship all seem to involve burning energy and resources. We act as if we’ve had the ability to use resources in this way forever, and yet most of the technological advances that have allowed us to do so have occurred within the past one hundred fifty years or so. My grandfather, born in 1896, could remember when electric lights were first installed in his neighborhood as a child.

Looking back at our hunter-gatherer origins for just a moment, it is generally thought that these groups willingly accepted modern culture whenever they could.  But in fact, this was rarely the case. It was usually through the aggression of nearby agricultural or industrial societies that their way of life was changed. 

While there is evidence that early hunter-gatherer groups may have caused many species extinctions, for the most part, their way of life was far more sustainable than ours is today. Prevailing economic thought tells us that humans are naturally competitive and acquisitive, always wanting more and more.  Yet, hunter-gatherers have lived without these attributes for many tens of thousands of years.  It is our culture that makes us want to accumulate more and more, not our human nature.

None of this is to say that we should all become hunter-gatherers again. Rather, how do we prevent ourselves from becoming hunter gatherers again in a world with far fewer resources. Nor is it to say that we should all observe the Sabbath as strictly as an orthodox religious sect. While preserving our natural habitat, and restoring ecological balance in our world is paramount, sustainability is also about preserving the advancements that humanity has achieved for ourselves and future generations.

There are quite a few things we’ve accomplished in the past few hundred years that I doubt any of us would want to do without: electricity, central heating, modern transportation and healthcare, just to name a few.

Perhaps an extreme example of what humans can accomplish are the open pit and underground diamond mines just 100 miles or so south of the Arctic Circle in Canada’s Northwest Territories which operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, mining kimberlite pipes that extend to depths of 1400 to 1900 feet beneath the frozen surface. If we can work that continuously under such harsh conditions, or set foot on the moon, surely we ought to be able use our abilities for research, planning and design to adapt to climate change and avert its worst effects?

Up to now our industrial and information age economic systems have been based on growth. The recession of 2008, and the Great Depression of the 1930s demonstrate that our systems do not adapt well to economic downturns. It’s tempting to think that we’ll be able to address the issues presented by climate change through technological innovation and increasing efficiency alone, but there’s a problem with that assumption. According to Jevons’ Paradox (named for 19th century English economist William Stanley Jevons) as technological efficiency increases, so does consumption. Following the basic premise of supply and demand, as efficiency increases, prices come down, and consumption goes up. In Bertrand Russell’s example of the manufacuturing of pins cited earlier, people aren’t willing to buy more of an item than they need. In contrast, however, they’re perfectly willing to drive more if the price of gas goes down, or to buy a new phone, tablet, or computer every few years. How many of us took selfies when we had to buy film and have it developed? Now that we have cell phone subscriptions that include data storage, we record more and more of our experiences that we may never have time to revisit again. It seems to elude us that storing ever increasing amounts of data in air-conditioned data warehouses also comes at a price in terms of dollars and in terms of resource consumption.

Technology can help us do more with less, but it can also blur the distinction between what is possible and what is needed. I believe that automation coupled with renewable energy has tremendous potential to help us adapt to the challenges we face, but it has to be managed better. We need to become more mindful of what is necessary and what isn’t with respect to resource utilization.

I don’t know if an Earth Sabbath is an idea that would ever catch on in our contemporary world. At the same time, a day of rest for the sake of regeneration, both for our environment and for ourselves is probably more relevant than it has ever been. In my conception of it at least, observance (whether it be on a specific day of the week, or an equivalent number hours during the week) wouldn’t have to represent self-deprivation, but rather the inclusion of relaxation and recuperation into our weekly routines. This could mean not only spiritual and religious practice such as prayer or meditation, but also time with family and friends, going for long walks, exercise, yoga, reading a book, or maybe writing one.

It seems odd that simple ideas such as this, even when they come from traditions shared by many cultures can be perplexingly difficult to put into practice. At least in my own case, I think it comes from a kind of disorientation where the necessity of averting an approaching crisis suggests one path, but my immediate circumstances compel me to take another.

Any way you look at it, confronting the challenge of climate change i

s both an economic dilemma and a spiritual one.

In the Book of Genesis it says “On the seventh day, God rested.” Maybe we should too.


2016 05 07

Reality is the field in which perception takes place.




2016 04 14

A sadly poignant pondering from my dear friend Deborah Newbury:

I have lived to see a man walk on the moon and a black man be elected President. I am sorely afraid I will live to see the world-wide collapse of technic civilization.”

2016 04 13

Some benighted souls have suggested that Bob Dylan's body of work is worthy of a Nobel prize but surely no member of the determining board could be so naive as to mistake his self-indulgent grumblings as literature.

2016 04 12

Astronomers have discovered what is called The Great Attractor which appears to be a large cosmic void that is sucking whole galaxies into its maw. Intriguingly, we have no idea what, if anything, comes out the other end.

2016 04 11

Scientists are forccccced by the discipline of their field to suppress many forms of imagination whereas the Poet can ramble more freely. The Philosopher's task is to integrate the the two interpretive dynamics.

2016 04 10

Even if we stipualate that “Gad” is uneful, moralizing agent in our social construction, we still must ask ourselves - where did He come from?? And if the answer is “he always was” then why can't we substitute an immensely resourceful Nature to the same end?

2016 04 08

The existential algorithm does not require God, and unlike Dawkins and Hitchens I don't feel a need to proselytize deconstruction of that icon - my intellectual emphasis will always be the revelationment of consciousness. I want to peel the onion to its core, to the very seed that erupted into presence.

MY SONG – (Originally composed July 12, 2014; revised 2016 04 07)


I wonder where my song will take me,

as I seek to move along,

The notes are clear but some chords are wrong,

Some chime higher than they should,

others ring like tempered wood,


I wonder where my song is going,

I seem to follow it two steps from knowing,

Hoping somewhere to find,

The secret chord that frees my mind,

My dreams are a constant entreaty,

That assails me with Infinity,

Her darker shores beckon - “more!, more!”,

A plaintive urge I can't ignore,


But there are times I must confess,

If this is more, please give me less.”

2016 04 06

The preponderance of annoying TV commercials encouraging citizens to engage in litigation stems from the “abundance” population in post-WW2 America that exdorted its children to become “doctors, and lawyers and such”.. three consecutive generations of Americonns were rammed through college so as to become “professionals”, so that now we have a toxic surfeit of lawyers.

2016 04 05

It is often amusing to observe how the imagination can run roughshod over the intellect - fantasy about how a phone call to an old high school buddy might wind up with a connection to Sir Paul McCartney and therefrom to seat in Parliament. Wild, even masturbatory sort of idle musing. Neventheless, this kind of “thinking outside the box” can contribute to innovation and a broadening of perspective.

2016 04 04

It's only “work” if you don't like what you're doing.

2016 04 03

Faith is the belief in the non-demonstrable; love is the dynamic that creates miracles.

2016 04 02

Those who place cash over compassion are the architects of the impending collapse of Western civilization.

2016 04 01

Stanley Miller's mistake - the origin of life required not a spark but a steady flow of energy in the form of photonic bomardment intersecting the electro-magnetic emanations from the Earth's core.

2016 03 31

If I weren't an atheist I would be forced te conclude that God is an asshole who gave us a very fucked up world; our job it seems is make it a nicer place...

2016 01 30

The existential algorithm does not require God, and unlike Dawkins and Hitchens I don't feel a need to proselytize deconstruction of the divine - my intellectual emphasis will always be the revelationment of consciousness. I want to peel the onion to its core, the very seed that promulgated its presence.

2016 01 29

in this culture God is always credited for what's good in life, never the blame for what is disappointing. Cf sports events.... Such de-humanizing of accomplishemnt is fundamentally self-destructive. The phenomenon is very deep - witness my saying in an unguarded moment, “Thank God I’m an atheist!”

2016 01 08

A person who doesn't hesitate to use fingers and trousers to blow their nose is a pragmatist of the first order. (Because of course, such a one knows that a spouse, Mother or some other form of caretaking individual will be doing the laundry soon...)

2016 01 07

Perhaps the fundamental difference bteween East and West can be ascribed to the fact that out of Africa one body of immigrants truned East toward the rising Sun while another turned West toward the setting Sun.

2016 01 06

Interesting proofreading goof:

from an article about Australopithecus afarensis, Lucy -

Shortly after being dug up, it became apparent that Lucy was one of the most important fossils ever discovered, when researchers released that she belonged to a previously unknown species.”

I believe it should read “realised” (British spelling) not “released”.

2016 01 05

Intellectually and philosophically I want people to stop believing in gods and concentrate on the primacy of mind, especially the human mind, the only expression thereof that we have significant access to.

2016 01 04

The planet measures time slowly and ponderously; we who observe its changes do so fleetingly and ponderingly.

2016 01 03

Like Luther I deny the necessity of priestly intercession between Man and God. However, I go astep further in that I don't find it necessary to employ any manner of gods to interpret the natural dynamic of the Universe.

2016 01 02

It is a fascinating study in biology to observe that the largest creature to ever live on Earth, the blue whale, subsists almost entirely one of the planet's smallest, the tiny krill shrimp, consuming enough of them to produce around 3 tons of whale shit every day.

2016 01 01

So we enter the year 2016 - new year same as the old year+1. Later, as the year progresses we'll finally see some rather more legitimate political campaigning for the office of POTUS; so far the bulk of what we have been subjected to has been clownish, ad hominem gibberish mixed with hoary jingoism. Let us hope for substantive dialogue directed at revealing the candidates' intentions with respect to what must be the work undertaken by the United States.

2015 12 31

Few things on Earth are as obviously wasteful of resources, time, money and most especially brain-power as competing space programs.

2015 12 30

An interesting undertaking would be the creation of a “Geneology of Morals”.

2015 12 29

At what point does “puzzlement” begin to play a part in the survival dynamic of various species?

2015 12 28

All spoken language is dependent upon intervals between concepts or contructive elements of concepts. Thus we see that the “quiet space” between each word or syllable is just as important as the sound itself. So too it is with atoms – the “empty space” between the hadron center and the orbits of the electrons is fundamentally definitive.

2015 12 27

MY SONG – July 12, 2014


I wonder where my song will take me,

as I seek to move along,

The notes are clear but some chords are wrong,

Some chime higher than they should,

others ring like tempered wood,


I wonder where my song is going,

I seem to follow it two steps from knowing,

Hoping somewhere to find,

The secret chord that frees my mind,

My dreams are a constant entreaty,

That assails me with Infinity,

Her darker shores beckon - “more!, more!”,

A plaintive urge I can't ignore,


But there are times I must confess,

If this is more, please give me less.”


2012 12 26

The route to personal fulfillment, quantitative and qualitative is engaging in cooperative endeavors. This is not an ideal to be striven for, but a pragmatism to be employed.

2015 12 25

The downside of infinity is that it provides too many opportunities for speculation. Thus the necessary refinement of abstractions provides the fertile

field in which imagination germinates.

2015 12 24

I wish we could dispense with Christmas gift-giving and rather, institute a regular reminder system to suggest that those whom we hold in sufficient esteem are delivered gifts that are the result of our love and enfolding of them.

2015 12 23
The beauty and intrigue of eternity is that it functionally can never wear out. 

2015 12 22

A friend posted on FB that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. I wrote back saying “I hope you'll accethpt the “prayers” of an atheist with a Higher Power”. She in turn responded saying “You bet! Just as powerful”. Think of the implicatoinos of such a comment - a tacit acknowledgment that the power of secular humanism is equivalent to that of God's intervention.

2015 12 21

The age-old question persists - how to make metaphysical knowledge practical. How to implement what is known to be the underlying truth of existence. That such knowledge enhances one's sense of well-being is undeniable - how does such knowledge fill the gas tank or the belly?

2015 12 20

imagine the surprise available to the Okies who, coming from tiny insular communties on the prairie, arrive in California to discover that there are literally thousands of people just like them coming for the same benefits.

2015 12 19

Being an irritant is usually an uncomfortable position - but the ability to aptly choose how and when to be irritating can both solipsistically and socially rewarding.

2015 12 18

At one time in human history we ate living flesh, as do most carnivores today. An interesting “sophistication” occurred somewhere along the timeline such that we now only eat that which is already dead. Does that make us scavengers, or merely opportunists?

2015 12 17

As I age I find I fewer and fewer vanities left me - I intend to cherish those that I retain.

2015 12 16

Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God's”. In other words, let the robot do what the robot does best while the higher self is engaged in the continuing expansion and manifestation of consciousness

2015 12 15

Go here to view the World Population Clock:

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

As you can see, births outpace deaths at a considerable rate. By my calculation roughly 5,000,000 people die per month. At that rate if we want to bring Earth's population down from the current 7.4 billion folks to a more manageable 5 billion, it will be necessary to put a hold on all births for forty years.

That's a long time with no nookie.

2015 12 14

Freedom” is a relentlessly shifting set of personal as well as social variables.

2015 12 13

Feigned ignorance is remarbkably charming way to overcome reticence in a desired companion.

2015 12 12

As a pacifist, I am grateful that I don't believe in God. If I did I’d be consumed with the need to exterminate him for his abhorrent behavior toward those who worship him.

2015 12 11

Biological cultures are opportunistic – where there is food supply they take root and flourish, unmindful of depletion of their bounty. When the medium is exhausted, they perish.

Along the seacoasts and in other fertile land areas of the Earth humans have flourished in much the same fashion, and with about the same regard for the environment that sustains them. Thus does humanity's hubris command all the majesty of a Petri dish.

Of course, having invented Gods, humans can comfortably imagine themselves to be immune from the strictures of biology and toddle off to imaginary Paradises in blissful oblivion.

2015 12 10

I have not heretofore given voice to my immense dissatisfaction with the misleading and off-putting word, "entanglement", used in a quantum context. It brings to mind a morass of imponderabilities, whereas "simultaneity", viewed in context, invigorates a grasp of the fundamentally vibrant motility that is a constituent element of the cosmos we participate in.

2015 12 09

Photons obviously fill space but only impinge upon receptive/perceptive matrices of organized energy/matter. Photons appear to have sources, which are the action of stellar fusion ovents. If my theory of mentons is correct, they too fill space with the same dynamic as photons. What then is the source of these mentons?

**********

Photons are obviously everywehere but only get gathered/harvested/focused by organizend constructs of energy/matter such as eyes, which interpret. The sources for photons appears to be sub-atomic particle inetaciton. My Menton Theory wuold suggest that moentons are as ubiquitous as photons - but what is the source?

2015 12 08

Donald Trump has succeeded in accomplishing something no other pond-scum political hack has ever done: he has come with an incompassionate idea so repellent that even the dick Cheney won't support it.

2015 12 07
Employing a sense of vision does not require eyesight.

2015 12 06

The information glut is meaninlgless if there is not the stimulus to employ the data. In other words, if the yahoos are not prompted to (puzzlement the glut of information is just noise.

 2015 12 05

Higher Power, as it were, is the knowledge (albeit unconscious) that there exists a psychological paradigm of mental health that is entirely independent of chemical intervention. By way of example, if I cut my finger it pretty much heals without my being required to think of all the processes that are in play as it does so. Just as my cut finger heals itself so, so too does the mind realign itself along healthy lines when sufficiently shocked.

 2015 12 04

The learned are not always wise; the wise are always learning.

 2015 12 03

I got straight A's in school - once. Having proved it was possible I lost interest thereafter and never bothered again.

2015 12 02

As Lewis Carroll has it, “...and the King's horses and the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again.”

To which Tom Doubter somewhat archly rejoins “That is, not until the next time you open the book.”

2015 12 01

The curse of the Scattershot Mind: on my good days I'm a Renaissance Man, on my off days merely a dilettante.

2015 11 30

The charming naivete of the populace will never overcome the cupidity of the politicians they elect.

2015 11 29

There will be a whole lot fewer people on Earth in the not too distant future; who will they be? If the Chinese and the Indians manage to annihilate each other in their inevitable grapple for water and arable land, what then the outcome for the long-predominant Northern Europeans?

2015 11 28

Note that all the evaporated water drawn up into hurrcanes etc is fresh water that is re-deposited via rainfall into other locations - not all of which are prepared for the this bounty.

2015 11 27

An event such the recent Paris massacre demonstrates that there is no discernible “cause” for which the perpetrators are fighting. Truly, how can the slaughter of innocent Parisians be perceived as a furtherance of the goal of establish an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East? Rather, so-called “terrorist” actions have taken on a life of its own and become mayhem as an expression of the same random violence associated with witless adolescent vandalism.

2015 11 26

The underlying aspiration of the so-called “New Age” movement was and is an effort to make the unconscious conscious; in Gurdjieffian terms, to awaken. An initial assumption must be that determination, will and commitment result in an enhanced ability to comprehend and absorb abstract thought. Such comprehension is the first step on the path that proceeds from dirt to angel.

2015 11 25

Can a thought exist absent a verbal framework or a context?

2015 11 24

Interesting proofreading goof:

from an article about Australopithecus afarensis, Lucy -

Shortly after being dug up, it became apparent that Lucy was one of the most important fossils ever discovered, when researchers released that she belonged to a previously unknown species.”

I believe it should read “realised” (British spelling) not “released”.

2015 11 23

An historic dynamic of terrorism would seem to be,

Accede to our demands and we will stop terrorizing your innocent citizens”.

The Islamic Jihad doesn't appear to conform to this. Rather I perceive a gruesome permission to behave badly, much like “wilding” adolescents.

2015 11 22

It is interesting to note that it is “now” everywhere in the entire cosmos.

2015 11 21

Suggesting that evolution is a “theory” is the same as doubting a doctor because he is engaged in the "practice” of medicine.

2015 11 20

Eternity grants us an intriguing perspective: a long corridor of forever in either direction.

2015 11 19

The American press corps should feel a keen sense of embarrassment putting meaningful questions to the obviously mentally challenged (in the old days we'd have said “retarded”) Dr Ben Carson.

2015 11 18

The operative model in combating ISIS must be the same as in World War Two. At that time the civilized world recognized that Nazism's doctrine of racial superiority was insane, criminal and intolerable. Today, we see in ISIS an equally intolerable doctrine that seeks to promote a religious superiority, enforced by the sword. Once again, the civilized world must unite and employ measures such as the Underground, infiltration, conscripted armed forces (that is to say in the the current vernacular, “boots on the ground”), internment, closed borders and even the repellent necessity of countenancing civilian casualties - all leading to the virtual extirpation of any forms of Jihadism.

It has been said that it is impossible to kill an idea. While his may be true, if enough adherents to an evil idea are removed, the malignant effects of that idea will evaporate.

2015 11 17

Watching the GOP candidate's debate seems to have achieved about the same level of frustration as that associated with the herding of cats.

2015 11 16

Our Earthly science is slowly discovering that the cosmos is absolutely croweded with space.

2015 11 15

The persistent belief in God and His “mercy” is grim testament the facility with which the human mind can employ rationalization.

2015 11 14

Gazing at a Mt Rainier is like giving oneself a hug.

2015 11 13

If all participants in international conferences pertaining to the well-being of their respective populations were required to attend the conferences naked, without their breakfast and with no exit, I believe that viable solutions would emerge before bowel movements.

2015 11 12

The fundamental baseline for the advancement of humanity, is and always has been, compassion. The suspension of compassion, by whatever weird psychological mechanism, results in the grim de-humanization evidenced in war, bench-justice, mob behavior, intimate betrayal and political ambition.

2015 11 11

She was only a sailmakers daughter, but she knew which way the wind blew.

2015 11 10

If the shoes on my feet protect the soles of my feet, does the hat on my head protect my soul from the demons above?

2015 11 09

The longer a man works at an idea the more refined it becomes and the more adherent he becomes to its subjective value, however moral.

2015 11 08

When one gets fired up by an idea it is much more gratifying to chop the kindling of fantasy than it is work the mathematics of intellect

2015 11 07

The Paraha Amazonian Indian maxiim “I store meat in the belly of my brother” is fine until resource depletion suggests that I eat my brother.

2015 11 06

Michio Kaku describes Einstein as “shattering the boundaries of the known and entering the domain of the unknown.”

I observe that studying the known would be a full time job for 10 lifetimes and thus would leave me no time to dwell upon that which fascinates me more, the unknown.

2015 11 05

Waking up early provides the opportunity to participate as the trees on the horizon craft the wavering, evanescent sun-sculptures of the morning.

2015 11 04

Consider the Big Bang - an unimaginably small bubble of stuff achieves some undefinably intense cosmic critical mass and bursts. It seems likely that such a burst would extend equally outward in all directions in a rather globular fashion. All the material associated with our galaxy is with is apparently zooming outward from this initial burst-point and therefore there presumptively exists, a similar mass of expanding detritus moving in an opposite direction from this burst point. In order to reach that other half of the universe it will be necessary to travel at twice the speed of light.

2015 11 03

It is illuminating to examine the architecture of abstraction. The mind moves from ever more complex arrangement of “knowns” to a point where the combinations of these accessible ideas and observations no longer fit any known pattern. At this point it becomes necessary to mentally build a new “construct” to accommodate the momentarily strange arrangement.

2015 11 02

One must be wary of law when seeking justice.

2015 11 01

Consider the phenomenon of biomass conversion: the blue whale, the largest creature ever to inhabit the Earth, thrives on a diet composed principally of krill, the smallest of crustaceans. These tiny living creatures provide the biologic energy for this massive entity which in turn excretes three tons of whale-shit every day. This product sinks to the ocean floor where it composts, festers, and provides the growth medium for an entire ecosystem of microbial life, which in turn matures into a food source for such creatures as the krill.

2015 10 31

I recently heard the claim that America has 5% of the world's populationt and 24%* of the world's imprisoned population.

This disturbing pair of numbers caused me to ponder: Is this the cost of the psychology of freedom that permeates the American consciousness?

*http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2014/dec/15/jim-webb/webb-says-us-has-5-percent-worlds-population-25-pe/

2015 10 30

If all the worms on Earth were placed end to end around the equator there would be a whole lot of frustrated anglers in the world.

2015 10 29

She was only a carpenter's daughter but she knew how te nail a stud.

2015 10 28

Once we accept that the unsustainability disaster is inevitable the next queston is - how to mitigate its effects? What are we likely to lose, what can we preserve? An interesting scenario is that outlined by Isaac Asimov in his Foundation Trilogy. Therein the ultimate preservation dynamic was of mind rather than technology.

2015 10 27

Man alone suffers so excruciatingly in the world that he was compelled to invent laughter.” – Nietzsche

Reading this was undoubtedly a moment of inspiration for Robert Heinlein.

2015 10 26

I have no interest in sobriety; equally I have no interest in drunkenness except insofar as it interferes with my concentration on the study of consciousness. AA, REBT, “recovery” - all these things are distractions, mental masturbations that divert attention. They represent a preoccupation with “what's wrong with us” instead of focusing on what's true of us. Phrases such as “I'd be nowhere without this program” serve to underscore a destructive self-loathing. An ongoing concentration on “recovery” perpetuates the Judeo-Christian notion of Original Sin and the imperfectibility of Mankind.

  2015 10 25

With the onset of consciousness comes the ability to imagine. A full belly provides the opportunity to imagine having a full belly all the time.


2015 10 24

The sub-atomic particles that make up the atoms that form the cells of our bodies conform to a construct paradigm so long as long as elan vital maintains. With systems failure and death elan vital can no longer be maintained. Absent the elan vital the sub-As and the atoms they construct are not released - they've been in constant motion - now the form no longer holds so newly “arriving” sub-As and ionizing atoms no longer adhere to the paradigm.

2015 10 23

I played wihle I was young, invulnerable and full of whiskey;  I shall work now that I am old, venerable and full of wisdom.

2015 10 22

As an exercise en mind-stretching, consider the myriad galaxies in the cosmos as organic entities, akin perhaps to the cells in our bodies.

2015 10 21

A matter of perspective: the whale shark is the largest fish known to exist, reaching lengths of as much as 45 feet. To get a sense of just how long this fish is imagine a football field – the fish would extend from the 20-yard line to the 35-yard line - an impressive sight indeed. But now take that same fish and hang it from the roof of a 4-storey building - the fishes tale would drag on the sidewalk. The contrast between the horizontal and vertical perspectives is illuminating.

2015 10 20

She was only farmer's daughter but she knew how to get plowed.

2015 10 19

Was consciousness always there, waiting to manifest or is it an organic construct? And, if organic how is it that organic life swelled on Earth for so many millions of years before the first evidence of self-conscious behavior was produced? On the other hand, if not an organically spawned phenomenon what is the nature of the thought that provides us with the opportunity to self-observe? If it is electrical it requires (apparently) a matrix to confine/define it. That matrix appears to be the CNS, but only in humans do we see evidence of identity.

2015 10 18

Morality lies somewhere between my drive to survive and my capacity to understand your need to survive.

2015 10 17

Hints from Hell-oise: while the Universe is, by definition, without meaning,  Life is NOT meaningless.

2015 10 16

Among the things this world does not require is millionaire gurus such as Deepak Chopra preaching the benefits of nhe simple spiritual life. This is tantamount to the wealthy puking out platitudes like “money isn't everything” and “money can't buy happiness”. While I don't denigrate the notion of inner peace and equanimity I observe that such an elevated mental state is much harder to come by while trying to ignore an empty belly.

2015 10 15

An awful lot of physical discomfiture when drunk is voluntary - we enjoy being released from the strictures of a physical manifestations of gravity that are fundamentally false. After all, in reality we are nothing more than coherently compressed organizations of energy, defined by local affinities.

2015 10 14

We now know that meteoric bodies drifting in interplanetary space often contain basic amino acid compounds that are basic constituents of life. I find it an interesting musing to consider our Earth, with its enormous fecundity, as a kind of nursery for such amino acids.

2015 10 13

Tom Doubter ponders: “What is the plural of cosmos??”

2015 10 12

It is poignantly easy for the emotionally vulnerable to mistake the fervor of a True Believer for legitimate affection.

2015 10 11

Tough Love” - the freedom to inflict emotional suffering upon another person in pursuit of personal exemption.

2015 10 10

An anthropological conundrum: is my offspring's survival better enhanced by my ability to eat you, or our ability in cooperation to eat something else.

2015 10 09

from Deepak Chopra's introduction to “WorldShift2012”:

Laszlo joins a small group of deeply versed thinkers who grasp that all experience occurs in consciousness and nowhere else.”

Tom Doubter rejoins: Wrong. Consciousness is the capacity to have and observe the experience - the experience/event can occur without the benefit of consciousness. If a tree falls in the forest it makes a very loud sound irrespective of who is or isn't listening.

2015 10 08

A strange contrast: sitting in chair reading a book seems to be “active”; sitting in chair listening to a book seems to be passive.

2015 10 07

The run-up to the November 2016 election is getting so weird that I now propose the establishment of the "All Iconoclast Ticket" featuring Sanders/Trump. That'd be a ticket to make the Europeans sit up and take notice.

2015 10 06

Intelligent Design” might be considered as good a myth as any of its predecessors but nevertheless begs the question of who designed the Designer?

(Tom Doubter notes that this line of questioning doesn't represent a search for sort of “First Cause” but is in fact an affirmation that no such etiological event can exist.)

2015 10 05

I desire that my company be desired by those whom I respect and love. To that end I modify my behavior - to a point.

2015 10 04

The unquestionably apt adage “The lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client” is more an observation about human perception than an admonition pertaining to the practice of law.

2015 10 03

She was only a thimble makers daughter but she knew how to handle a prick.

2015 10 02

It seems obvious that a re-interpretation of the social, economically constructive and ethical dynamics that define our society is required at this time. Three books by the same author that, due to circumstance I'm reading simultaneously, seem to offer an outline paradigm for such re-interpretation:

WorldShift 2012 - Making Green Business, New Politics, and Higher Consciousness Work Together;

The Self-Actualizing Cosmos;

Science and the Re-Enchantment of the Cosmos;

All by Ervin Lazslo, a founding member of the Club of Budapest

2015 10 01

If I’d read Nietzsche 50 years ago how much more intellectually advanced might my thinking be now, my mind being freed of the need to reinvent his thinking from scratch?

On the other hand, Keith Devlin (among others) posits that due to the requirements of evolutionary survival, the human brain is constrained to an upper limit of abstraction. I don't believe this to be true and work in meditation to effect falsification.

2015 09 30

How shall I define existence in a world that no longer includes the emotional context of my dearest friend?

2015 09 29

Because a fundamental element of the universe is motility which leads inexorably to animation and then to life, it is commonly misapprehended that universe is “friendly” and purposeful, has meaning or intention. Each of these qualities are anthropomorphic impositions on a completely indifferent dynamic - a dynamic that has always existed and will always exist, no matter what form it may manifest as. The current form is the space-time continuum we are in the process of participating in while we explore its magnificent possibilities. As humans we revere life as the mechanism that allows us this participation. Unfortunately this reverence leads us astray into the belief that a magnificent machine has a purposeful intent when in fact the reality is that only its product - consciousness - is capable of such expression.

2015 09 28

Atheism has two essential foundations: god is not necessary and even if he were, where did he come from.

2015 09 27

For many hours Nazrudin was holding forth (and one might note, his bladder) in the town square: “The Universe is successfully interrelated in far too complex a manner as to have occurred as random accidentalness -clearly there exists a Design and therefore a Designer.”

Tom Doubter: “Mulla, the complexity you describe is as undeniable as it is beautiful in its intricacy - but, Good Sir, who designed the designer?”

Nazrudin responded: “It would .. ah .. seem .. ah .. that .. uh .. the Original Designer was .. uh .. named .. uh .. .. First Cause!” – and wet his pants.

2015 09 26

I do believe that a sad, wry smile is about all that a rational person can direct toward a culture that requires a Hollywood laugh-track to know when to express mirth.

2015 09 25

Atheism defined:

Any god who would murder Patsy Cline,

...ain't never gonna be no friend of mine

2015 09 24

Today I celebrate the 61st birthday of my sister Michelle, without whom these books would not have come to pass. God bless you Michelle! (see: Pelkey's Ponderings 2013 05 04)

2015 09 23

We have lost what I might call the “pausal” psychology - years ago when a communique was received the recipient knew that a period of silence would ensue before the sender might expect a reply. This knowledge allowed for a sort of rumination that has been lost, to our detriment, in this era of instant communication and rapid reply.

2015 09 22

As you lose your eyesight your hearing doesn't get better but you sure as hell pay more attention to it.

2015 09 21

I never read Kerouac but pretty much absorbed it osmotically from my culture. Along with songs like Hoyt Axton's "Greenback Dollar". Gale Garnett's "We'll Sing in the Sunshire" and any number of versions of "500 Miles", On The Road, even unread, provided a psychological backdrop of rootlessness that I suspect tended to drive me toward mysticism.

2015 09 20

Consciousness is like a stream into which I repeatedly dip my ladle to refresh my personality.

2015 09 19

Within the context of inductive reasoning falsification as testability is critical when we are dealing with a Heisenbergian world of possibility and potentiality. It seems to be crucial to determined the expectable degree of falsification so as to be able to determine how well we may be able to communicate the “truth” of any proposition.

2015 09 18

Useful reminder:

I must not allow my eloquence to obscure my intent.

2015 09 17

Today's big question seems to be “Who won last night's debate?” I submit that given the degree of cannibalism evident on stage, Hillary Clinton was the biggest winner. .

2015 09 16

Tom Doubter at The Old Folks Home: “These derelict old remnants of human beings, cripped-up, requiring help with even the simplest of ordinary tasks, a burden to all around them - what the hell are they good for?”

Nazrudin: “Actually it seems that what they are particularly good for is being repositories for love - both incoming and outgoing”.

2015 09 15

Hurting people to try to make them change a particular behavior is a practice that almost always results in resentment and anguish for all concerned. I don't deny the effectiveness of some forms of intervention but “tough love” that incidentally or deliberately manifests as abandonment only serves the comfort of the dispenser.

2015 09 14

Today my beloved brother Scott will turn 60. Truly, I can't imagine my brother as a 60-year-old man - Hell's Bell's, I can scarcely feature him as much older than the 17-year-old hellion who, with me, attempted to hijack a bulldozer on Santa Monica Blvd  after a night of needled beer and many racks of pool.

Of course at some point the numbers seem to lose a per se value and we are then only defined by our quality of life.

2015 09 13

Night overshadows

Many sounds of things unseen

Morning's stillness vast

2015 09 12

The concept of “inflation” to explain the existence of the univerese seems a bit too similar to creationism or “just happened” to be truly satisfying.

2015 09 11

Karl Popper's “falsififcation” is really no more than a gussied-ip re-statement of the adage “The exception that proves the rule” wherein the exceptional phenomenon is so outlandish and rare that the “rule” becames obvious albeit not absolute.

2015 09 10

How insanely peculiar would Earth's inhabitants appear to some outside observers as we burn, pollute and otherwise destroy the only habitat we have?

2015 09 09

I have discovered that it takes takes much longer for 30 minutes to elapse in a hangover environment.

2015 09 08

I recently read that an unejaculated sperm cell lives for approximately 74 in the male testes after which it dies and is reabsorbed into the body. While I don't exactly know what to make of this information I can state categorically that no such mature sperms ever had the opportunity to be reabsorbed into this correspondents body.

2015 09 07

The industrial revolution which began in Europe in the mid-eighteenth century is an unstoppable juggernaut and its implied prosperity is the overwhelmingly seductive dream of the developing world. It is preposterous to imagine that they would abandon such a dream and voluntarily remain in the Stone Age, living without the benefits enjoyed (and abused) in the industrialized First World.

2015 09 06

Tom Doubter: “The perversity of the human moral sense is poignantly demonstrated in the willingness to declare that the end of a brutal conflict will occur at a particular moment in the future, such as was designated 11:11, 11/11/1918. During the hours between the final agreement and that designated hour, how many additional lives were lost, how many hideous additional injuries were sustained?”

Nazrudin: In these days of instantaneous communication it is easy to overlook the fact that the war had to end simultaneously for all sides and the messages would take time to get to the fronts.”

2015 09 05

That the universe presents in an operative dynamic that appears to conform to design is demonstrable.. Is that apparent design a function of an essentially random set of affinities or somehow “intentional.” I subscribe to the the former proposition and find the latter unnecessary.

Further, the more one considers the universe, multi-verse, omniverse, whatever you may call it, the only realistic conclusion is infinity and eternity - the Big Bang and all of its space/time implications must be regarded as a local phenomenon in an unceasing dynamic.

2015 09 04

Morons are trying make a distinction between “refugee” and “mgirant” while completely missing the point that these people are fleeing environmental destruction, climatological devastation and likewise ignoring the phenomenon of population pressures and economic genocide.

2015 09 03

In the realm of reincarnation who exactly determines whether or not the deceased graduates to a “higher plane” or existence or must start over at some lower rung?

2015 09 02

Imagine for a moment the scale of the conversion of the dirt, minerals, plant material etc. required to make up a population of over 7,000,000,000 human bodies. In a rather short 60+ years the overall biomass of humanity has doubled, each such body being made up of converted dirt. Think of all that dirt walking around as contrasted to it being in the ground.

2015 09 01

If we assume (or demonstrate) the existence of an encompassing “being field” (consciousness) we must then determine how the individual mind was selected for How has it occurred that we developed, some might say, the crippling capacity to conceal our thoughts from one another? What survival dynamic manifested as individuation rather than communion of thought? How was “thought protection” selected for?

2015 08 31

Regrettably, the answer to Mr Stevenson's question below is a resounding, capitalistic “Yes!”

With the supermarket as our temple and the singing commercial as our litany, are we likely to fire the world with an irresistible vision of America's exalted purpose and inspiring way of life?”
     - 
Adlai Stevenson, 1900 - 1965

2015 08 30

Woods bear takes a dump

The turds rot, Insects chow down

Life's cycle revealed

2015 08 29

The subjective event is crucial of coucse, the challenge seems to be to find the compelling language that convinces someone that the pursuit of the subjective event is worth the effort.

2015 08 28

How exactly did gold acquire its overarching value? Obviously humans have agreed upon its worthiness and thus assigned it value. But why? You can't eat it, build with it, brush your teeth with it... What then is/was the attraction? Is it possible that there is an intrinsic quality that emanates from the substance that resonates with and entrances the human nervous system? Certainly if one held a lump of uranium in one's hand a remarkable sensual experience would ensue. Does gold exert a similar, albeit less lethal, resonation?

2015 08 27

Luck - both good and bad - drifts indiscriminately in and out of our lives. Karma on the other hand is self-determined and self-allocated. Once this is understood kindness becomes a more accessible attribute.

2015 08 26

The percentage of the population that is insane remains roughly constant but the number of inidividuals who occupy that percent range becomes correspondingly larger as the population grows. This fact coupled with the 24/7 nature of current news reporting explains why we are inclined to think that the whole world has gone mad.

2015 08 25

Logic always leads to the same conclusion - there is something rather than nothing. Be it Big Bangs or Cosmic Concentrations, there always exists something, and morever, something before something, and...

2015 08 24

We know that all life conforms to a fundamental pattern of DNA structure deeply embedded in every call of our bodies. It seems likely that the basic configuration of this structure will be found to exist in the amino acids found in the meteorites that plopped into the Earth's nutrient-rich primordial soup. That nascent life was shaped by its intersection with this particular planet, unique and invigorating.

2015 08 23

The thing I like about infinity is that it's always as far (or as near) as one's imagination.

2015 08 22

Labor of love” is an oxymoron.

2015 08 21

At the nexus of science and spirituality or metaphysics lies the conundrum of provability. Science is of course the discipline of examining, demonstrating and implementing that which is provable. The difficulty is that some phenomena are known to exist but are not provable. This problem is further complicated by the fact that much of this “unprovable” phenomena exists inth realm of subjective experience. The challenge is to establish language that promotes understanding of such experience in non-controversial terms.

2015 08 20 - Ogden Nash

I imagine Nash was merely being curmudgeonly when he penned the quip below, but in this era when “progress” is misapprehended as continued, ungoverned growth at the expense of a finite natural resource base, I’d say say he was bloody prescient.

Progress might have been all right once, but it's gone on too long. ---- Ogden Nash

2015 08 19

I propose that the vast empty space in cathedrals, synagogues and mosques be horizontally subidivided into many-tiered housing for the world's homeless, whose plight is becoming increasingly newsworthy under the term “migrants”

2015 08 18

Interstellar gas is a a galactic abdomination.

2015 08 17

The frog croaks, then jumps

Insect darts, a tongue flashes

Hunger neatly quelled

2015 08 16

If, as the Catholic mass would have it, Jesus' assignment in the scheme of things is the taking away of the sins of the world, I'm saddened to observe that he seems rather derelict in his duty.

2015 08 14

To be less than hardbound in my atheism would be intellectually dishonest. However, when we get to the inexplicable in science and physics, e.g., quantum theory, it is obviously necessary to mess around with imaginative ideas, as long as they remain unmagical and in some fashion tied to reportable phenomena, such as the continuing flow of information from CERN etc.

2015 08 13

With each gradual stitching together of observed and remembered phenomona new neural pathways are established and thus ontogenetic information gradually becomes phylogenetic.

2015 08 12

If you care to stretch your imagination sometime, take a moment and consider the shuddering convulsions of a whale orgasm.

2015 08 11

One is regularly advised to “trust your instincts”; well and good but every now and again I feel the need to relish my out-stinks.

2015 08 10

The ISS is a cruel joke – not only is not “international” inasmuch as China isn't involved, but it is designed to fall out of space after a pitifully short workspan. The failure to include China is a sad representation of the absurdity of operating parallel (even competitve) space exploration programs. The people of Earth, the whole Earth, need a permanent presence in space so as to tap its resources if we are to survive. Such idiotic lack of cooperation is a huge waste of resources, both physical, economic and, keenly, mental.

2015 08 09

We can anticipate the death of a loved one, but when the inevitable becomes irrevocable we cannot escape the emotional cascade of grief.

2015 08 08

One afternoon I was riding home on the California Cable Car when it stopped at Powell and California. Looking east I saw a double rainbow that framed the Bay Bridge as it extended from North Beach to Rincon Hill - a vision that will never leave me.

2015 08 07

More people are born every minute and every one of them arrives equipped with the notion that they have a right to exist.

2015 08 06

I would like to make the acquaintence of any Christian who has the temerity to grant human civil authority the right to take away a gift granted, in their own belief system, by God.

2015 08 05

The consciousness that permeates us is just as impersonal as the natural resources that our bodies are composed of. This consciousness becomes imprinted with the unique pattern that is an individuated being. Becoming aware of the existence of this consciousness is what makes us human, despite our animal origins.

2015 08 04

They who place law above justice engage in an unforgivable transgression of morality.

2015 08 03

The setting is an old-fashioned two-holer outhouse. Tom Doubter is ruminating over his newspaper as he leisurely does his business. Mullah Nazzerdan enters, drops his trousers and proceeds to likewise do his business. The Mullah finishes quickly and as he pulls up his trousers some coins tumble out of his pocket and fall down the hole. He zips his pants and cinches his belt. He then pulls out his wallet and removes two twenty dollar bills and drops them down the hole.

Tom Doubter is mystified, “What the hell...?”

Nazzerdan regards him sagely and says, “You wouldn’t expect me to go down there for 75 cents do you?”

2015 08 02

Why God is unnecessary.

The history of humanity is one of continuous, ongoing, unfolding illumination. What was dark and unknown yesterday becomes illumined and accessible in the light of progressive discovery. Many things that were profoundly mysterious to men of the past are now commonplace knowledge today. Many things that are mysterious today will likewise be revealed as the future unfolds. Once one grasps this dynamic the need to believe in God or gods becomes unnecessary.

Any rational person can apprehend the obvious truth of this dynamic and thereby forgo what might termed the “divine mystery of complexity”.

Once mystery is translated from imponderable to potentiality the need to employ God as an explanation for the unknown evaporates. What remains is the fundamental and true reason mankind invented God: fear of death and the need to believe in some form of personal continuity. But even this provides no legitimate rationale for the existence of God. The drive to continue existing, and its corollary, fear of death, is not divine it is reflexive. From single-celled microbes to the complexity that is Man all that is living struggles to continue to be. Just as an electron must circle a proton so must all that is animate insist on continuing to be in motion.

And if, as religion purports, God exists without beginning or end why can’t the mechanical universe be seen in the same light.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

And by the by, where did God live before he invented the heavens and the earth??


2015 08 01

It is worth noting that the construct "God" isn't necessary for the universe to exist. It is however a word that serves as a useful mechanism for expressing the elusively ineffable. And "blessings" are those pockets of grace that we humans create as we meld our compassion into the transcendent enfolding of one another. This is why I don't feel hypocritical when I occasionally say, “God Bless You.”

                                                                                                            *

 

2015 07 31

The consciousness that permeates us is just as impersonal as the natural resources that compose our bodies. It is imprinted with the unique pattern that is an individuated being. Becoming aware of the existence of this consciousness is what makes us human, despite our animal nature.

2015 07 30

Tom Doubter: So Nasrudin, since you don't believe in God how do you cope with inexplicable?

Nasrudin: This is not a difficult question. I regard the inexplicable as simply untapped potential.

2015 07 29

God” could be tolerated as a consoling, even useful, fiction were it not for the all the violence done in His name.

2015 07 28

Morality is found somewhere in the social intersection between cooperation and competition and remains an issue that defies absolutes.

2015 07 27

In considering the progress of humanity materiality can be seen as a necessary step along the way - many functions must be relegated to automaticisms so that life may be proceed and expand. The mind can't be bothered with thinking about how to breathe or make blood flow or process nutrition - these things must happen as automatic systems, freeing the rest of the mind to enfold more and more of the consciousnesses that permeates the cosmos.

2015 07 26

On the subject of the finding of the oldest known excerpt pages of the Quran (dating roughly between 548-645 CE):

Interesting but hardly significant; the Quran remains largely a translation and culturally interpreted version of the Judaic bible, which in turn owes much to Babylonian and Egyptian mythology. The Islamic myth of Mohamed's "revelations" holds no more holy water than that of the Mormon's Joseph Smith and his mysterious (and invisible) golden plates. It's all a bunch of crap, mostly useful for justifying the bloodshed and rape of innocents. 

2015 07 25

On a rainy San Francisco evening a cab driver dropped his fare at her destination. As he pulled out into traffic he looked back and saw that she had left her purse on the back seat. Circling the block he parked in the bus zone in front of the woman's apartment building. He ran upstairs, rang her apartment and returned her purse. In that brief span of time he received a parking citation for being parked in the bus zone. In San Francisco at that time such a citation carried a fine of $250. Imagining he had a reasonable expectation of having this penalty forgiven due to the circumstances he went to court to plead his case. The judge heard his explanation, sniffed and announced, “Life's not fair” and denied his application.

Tom Doubter observes: “Everyone knows that life isn't fair - that's why we empower judges.”

015 07 24

UN-sponsored meetings of world leaders, devoted to averting a climatological disaster, that do not include the planet's captains of industry are merely exercises in diplomatic rhetoric.

2015 07 23

The industrial revolution which began in Europe in the mid-eighteenth century is an unstoppable juggernaut and its implied prosperity is the overwhelmingly seductive dream of the developing world. It is preposterous to imagine that they would abandon such a dream and voluntarily remain in the Stone Age, living without the benefits enjoyed (and abused) in the industrialized First World.

2015 07 22

The beloved organic machine that we perceive to be “self” is so useful in day-to-day interaction that we lose sight of our real origin - a cosmic convulsion of coherent motility, manifesting as ionizing sub-atomic moments of fertile anticipation.

Or, put another way:

Our perception of “self” is so intrinsic to daily life that we lose sight of our real origins – a random intelligent side effect of the expanding universe.

2015 07 21

Mirrored pond awaits

Dappled fawn comes near, bends, drinks

Ripples spread, fading

2015 07 20

Using the power inherent in the atomic reaction to manipulate and maneuver our machines would be enormously efficient;; using it to boil water is childish and reveals the infancy of our understanding.

2015 07 19

Sunday Morning Rumination

It is occasionally refreshing to conceive of ourselves, not as physical beings seeking a transcendent spiritual experience, but rather, as spiritual beings enjoying a temporary physical experience.

2015 07 18

It seems likely that the human race will enter a phase wherein the role of the shaman will again take on significance, in this case as the preserver and purveyor of the remains of the technology of our current culture.

2015 07 17

Brief civilization scenario: The tractor makes it possible for one man to do the work of 7. Six displaced workers go to the city to find work building tractors and this is fine for a while. But, technology improves the production capability and now 3 of the 6 are no longer necessary. What is to become of these now superflous workers?

2015 07 16

Like Richard Feynman, I don't require a fully explained universe. It is enough for me to know that I possess the ability to ask the questions.

2015 07 15

The Goose That Lays The Golden Egg, otherwise known as our First World economy, is being suffocated by its own existence. It burns up its finite fuel supply and consumes its limited food resources, releasing a toxic exhaust, while drowning its own effluvia.

2015 07 14

Long-term credit based upon natural resource extraction cannot be sustained. Population pressure and the finite nature of all resources make such indentures unfeasible.

2015 07 13

Norwegian scientists have seen polar bears eating dolphins in the Arctic for the first time ever and blame global warming for the bears expanding their diet.

2015 07 12

Sometimes in meditation I take a journey to the center of the Earth. I envision the molten core surrounding the more compact solid core - and sometimes at the very center of the solid core I see a room that houses a robe-wrapped old gentleman sitting a the edge of a dark pool. Sometimes he merely sits, other times he plunges into the pool, breathes deeply and surfaces in a sunlit garden.

2015 07 11

Does the inclusion of normal biological functions like farts or belches enhance or detract from literature? Are the characters permitted by circumstance fart freely or must they excuse themselves? What does either behavior tell us about the characeter? About the author?

2015 07 10

I am convinced that we are all here on temporary assignment, the nature of which is the practice of kindness while attracting wisdom.

2015 07 09

I have come to believe that gravity is just magnetism on a universal scale.

2015 07 08

Only the desperately famished or the poignantly naive order fish at a cafeteria.

2015 07 07

Suicide is never a solution, only a cessation.

2015 07 06

If you're hungry enough even sour grapes can be satisfying.

2015 07 05

I maintain that the lesson from Aesop's fable The Tortoise and the Hare is not 'slow and steady wins the race' but rather, 'practice better time management'.

2015 07 04

The rocky shoals of animation. It is interesting to consider that rocks become sand, sand becomes soil, soil becomes us. In this view rocks can be seen as the nursery of animate life.

2015 07 03

A word of advice to those Climate Change deniers who currently occupy the coastal regions of Earth: buy scuba gear or grow gills.

2015 07 02

History may record that Ronald Reagan brought down the Soviet Union but it will also record that George W. Bush brought down the United States.

2015 07 01

Brown-back fish skitters

Barely seen, ripples pond top

Dinner escaping

2015 06 27-30

BIRTHDAY BREAK

2015 06 26

Motility is the essence of the cosmos - from quarks to super-novae with stops along the way for such things as humans and volcanoes. Paradoxically, it requires stillness to hear the beat of this universal vibrancy.

2015 06 25

Fluttering fern fronds

Greenly in the fragrant glade

Gently soothe the mind

2015 06 24

With all of its dynamic, inventive history, how is it that China never discovered electricity?

2015 06 23

Nasrudin sat musing one afternoon when he was captivated by this peculiar thonught:

I appear to be a member of a club so secret and exclusive that whosoever imagines themselves to be a member is automatically expelled. Hmmm...

2015 06 22

Tom Doubter: “Nazrudin, why do you persist in wearing that grotesque amulet around your neck?”

Nazrudin: “It wards off dragons.”

Tom Doubter: “Hpmph! There are no such things as dragons.”

Nazrudin: “Pretty good charm wouldn't you say?”

2015 06 21

I live in a culture so scared of its own detritus (ie- garbage) that we must have deodorized trash bags.

2015 06 20

Motility reigns

Who can't walk must run or fly

Life will not be still

2015 06 19

In meditation the function of a mantra is the quieting of mental fidgeting. With the flickering flashes of fidget subdued, a tranquility ensues that results in contemplation, often of the very nature of the thoughts that have been subdued.

2015 06 18

Given the fact that knowledge is cumulative, anyone the right to be ignorant until taught otherwise. And, pleasantly enough, ignorance is correctable. In our culture however, it seems that the elected and the clergy cling to their right to remain ignorant.

2015 06 17

An interesting quality of infinity is that it has no up-ness, no down-ness. Likewise, it has no North, South, East or West-ness. It exists, by default, directionless.

2015 06 16

Note: I really ought to lay off the Congress - they've made themselves such an easy a target there's no challenge to insulting them anymore.

2015 06 15

Studies in zoology reveal that starfish have no brains, indicating an unlooked for, yet not wholly surprising kinship with the members of the United States Congress.

2015 06 14

The horizon is either a boundary or a challenge depending on one's willingness to interpret abstraction.

2015 06 13

Certain distances are measured not in length but in resistance -  think of electronic capacitors. Sometimes I walk the hall to my Mom's apt with alacrity, sometimes with mollassity.

2015 06 12

Nasrudin advises: When confronted with many tasks, do everything first.

2015 06 11

When population pressure exceeds the ability the land to produce food, what is the solution to hunger? Or, put another way, when the fertility of the land has been exhausted, what is the solution to hunger?

2015 06 10

Consider the existence of shredders in our culture - the psychology that causes them to exist and the dynamic that precipitates that psychology.

2015 06 09

Fecundity does not stem from sexuality, but indeed, the other way around.

2015 06 08

The one problem with Eternity is that it takes so long to get there...

2015 06 07

When a sovereign nation's resource bases have been exhausted how can they be expected to continue to honor economic obligations? Think of 2015 Greece.

2015 06 06

Whoever put God in the driver's seat forgot to issue him/her a license.

2015 06 05

...and so we creep into each other's arms so as to allay the inescapable sense of alone-ness that accompanies the birthright of self-awareness.

2015 06 04

Those who subscribe to the “Richard Cory” syndrome will glibly suggest that money can't buy happiness but I maintain that it can buy a hell of a lot of relief of un-happiness.

2015 06 03

We live in a culture that is shocked by nudity and is so insane that it condemns those who expose unclothed flesh yet gleefully watch movies that depict the bloody rending of that flesh and disgorgement of the organs said flesh is designed to encase and protect.

2015 06 02

It is interesting to note how people who watch soap operas on TV tend use a personal pronoun when referring to such programs, as in “I must watch my soaps.”

2015 06 01

It seems that the development of “self” is an evolutionarily growing event...early on there is no such, later perhaps “mirror identity” wherein one sees that a being similarly constructed will likely have similar “feelings” to those I am experiencing. At such a stage there would existi a defensive shell of “otherness” that permits the disestablishment of empathy. In the natural world the examples might be the lizard who cannot, the monkey who suspects, the current human who knows but rationalizes, and the yet to come beings who actually respect life. We might describe this as “empathic self awareness - I can better know myself by being observant of how I am perceived by others.”

2015 05 31

Even when one is very careful, mistakes still occur.

Interestingly, the mistakes that occur under the most

rigorous scrutiny often prove to be the most revealing.

 2015 05 30

Many years ago I had the odd notion that “movement” was an illusion, nothing really moved but rather, became the next occupied space. The existence of the Higgs boson and some current research into what Ervin Laszlo describes as the “coherent vacuum” seems lend credence to my early speculation.

2015 05 29

Yet another way of thinking of us humans is to imagine ourselves as animation anchors, useful in keeping consciousness focused.

2015 05 28

I wonder how many times I gave up writing the wisthful words of wisdom that I might have composed had I not gone out into my Nob Hill neighborhood looking for a surcease of loneliness.

2015 05 27

I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker. The example of great and pure individuals is the only thing that can lead us to noble thoughts and deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and irresistibly invites abuse. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus or Ghandi armed with the money-bags of Carnegie?” --------- Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

Yet another example of how a magnificent mind in one field can so completely misapprehend things out of that field.

2015 05 26

English language imponderables con't. The use of plurals in English has an intriguing inconsistency - doys, cats, cows vs deer, fish, sheep. The plural of mouse is mice yet the plural of moose is...moose; the plural of house is houses, the plural of louse is...lice? Does make one (or even two) wonder.

2015 05 25

From the initial moment of self-awareness we begin the colonization of ideas and therewith construct the empire of the mind.

2015 05 24

In human history there exist some profoundly poignant examples of compassion that can be attributed to those of a religious turn of mind. And this despite the fact that an ongoing association with religion suggests a fundamental attachment to fantasy,

2015 05 23

As an erstwhile friend of Bill W, I can truthfully say that sobriety is a very useful item to have in one's toolkit of life, but like any other tool it becomes blunted if used to to exclusion of the rest of the kit.

2015 05 22

Why I am not an actor: it turns out that I don't take well to direction - even from myself...

015 05 21

When it comes to religious notions of death, since oblivion is all-forgiving, I believe that people should die believing whatever gives them the most comfort, as long as such belief does not inflict stupidity on others.

2015 05 20

My research on consciousness suggests that while it may well be inevitable it is not temporally ubiquitous.

2015 05 19

The study of physiology shows us that the breathing reflex is prompted, not by the need to infuse more oxygen into the body but rather, the need to expel carbon dioxide from the body. Thus we see how the demands of evolution selected for a mechanism that employs, while simultaneously protecting us from, a necessary yet corrosive gas.

2015 05 18

Bertrand Russell once observed, “To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.”.

Nowhere is the sagacity of Russell's insight more poignantly evident than the incredible folly of the American people in electing the the eloquent but ignorant, Ronald Reagan.

2015 05 17

The waves of life lap

ceaselessly upon the beach

of the possible

2015 05 16

Whether or not consciousness exists independent of a nervous system, the brain is the mechanism that makes consciousness manifest. And the human brain is demonstrably more efficient at communicating this manifestation than any other brains yet found on Earth.

2015 05 15

I guess you could say that I’m an atheist because I lack sufficient imagination to conjure a God so marvelous that he could manufacture Nature.

2015 05 14

I might suggest that humans can be divided into two categories: those who believe that such categorizations can exist and those who recognize that this type of over-simplification is nonsense.

In fact, I do suggest it.

2015 05 13

I have previously described humans as condensers of the interesecting energies emanating from the interior of the Earth and the radiation from the Sun. I want to expand upon that interpretation. All living entities - plant and animal alike - are in fact such condensers. What makes the human variety unique is the profound complexity of the human mind which allows for orders of magnitude more concentrated condensation. This increased concentration results in the manifestation of the so-called Silver Cord which permits the perception of interconnection.

2015 05 12

English has its interesting quirks. Examine how we phrase the early years of the 21st century. For 2001 through 2009 we invariable pronounced “twenty-oh-one, twenty-oh-nine”. As soon as we reached double digit years however, the “oh” was dropped and we pronounced “twenty-ten, twenty-fifteen”- as if the arrival of additional digit took the place of the enunciated zero.

2015 05 11

Today we celebrate the birth of my Sister, Celeste Ann Durham who I love with an astonishing intensity.

2015 05 10

2009 study presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology finds that money spent on “experiences” rather than “goods” produces more happiness. The study demonstrates that experiential purchases, such as a meal out or theater tickets, result in increased well-being because they satisfy higher order needs, specifically the need for social connectedness and vitality -- a feeling of being alive. Certainly I have always found that money spent on a prostitute produced a great deal more satisfaction than money spent on pornography.

2015 05 09

Have you ever seen a sports figure acknowledge God's presence in a losing effort? As in, "Well, God was certainly against us today." It's a funny thing about God - he's always on the winning side, losers are seemingly never granted His goodwill.

2015 05 08

When you consider that, as the old saying goes, “we are what we eat” and that every single thing we eat takes its origin and is formed in the ground, it becomes easy enough to conclude that we are all just walking dirt clods.

2015 05 07

At the beginning of chapter three in his book Science and the Reenchantment of the Cosmos, Ervin Lazslo posits that recent revelations in nuclear and quantum physics suggest answers to the following compound question:

What do we know about the origins and the ultimate destination of the universe?

The question is misleading. That which is eternal has no “origin” and that which is infinite has no “destination”.

2015 05 06

Involved and Committed


Nasrudin was making the distinction between “involved” and “committed” to his followers.

It is like a breakfast composed of ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed”

2015 05 05

When a younger man I sported a wardrobe of situational ethics, exemplified by "going on the road". When things got tough wherever I was, i.e., I'd overstayed my welcome, couldn't find some work, ran out of what little money I typically had, I'd pack my little Army field pack, roll up my sleeping bag, don my P-coat, sling my mandolin over my shoulder and start hitch-hiking. Once "on the road" I was allowed to panhandle, steal, trespass and generally ignore the strictures of civilization. I was of course ethical unto my own rules - I never stole from fellow travelers, I never murdered anyone and to my knowledge never left a pregnant woman in my wake. I lived like that for two years, until I decided that predictably regular meals were more attractive than my wayfarer's smorgasbord and joined the more mundane workforce.

2015 05 04

It appears to me that a subsidiary goal of the practice of meditation is the making of the unconscious conscious, the unknown known.

2015 05 03

We have established a culture that is so disengaged from its own detritus that it requires indoor plumbing and deodorized garbage bags.

2015 05 02

Consider the concept - interval - between galaxies, between neurons. Pretty useful; without it all manner of things would get squished together.

2015 05 01

It seems certain that more people on this planet live in misery than live in joy. Worse yet, misery is pretty much a steady-state condition while joy tends to be fleeting and circumstantial. Misery becomes a constant state due to unmitigated poverty resulting in unrelenting hunger, thirst, illness and depravity. It is no wonder that humanity at large is afflicted with the myth of post-existence ineffable joy.

MOVING HIATUS 2015 04 25-30

2015 04 24

I'm reading a book entitled "Science and the Re-Enchantment of the Cosmos" by Ervin Lazslo. It is fascinating, informative and irritating. Very much of what Lazslo has to say resonates with my own thinking, but makes one very troubling positive reference to Dr Michael Behe, a well-known proponent of Intelligent Design, a concept I find annoyingly ignorant. I'm continuing to read on, hoping not to find that Lazslo's use of the word "Re-Enchantment" is not some sort creepy code for Creationism.

2015 04 23

In light of the grim prospects I perceive regarding social and human conditions I find the only solace seems to emanate from meditation, wherein I can convince myself that the primacy of mind supersedes the animal nature that allowed us to survive to the point where that mind could manifest.

2015 04 22

Self-consciousness is not the sole province of human beings. Numerous observable phenomena, including the mirror test, demonstrate the truth of this assertion. However, the degree to which self-consciousness plays a role in human behavior, as contrasted to other species, is what can be described as human “exceptionalism”.

2015 04 21

Contemplate: when you wake up tomorrow morning you'll be more than one and a half million away from where you were when you woke up this morning.

2015 04 20

The existence of FoxNews (so-called) is an obvious embarrassment to the profession of journalism. Far more embarrassing and profoundly disturbing, is the existence of an audience for Fox drivel; the sadness of which can only be measured in degrees of disappointment at the progress of the human race.

2015 04 19

With each passing fraction of a second, Earth, with all of its inhabitants enters a new and here-to-fore never-occupied area of space and time.

2015 04 18

All animal life on this planet can be described as ambulatory or motile packets of Earth's natural resources temporarily arranged.

2015 04 17

Our solar system originated as a gravity-spot that likely occurred as congruent affinities of accidental interception.

2015 04 16

The English language is like vast valley between Mount Apex and Mount Zenith.

2015 04 15

With the Earth whirling around its axis at roughly one-and-one-third the speed of sound it's a wonder that we can hear anything.

2015 04 14

It seems certain that more people on this planet live in misery than live in joy. Worse yet, misery is pretty much a steady-state condition while joy tends to be fleeting and circumstantial. Misery becomes a constant state due to unmitigated poverty resulting in unrelenting hunger, thirst, illness and depravity. It is no wonder that humanity at large is afflicted with the myth of post-existence ineffable joy.

2015 04 13

In a republican nation whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first importance."                           Thomas Jefferson

Unfortunately, in today's America we have Fox News instead...

2015 04 12

A thought represents a mechanism of coherence, just as does the strucature of the “solid” elements of matter.

2015 04 11

She was only a geologists daughter, but she knew how to open a crack.

She was only a fisherman's daughter, but she knew when to cross her legs.

She was only a bakerman's daughter, but she knew how to make a loaf rise.

She was only a surveyor’s daughter, but she knew how to measure a rod.

She was only a carpenter's daughter, but she knew how to handle a screw.

She was only a succubus' daughter, but she knew how to fuck up a dream.

2015 04 10

I am opposed to the employment of capital punishment as a means to improve society. However, if we must kill our citizens let us at least bring a smattering of dignity to the macabre event and permit the condemned to bring his own life to an end. The Greeks were that far civilized more than 2000 years ago when Socrates drank his hemlock.

2015 04 09

It seems impossible to imagine that the IMF and the World Bank are ignorant about the inevitability of the impending Collapse. That being so one must further speculate that these bodies have some sort of re-structure scenario prepared. Unfortunately, being constituted as they are - that is to say, stooges to a bankrupt capitalist idealogy - any such plans will likely result in miserable death for hundreds of , millions in poverty-besieged geographies.

2015 04 08

I propose the establishment of Religion Anonymous for those of us who are having a difficult time divorcing ourselves from the gooey mental strands of a religious upbringing.

2015 04 07

The colonization of ideas brings about the empire of the mind.

2015 04 06

I find it somewhat ironic that leg-of-lamb is a traditional Easter dinner given that the event celebrates the resurrection of the so-called “Lamb of God”. But I guess it's not so surprising when you consider that most Christians engage in a form of ritual cannibalism every Sunday.

2015 04 05

Oh these Christians, they'll be so sad,

When they discover that they've been had,

They'll cry and wail when they finally see,

That we're all here accidental-ly,

Lunar Allah, he must laugh,

To witness Islam's current gaff,

While HinduBudds are meditators,

Who munchupon their karmic taters,

All manner of religious folk,

Conspire in this cosmic joke,

While those who chant “In god we trust”,

Have missed the cue of what is just,

What Believers, who hope too much,

Always seem to fail to touch,

Is that the mind of Man's capacity,

Is in the end epistemology.

2015 04 04

It is always useful to bear in mind that “law” and “justice” are not synonymous terms.

 2015 04 03

Prosperity lies in not mistaking the possession of money for possession of the comprehension of the concept of money.

2015 04 02

The Grand Vizier was pontificating in the city square.

If you give a man a fish he will eat for a day. However, if you teach a man to fish he will eat for the rest of his life.”

Mulla Nasrudin was in the crowd and offered his own smidgen of wisdom as follows:

If you build a man a fire he will be warm for the night. But - if you set a man on fire he will be warm for the rest of his life.”

2015 04 01

I describe myself as an atheist/metaphysicist. This confuses some people. All it means is that I reject the necessity of gods or magic and remain a skeptic and non-believer whose interest in that which is not yet explained remains keen.

2015 03 31

An ongoing association with the fiction of stillness leads inevitably tot he reality of serenity.

2015 03 30

Much of the population does indeed seem to like horror movies - I don't and I avoid them at all turns. I have enough frightening, gruesome shit in my brain that I don't need or want any additional images courtesy of Hollywood. I was 12 years when it became clear to me that I must curb my emotional response to ugly circumstance and events in the world or go mad with impotent exasperation. I had to, in other words, ration my compassion. Expending emotional energy on media-induced fright-drivel was only a a waste. Besides' I don't like being frightened and I have never understood those who do.

2015 03 29

Conundrum:

We are taught that to kill is wrong;

We are also taught that “two wrongs don't make a right”;

Therefore, how can we condone State sanctioned killing via capital punishment.

2015 03 28

Given that the solar system is planer rather than globular,a does the solar wind tend to blow along the plane of the solar ecliptic? And related: do solar systems in globular galaxies have spherical orbits?

2015 03 27

Someone who wishes to “go to sleep and never wake up” is not so much expressing a desire to commit suicide as a wish to escape to the comfort of the dream state.

2015 03 26

Why do humans insist on foisting a profound sense of “meaning” upon an innocent Universe? Meaning is derived from Self- satisfaction, be it sensual, emoitonal or mentational, often achieved through the mitigation of pain and the encouragement of happiness.

2015 03 25

Years ago Hollywood decided that TV audiences were so stupid that they wouldn't always recognize what was funny. So, they invented the “Laugh Track” which would prompt the people on the other side of the big glass eye to laugh at whatever the writers thought was funny.

  2015 03 24

If local tax revenues decline as a result of a decreasingly employed population base, does it become the ethical/moral responsibility of the federal government to provide bailouts? (is "bailout" the wrong concept here? Maybe "gift" or "forgiveness" would be more conducive to recovery. )

2015 03 23

Everyone who writes must find their voice; my voice speaks in snippets.

2015 03 22

A Sunday morning offering: A traditional Hungarian prayer that translates something like - “Oh God, please keep slapping me in the face with thy righteous rod all covered in shine from anointing Jesus.”

2015 03 21

A planet with a 90 degree vertical axis in relation to the plane of the ecliptic of its star has no seasons.

2015 03 20

Replication leads to animation which leads to consciousness of existence, which leads to consciousness of the existence of the universe. What is the next level of consciousness?

2015 03 19

Message to those who don't favor a pro-choice position with respect to abortion:

Your time, energy and money would be more compassionately employed saving the lives of the six million, already living, children who will die this year.

2015 03 18

The beasts of the world kill innocently - humans kill knowing that it is wrong.

2015 03 17

Consider the Earth as an organelle in a cosmic cell that is the Solar System. The Sun would be the nucleus of this cell which in turn would be a component of the much larger organism that is the Galaxy. In this scenario we humans (as well as all the other life-form manifestations on Earth) would be likened to sub-atomic particles such as quarks, leptons, baryons etc. This rather vast simile works within the context that suggests that the phenomenon of “choice” might be considered to exist in the apparently random movement of the sub-atomic particles we have been able to observe to date.

2015 03 16

A fun diversion: conceive of our body/mind as a suitcase which we continually repack with the necessities we require as we undertake the journey of life.

2015 03 15

Fascinating food chain - from utterly insubstantial sunlight and carbon dioxide gas to the largest creature ever evoleved on this planet in just two steps.

Krill feed on phytoplankton, microscopic, single-celled plants that drift near the ocean's surface and live off carbon dioxide and the sun's rays. The krill in turn are the main staple in the diets of literally hundreds of different animals, from fish, to birds, to blue whales.”

2015 03 14

As we approach the end of this version of humanity it is interesting to speculate about what will come after us. After the collapse there will still be approximately 2 billion humans extant - what will be conserved of our technologies; and who will the likely survivors be - perhaps, Chindians?

2015 03 13

Planetary bodies such as the Earth can be thought of as “anchors of animation”where the conditions for replication are fertile enough to be conducive to the propagation of life.

2015 03 12

When one is old and bored, minutiae occupies one's time; when one is young and bored, politics fills this need.

2015 03 11

Biological cultures are opportunistic – where there is food supply they multiply and flourish, unmindful of depletion of their bounty. When the medium is exhausted, they perish.

Along the seacoasts and in other fertile land areas of the Earth humans have flourished in much the same fashion, and with about the same lack of regard for the environment that sustains them. Thus does humanity's hubris command all the majesty of a Petri dish.

Of course, having invented Gods, humans can comfortably conceive of themselves as immune from the strictures of biology and thus in blissful oblivion can picture themselves toddling off to imaginary Paradises.


2015 03 10

Researchers will eventually figure out that comparing or measuring the electrical impulses of the brain to the speed of light (electrical energy transference quantitive) does not give any sort of accurate description of how thought works.

2015 03 09

The conundrum of how we wish we could behave and how we do behave is the breeding ground for religion. ---- How we behave vs how we hope to behave.... The feral, savage nature that is non-empathic because it is non-self-observant, poised against the observant Man that has developed “morals” that tend toward “ethical” behavior.

2015 03 08

The rather obvious fact of an increasing population is that naturally produces more mutations. Since most mutations are non-survival in nature, left to its own natural selection would extinguish such. However, we have meddled in natural selection by staving off disease and deformities allowing for a higher survival percentage of negative mutations - both physical and mental. Added to this is the emergence of the “Global Village” of instantaneous communication. Is it any wonder that we are innundated with horror stories of senseless shootings and equally unfathomable acts of violent misathropy?

2015 03 07

My goal in this life is to learn as much as possible while being as kind as possible.

2015 03 06

They who place law above justice engage in an unconscionable transgression of morality.

2015 03 05

The sub-atomic latticework of the organic brain is what is conducive to memory interjection. For some people the electrical dynamism is such that a very small amount of sub-A material is required to create a linked-up sub-lattice that induces a thought/memory construct into consciousness.

2015 03 04

Unsettling news:

DATELINE - Heaven, Olympus, Valhalla, Nirvana, etc., etc.

As an advisory to those possess much:

By executive fiat issued by the World Compassion Regency, as of April 31st 2015, all personal assets in excess of $1,000,000,000 are to be liquidated, the proceeds of such liquidation to be deposited to the Global Resource Distribution Bank of Antarctica.

2015 03 03

I live in a culture that is shocked and offended by the word “fuck” but which placidly doesn't object to sending it's young men and women out to “kill”.

2015 03 02

The 20th century saw the rise in Western culture of the “false people”, people who had been raised on TV and movie melodrama, who believed that human emotions were expressed as depicted in drama rather than spontaneous “natural” emotion. Having been taught how to react to stress and emotional discord by the behaviors of the screen personalities, humans lost the ability to be genuine.

2015 03 01

Here's a couplet that I might wish to have possessed the wit to have composed:

Only night will ever know,

What the heavens never show...

---- Enya, “Paint the Sky with Stars”

The hearing of it takes me beyond the Solar System, beyond the Galactic rim, outward to the furthest reaches of imagination. “Night” becomes a metaphor, or perhaps, more aptly, a prosopon, of the, as yet, unwritten script of conscious destiny. Metaphysically rather savory, while concomitantly tangible since the Night persistently remains at the outermost perimeter of our perception.

2015 01 29

Neither my Mom nor I have been inclined to eat oranges regularly. She doesn't like peeling them; for that matter neither do I. Turns out however, that she certainly likes eating them, and perhaps more interestingly, I’m more than happy to do for her what I'm not inclined to do for myself - peel the damn oranges!


2015 01 27

An interesting and unlooked-for annoyance associated with my degenerating vision is that the inanimate objects in my world are growing increasingly clumsy.

2015 01 26

Wisdom is the oft-peculiar child of common sense and intuition. Sometimes the parents seem estranged but the offspring invariably flourishes.

 


2015 01 24

What a dismal race it is who will proudly exclaim, “We are at our best in times of calamity!”

2015 01 23

I have lately been feeling rather dispirited, discontent, even a bit despondent. But this morning, after 30 minutes of meditation characterized by a kind of mental wrestling with my midden-mind and a rather more elevated sense of self, and a couple cups of tea, I find myself much improved, downright gruntled in fact.

2015 01 22

It is not religious fervor that attracts the young in so many disparate cultures to IS. Rather it is a deep-seated attraction to violence, savagery and killing. These urges go very deep in homo sapient consciousness and have not been bred out by natural selection, merely suppressed and partially ameliorated by civilization. When an anarchic, savage environment is presented as accessible these deep urges swell into manifestation. The world saw similar a reversion with the rise of Nazi fanaticism in the mid-20th century.

2015 01 14

They who place law above justice engage in an unforgivable transgression of morality.

2015 01 04

...and yet, some manifestations of willful stupidity can only be addressed with a violent reaction.

2015 01 03

One simply cannot engage in barbarous action  without becoming a barbarian ... one cannot defend human values by calculated and unprovoked violence without doing mortal damage to the values one is trying to defend.”
     - 
J. William Fulbright, 1905 - 1995

 2015 01 02


2015 01 01

A way to interpret the 4th Way is to describe each “awakened” person as an individual Shangri-La - this may be the message of shamanism that I am working on at this time.

2014 12 31

Picture us as condensed, concentrated blobs of light moving about the interface between the energy flowing up out of the Earth's core intersecting with the energy flowing down from the Sun and all her sister stars. At this interface we interact, glowing concentrations of illumined substantiality.

  2014 12 30

We now have many names and descriptions of what was once the sole province of shamans etc. I use much of the revealed “science” to bulwark my meditations - how would it be without these “aids”? Impossible to know but what would be the effect of simply meditating absent such knowledge? Try going back to 1968-9 when I meditated with only Fromm and Suzuki in the background, no Prosperos, no science...

2014 12 29

Uncountable years of wondering, and still we remain pondering; strange how the words don't rhyme.

2014 12 28

What happens in fairy tales reminds us of what we might aspire to.

2014 12 27

Once we had arrived at the edge of the observable universe, riding on the crest of visible light, we peered outward into the dark, and away off yonder saw the faint twinkle of the universe next door.

2014 12 26

Science tells that our universe is a mass of sub-atomic particles meandering about interacting with each other, devising energetic atoms and thus matter as we know it. Is it possible that these sub-A's also construct thought?

2014 12 25

I do so wish that the rigors of gift expenditure can give way to the prospect of knowing a thing about to whom the gift is going be received by.

2014 12 24

Endeavour to say “thank you” whenever possible - you might change somebody's day.

2014 12 23

It would be a tragedy if in the rush to manufacture a quasi-reasonable Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential election, the press and the public overlook the criminal behavior of Jolly Jeb Bush during the 2000 election. With the aid of Florida of State Secretary Kathleen Harris, Bush engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the public and illegally deny access to voting privileges to thousands of would-be ballot casters. (See “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy”, Greg Palast)

2014 12 22

(CNN) -- The University of Colorado Boulder has announced a discovery 7,200 miles above Earth of a protective shield similar to the force fields you might see in "Star Trek."

The above being the case, I would suggest that the next illuminative question ought to be, do any of the exo-planets that appear to resemble Earth have a similar shield?

2014 12 21

The ASPCA has announced plans to petition major league sports teams to refrain from the demeaning practice of exploiting animals' names to sell tickets. Lions, and Tigers and Bears are organizing a boycott of the Major League Sports...

In a subsequently received press release whose origin seems a bit obscure at this time, folks identifying themselves as the Cherubim, Seraphim and Ophanim announced their intention to seek an injunction barring New Orleans from the continued use of the term, “Saints” as their team name.

2014 12 20

Are humans basically ambitious or indolent? Can such a generalization be supported anthropologically or psychologically? Can we establish a “basic” mindset? Or is the human mind of such sophistication as to disallow this? A horse is domesticable, a zebra is not; does a similar disparity of psychology exist in various human populations?

2014 12 19

Is quadrupedalism an intrinsic element of the development of self-consciousness? Certainly it contributes to the facility to manipulate the resource base; how significant is this facility in the growth and range of intelligence, which tends inevitably to self-consciousness?

2014 12 18

Herewith an example of the phenomenon of opposing snippets of wisdom, each bearing a useful admonitive injunction. This is seen in many of the aphorisms, adages and proverbs that abound in our language. It is fascinating that the human mind is so structured that, "Birds of a feather flock together" and "Opposites attract" can be held in unassailed mental conflation despite the obviously antithetical intent.

2014 12 17

If ghosts were a possibility, then retirement facilities and hospices would harbor a natural concentration thereof.

2014 12 16

It may well be true that power is a quality which enables one to reach one's goals, but a preoccupation with the acquisition of power frequently obscures the original intention.

2014 12 15

I am heart a cheerful man, though for the life of me I can't imagine why, given the kinds of things upon which I ruminate.

2014 12 14

People tend to forget tha George Bush the Younger was a draft-dodging, venal criminal long before he got into the White House and became a war criminal. (Think Texas Air National Guard and Enron...)

2014 12 13

Living here in a retirement community continues to fascinate. For example, I find that I'm inclined (and maybe, sometimes, compelled)  to smile a lot when I encounter one of my fellow inmates here on campus, and I find that the smiling feels good. Even better, the more I do it the less disingenuous it becomes. It's kind of psychically elevating.

I’m a bit of an odd duck here - people make the decision to reside here as a means to “go gently into that good night” (paraphrasing O'Neill); I, on the other hand, am here to construct the platform for the next phase of my life, ie, post mater.

2014 12 12

Imagine the psychic frustration of a chimp on Monkey Island: laughed at, taunted by the crowd, he craps into his hand and wants desperateley to hurl this turd at his tormentors, but alas, like all of our simian cousins, he lacks the physical coordination to accomplish the overhand throw that would grant him the satisfaction of splatting some creep with a smelly missile.

2014 12 11

Thuggery might be averted if we re-oriented our relationship to the natural resource base of the planet.

2014 12 10

Celebrate the interval - absent the pauses, life would sound like a perpetually unfinished humming.

2014 12 09

While I recognize that I’m not the first to make this observation, it nonetheless bears repeating:

Common sense is fascinatingly uncommon.

The somewhat repulsive phenomenon of gay, black or female Republicans serves as a sad example of this peculiar inversion of logic.

2014 12 08

Once recognized, don't sweat the inevitables - it's a waste of psychic energy.

2014 12 07

Imagine the rocks of the developing Solar System, swirling, hurtling, crashing into each other as they slowly clump together to form the infant Earth. At that point Earth's gravity becomes the mill, these myriad rocks the grist and the outcome the vibrant slurry that was the medium into which the Fairy Dust of disintegrating meteors fell. And thus, Life on Earth.

2014 12 06

Intelligence is organic - consciousness is not.

2014 12 05

A bit of clarity: I do eschew or denigrate the good works accomplished in the name of religion. I abhor and reject religious thought because of its negative affect upon the intellect. I weep at how the mind of Man has been subverted for so many years by idiotic promises of “eternal life” and a life of grace unearned. I despise to the dampening effect of “belief” upon the quest for true knowledge.

2014 12 04

The human body has evolved to address physical challenges. One of (but certainly not the only) reason for the prevalence of tobacco, alcohol and drug use is that these poisons create physical stress, mimicking an ancestral behavior dynamic. In a, relatively, indolent society i.e. the agricultural viz the hunter-gatherer outlets had to be found for the energy no longer expended in hour-by-hour survival. Thus it is that an endorfin “high” feels so much like a drug experience. Hence, phyical exercise is often touted as a mechanism for escaping addiction.

Likewise, humans engage in risky hobbies and extreme sexual behavior because there exiss a biological imperative to expend the energy inherent in our physiques.

2014 12 03

So much disappointment in the years since my youthful idealism of 1969. Seems like our culture has made vast scientific headway but virtually no moral or compassionate advances.

2014 12 02

I take a momaent to translate a recent headline from ChannelNewsAsia:

India Says Will Not Be Bulldozed At Climate Talks

Which actually means:

India Advocates Global Suicide”

2014 12 01

A common myth that permeates human society is that, like some major financial institutions, our culture is “too big too fail”. I imagine the Romans thought that way as well.

2014 11 30

Humans and our ape cousins are not “descended” from earlier species - we are “ascended” as more and more sophistication of mind occurs.

2014 11 29

A notable failure in human socio-psychology is the notion that we should direct our energies to crime prevention. In fact our energies should be devoted to eradicating the need for crime as a survival dynamic.

2014 11 28

I really object to people who insist that events like the Republican victory in the 2014 mid-terms are nothing more than pendulum swings. Such thinking fails to take into account the fact that the Republican party is fundamentally anti-life, mean-spirited and selfish, and those folks of good intentions who align themselves with such a party have been criminally duped.

2014 11 27

On this Thanksgiving day let us rejoice in the knowledge that our souls are not awarded as an accident of birth but are earned as a consequence of our behavior.

2014 11 26

A fascinating paradox in human psychology is that the same itch that produced the madness of religions also results in the illumination of science.

2014 11 25

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised!” shouted Gil Scott-Heron in his 1974 song. Well, not only is it being televised it is being eviscerated by the reportage. It is being co-opted, trivialized and emasculated by ghoulish sensationalism.

2014 11 24

Some goals worth striving for:

The need for more intelligent and informed interpretive dynamics in human society. The inculcation of critical thinking at all levels of human interaction. An infusion of intuitive compassion into the zeitgeist of animate intercourse.

2014 11 23

No one can understand racism in America who hasn't read (and wept a little while doing so) Huckleberry Finn.

2014 11 22

A reasoned response to Japan's sneering insistence on its right to harvest whales: for every whale slaughtered an equal biomass of Japanese citizens must be destroyed.

2014 11 21

TV trivia: Noel Neill, who portrayed Lois Lane in the 1950's “Superman” series lives in Metropolis IL; Clayton Moore played Jesse James in a 1949 serial; John Hamilton played both Perry White and District Attorney O'Brien in The Maltese Falcon.

2014 11 20

Consciousness is the page upon which our identities are writ; simultaneously, such individuality is the expression and expansion of consciousness into the infinite universe.

2014 11 19

it is tragically iron that in a world occupied by more people than ever before there exists the disassociative loneliness that leads to random killings.

2014 11 18

Where will the money come from to pay for the goods and services the first world depends upon if we succeed in doing away with slavery and exploitive labor practices?

2014 11 17

In a rather humbling (and disappointing) exercise in self-examination, I find that I am forced to concede that the consumption of strong does not enhance my compositional capabilities. Unlike some - Hemingbeck or Steinway - I do not blossom at the infusion af alcoholic elixir but rather wilt into gibberish.

2014 11 16

The time has come to revamp the American military organization of forces. The three principal armed services should hereafter be known as: The Air Force, The Water Force and The Ground Force. The Marines should be subsumed into The Ground Force and The Water Force. The essentially non-military Coast Guard should remain as is, as should the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) and the Natiional Atmospheric and Oceanographic Service (NOAA). Inter-service “rivalry” is to be forbidden and complete cooperation in all maneuvers is the key to what success the US might expect to have in its inevitable conflicts with the Asian mega-powers that will arise over the next century. (I'm not a militarist, just a pragmatist.)

2014 11 15

An old saying wistfully observes, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” In the America of today the reality is that the rich get richer and the poor get deader.

2014 11 14

If I had the guts to try dropping acid again I might go even further afield when I meditate - but I'm a little uncertain about the return voyage...  

2014 11 13

The overarching algorithm that should be consuming the attention of Earth's scientific eggheads is, what is the planet's overall conversion capacity? All other lines of research result in disaster.

2014 11 12

There is so much repetition in psychiatry because a faulty premise or paradigm has myriad out-picturings. A common underlying assumption that is skewed gives misleading answers in many applications. Once you establish that a perception or conclusionng is wrong, that does net mean that it goes away -it can have implications in a thousand small ways. A good therapist spots the tendrils and takes the patient back to the root.

A handy example is smoking: there are many triggers that titillate the imagination into thinking that lighting up will be a satisfying experience -despite the fact that you “know” otherwise. Each such trigger must be transformed into a reflective moment and the stimulus rejected or converted. On a less physiological level a deep-rooted belief in gods must be overmasterd by the intellect, which of course knows that no such things exist.

 

2014 11 11

A further stab at describing the phenomenon of consciousness. It may not be a condition to be possessed but rather a process to be experienced. And the more one is deliberately attentive to the elements that construct one's mental architecture, the more the process is enhanced.

2014 11 10

The experience of producing these daily squiblets can be likened to tossing a baited hook into the fishing hole of my mind - sometimes the bait is ripe and deliicious other times merely wormy.

2014 11 09

Note to the 1%: Just as a blade of grass will find some way to poke its way up out of a concrete sidewalk into the sunlight, so to will a disenfranchised populace demand breathing space in the light of plenty.

2014 11 08

Throughout my life I have vacillated between a disdainful misanthropy and a heart-bursting and all-but disabling empathic connection with the sorrows of my fellow humans. Nowadays I seek to maintain a more placid equanimity of opinion that permits observation absent rancor or desolation.

2014 11 07

So we now observe that the American Congress, perhaps the most powerful legislative body on the planet, is controlled by people who don't believe climate change is a matter to be addressed; who believe that it is appropriate for women to earn 75% of what men do and that the government has the right to insert exploratory devices into the vaginas of women who seek to exercise their right of choice. People whose solution to poverty is to eviscerate assistance programs and thus slowly starve the poor out of existence; in other words, economic genocide.

To borrow from Alan Paton writing about South Africa in 1948, “Cry, the beloved country.”

2014 11 06

Tom Doubter observed: “And on that wretched November day, when the people had finished voting, a dark mass, warm and damp lay thick upon the Congressional floor. A moistly pervasive fecal stench filled the air and the agonized wails of the women, the poor and the minorities of the country could be heard as they were drowning in the putrid miasma oozing out of the Congressional halls. It was not the best of days.”

2014 11 05

"Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain"  ------ Friedrich Schiller

2014 11 04

2-3 times per week I bring a pot of freshly made coffee down to my Mom's apartment. Since it's usually around 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, I don't have to use my cane and I’ve found that I bounce along with general insouciance that is utterly lacking when I must tap my way along, ever mindful of not bowling over some unsuspecting oldster or getting myself geographically discombobulated.

2014 11 03

Headline:

Europe Has 421 Million Fewer Birds Than 30 Years Ago: Study

I guess Daphne du Maurier and Alfred Hitchcock got it wrong...

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/europe-has-421-million/1449716.html

2014 11 02

From what I’ve read in physical paleontology any interbreeding between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon would have to been male Cro to female Nean. The pelvic saddle and the birth canal of Cro would not permit the passage of a Nean fetus. This being the case, and given the phenomenon of male promiscuity, it follows that Neanderthal should have bred more and thus survived rather than us. (Unless of course male Cro-Magnons found female Neanderthals so physically repulsive that they eschewed mating with them.)

2014 11 01

Considering that any extraterrestrial visitors most likely consider the inhabitants of this planet collectively as “Earthlings” and further, any outreach into space should benefit the entire planet, there is no justification for competing space programs. All they do underscore how painfully immature our race is. Duplicative space programs are a hideous waste of natural resources, brain-power, etc

2014 10 31

imagine waking up one day, looking around and realizing that you are one of these creatures; then recognizing further that you are a black one, and a female one. How deflating must that feel.

2014 10 30

Surpluses (originally agricultural events, now effectively defined as “money”) must be used to mitigate harmful survival dynamics such as theft, deceit, murder, etc.

2014 10 29

And the world of music would be significantly graced if Boob Nylon swallowed his harmonica instead of blowing through it.

2014 10 28

Most of Bob Dylan's compositions are sophomorically self-indulgent or pseudo-mystical gibberish; and of course he should never have been allowed to sing his own (or anybody else's for that matter) material.

2014 10 27

Obviously guilty people shouldn't be turned loose into society on technicalities - but how to keep them without violating the due process that is required to ensure a just culture?

2014 10 26

Headline: COLOSSAL VOLCANIC ERUPTION COULD DESTROY JAPAN: STUDY

The key to getting the most out of a headline like this is remembering that the issue is not if, but when, and further will it be in time? That is, before they decide to try and take over the world again.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/colossal-volcanic/1431290.html

2014 10 25

Intelligence = engineering; consciousness = inspiration.

2014 10 24

Sometimes what's being sung is less important than what I’m hearing; other times the melody and lyrics are so arresting as to be transformative.

2014 10 23

Is it not curious that Republicans seem far more inclined to lie than Democrats? Conservatives more than Liberals? I don't want to go too far out a quasi-metaphysical limb here but wouldn't deceit be more readily associated with the concept of "evil" while forthrightness with "good"? And, to go a step further, in the long scope of history which faction has contributed more the well-being of Earth's citizens - Conservatives who snooze in status quo or Liberals who dream in possibility?

2014 10 22

Some time back I began to ask myself how it was that the “ancient wisdom” could so closely parallel what today's science seems to be making commonplace, if not altogether employable.

What manner of thinking allowed Democritus to suggest the existence af atoms? What processes of mind provoked Rumi or Harun al-Rashid or Buddha to so clearly grasp the insubstantial nature of reality, as now revealed by the investigations into quantum physics? How is it that the minds of primitive shamans could so readily encompass what even today eludes science – a unified theory of cosmological existence? The intersection of science and myth/religion seems to me to represent the cutting edge of epistemology and philosophical thought and that's where I try to live these days – even in Phoenix.

(I may be merely restating the obvious here but a couple of glasses of good Merlot and a delicious filet mignon accompanied by some very well-prepared onion rings has prompted a ruminating mood.)


2014 10 21

Headline from ChannelNewsAsia:

Hong Kong's CY Leung Says Poor Would Dominate Free Vote”

and this would be bad because...?

Perhaps the apparently elitist Mr Leung would benefit from a review of Communist principles, the foundations of which are fundamentally compassionate, as in, “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need.”

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/hong-kong-s-cy-leung-says/1426416.htmla

2014 10 20

With the advent of social meda such as Facebook we observe that human communication can be considered as akin to a commodity - there is only so much available. Those who expend their allotment on FB seem to have no more left over for any other forms of communication, such as email which of course supplanted letter writing,

2010 10 19

It is important to keep in mind that Francis or no Francis, The Vatican is still The Vatican - the world-wide promoter of anti-survival birth control doctrine.

2014 10 18

It is often hard to determine whether philosophers better serve humanity as inebriates or savants.

2014 10 17

Now reading, “Death from the Skies” by astronomer Philip Plait - ominous title, compelling reading. Nothing about what the author presents as concepts is particularly new to me - but his almost light-hearted presentation of the manifestations of these familiar events is greatly entertaining.ing. In one sense it reads a bit like “Astrophysics for Dummies” (a title I would have avoided actually) but there is so much information presented so accessibly that I’m willing to overlook my reaction to feeling like I'm being talked down to at some points. I haven't picked up any book quite so un-put-downable in years.

2014 10 16

Oneness is the sea from which we fill the crucible of Duality, wherein the Mind of Man refines the Mind of God and thereby souls are extruded.

2014 10 15

It is possible that primates (humans) were exactly the right size to accommodate consciousness on this particular globe.

After 200 million years of occupancy, the rather gigantic saurians never seem to have built a campfire or deliver a message on the interior of a cave.

In like but obverse fashion, ants, that are demonstrably efficient at farming, socialization, warring, and so many other things that are reflective of what we humans are good at, seem to be too small to have had as profound an impact on the planetary environment as we 170 pound converters of natural resources have proven to be.


2014 10 14

A conundrum for drunks: a tendency to congratulate oneself on one's ability to function normally after having ingested enough alcohol to ensure that behaving “normally” is likely to be a challenge. In other words, taking sanctification in the the ability to “maintain.”

2014 10 13

Earth's very insignificance argues for the ubiquity of “life” in the Universe. Our position in the galaxy is so unremarkable that it becomes easy to imagine the existence of many more such locations.

2012 10 12

That human intelligence is orders of magnitude more complex than that of any other species, extant or extinct, is unarguable. That it is suicidally insufficient to manifest its own survival also seems unarguable.

2014 10 11

It's a pity that God didn't evolve sufficiently to protect the rest of the world from us.

2014 10  10

Primatologists inform us that male baboons stroke and fondle each other's scrotums to indicate friendship. I feel certain that the establishment of a similar practice in the chambers of the United States Congress.would greatly enhance that body's public image.

2014 10 09

The initial collapse will not lead to human extinction - there are too many of us extant. The breakdown in the technological culture however will send us back to a kind of primitivism wherein we will eat everything in sight. Unfortunately for us, by the time of the initial collapse we will have already driven such a significant portion of the rest of the Earth's biomass into extinction there will be insufficient fodder and we will finally eat ourselves out of existence in the second wave of extinction.

2014 10 08

Here's a sidelong but illuminating look at American racism: To date, Charley Pride, Ray Charles and Darius Rucker form the trinity of the only African-Americans to have conquered the country music charts.

2014 10 07

When American legislators attempt to interfere with a woman's right to manage her own body they are behaving every bit as despicably as the monsters in the Taliban.

2014 10 06

Big Pharma turns out, paradoxically, to be anti-life. Adopting as a working proposition the assumption that chemical intervention in the bio-paradigm of health is a valid interpretation of life eventually condemns us. The fact is that we don't know enough to make these kind of interferences - the Law of Unintended Consequences is at work constantly.

2014 10 05

Prostitution = sex for sustenance - not an unusual occurrence in the wild.

2014 10 04

What is required: A reassessment of capital that results in 62% of the world's GDP being divertedly invested in Green tech, waste management and population/demographic administration.

 2014 10 03

If we strip emotionality from the equation, could poverty be considered as an evolutionary non-selection dynamic?

2014 10 02

The world waits, wondering when Hong Kong will become China's next Tienanmen Square.

2014 10 01

More on human exceptionalism - I probably misuse the term in the same fashion as I misuse secular humanism. In that case I ignore the pejorative connotation and apply the term literally. In the case of exceptionalism I fear that people hear me suggesting a kind of apotheosis or extra-natural superiority. Nothing of the kind. I merely observe that humans have proven to be exceptionally successful at breeding. They have also been exceptional in their ability to manipulate and employ the planet's resources. Both of these “successes” however come at the cost of driving other planetary species into extinction and ecological disaster. Such behavior can only be seen as non-survival evolutionary selection.

2014 09 30

A recent WWF report indicates that half of the non-human animate biomass has evaporated in the last 40 years as the human population has doubled. This provocative algorithm suggests a distinct and finite cap to the natural resource base - not a novel observation, merely a different perspective.

2014 09 29

Current research seems to indicate that as much as half of the water supply of the planet Earth arrived from inter-stellar space and actually predates the formation of the solar system. This certainly makes us citizens of far broader environment than ever before imagined (excepting of course within the realm of mysticism).

2014 09 28

The intersection science and mystery is the essence of meditation.

2014 09 27

When attempting to relieve oneself of a habit no longer desirable, such as smoking or nail-biting, it will be found useful to observe the alphabetic relationship between the words, craving and carving. It is possible to establish a psychological platform from which to carve away what one might crave. This bit of vocabularic legerdemain is done by, 1) acknowledging that the craving will subside after a few moments. (It may return, but it does in fact go away after a few minutes); and 2) always examining the external stimuli that prompt the craving: a ringing phone, a glance outdoors where you are accustomed to enjoying your smoke, an intense (good or bad) conversation, anything that triggers a desire for a physiological intervention - smoke or nail bite, or whatever. In all cases the desire to move away from the unwanted behavior will be enhanced by an attention to the details surrounding the upsurge of the craving, at which point you can begin carving away the instigations. Cheap trick? Sure. But why not use anything at your disposal to accomplish your goal?

2014 09 26

Sometimes our wistful sense of loss in remembering a pleasant experience overwhelms and interferes with our ability to enjoy the same or similar event in the present. The remembered taset of those special pancakes, embellished by time and a smidgen of fantasy spoils our enjoyment of todays breakfast.

2014 09 25

it is not realistic to suggest that someone meditate for 30 minutes when you consider that most people can't sit motionless for even one minute without practice and repetition.

2014 09 24

For the 25% of Earth's population that is currently lacking basic health and welfare, therefore still subject to Natural Selection, how will survival dynamics outpicture? Perhaps they will develop camel-like abilities to conserve water internally; perhaps food storage and utilization within the body will be enhanced; possibly a wider range of digestible resources will become available; perhaps improved night vision will make foraging more effective; those with stronger musculature which was able to developed from less nutrients will reproduce, so that next Out of Africa migration will be able to eat the leftovers of our collapsing culture.

2014 09 23

6-10 million infants die each year. Those that survive the conditions that lead to this mortality will necessarily be more fit - but in what ways?

2014 09 22

The fact that the African continent gave rise to both pygmy and Zulu populations should be an obvious anthropological indicator of the fertility and variety of genetic possibilities therein, making the, “Out of Africa” hypothesis by far the most reasonable theory of Modern Human origins.

2014 09 21

Here's an interesting pull-quote from the article attached:

Physicists believe that mental exercise in blindness reflects the reality of our universe, only about 4% of which manifests as the kind of matter and energy we can perceive.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/20/tech/innovation/dark-matter-experiment-data/index.html

I have by no means digested this yet...

2014 09 20

If Buddha were to have trekked roughly 1000 km West to the Persian city of Torbat-e Jam and waited there for about 500 years, and then Jesus had likewise trekked roughly 1000 East, the two would have met. One can guess what a fine religious discipline would have been spawned as a result.

2014 09 19

Philsopphy is after all, the study of wonder. If humans had never wondered we would never have progressed. That said, I must conclude that philosophy is an essential element in evolution.

2014 09 18

I wonder how it will be before our scientists can tell us how many quarks are working at any given time in our brains?

2014 09 17

Why I don't like SSRI's - the mechanism seem to indicate a suppression of the axon's ability to do its job. “inhibitor” seems like the wrong approach. Rather than cripple the axon perhaps we should be encouraging the the dendrite to absorb more. Blocking the ability of the axon to regenerate serotonin may have unforeseen implications. If we are to conclude that a greater relationship to serotonin is desirable, don't cripple the sender, enhance the receptor - dendrites.

2014 09 16

In the mid-20th century the world united to stop Hitler and genocide. It must again unite to bring IS genocide and atrocity to an end. Sadly, all out war is called for - not in any sense a religious war, a war against atrocity.

2014 09 15

Salmon and acorns only manage a .0001 survival rate, much of nature is similarly profligate. Humanity has become similarly wasteful as we shed millions of children each year.

2014 09 14

Note that the defining question,“Do I wish to lead a sober life?” is not even askable, much less answerable until enough time sober allows for a clarity of perspective. Sort of an ugly Catch-22 for alcoholics.

2014 09 13

Eating the Sun - It is perhaps useful to cognize the fact that consuming, digesting and excreting the Earth's resources is a form of solar energy conversion.

2014 09 12

While meditating I imagine the neurons in my brain arranging themselves in roughly upward flow. I refer to this as The Alignment of Enlightenment.

2014 09 11

The crucibe of the crust: at the Earth's crust the energy emanating from the convulsing molten core intersects the incoming photonic energy of the Sun. The result of this dynamic intersection is - Life.

2014 09 10

Sometimes it is difficult to recognize that what we believe is not as relevant as what we perceive.

2014 09 09

Entropy can be intrepreted, not as the eventual running down of everything, but rather as the fulfilling of a local cosmic vacuum with consciousness.

2014 09 08

There is an intersection between the coalescing of the cosmic dust that formed the solar system and the infinite streaming of consciousness. That intersection results in the moment of enlightenment that illumines self-awareness.

2014 09 07

Identity is a function of perception -- or vice versa.

2014 09 06

The language of science is deficient when it uses phrases such as “plants developed...” or “species adapted to...” Such language is fundamentally anthropomorphic, religious and misleading. The members of living species do not develop, adapt or accommodate - they live or they die. Those that live reproduce. If a genetic mutation occurs during the replication process (meiosis, mitosis or sperm/egg fusion) that allows for more survivability, more reproduction follows and the survivors eventually outmaneuver their fellows who did not mutate.

2014 09 05

The advent of language would not permit the users to share stories about their past unless they knew that they had a past. The ability to conceive an idea is required before you can discuss the idea.

2014 09 04

Upon contemplation the Universe is revealed to be much vaster than any human concept of God or gods.

2014 09 03

Will a Universal Translater allow us to understand something like birdsong? Or would such a device only apply in more abstract linguistic environments?

2014 09 02

I wonder if sonar is occasionally disrupted by the momentous quivering and shuddering that must accompany the event of a blue whale's orgasm.

2014 09 01

Today is Labor Day. For some inscrubable reason whenever I hear “Labor Day” I think of giving birth; go figure.

2014 08 31

The intersection between the finite and the infinite is tenuous; the distinction is a matter of conscientious attentiveness.

2014 08 30

Persistently pursued Presidential policies perpetually perturb preternaturally perplexed pusillanimous partisans.

2014 08 29

To rephrase an earlier observation: what is the difference between the eternal past and the eternal future? Human perception.

2014 08 28

Today is the birthday of my dearest friend, Victor, born two months after I in the year 1951. As I said to him in wishing him Happy Birthday, “I've waited 63 years to say that.”

2014 08 27

That we enjoy the use of an obviously unfulfilled organ such as the brain would seem to indicate our status as growth prospects, possessing potential “souls.”

2014 08 26

There is one quintessential component that makes the society depicted in the “Star Trek” universe work - replicatators. The ability to convert undifferentiated raw material into virtually anything desired changes the entire survival paradigm of our species. Rapacious aggregation of wealth is no longer necessary. Greed, which is a misalignment of a basic survival dynamic, can disappear.

2014 08 25

In describing the paucity of her childhood my cousin Delores made this poignant and insightful observation:

We didn't have anything and therefore we didn't miss anything.”

2014 08 24

What does the eternal past have in common with the eternal future? Human perception.

2014 08 23

The key to the compassion dilemma is a sea change in our understanding of resource management, away from accumulation of wealth and towards universal sustenance.

2014 08 22

Quandary: in a perfect medium will a replicative organism replicate to extinction? Possibly a moot point inasmuch as an infinite universe provides an infinite resource base...

2014 08 21

Outside of the state of meditation, there is no escape from the fear of personal oblivion.

2014 08 20

The fact that we still have fingernails and teeth should be sufficient to convince even the religiously ignorant that we are but another species in and among the broad spectrum of life.

2014 08 19

If we fail to recognize that the lid on the pot is as essential as the simmering soup within, we run the risk of anarchy.

2014 08 18

An approach to the experience oneness is the practice of absorbing and being absorbed by the electrical fields that comprise reality.

2014 08 17

Given my profound respect for the right of a person to decide to end their life, it t bothers me a great deal when they don't do it honorably; Robin Williams and Ernest Hemingway being two examples.

2014 08 16

It may be more comforting to regard the human end-game experience not so much as “death” but simply disassembly.

2014 08 15

There are three elements in history that bring us inescapably and inexorably to the establishment of the real New World Order, which has nothing to do with imaginary Illuminati or mythical Masons. These are: the Industrial Revolution in 18th century England and Northern Europe; Joseph Lister in 1867; and Alexander Fleming in 1928.

2014 08 14

The Japanese have many odd customs, not the least odd of which is seppuku, or hari-kari. Once relegated to the samurai class as a form of ritual suicide to avoid or atone for dishonor, it now seems to be the national custom as they prepare to re-start some elements of their highly suspect nuclear energy program.


2014 08 13

Yet another stab at differentiating liberals and conservatives: the Conservative mind is open to the past, the Liberal is open to the future.

2014 08 12

Any company that can afford to advertise on TV has no need of my money – there are always alternative sources for any such products.

2014 08 11

Although “meditation” and “ratiocination” may be thought of as intellectual cousins they are existentially very different approaches to the application of mentation.

2014 08 10

A bug eats some microbes, a lizard eats the bug, a bird eats the lizard and so on and and so on. “Life” in this context cannot be extinguished, only reorganized – can consciousness be any different?

2014 08 09

Compassionate conundrum: what would the world look like if all the people who are starving to death were fed? Our already over-breeding species would experience a massive growth-spurt unless a new psychological paradigm could be introduced that would counter the fundamental universal imperative to replicate.

2014 08 08

James Clavell and Larry McMurtry share an annoying literary fault: the killing-off their most interesting characters – this is as unsatisfactory as concluding a store with, “and then the little boy fell out of bed and woke up.” (with a nod to R.A.Heinlein)

2014 08 07

It saddens me to think of number of people I’ll never get to meet because of the accidents of geography.

2014 08 06

The wary spider does not get caught in its own web; purveyors political rhetoric could benefit from the study of this.

2014 08 05

No species, including Mankind (heretofore) has ever consciously made an adaptation to its evolutionary construct that would enhance its survivability - they only died out or they lived more efficaciously. No species has ever “reasoned” that altering its environment would improve its ability to survive.

2014 08 04

Consider the xylophone contrasted to the pedal steel guitar or Gregorian chant to any narrative song. For the xylophone and narrative song the intervals are required to grasp the essence of what is being performed. Whereas, in the case of chant or pedal steel the absence of interval, or perhaps more aptly, an eerie continuity is the defining characteristic.

 2014 08 03

What element of human consciousness equates to cruelty? Cruel behavior does not seem to exist in Nature – eating is not cruel. Only humans seem to engage in behavior that is designed to create despair, hopelessness and pain. What is it about the psyche that suggests that the power to inflict such disastrous effects upon another is somehow self-elevating? Is “self-elevating” an answer to my question? But if so, again how does this interact with survival dynamics? Is it as simple as ape-oid alpha dominance gone astray, in the same fashion as I’ve described elsewhere as greed being the natural desire to accumulate sustenance having gone overboard? I don't think this is sufficient – something more must be at work, something that allows for the suspension of empathy.

2014 08 02

I am never far removed from my entrancement with the sky-sculptures of the clouds. Even though I know that they are no more than random associations of watre and air such knowledge cannot obviate a pervasive sense of wonder. The imaginative wanderlust while gazing at the spectre of the air-paints is too compelling to resist.

2014 08 01

Have you ever noticed when you allow yourself to havea drink or two that sometimes there blossoms in you an almost irresistible urge to actually have yet another? And this desire invades and compels even despite your having already achieved the requisite distance from reality and distress. Sheesh! Being human is no easy assignment.

2014 07 31

Contrary to the insane opinion of the US Supreme Court, money is, in the America of today, not speech. In fact the exact opposite is the case. The resources of major financial institutions (banks for example), media outlets (Fox News for example), government itself (government for example) – all employ money, not so much to inform but rather to promote obfuscation and swindle the unwary.

2014 07 30

A magnificent storm blew through Phoenix last night at around 2300 hrs. The ferocity of the lightning extracting energy from the ground as if in trade for the brutal heat of the last few days is quite a compelling sight. it is as if the earth hereabouts had absorbed so much head that the atmosphere had to react  and equalize the dynamic by extracting huge amounts of compressed energy in brilliant, sporadic gushes of blue-white expulsions that illumined for brief, high-contrast moments the night sky and its stark periphery. It was as if the over-heated Earth here was surrendering up the compacted energy of the Sun, that having been concentrated and collected in the ground now screamed release via the brilliant blue-wihte bursts of eye-scathing power.


2014 07 29

The only destiny for Humanity is epistemology – teleolgy is manifestly pointless in an infinite universe, therefore meaning can noly be extracted from the nourishment of the soul obtained through the persistent practice of informed kindness.

2014 07 28

The perils of intellectual curiosity, while daunting the faithful, are dwarfed by the opportunities afforded the rest of Mankind.

2014 07 27

Neglecting to eat has interesting implications. When you have a full stomach a portion of the body's blood supply is temporarily diverted to the gastro-intestinal system. This is why students are advised to avoid a big breakfast on the day of a significant test – the brain will be temporarily lees engaged while digestion occurs.

Alternatively, when there is no demand on the part of the body to process raw material, ie. Food, more oxygenated blood flows to the rest of the system, including the brain and a possible imbalance can occur. Worse, if the operant psychology of the brain happens to be depressive, a feedback loop can occur wherein one grim thought piles upon another without the more normal intervals of contemplation that are inherent in the organic ebb and flow of the systems of the body.

  2014 07 26

It seems that the American style of capital punishment is reverting to something akin to the ancient Persian practice of scaphism where the death-event is prolonged for as long as possible - 26 minutes in Ohio; 43 minutes in Oklahoma; and now 117 minutes in Arizona. The Persians favored placing the condemned between two hollowed-out logs, head, hands and feet exposed and coated with honey so as to invite the local insects to a feast. The current drug-mix employed by the practitioners of death doesn't include honey as yet, but the cruelty is nonetheless featured too prominently. Our understanding of human consciousness does not permit access into the suffering that may be occurring in the mind of someone who is dying by inches.

2014 07 25

The notion that humankind is divinely exceptional is patently preposterous. When I speak of human “exceptionalism” I do not suggest that humanity is somehow an exception from Nature, rather I find that what humanity has done with Nature is exceptional – exceptionally good, exceptionally bad - remains to be seen.

2014 07 24

When the volcanic sphincter that is Yellowstone finally relaxes it will leave in its wake a lot of surprised, dismayed and I dare say, dead people. Some of the survivors will surrender their belief in God(s), recognizing the random nature of the Universe. Others will congratulate themselves as having been spared by a merciful interventionary of a divine nature.

2014 07 23

Considering how little we know about the nature and construction of the cosmos, it is not impossible to imagine that we humans represent the first examples of intelligent life to have evolved. Of course if true such a condition would leave God and his cronies out of the picture.


2014 07 22

Not this morning – I have a headache.

2014 07 21

Some time back I began to ask myself how it was that the “ancient wisdom” could so closely parallel what today's science seems to be making commonplace, if not altogether employable.

What manner of thinking allowed Democritus to suggest the existence af atoms? What processes of mind provoked Rumi or Harun al-Rashid or Buddha to so clearly grasp the insubstantial nature of reality, as now revealed by the investigations into quantum physics? How is it that the minds of primitive shamans could so readily encompass what even today eludes science – a unified theory of cosmological existence? The intersection of science and myth/religion seems to me to represent the cutting edge of epistemology and philosophical thought and that's where I try to live these days – even in Phoenix.

(I may be merely restating the obvious here but a couple of glasses of good Merlot and a delicious filet mignon accompanied by some very well-prepared onion rings has prompted a ruminating mood.)

2014 07 20

An axiom in computer work is that there are always three ways to get something done. For example saving a document can be done by: 1) using the drop-down File menu; 2) right-clicking and engaging the Save function; or 3) simply using Control-S.

I have found that those things that need doing in life can be seen in the same light if we spend a bit of time contemplating the essence of what it is that we wish to accomplish.

2014 07 19

If you stand on the North Pole of a planet in the galaxy z8_GND_5296 (not a typo – see CNN news) and look skyward you'll see sights much the same as those seen from Earth, Look back towards the Earth and then beyond and the view remains the same. There is no known “end” to the edge of The Universe; infinity feels a bit like this.

2014 07 18

The machinations of life are fascinating and mysterious. Contemplate the almost unimaginably vast number of sperm cells being persistently created as the seeds of new life, all over the planet. And then consider: 99+% of them will expire unrequited, their destiny unfulfilled. Imagine how much more interesting life on Earth would be if all that potential could be realized.

2014 07 17

Interior design is surprisingly akin to music: the blank space around those pictures you hang is every bit as definitive as the intervals between the notes in a musical composition.

2014 07 16

When we have mastered sub-Atomic particle behavior we'll also have solved our waste disposal problems: once we can control/direct the rate of decomposition/regeneration of form at a sub-A level any and all things can be converted. We will create an environment where sub-A's are no longer required to conform to a specific form. (An example from my previous writings suggest the human body until death). Freed from conformation the atoms then dissipate and the form degenerates. In other words, de-activate or interrupt the binding force of inanimate objects. Just being careful to not unravel the whole Universe.

2014 07 15

The effects and products of waste management must somehow be converted into a universal medium of exchange. Such conversion must produce more energy (in the form of food, electricity, motive force, etc.) than it costs to extract and this is the challenge facing humanity at present. The investment expended in such reclamation must be perceived as an asset, perhaps a very long-term return asset, but asset nonetheless. I cannot help but imagine that there are some far-sighted investors alive today who are capable of such vision.

2014 07 14

Is it not curious that Republicans seem far more inclined to lie than Democrats? Conservatives more than Liberals? I don't want to go too far out a quasi-metaphysical limb here but wouldn't deceit be more readily associated with the concept of "evil" while forthrightness with "good"? And, to go a step further, in the long scope of history which faction has contributed more the well-being of Earth's citizens - Conservatives who snooze in status quo or Progressives who dream?

2014 07 13

There are really only two things wrong with soccer: the ball is too small and the field is far too large. Shrink the field by half and make the ball the size of a beach ball and you might have a game worth watching. Of course appropriate attire for the players would be a plus as well; clown suits come to mind.

2014 07 12

Unsolicited advice often sounds to the giver like wisdom, sometimes with amusing results.

2014 07 11

One wonders how, in th scope of history, a bullet finds it way into the brain of a Martin Luther King Jr. and not into the brain of a Rupert Murdoch.

2014 07 10

The next time your phone rings stop for a second and ask yourself, “Do I really want to answer that?” You may be surprised at how often the answer turns out to be “No”.

2014 07 09

Toothaches are God's reminder to us atheists that if He exists He's an asshole.

2014 07 08

I observe that true equality can never exist in our society until females grasp their right to behave as insanely and as savagely as their male counterparts.

2014 07 07

An interesting speculation: As the internet adds more and more accesses, becoming increasingly planet-wide, might it not one day be recognized as the Voice of Gaia?

2014 07 06

Meeting the infinite universe can have a humbling effect - is humility then the key to engendering compassion and thus cooperation?


2014 07 05

Given what we know (or perhaps more aptly, what we don't know) about the nature and construction of the cosmos, it is not impossible to imagine that we humans represent the furthest sophistication of consciousness yet to manifest. However, this rather disturbing notion is tempered by the recollection that life here on Earth has suffered five devastating near-extinctions, suggesting that on some other planet where such setbacks did not occur consciousness may well have blossomed uncounted eons ago.

2014 07 04

Independence Day - a fine day for Americans to reflect on the noble idea of freedom from an insolently disdainful Congress and a Supreme Court populated by too many fat madmen.

2014 07 03

A full stomach and an empty bowel provide the moment of deepest satisfaction for our internal microbial hordes.

2014 07 02

The astonishing inexorability and sophistication of replication is evidenced by the odd phenomenon of “instinct”. Watching a pair of budgies prepare to raise a family provokes a great deal of inetnest. Witness the birds somehow knowing how to arrange their behavior so as to include babies - how does that knowledge arrive into their bird-brains? We call it “instinct” and let it go at that but this is patently insufficient.

2014 07 01

My friend Jim Shea forwarded this excerpt from Daniel Keown's, “The Spark in the Machine”:

"A human body is a billion times more complicated than computers and not binary in nature but quantum or analog. Emotions are not a black/white affair, but 50-plus shades of grey. When a person's body goes wrong, sometimes the only thing sensitive enough to pick up on it is something of an equal intelligence and sensitivity -- another person. This is the reason behind the "placebo effect" that has become a sinister catch-all for what is often just "healing."

I like Keown's insight on nature of cooperative psychology as evidenced in the Placebo Effect in the healing process; it denotes a form of pragmatic metaphysics that I relish.

2014 06 30

I once  explained to an AA "sponsee" that an atheist can readily acknowledge a "Higher Power" by simply observing that the our bodies are capable of healing themselves with no action taken consciously. It seems obvious to me that there exists a physiological and psychological paradigm of health that the body will tend to revert to given a modicum of cooperation via diet and the eschewing of pernicious behaviors.

2014 06 29

"Fairness” and “justice” do not exist outside of human perception and consciousness. A constantly rearranging balance is the fundamental dynamic of the universe but it is neither fair or just. It is misleading and dangerous to confuse fluxing equilibrium - balance - with the concepts of fairness and justice. Such confusion leads to the myth that fairness and justice are dispensed from some higher authority when in fact the administration of such ideals is solely the province of human compassion. In the Bible, the Q'uran, the Vedas and all religious apocrypha, God and gods exhibit manifestly unjust behavior. Likewise, most activity on Earth, such as “Nature, red in tooth and claw”, volcanoes, earthquakes etc. is random and governed only by balance as the animals eat and the rocks shift. Only with the rise of self-conscious humanity does balance take on the aspects of fairness and justice - critical manifestations of empathy and compassion.

 

2014 06 28

Nazrudin the Atheist was taking a walk through the woods, admiring all that the "accident of evolution" had created.

"What majestic trees! What powerful
rivers!  What beautiful animals!", he said to himself.

As he was walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.  He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly charge towards him.  He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing.  He ran even faster, so scared that tears were coming to his eyes.  He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer.  His heart was pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground.  He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear, right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.At that instant Nazrudin cried out,

"Oh my God!...."

Time stopped.  The bear froze.  The forest was silent.  Even the river stopped moving.
As a bright light shone upon Nazrudin, a voice came out of the sky,

"You deny my existence for all of these years; teach others that I don't exist and even credit creation to a cosmic accident.  And now you expect me to help you out of this predicament?  Shall I then count you as a believer?"

Nazrudin looked directly into the light,

"It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as Christian now, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?"

"Very well," said the voice.

The light went out.  The river ran again.  And the sounds of the forest resumed.

And then the bear dropped his right paw ..... brought both paws together..... bowed his head and spoke:

"Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, I am truly thankful."

2014 06 27

Frogs don't eat glass insects.

2014 06 26

Today I turn 63. A lot of things have changed since 1951 but not the mechanism by which I came into being. Let us raise a glass in celebration of Life and its amazing persistance!

2014 06 25

When on occasion life forces us to examine the shadowy parts of our hearts it is comforting to recall that our souls are composed of Light.

2014 06 24

End of Civilization” calamitists and Raptureists have one thing in common - their belief system allows them to decide not to strive.

2014 06 23

Wisdom will garner much in this world but common sense is essential for the acquisition of happiness.

2014 06 22

If you compare the relative size of the human sperm and the human egg I believe you'll find a reasonable suggestion as to what amount a male has to contribute to any decision regarding abortion.

2014 06 21

...and I’ll spend All day/All night with MaryAnne down by the Seaside sifting the sands of Time...

2014 06 20

I reject the concept of “nothing”; I embrace the concept of “everything” and therefore Infinity and Eternity are mine to roll around in the grass with.

2014 06 19

Examine the conversion of raw material - natural resouces - into organic form - from the swirling dust of the coalescing solar system straight on through to today. With each new birth/conversion more and more of the raw material becomes organized, then animate, then conscious, then - ???

2014 06 18

History will have no choice but to view the Roberts Supreme Court as the agency of the extirpation of the democratic ideals made manifest in the organizing documents of the American governmental system.

2014 06 17

"When it comes to religion Humanity's propensity to embrace the improbable is facilitated by a wishful willingness to misinterpret the obvious. ---------- Tom Doubter

2014 06 16


Greed, Obligement and Impossibility


Nasrudin said: “None can understand Man until he realizes the connection between greed, obligement and impossibility”.


His disciple responded: “This is a conundrum which I cannot understand”.


Nasrudin responded: “Never look for understanding through conundrums when you can attain it through experience”.


With that, he took the disciple to a nearby marketplace, thence to a small shop where robes were sold. Upon entering the shop Nasrudin announced, “Show me your best robes, for I am in a mood to spend extravagantly”.


A most beautiful robe was produced and an extremely high was asked.


It is very much the kind of robe I desire”, said Nasrudin, “only I would like some sequins around the collar and a touch of fur trimming”.


Nothing easier!” said the seller of robes, “for I have just such a garment in my workroom of my shop”.


He disappeared for a few moments and then returned, having added sequins and fur to the self-same garment.


And how much is this one?” asked Nasrudin.


It is twenty times the price of the first one.” said the robe seller.


Excellent!” said Nasrudin. “I’ll take both of them.”

2014 06 15

I have frequently read that such and such a species “...has developed” some trait that contributed to their survival. In evolutionary terms this phrase might be considered to be in the active voice whereas the process is functionally passive. In the case of predators who can eat poisonous frogs those who did not die by eating the frogs were able to reproduce thus passing on an attribute that gave them an expanded food range. They did nothing to change or alter their environment for their benefit - they lived or they died. I'm trying to find or to create a passive voice expression to describe the evolutionary process...

2014 06 14

"Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life. "

                                                               ------- George Bernard Shaw, 1856 - 1950

*************************************************

But what the Hell did he know? He only lived to be 94!

2014 06 13

Consciousness arises from biology or biology sophisticates to a point where consciousness infuses; either way consciousness makes itself evident. As we can observe from Earth's experience replication tends toward animation which tends toward consciousness - the process appears to be ineluctable. Here it has taken four billion years to manifest, roughly one third of the time invested in COREM. However it must be noted that animation, or life, has suffered five major setbacks along the way, in the form of extinction events. We therefore cannot deduce any legitimate timeline for the emergence of consiousness in a suitable environment. What we can observe however is that this COREM would have been preceded by another organization of matter/energy and in that pre-COREM the same replicative dynamic must have applied and therefore consciousness would have arisen therein, and so back into eternity - a constantly repeating cycle. Thus I conclude that consciousness is a Universal constant, rising and falling to greater and lesser degrees of sophistication in various locales and at various times.

2014 06 12

I have observed that often, things of great beauty are better seen from a distance. This is especially true of beautiful women.

2014 06 11

I have recently had occasion to stay at my Mother's home in Phoenix, Arizona. My Mother is a lovely lady of 87 years, enjoy's a wide circle of friends and is universally well-regarded in her community. My only real difficulty in occupying her apartment is that I am ever at risk of dislodging some porcelain memento or treasuered kickshaw. If she a fault it is that my Mother has never encountered a flat surface that she couldn't adorn with a knickknack or nine.

2014 06 10

A brain supports the inevitability of a mind and the possibility of a soul.

2014 06 09

An awareness of the phenomonon of human exceptionalism is not species-ism. Rather it is the pragmatic perception that human exploitation of the planet's resources is exponentially more intense than that manifested by any other species.

2014 06 08

I find that the experience of Life is more fully appreciated when I make an effort to distance myself from catch phrases, maxims or proverbs - remember: only occasionally do notable events actually occur in 3's, and the watched pot does boil.

2014 06 07

Offered as a study in stupidity.

from the IMDb trivia section regarding “Blazing Saddles:

When the film was first screened for major Warner Bros. executives, almost no one in the audience laughed and the movie looked to be a disaster that the studio would not release. But Brooks quickly set up a subsequent screening for the WB studio's employees. When these regular folks laughed uproariously throughout the movie, Warner Bros. finally agreed to take a chance on releasing it.”

(Though I suppose it might be a matter of debate as to which audience was more fundamentally stupid...)

2014 06 06

Given the many problems of our planet that are directly tied to over-population the only legitimate debate on the subject of birth control would seem to be whether it should be voluntary or involuntary. The argument for “involuntary” being that individual consciences would be relieved of the guilt instilled by religion, which is inappropriate anyway.

2014 06 05

A bit of trivia for a Thursday morning:

President Obama has nominated three peeople to be the US Secretary of State all of whom share this particular trait: none of them have testicles. Can you name these three people?

2014 06 04

A box of raisins is just a glass of wine that didn't make the cut.

2014 06 03

Succinct Smithson Sinnyck says of the Bergdahl/Taliban prisoner swap, “There was a time when Great Britain would swapped 100 'wogs' for the safe return of a single Crown subject.”

2014 06 02

I wonder how many people unthinkingly use the term, “the spirit world” without realizing that no such thing exists?

2014 06 01

On being asked what my Philosophy of Life might be, I pondered a bit before replying, “Learn as much as possible always remembering to be as kind as possible in doing so.”

2014 05 31

What is responsibility? Surely to be responsible means to be liable to have to give an answer should it be demanded, and all things which live {including Trumans, Reagans, H.Clintons, etc.} are responsible for their lives and actions should society see fit to question them through the mouth of its authorized agent {in today's world The Press}.” -- Samuel Butler, Erewhon

(cynical brackets compliments of Tom Doubter)

2014 05 30

I find that most “revelations” leave me scratching my head and asking myself, “How could I have not grasped this before now?”

2014 05 29

I wonder if anyone else finds this pull-quote as sinister as I do:

"Japanese leaders like to make an issue of China's force," said a foreign ministry spokesman on Tuesday. "The force we have is a wave of positive energy that promotes world peace, stability and development."

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/abe-to-put-forward-japan/1127360.html

2014 05 28

It would be negligent to assume that this article is unrelated to the one above:

BEIJING: China's glaciers have shrunk by thousands of square kilometres over the past 30 years as a result of climate change, state-run media reported on Wednesday.

The Qinghai-Tibet plateau in western China has seen its glaciers shrink by 15 per cent, or 8,000 square kilometres (3,089 square miles), the official Xinhua news agency cited the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) as saying.

Glacier melt in the region, which includes the Chinese portion of the Himalayas, has accelerated since the 1990s, the report cited researchers as saying, the latest sign of the impact of climate change in the region.

2014 05 27

A plum is merely a prune in potential.

2014 05 26

One may be bored because one has nothing to do; contrariwise one may be bored because one has too much to do that one doesn't wish to do.

2014 05 25

The effects and products of waste management must somehow be cenvernted into a universal medium of exchange. Such conversion must produce energy (food, electricity, motive force...) than it costs to extract (cf oil, coal etc. extraction). The energy expended on reclamation must be perceived as an asset - how to do? Of course the answer lies in finding inexpensive ways to decouple atomic structure so as to establish a reconstructive source of supply. Atoms must be freed from their garbage bondage and once freed be collected and reassigned.

2014 05 24

Everything will eventually be recycled but a re-cycle that takes longer than the life of the planet is not practical. Burning trash is a form of recycling but the output is mostly not recapturable. Some is reused as heat which can be captured and converted into usable energy but most dissipates into dust and escaped heat.

2014 05 23

Reference the posting of 2014 05 16 - So, I don't propose that the physical Universe does any thinking; rather that thinking takes place in a non-spatial, non-dimensional realm until such time as the inchoate thoughts become manifest as structures, printed matter (including electronic versions), or shared ideas leading to activity as in mass movements such as in Russia 1917.

2014 05 22

Bank Primer

On Monday I put $10,000 into a CD. The bank records this as an asset. I borrow $9,000 using the CD as collateral. The bank records this as an asset as well. I then place the $9,000 into an open account as working capital. The bank, naturally, also records this money as asset. So, at the end of the day the Bank can report $28,000 (plus the anticipated interest on the loan) as its assets for that day. On Tuesday day the Bank goes to another Lender and borrow againsts its $28,000 and the cycle continues.

But here's the fly in the ointment. Suppose that my asset source is a gold mine. My ability to make loan payments is based upon my taking enough gold out of the mine to make such payments. But on Wednesday I discover that there is no more gold to extract. I can't make my payment, the loan defaults and the Bank seizes my CD and retires the loan and thus is safe. However, the Bank now has a debt to pay of $28,000 based upon asset reporting that in turn was based upon an infinite supply of gold from me that is not forthcoming.

The natural resources of Planet Earth can be likened to my gold mine in this little vignette.

2014 05 21

Although this site is primarily devoted to my personal observations, I couldn't resist borrowing and posting this thoughtful and compassionate observation:


I don't know if God exists but it would be better for his reputation if he didn't.” ---- Jules Reynard

2014 05 20

This may come as a surprise to some readers but I don't believe Barack Obama deserved a Nobel Prize. His body of work while meritorious certainly did not rise to the level of international distinction. Furthermore, the Obama presidency has been disappointing in a number of ways. I believe that the award was given more as an acknowledgment of racial progress in America and less to the man personally. My point of outrage however has little to do with Obama but rather with the insanity of a political agenda so warped by hubris as to view a Nobel Prize as an impediment rather than an asset.

2014 05 19

Few examples exist that could more poignantly highlight the nature of the madness that afflicts the skewed politics of the human race:

US rebuked Norway after Obama Nobel Prize: envoy
AFP

OSLO--Barack Obama's administration rebuked Norway after he won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, saying it was an awkward honor for an as-yet untested leader, a Norwegian diplomat revealed on Thursday.

“My most embarrassing day at the U.N., at the time when I was Norway's ambassador there, was when Obama's Nobel Peace Prize was announced. Nobody was talking about it,” said Morten Wetland, who served at the U.N. from 2008 to 2012.

“My colleague in Washington received a reprimand from Obama's chief of staff (Rahn Emmanuel, at the time). The word 'fawning' was used,” Wetland added in an article in Norwegian daily Dagens Naeringsliv.

The diplomat said that the prize put Obama, who was nominated for the prize just weeks after taking office, in a difficult position.

“An American president wants to set his own agenda. Here he was forced into a role that he hadn't sought,” Wetland said.

Source:
http://www.chinapost.../US-rebuked.htm

-- China Post 2014-05-19

2014 05 18

Using Herman Daly's short-version definition of growth - "the conversion of nature to artifacts" shall we observe that only humans engage in this activity? Or might it be that bird nests, beaver dams, anthills, etc. also constitute "artifacts"?

2014 05 17

Joseph's Epiphany

Tom Doubter came across a heretofore undiscovered scrap of papyrus amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls. It read as follows:

The LORD GOD didst make Adam, and builded him from mud and dust. How then dost HE not do likewise to create his own SON Jesus...instead of fucking my wife?

2014 05 16

The mind is mine, the body belongs to the Universe, whose parts it is borrowod from.”

                                                                                                                           --------- Tom Doubter

2014 05 15

MORNING COFFEE MUSING

Dervish whirls, DC squirrels, a revered cow,

A host of thoughts are in my mind,

Though what is most distracting now,

Is the buttful of poop in my behind.

 2014 05 14

" A fellow named 'God' did not create the Universe - the Universe creates gods. Just thought you'd like to know."   ------   Tom Doubter

2014 05 13

When war breaks out in the South China Sea the US, being allied to all three of the major participants, will be placed in an extremely awkward position. The current fiasco in the Ukraine will seem a mild peccadillo in comparison.

2014 05 12

Philosophers nip at the edges of abstraction until such time as those edges become so frayed that a full-blown concept emerges. In similar fashion Science chips away at religious myth and superstition slowly insinuating reason into the common consciousness.

2014 05 11

On this day in 1960 in a hospital in San Francisco my sister Celeste was born. About a year later she took her first steps and those steps were taken into the arms of her big brother, me. Later that year when I returned from a visit to Seattle I was told that she had wandered around the house looking for me. I was surprised to hear such a thing but it helped establish a feeling that has bound us together over all the years, distance and travails intervening. My emotion runs high and my (figurative) pen runs dry … Happy Birthday my beloved sister!

2014 05 10

Those who are involved in the legal system must never allow themselves to mistake the system for the intent of the system.

2014 05 09

It is a marvelous thing to witness Bill Moyers interviewing Paul Krugman as they discuss Thomas Piketty's book, “Capital in the 21st Century” - truly disturbing and informative. Unfortunately, it is also meaningless. First of all an unimaginbly small handful of Americans watch the Moyers program; and even assuming that Piketty's book becomes a best-seller fewer than 500,000 people will ever read it. What is needed in America and the world is pamphleteering - the message must get to the masses. Not in 700-page tomes that simply cannot appeal to the common man's willingness to read but in comic strips, WalMart ads, shaving utensil commercials, billboards, Budweiser ads, weight-loss promotions, etc., etc.

2014 05 08

Oh these Christians will be so sad,

When they discover they've been had,

They'll cry and wail when they see,

That we're here accidental-ly,


Lunar Allah, he might laugh,

At today's Islamic gaff,

The BuddHindu meditators,

Feast upon their cosmic taters,


All manner of religious folk,

Join hands to share this cosmic joke,

And though we chant in god we trust,

Deep down we know that all is rust,


And here's what they who hope too much,

Always seem to fail to touch,

The mind of Man's capacity,

Is f'nally e-pistemology...

2014 05 07

Today we contemplate the sparkling in-and-out of quark-birth...or not.

2014 05 06
Submitted by my dear friend Deborah Newbury:

"It is possible that invisible pink fairies fly out our butts every time we fart, and we simply do not, and cannot, have the ability to perceive or even to test for them. In which case, like the existence of God--or not--science has nothing to say about it. And right now, based on evidence the support for non-biological consciousness and its possible (or not) evolution is in the same category as God and pink butt-fairies."

I of course maintain that consciousness is rather more subtle than pink butt fairies but the imagery is so compelling I felt I had to include it amongst these Meanderings.

2014 05 05

The US Supreme Court has decreed that an inability to purchase a forum is an acceptable de facto suppression of ideas. In other words the law of the land is now officially, “Pay up or Shut up.”

2014 05 04

History shows us that the pseudo-science, phrenology, traveled a bumpy road to non-acceptance.

2014 05 03

Natural disasters are not tragic; tragic is when people suffer preventable misery such as the current world climate of economic genocide.

2014 05 02

Mr Gurdjieff once pointed to acorns lying about the foot of an oak tree and asked a student how many of those acorns would survive to become trees. He left the student to contemplate the implications of the answer.

2014 05 01

May Day! No work for us Commies...

2014 04 30

The Earth is essentially a closed system; the notable exception being the millions of tons of meteoric dust that settles down upon us during the course of a year.

2014 04 29

Statistics indicate that three quarters of the people in the world make up 75% the population.

2014 04 28

Is it possible that the current Supreme Court can be so ignorant as to fail to recognize that inundations of money drown the voices of opposition thus eliminating the practical application of free speech?

2014 04 27

Turns out I don't love writing for the sake of writing. My intention, my love, is to confront. I enjoy composing the well-turned phrase but I don't create, as does Steinbeck who so loved his characters that he hated to conclude a novel.

Writers write” goes the old saw; well, compulsive self-examiners also write but for different reasons and for a predictably smaller audience. If the results of the examination are sufficiently universal in nature then perhaps such compositions can be informative, even stimulating. But I now declare my freedom from the strictured expectations attendant to the label, “writer”.

2014 04 26

The Universe exists; consciousness occurs.” ------ Bing Cogito

2014 04 25

The Feckless Innocent: “I fail to understand why you insist on derscribing the Universe as 'infinite.'”

Tom Doubter: “Because it's impossible for the 'Universe' to be less than all there is.”

2014 04 24

I seriously doubt that CBS is old enough for Stephen Colbert. I regard his move to broadcast TV with profound sadness. I fear that association with the monolithic CBS will emasculate his acerbic wit and turn this perennial practitioner of piquant irony into a simpering sob-sister of banality.

 2014 04 23

Sometimes it is difficult to avoid regarding the United States Congress as anything more politically advanced than a quivering repository of moral turpitude.

2014 04 22

It will be a revealing demonstration of just how un-dead racism is in America is if the Office of Management and Budget eventually releases the figures that reflect just how much additional money had to be allocated to protect the life of the first black President of the United States.

2014 04 21

On the old '50s TV series, “The Millionaire”, the stars of the show gave away $1,000,000 every week for 206 weeks spanning six seasons.

It is interesting to note that someone like Bill Gates could keep that show afloat for 1,470 years, until the year 3484, while maintaining a tidy little $10,000,000,000 nest egg for himself and his heirs.

2014 04 20

Sung to the tune of “The Wanderer” by Dion:

Well, I've got the type of mind that can never settle down,
Where the metphysics are, you know that I'm around,
A priori, postieri existentialism too,
I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em just to find out what is true,

They call me the Ponderer, Yeah, the Ponderer,
My head spins around, around, around,

Well, there's Spinoza on my left, Schopenhauer on my right,
And Maxwell's in the background so I so I’ll never lose the light,

When Wittgenstein confronts me and puts me to the test,
I tear open my shirt and there's Bertie on my chest,

'Cause I'm the Ponderer, Yeah, the Ponderer,
I think until I drink and then I think again,

Oh well, I roam from thought to thought,
I stay as conscious as I dare,
But the eph'meral can't be caught,
Which of course is natural, cause there is no there there,

Yes there is no concept I can't wrap my head around,

I do it with no schooling, cause I wear no cap or gown,

And if I find myself in some mental swirl,

I hop right into that brain of mine and think around the world,


Yeah I'm the Ponderer, Yeah, the Ponderer,
The Muse abounds, abounds, abounds...

2014 04 19

Dr Michio Kaku makes the point that radio signals from the brain are very faint, degrade quickly and do not survive ambient interference. However, once entereed into the hardware of a computer via electro-telepathy, the thoughts, however weak at the outset, could readily be amplified and broadcast, at least as far as the nearest wifi hub and from there to infinity.

2014 04 18

I've always found the nomination of this particular holiday to be rather dismally irornic. It sure as hell wasn't a GOOD day, Friday or otherwise, for the poor cat the day is designed to memorialize. Of course upon reflection I observe that Christians and Jews have a remarkably warped sense of good and evil in any case.” ----- Tom Doubter

2014 04 17

Back in the days when I was associated with AA one of the fellows I was sponsoring dropped by for a session. As he sat down he noticed a copy of the Bible sitting open on my desk. Somewhat archly he asked, “So, why do you, an atheist, have a copy of he Bible?”

After a moment I replied, “Well Bob, think of it this way: if you were the coach of a football team, especially an underdog team, and you had access to the opposing coaches' playbook, wouldn't you use it?”

2014 04 16

Consider spin: is the Sun's gravity field spherical or disc-shaped? Do gravity, coriolus and centrifugal force have the same effects at the poles as at the equator? Do only sub-A's with horizonatl spin emerge into our “universe' from the chaos of Dark Matter while other sub-A's with vertical spin emerge into another universe?

2014 04 15

If elan vital is merely a function of electro-magnetic energy being empolyed to sustain form as life, then establishing and maintaining unpredictably long lives should only be a matter of devising a more sophisticated, ancillary power source for the body. I suspect however that something more is required.

2014 04 14

After witnessing the most recent Republican assault on women I'd like to resurrect Aristophanes and send autographed copies of Lysistrata to all the wives and mistresses on Capitol Hill.

2014 04 13

In my ongoing musings on the subject of consciousness I asked myself, "Is consciousness a natural development of evolution?"; the implication being that perhaps some as yet unfathomed interventionary event may have triggered our ability to regard ourselves.

When I shared this question with a similarly inquisitive friond he responded saying, "Perhaps evolution is the natural consequence of consciousness".

I continue playing mental badminton with these two  interpretations (which may not be mutually exclusive...)


2014 04 12

After the various theories and observations relating to ontology and metaphysics have been exhausted (at least for the time being) there remain two fundamental questions distilled out of all the magnificent rhetoric:

1 - what prompts replication, of which animation is a profound sophistication (consider: sexual reproduction is really nothing more than replication on a grand scale); and

2 - how does consciousness arise.

There are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of avenues of study, interest and diversions available to the inquisitive human mind, but only these two present the possibility of unlocking the so-called, “Secrets of the Universe”.

2014 04 11

We humans are a collection of  psychic free-lancers in a day-labor universe.

2014 04 10

An alternative solution to school violence might be to lace the drinking water at schools with chemicals designed to inhibit release of the hormones that govern adolescence until the students reach the age of 18 when they are subject to conscription into the armed forces where all the pent-up insane energy could be productively employed.

2014 04 09

After today's horror story from Pennsylvania it is clear that America is facing a very hard choice: either ban dangerous weapons from our schools ; OR ban high school students from these campuses.

2014 04 08

For today's submission we engage the WayBack Machine to help resurrect an old B. Kliban cartoon.

Picture if you will a chubby tabby seated on a stool strumming a guitar. His folksy lyrics go as follows:

Love to eat them mousies,

Mousies what I loves to eat,

Bite they little heads off,

Nibble on they tiny feet.”

2014 04 07

As to exercise: I recoil from it in contemplation; I tolerate when will overcomes reticence; and I rejoice in the physical and mental exhilaration attendant upon completion. My daily challenge has been for years - How to reconcile these disparate elements of consciousness - how to short-circuit the reticence and engage the efflorescence.

2014 04 06

Myth is much more important and true than history. History is just journalism and you know how reliable that is.”
     - 
Joseph Campbell, 1904 - 1987

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Myths are mythleading...”

- Tom Doubter, 1951 - ????

2014 04 05

In light of the recent McCutcheon decision, I paraphrase Mark Twain:

Imagine that you are criminally insane. Now imagine that you sit on the US Supreme Court...but, I repeat myself.”

2014 04 04

If, as the Supreme Court has ruled, money equals speech, is spending money to silence opposition a constitutionally countenanced act? Such activity is easily accomplished - 100 purchased television ads ranged against 1 ad pretty much excludes the voice of the 1.

Or to put it another way, does a lack of money equal a lack of speech?

In our system of government it now appears that the ability to purchase a forum results in the establishment of economic censorship. This does not seem to be free speech.

2014 04 03

Tom Doubter observes, “It seems odd that all the search efforts for the missing Malaysian airliner continue to concentrate on the Indian Ocean. By now it should be obvious that the plane disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle in the Caribbean.”

2014 04 02

Sometimes one wonders if the song emanating from Earth is a a shriek of agony or an aria of exultation.

2014 04 01

I find it useful to consider the dark matter of our universe as inchoate, undifferentiated, unaffiliated collection of quarks et al. The nursery of matter so to speak.

2014 03 31

The movie, High Noon  is set in the town of “Hadleyburg”. Readers of Mark Twain will find this darkly ironic.

2014 03 30

it is a pity that we humans assumed that we had the right to deform, cripple, debase and murder our innocent primate coussins in our attempts to garner more and more information about the nature of being and health. Not only is the assumption ilegitimate, we cannot effectively communicate with these creatures and thus can only extract information indirectly and inferentially. It would be far more compassionate as well as informative to use as subjects those people who have violated the social contract by behaving criminally. Those incarcerated for lesser crimes could be exposed to various illnesses as new therapies are tested. As the degree of criminality increases so would the level of risk exposure. Using our prisons as research facilities would revamp the research calendar exponentially as the inmates would provide virtually instant and at the same time comprehendable feedback. (Excepting of course in the case of those on Death Row who would merely demonstrate new interpretations of mortality.)

In this manner we convert non-productive persons and time into extraordinary benefit for our planet while at time freeing ourselves from the guilt associated with inflicting untold misery upon innocent creatures that are not even capable of communicating the full impact and import of what we are subjecting them to.

2014 03 29

In his book, “The Future of the Mind”, Dr Michio Kaku observes correctly that technology regularly precedes the law's ability to interpret and regulate it's effects. Unfortunately he overlooks the far more profound fact that our capitalist corporate culture lacks conscience and therefore corporation are allowed, even mandated, to employ technology essentially sociopathically.

2014 03 28

Consider “mirror neurons” in the context of “replication”...as being a mechanism for yet another manifestation of the replicative dynamic that seems to govern all activity in our universe.

2014 03 27

Upon review it appears that I must take some time and attempt to integrate the Ponderings from 2014 03 22, 24 and 25; that will however have to be the work of next week.

2014 03 26

Given that 78% of the air we breathe is composed of nitrogen one would think that the absorption of nitrogen is vital to our existence. Which of course it is but we get it via our digestive system. the evolutionary mutation that allows for the direct use of nitrogen through our lungs will free us from the cycle of “nature, red in tooth an claw” and we will no longer to need to eat everything in sight.

2014 03 25

As the culture disintegrates (or collapses as in a Jared Diamond scenario) what will happen to science and its advances? Will research facilities become walled enclosures against the foment and havoc? Does funding, public and private dry up and all the scinetests go home to work in their basement? Or perhaps only the public funding disappears and private, wealth driven research continues, essentially for the benefit of those doing the funding. One can imagine a world populated by Koch Brother clones.

2014 03 24

If social cooperation is the dominant survival dynamic, after the collapse the survivors will be those who have cooperated and the non-survival greed-self will have been bred out.

2014 03 23

In frustration I cry out, “Is tuning my guitar Art or Skill?!”

2014 03 22

Can the current world-wide economic genocide be interpreted as a function of evolution such that wealth is understood to be a survival dynamic? Likened to the bear who eats the most salmon and the squirrel with the best supply of nuts who are thus able to breed?

2014 03 21

Nasrudin was sitting off in a corner of his favorite teashop, visibly brooding.

Tom Doubter chided him, “What's the matter, Nasrudin? Why do you look so put out?”

The Mulla scowled and stuck out his lower lip as he replied, “Well, I am sitting here, and I have such wonderful answers, but none of you dummies are asking the right questions!”

2014 03 20

A bold new idea: “The Economic Buddy System”.

As outlined, for every million dollars a person makes beyond a specified amount, say one billion dollars, they adopt a person/family that exists under the poverty line and supplements said person/family's income up to a specified minimum, perhaps $50,000 per year.

In the extreme case of those with very low income, each $1,000,000 would thus service approximately 20 beneficiaries, each $1,000,000,000, 20,000.

Under this system someone like Bill Gates with an estimated net worth of $60 billion could cause to be made liquid half of his assets and thus buddy up with 600,000 people initially. And the elegant beauty of this plan is that since American civil law thoughtfully grants “personhood” to corporate entities, no corporation would be exempt from a requirement to buddy up.

The distribution of would be overseen by the non-profit, Global Wellbeing Administration, headquartered in Macau.

2014 03 19

Beyond the internal cacophony of existence there is a mental condition of unfiltered, unjudged, even chaotic streaming thought that we dip into constantly yet scarcely ever take heed of. For most people, only through meditation is the thought stream ever even noticed to exist.

2014 03 18

With regard to flight MH370 my guess is that space aliens from the planet Marzipan ate the brains of the crew and then transported the passengers to their home-world where they could be pickled and preserved for later consumption.

2014 03 17

Consciousness is the facility and willingness to examine the antecedents to observed phenomena and anticipate the consequences therefrom.

 2014 03 16

When reading Nasrudin parables or Zen koans I find it useful to convene a “classroom” in my mind and then listen to what each “student” interprets from the story.

2014 03 15

A gift is only as valuable as the recipient conceives it to be.

2014 03 14

Animation is ultimately a sophisticated form of replication, and consciousness an inevitable product of animation. Consciousness becomes knowable as a stage in the convulsing Universe. Thus a question might be posed as follows: what is the purpose of a “soul” in this scheme? Perhaps a soul is merely a more attentive, more apprehending form of consciousness. Indeed, does not the religious notion of angel seem to be little more than a being that encompasses more than the merely human?

2014 03 13

The sub-atomic particle of the next discovery is most likely so soft that mere gentle proximity creates spontaneous generation of the perception of vitality.

2014 03 12

The Great Silver Cord circuit:

Undifferentiated energy emanates from the Earth's core, enters our bodies where it becomes coherentized and then exits as the Silver Cord where it enters the magnetic field of the planet, flows around, reenters the Earth's core and starts again.

2014 03 11

Vitality, elan vital, is the route by which we humans and our animate ancestors familiarize ourselves with consciousness. It is certainly possible that other routes or mechanisms exist that produce the same result - that is, the Universe perceiving itself.

2014 03 10

People regularly claim that their pets (dog, cat, parrot, iguana - you name it) demonstrate plenty of affection, curiosity, playfulness, aggression, anger, shame, fear, etc.

The skeptic in me must ask, “Is this true perception real emotions or anthropomorphic indoctrination and projection?”

This question cannot be evaded - or as it turns out, probably answered.

2014 03 09

I like to think of myself standing at the intersection of Infinity and Eternity - it's not Hollywood and Vine but then, what is?

2014 03 08

One of my, "Points to Ponder” is an attempt to establish a relationship between thought and sub-atomic particles. My proposed menton is a sub-atomic “particle” in the same way that a photon is considered such. It remains for me to build a brain-derived mental architecture that integrates various Sub-A's into a coherent theory. Might take a while...

2014 03 07

The United States Congress has yet again publicly shamed itself in its rejection of health and service funding for American veterans. Those who send young humans to war and then treacherously refuse to provde them with appropriate health care and support services are nothing less than sociopaths on a moral par with a Ted Bundy or Hannibal Lecter.

2014 02 06

from wikipedia on Bonobos:

The bonding among bonobo females enables them to dominate most of the males. Although male bonobos are individually stronger, they cannot stand alone against a united group of females.”

-----------------------------------

One could but wish that American females would manifest a similar measure of solidarity when dealing with the males in various US legislative bodies...

2014 03 05

The Gospel according to Mark - (Pelkey)

In the beginning was the word - specifically the “A” words:

accretion

accumulation

affination

aggregation

agglomeration

agglutination

amalgamation

association

2014 03 04

In engineering the designer's conception of the problem or challenge determines how the solution will outpicture or manifest. I think the same can be said of a challenge in a psychological environment. In simple terms: if my perceptions lead me to conclude - or conceive of - a child's behavior as being wayward my solution is to punish that child. If on the other hand I conceive of the child as behaving ignorantly, education is the appropriate solution. Such “conceptions” are rarely objective - circumstances and prejudice combine to influence if not entirely shape how they are constructed.

2014 03 03

Time is Nature's way of making sure everything doesn't happen at once.”

                                                              --------- Tom Doubter's friend, Woody Allen

2014 03 02

It is essential to establish a discernible distinction between malific, non-survival behavior like that exhibited by the Koch Bros and the survival drive that has led mankind to eat and shit himself to the brink of extinction.

2014 03 01

As Nasrudin was walking one morning he came upon a house under construction. He saw that one of his students was on the roof nailing shingles in place. As he watched for a spell he noticed that as the young man pulled nails of out the bag at his side he examined each one and threw roughly half of the nails away.

Curious, Nasrudin called up to the young man asking, “Why are you throwing away so many nails?”

The young man replied, “Mulla, the heads are on the wrong end.”

Young man”, The Mulla reproached him, “you are not thinking as I have taught you. Consider a moment and ask yourself if it maks sense that there would be so many incorrectly made nails in your bag.”

The young man's brow wrinkled a bit as he ruminated. Then his face lit up and he proclaimed, “Master, I see it now. Those nails are made for the other side of the roof!”

Ah”, said Nasrudin and walked on.

 2014 02 28

from Channel News Asia:

Tokyo on Friday said it is puzzled over why Beijing approved national remembrance days to commemorate the Nanjing Massacre and its defeat in World War II, after decades of Japanese pacifism.

**********************************

What's to puzzle? Anyone who hasn't figured out that China intends to foment war in the Western Pacific hasn't been paying attention for the past three years.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/japan-says-puzzled-by-new/1015360.html

2014 02 27

I hereby propose the establishment of, “12 Steps Anonymous”, an organization designed to serve the needs of those unfortunates who are denied acceptance into such cliques as AA, NA, CA, OA, ACA, etcA...

2014 02 26

Sometimes I think I’m not as smart as I think I am; then I recall that I’m only as not-smart as I think I am.

2014 02 25

We may not be some sort of supernatural “spiritual beings seeking the human experience”, but we are exponentially more than what we currently perceive. For example we can be described, accurately, as trillions of synaptic impulses waiting to be harvested.

2014 02 24

The interval between “The Golden Years” of halcyon days and my personal “Golden Years” seems to grow shorter all the time.

2014 02 23

Instead of the patently ludicrous, “Why something instead of nothing?” perhaps the more useful question is, "Why motion instead of stillness?"

2014 02 22

An elemental goal of meditation is the promotion of a continuing and expanding intimacy with both the concept and the practice of consciousness.

2014 02 21

The way corals change the world - with huge construction projects spanning multiple generations - might be likened to the way humans do, with this crucial difference: instead of displacing other creatures, corals support them.” – Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction

2014 02 20

The aversion to death is not solely a function of the conscious fear of personal extinction - it is instinctual. That which is alive seeks, quite energetically, to remain alive.

2014 02 19

What are the physiological similarities between seeing and hearing? Sound waves travel through a medium, vibrating against an eardrum. Is sound substantive? Does it have mass? Has anyone ever “not heard” a sound made in space? Do photonic “waves” impact the retina? Does light require a medium that we haven't discovered yet?

2014 02 18

Channel News Asia story: “A man in China survived an unsuccessful attempt to feed himself to a pair of Bengal tigers and is being treated for depression, a Chinese newspaper reported Tuesday” –- The article doesn't make it clear as to whether the fellow was depressed before, during or after.

2014 02 17

Morality is found somewhere in the social intersection between cooperation and competition and remains an issue that defies absolutes.

2014 02 16

Submission to the will of God is simply adopting the often-burdensome willingness to think with all of the mind that can be mustered. The degree to which people are unwilling to do this is the foundation of most human tragedy.

2014 02 15

If a medical professional were to observe in a patient the degree of memeory failure currenntly exhibited by some leaders in the Republican Party that patient would be diagnosed as requiring medical intervention.

2014 02 14

There are microorganisms that maintain their vitality by converting hydrogen into life-sustaining fuel - you can't get more basic than that.

2014 02 13

Persistently pursued Presidential policies perpetually perturb preternaturally perplexed pusillanimous partisans.

2014 02 12

I wish to introduce a new word into human vocabulary: “quarking” - a word to describe the dynamic of sub-atomic aggregation that results in creation/replication/animation.

2014 02 11

The term “human being” worthy of contemplation. Typically it is an adjective/noun phrase formation. (Though interestingly enough we don't use that formation for other species - we don't generally talk about “canine beings” or “cetacean beings” et cetera.)

However, if we interpret “human being” as a noun/verb phrase formation we involve ourselves in an entirely altered perspective of the dynamics of living in the world.

(noted with a appreciative nod to Ram Dass)

2014 02 10

Natural Selection or Divine Intervention?

Given the observed existence of seemingly uncountable extra-planetary bodies and the scope of the observed Universe, it is impossible not to imagine that conditions similar to those of Earth do in fact exist on other planets in the Cosmos.

Further, given the ubiquity and fecundity of life on Earth it seems reasonable to assume life would arise elsewhere in the Universe where similar conditions exist.

Therefore, by a process of inductive reasoning (not deductive as that requires empirical evidence not available to us at this time), I conclude that life is an ever-present fundamental function of the dynamic of our Universe.


BUT - much more slippery is the question of consciousness, specifically self-consciousness.

Again, with only the Earth available to us for observation any conclusions, if even available, must emanate from a process of inductive reasoning, a far from infallible form of logic.


Before we can conclude that self-awareness or self-consciousness is as ubiquitous as life itself we must discover how it arose in man, and seemingly man alone, on this planet.

We note that life insists on manifesting on Earth, despite repeatedly catastrophic events and mass extinctions. We further note that until approximately 50,000 years ago no species ever left any but a fossil record of their existence. Only homo sapiens, an extremely recent evolutionary product have done this, and with a suddenness that pricks the imagination with speculations about intervention, either “divine” or extra-planetary.

If self-consciousness is a naturally-selected survival dynamic we must look for some precipitant event that resulted in the sudden manifestation of history-keeping. In this view, lacking evidence to the contrary, it is reasonable to imagine that we humans are the vanguard of self-awareness in the Universe.

If, on the other hand self-consciousness on Earth arises as a result of intervention it then becomes reasonable to assume that consciousness is as ubiquitous as life itself. In this view we are a sensory element of a vast Universal thinking machine that spends its time reveling in its beauties while striving to mitigate its terrors.

in either case the abiding dynamical imperative is ever-expanding awareness and consciousness. And it matters not whether such awareness is "God" induced or human induced.

2014 02 09

If “self-reliance” becomes a euphemism for denying basic human needs such as food, shelter and health services to those unfortunate enough to lack access to money we are creating a society without conscience or moral compass.

2014 02 08

Have you ever noticed how the Earth's continents seem to sort of drip from the Northern hemisphere to the Southern? Kind of like the old Sherwin-Williams "Cover the Earth" paint logo.

2014 02 07

Interestingly, mere longevity does not guarantee that a species will gain mastery of the Earth or attain self-consciousness. The dinosaurs were not wiped out by runaway campfires and no one has ever read a poem written by a turtle (not that that wouldn't be utterly fascinating but no have got).

2014 02 06

Homo.feebleman creates gods so that he can have something to aspire to. Strikes me as being an idea worthy of consideration as a Higher Power.

2014 02 05

If you imagine yourself “surfing” on the Earth's magnetosphere you have the very interesting perspective that allows you to look “down” at the Earth in all its varied divirsity and also look “up” into the infinite Universe extending in every direction. At that point you become sort of the interface between Eternity and Earth's history and development. Gives you kind of warm, embracing feeling.

2014 02 04

The notion of psychically “reading someone's mind” takes on a substantially absurdist quality when one considers how astonishingly little we know about the workings of our own minds.

2014 02 03

President Obama should initiate proceedings to undermine States' rights to employ capital punishment. He can do this by ordering a nationwide stay of all executions. To enforce the stay he can announce his intention to grant a mass pardon of all death-row inmates if the matter is not taken up by the Supreme Court.

2014 02 02

The acknowledgement of human exceptionalism is not species-ism. Rather it is the pragmatic perception that human exploitation of the planet's resources is exponentially more intense than any other species has ever manifested.

2014 02 01

In Bill Bryson's, A Short History of Nearly Everything” he describes the origins of Life here on Earth as, “Something twitched and became animate”. While this is succinct, almost poetic it beggars the question. What twitched? How did it twitch? And perhaps most puzzling, Why did it twitch? I don't seek metaphysical or supernatural First Causes, I just want to grasp the dynamic.

2014 01 31

I maintain that elan vital is as inevitable as gravity, as quarking. It is in fact a fifth primal force, along with the electro-magnetic, the strong nuclear, the weak nuclear and gravity.

2014 01 30

A paramecium may not know that it's alive but it nonetheless struggles to remain living.

2014 01 29

How shall we call the next generation of homo? That breed of humanity that has figured out that cooperation, both with Nature and its own citizens is the only survival dynamic that is sustainable? homo satisfactus? - homo satiatious? - homo compassianus? - or sadly, perhaps it will turn out to be - homo evaporatus.


 2014 01 28

Pete Seeger is dead - - LONG LIVE PETE SEEGER

2014 01 27

Post morning meditation, after my usual breakfast, with a wee bit of composition accomplished and at the conclusion of a short nap - I awaken with strong but ungraspable knowledge of the secret word - a word that exists just beyond my ability to hear but nonetheless imbues in me a warm sense of blithe assurance. It is as if the word has been invoked just before I come to consciousness and is my intangible talisman of confidence.

2014 01 26

All life is a circle.”

Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE


"The atom is a circle, orbits are circles, the earth, moon, and sun are circles. The seasons are circles. The cycle of life is a circle: baby, youth, adult, elder. The sun gives life to the earth who feeds life to the trees whose seeds fall to the earth to grow new trees. We need to practice seeing the cycles that the Great Spirit gave us because this will help us more in our understanding of how things operate. We need to respect these cycles and live in harmony with them."

Great Spirit, let me grow in knowledge of the circle.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Describing Life as a “circle” is often poetically attractive as in Joni Mitchell's somewhat bittersweet, The Circle Game. Likewise it can seem to be philosophically sound as in the Elder's Meditation above. It is nevertheless fundamentally misleading.

The Earth, the Sun, the Moon are not circles - they are spheres. Meditatively there is a big difference. And the experience of living a life is not circular - it is a line, possibly a non-discontinuous line, but a line nevertheless. There may be recognizable cycles in a life but these would be better described as an expanding spiral as the knowledge and experience gathered from each turn of the cycle nurtures and broadens the perceptive capability of the individual.

2014 01 25

Israel's continuing authorization of new settlements is nothing less than “The Sudetenland” on the installment plan.

2014 01 24

I recently saw an ad campaign that concluded: “1.3 million subscribers can't be wrong!”

I don't know why not - more than a billion Christians and a similar number of Muslims certainly are.

2014 01 23

Regarding Evolution as, only a “theory”, is on a par with regarding a doctor as somehow unprofessional because he is engaged in the “practice” of medicine.

2014 01 22

The loving support of other caring humans is a power greater than myself and is an attribute of my God's presence.” ----- Phil Aubry

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Tom Doubter knows when he's been out-eloquenced - Sante!

2014 01 21

2+0+1+4 = 7 - THE YEAR OF INTELLECTUAL INTUITION

The number 7 is the seeker, the thinker, the searcher of Truth. 7 doesn't take anything at face value -- it is always trying to understand the underlying, hidden truths. 7 knows that nothing is exactly as it seems and that reality is often hidden behind illusions. This is the year in which intelligence will dominate prejudice, common sense will dictate policy and clear-thinking will bring into the world a much-needed sense of perspective with regard to the issues that must be addressed.

2014 01 20

View from the train:

...the hills preternaturally limned by the light bouncing off the smoldering valley's clouds that are illumined by the reflective sunlight off the roiling Pacific.

2014 01 19

There is a measure of satisfaction available in the contemplation of humanity as an element in a vast, Universal thinking machine that spends its time reveling in its beauties while striving to mitigate its terrors.

2014 01 18

I’m not a writer. I’m just a guy with an over-active vocabulary who can't stop committing musings and observations to paper, be it pulp or electronic. Writers have a sense of purpose that engenders a form of discipline that I rather ostentatiously lack.

2014 01 17

People regularly claim that, “my (dog, cat, parrot, iguana - you name it) demonstrates plenty of affection, curiosity, playfulness, aggression, anger, shame, fear etc.”

The skeptic in me must ask, “Is this true perception or anthropomorphic projection?” The question cannot be evaded or, at least at present, answered.

2014 01 16

Conceive of a thought as a sort of cloud formation in the brain, comprised of a temporary arrangement of electrical impulses. As water molecules condense around a speck of dust so do mentons aggregate around a small gravitic moment in the brain. The arrrrrangemnt of electric pulses lasts until the thought is executed or linked to a more stable lattice of electrical constructs.

2014 01 15

The trouble with taking daily vitamins and supplements such as apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, etc. is that most of the purported effectiveness is prophylactic - you can never truly know if they are doing what they're supposed to. Perhaps I don't get sick or feel run-down but there's no way to prove that these supplements are the cause of my perceived well-being. As the well-worn scientific maxim goes, you can't prove a negative.

2014 01 14

As a betting man I’m inclined to suggest that the odds favor eternity.

2014 01 13

If you'd like to get a feel for infinity stand at the ocean shore, watch the sunlight flicker off an incoming wave and contemplate the reality that each such wave is a once-only assembly and arrangement of water molecules, impossible to ever repeat, capturing for just that instant a batch of streaming photons from the Sun reflecting into your eyeball receptacle for that one fleeting moment of perception. And then look at another wave...

2014 01 12

"Human” consciousness must somehow be differentiated from broad or overall consciousness. Human exceptionalism is not species-ism, merely observed phenonmenon. Intelligence and consciousness abound and with continued diligent exploration we will learn, not only two-way communication with the other intelligent species on Earth but how to construct machines that are capable of engendering independent thought - the misnomered, AI.

 2014 01 11

Philosophical question: Which is finer, Angel's hair or frog's hair?

2014 01 10

Topiary sculpture, however attractive is nonetheless an affront to Nature's exuberant fulfillment of the inexorable thrust of Life.

2014 01 09

Beleaguered Dervishes belatedly devised bonnier dances beginning daily betterment devotional be-ins during Beltran.

2014 01 08

It is poetically attractive to imagine each human being as a sort of “condenser”of the emanating energy of Earth's molten magnetic core.

2014 01 07

Headline:

China Crushes Six Tonnes of Ivory”

Better they had crushed six tonnes of end-users and poachers.

2014 01 06

Primatologists inform us that male baboons stroke and fondle each other's scrotums to indicate friendship. I feel certain that the establishment of a similar practice in the chambers of the United States Congress.would greatly enhance that body's public image.

 2014 01 05

In particular, once self-awareness had evolved...” This sentence fragment, lifted from Chris Stringer's, “Lone Survivors” is an example of the use of words to set up an interesting premise upon an imponderable foundation. How did self-awareness evolve? This seems to be the unanswered yet intrinsically required question, but it is tendered as a assumed foundation for much of what is proposed thereafter.

2014 01 04

Tom Doubter responds:

Time may be an arrow but its destination is consciousness.”

2014 01 03

If you have two apples and you give me one of them we each have one apple - a pleasant outcome no doubt, although your supply of apples has been pointedly diminished. Contrastingly, if you have a thought and I have a thought and we exchange these thoughts we each now have two thoughts - our supply of ideas has been increased.

2014 01 02

It may well be true that, “Time is an arrow”, but its destination is nonetheless always the same - Infinity.

2014 01 01

I resolve to continue to be irresolute in my commitment to accomplishing any specific thing, but likewise resolve to remain resolutely fascinated by everything.

2013 12 31

The time is ripe for some enterprising entrepreneur to establish a service to collect and recycle unfinished restaurant meals. All plates would be scraped into a freezer unit to be picked up twice a week. At the recycling plant all the leftovers would be thawed, pulverized and formed into tasty patties to be distributed free of charge by the World Wide Well-Being Foundation. (see Pelkey's Ponderings 2013 12 28.

2013 12 30

The pastoral cultures of the Americas were demolished by the incursion of European guns, germs and steel - all products of the incipient Industrial Revolution. It is interesting to speculate about how the pastoralists would have fared if only industrialization had come over the Atlantic, absent religion, prejudice, arms and germs. Would the vaunted values associated with pre-invasion tribal life have survived the onslaught of a mechanizing culture? Could the perceived, seemingly innate humaneness of the indigenous population be preserved in the environment of the machine? Or would we have discovered that industrialization is intrinsically dehumanizing?

2013 12 29

As hunter-gatherers we always had full employment. It was with the introduction of technologically more efficient agricultural techniques such as the plow that we began to require less work per person and this invitably led to the establishment of the Unemployment Office.

  2013 12 28

A 1% surtax on all stock market transactions above $1000 worldwide would be a good start on the formation of the World Wide Well-Being Foundation.

2013 12 27

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”

----------- Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1922

* * * * * * * * *

Whereof one cannot speak, one is intellectually and morally obligated to seek a more evocative language.”

---------- Mark Pelkey, 2002

2013 12 26

An interesting mental exercise is to examine a sentence, especially a simple one, word by word. Consider each word singly, probing all the aspects of meaning the word has for you. Then examine each word within the context of the whole sentence. We take so much meaning for granted - you'll be surprised at what you find lurking in the background.

2013 12 25

I often enjoy imagining my mind to be like a prism - white light streaming in, bursting into glorious, myriad colors of thought.

2013 12 24

Never be shy about “borrowing” ideas from others, just remember to be gracious in attribution.

2013 12 23

Realizing that the world is a dark and disturbing place is not how one loses one's faith - it may be a starting point of wonder, but one loses one's faith, finally, not to disappointment, but to rationality. Once the questions are sincerely asked reason creeps in and then religion can no longer survive. It is a process - 1) skepticism; 2) reasoned aquestions; 3) acceptance of mystery as non-threatening.

2013 12 22

In our current world of Changing Climate -

what grows: cyclones, hurricanes, monsoons, tornadoes, typhoons, droughts, deserts;

and what shrinks: polar ice, arable land, sea-borne algae, available fresh water...

2013 12 21

Herein I submit a collection of words starting with “A” that suggest the beginnings of our solar system: agglomeration - accretion - aggregation - accumulation - amalgamation - affinity

2013 12 20

It is useful to note that although one cannot “copy” one's way to excellence, being attentive to the work of others is invaluable.

2013 12 19

I am the living embodiment of antecedent/consequential dynamics; my vocation is to be such consciously.

2013 12 18

Waste no maudlin emotion on sunk costs or yesterday’s mistakes; the decisions made today can only affect the future, not the past.

2013 12 17

Beware of science masquerading as incontrovertible fact or unassailable wisdom.

2013 12 16

Replication is a form of organization. It is not the creation of new matter, but rather an assembling of existing matter. So, what is the earlier form that is being replicated? An organization of stuff - quarks, leptons, hadrons, etc. in increasinngly sophisticated arranegments. An eternal compounding, convulsing and reconstituting.

2013 12 15

Is consciousness lurking, everywhere present, merely waiting for “life “ to become sufficiently sophisticated so as to then infuse itself?

2013 12 14

Hinduism has Vishnu;

Christianity has its Jesus;

Islam its Mohamed;

Buddhism has Buddha;

Confucianism has Confucius;

Whence cometh the avatar for us atheists?

2013 12 13

For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.”
     - Mary Kay Ash, 1918 - 2001

* * * * * * *

Sage observation - however, the admirable activity is exhaustively seeking to find the “alternative” before taking the action.

2013 12 12

When introducing a desired new habit or act of behavior it is useful to attach two sensual actions to the desired event. If for example you wish to get in the habit of closing cabinet doors, feel the hardness of the knob, and hear the click of the closing door. At first this will require a conscious act of attention but very soon you will find that if you don't feel and then hear you will experience a sense of incompleteness that will prompt you to take the desired action.

2013 12 11

Slavery must ultimately fail because humans cannot be subjugated any more than zebras can be herded.

2013 12 10

For those who cling to the fantasy that capitalism is not malefic and anti-humane here's an illuminating and sobering headline:

Research Slows on Mental Health Drugs as Investment Shrinks

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/health/research-slows-on-mental/900876.html


2013 12 09

Nihilism is merely a philosophical tool, useful in the deconstruction of both religion and humanism as repositories of "meaning". It is an unsatisfactory epistemological tool in that it fails to recognize that "meaning", while not innate, can be imputed from a conscious perspective if one so chooses.

2013 12 08

Consider the life of a thought: formless in one's mind, it can be spoken, it can be written down, it can be shared. It can enter the common lexicon, it can be transformed into a physical entity, a building for example. Thus it moves from evanescence to substantive.

2013 12 07

Pursue something so important that even if you fail, the world is better off with you having tried.”
     - 
Tim O'Reilly

* * * * * * * * * * *

I don't know who Tim O'Reilly is but he's obviously not related to the execrable William...

2013 12 06

Tom Doubter: I wonder how those who are religious reconcile “God's Will” with concept of intercessionary prayer?

2013 12 05

Fairness” and “justice” do not exist outside of human perception and consciousness. A constantly rearranging balance is the fundamental dynamic of the Universe but it is neither fair or just. It is misleading and dangerous to confuse dynamic equilibrium - balance, with the concepts of fariness and justice. Such confusion leads to the myth that fairness and justice are dispensed from some higher authority when in fact the administration of such ideals is solely the province of human compassion. In the Bible, the Q'uran, the Vedas and all religious apocrypha God and gods exhibit manifestly unjust behavior. Likewise, most activity on Earth, such as “Nature, red in tooth and claw”, volcanoes, earthquakes etc., . is random and governed only by balance as the animals eat and the rocks shift. Only with the rise of self-conscious humanity does balance take on the aspects of fairness and justice - critical manifestations of empathy and compassion.

2013 12 04

None of our primate cousins appear to be infected with the peculiar malady known as Modesty. None seem to find it necessary to weave cloth or skin their neighbors in order to fabricate apparel designed to obscure their genitals.

2013 12 03

Collecting the experiences of a lifetime is a lonely business in that only a fraction of what a person collects can be shared; the rich background that is the nursery for the context out of which such sharing is constructed remains incidentally private and mostly ineffable.

 2013 12 02

Pull quote from an article about a newly established Climate Change Taskforce:

Obama's efforts to win congressional legislation on climate change have run afoul of Republicans who say that new environmental regulations would slow the economy.

Here, in one sentence we find the fundamental and potentially fatal flaw that is embedded in the organizing myth of oer culture - Growth is Good. In lockstep with that myth Republicans feel that they are absolved of any ecological responsibility by intoning the growth mantra. The fact is that we cannot sustain open-ended growth and we must concentrate our efforts on establishing an acceptable level of comfortable sustainability.

2013 12 01

I have, more than occasionally, found myself puzzled by the question, “to what end this meditation business?” - and today I find an answer: to refine my ability to engender satori moments in self and others. Why? Because knowing feels good (and I am, after all, a sensualist) - it is an end unto itself, for both the teacher and the teached (sic). I may not be able to divert foolish humanity from its rush to consume itself but at least I shall make sure to have some fun trying.

 2013 11 30

When I lived in Southeast Asia during the Bush years I noticed that expats from the States had become guarded and somewhat reticent about announcing that they were in fact Americans. I find that a similar, almost apologetic reluctance to be identified as a Republican is beginning to surface in the United States of today.

2013 11 29

It's comforting, if a bit frustrating to realize that a global well-being fund of one trillion dollars would allow every person on Earth a bonus check of $143.00.

2013 11 28

Some time ago I created the word, "intellectuate". A working definition is, "to force the intellect to associate known elements into a concatenation that produces a more complex state of abstraction". Or perhaps, "…induces a matriculation to a higher plane of abstraction". A sort of mentational synergy if you will.

2013 11 27

Living in a culture such as exists in the developed world of today you can do almost anything you want (within the scope of law and custom) - the secret is learning what to want.

2013 11 26

It is worth noting that the construct "God" isn't necessary for the universe to exist. It is however a word that serves as a useful mechanism for expressing the elusively ineffable. And "blessings" are those pockets of grace that we humans create as we meld our compassion into the transcendent enfolding of one another. This is why I don't feel hypocritical when I occasionally say, “God Bless You.”

2013 11 25

to:  Various outraged world leaders on the subject of spying.

from:  Every government that possesses the capability of electronic eavesdropping:

We are extremely apologetic for having caused you shock and dismay, but did you think we developed all this fancy-schmancy surveillance equipment so we could spy on ourselves?”

2013 11 24

Headline from ThaiVisa Forum referring to the fire that sent Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan scurrying last week:

Lampang City Halts Activities at Movie Set that Burned Down on Wednesday

Might as well - can't dance


2013 11 23

It seems to have become commonplace for today's “journalists”, when interviewing people in a post-disaster circumstance to ask questions such as, “And how does it feel to see your entire life swept away by the tornado?” or, “Tell us, what it's like to have your wife, child and family dog slaughtered by a deranged gunman while shopping at the UgorgeSuperMall?”

These intrusive, self-answerable questions are nothing less than intellectual cannibalism.

2013 11 22

Yesterday, the 21st of November - the day the Democratic Party grew a set of testicles.

2013 11 21

It is time for the people of this planet to declare a moral cap on personal wealth. So as to not hurt anyone's feelings let's say 2 billion dollars, combined liquid assets and invested holdings. All monies generated beyond the cap to be placed in an international general welbeing fund. Such a fund would be best administered by Jesus but since he's not available a revolving “Committee of the Compassionate” would be established. Those individuals who reach the cap would automatically be enrolled in an annual competition to see who would claim bragging rights for giving the most to charity, thus keeping the necessary fires of ambition stoked.

2013 11 20

The United States should establish a national lottery based on choosing which city will host the next mass shooting. The proceeds to be split 33/33/33 between the winners, the victims' families and local municipal infrastructure.

2013 11 19

The concept of euthanasia presents a vast array of ethical and moral conundrums for doctors, theologians, philosophers, politicians, etc. I have always favored the idea that a person should have the right make a final, conscious decision about end of life issues.

Now comes a hideous catch-22.

Here's the proposition: Having thoughtfully and consciously decided that quality of life is paramount, I've declared that heroic measures are not to be invoked on my behalf in the event of a debilitating condition. However, as time passes I fall prey to some form of dementia and in that state no longer consider suicide an attractive option.

In short, I'm losing my mind and the new, diminished mind doesn't want to die...but the old, fully functional mind did!

Which mind prevails?

2013 11 18

Pity the poor Obama “impeachers”. They have even less substantive material to work with than their goofy predecessors, the “birthers'. For these folks seeing a “black” man in the “White” House must be like ground glass to the soul. They would be side-show slapstick hilarious if they weren't so tragically misaligned.

2013 11 17

A recent press release, the origin of which seems a bit obscure, states that a consortium of Christian attorneys representing The CSO Amalgamated (Cherubim, Seraphim and Ophanim), is seeking an injunction to force the city of New Orleans to stop using the term “Saints” to identify its football team.

2013 11 16

A tasty idea: “left-overs” potluck the day before payday.

2013 11 15

My great fear for the 2016 election is that the sleepy-headed American voters will will be seduced by the gruff charm of Chris Christie and embrace him as some sort of reincarnated Harry Truman. To do so would be to miss the fact that he is wrong on virtually all humane and compassionate issues, and like most conservative politicians looks to the past rather than the future for solutions to socially dynamic issues that have no precedent in human history.

2013 11 14

I wonder how many realize that the recent typhoon disaster in the Philippines might have been averted or certainly reduced in severity if a conscientious approach to solving the problem of global climate change had been adopted 20 years ago.

2013 11 13

I once heard it said that contrary to the common perception, we are not human beings seeking to have a spiritual experience, but rather we are spiritual being seeking to have a human experience. Though I don't adhere to such a notion it is nonetheless an intriguing perspective and led me to speculate, “Why not, as well, spiritual beings seeking a dolphin experience? Especially since the dolphins always appear to be having so much fun?” Other similar options are obviously available for contemplation.

2013 11 12

I am asked why I oppose the practice of capital punishment; and I respond: Because it's not OK to kill. When a culture says that it is OK to kill it unleashes a human quality of savagery that we could well do without. When Hitler preached that it was OK to kill, otherwise normal people began killing their Jewish neighbors. In America when the geographic imperative said it was OK to kill Indians, people suspended their humanity and killed with abandon. There are countless other examples. This willingness to destroy others is apparently deeply rooted in us.

So, what survival dynamic is served by the suspension of empathy that permits one person to deprive another, obviously similar being, of the same life we so personally cherish? Or, differently stated, how is it that the human mind can be so constructed that the death of one so similarly configured can be countenanced blithely? What perceptual quirk exists that permits the failure to register the life-force of the other person as identical to our own?

If our goal is the creation of a kinder, more compassionate, healthier society, from a practical standpoint the question must be: How shall we identify and define that element of human psychology that permits such gross disassociation? And the answer certainly will not be found by destroying, through capital punishment, the repositories of the undesirable, even defective quality.

2013 11 11 - Veteran's Day

Buffy St Marie said it best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYEsFQ_gt7c

2013 11 10

Inattentiveness may not cause you to lose anything, but you will surely fail to gain.

2013 11 09

If the son-of-a-bitch who introduced roll-overs to the internet ever has the misfortune of meeting me on the street he will be treated to an on-the-spot vasectomy accomplished with a claw hammer.

2013 11 08

Sometimes I wonder why I wonder why; sigh.

(9/17ths haiku)

2013 11 07

It is just as important that business keep out of government as that government keep out of business.” - Herbert Hoover.

* * * * * * * * * * *

His first premise is an ethical necessity; the second, if adopted, a moral disaster.

2013 11 06

As a younger man I enjoyed the benefit of acquaintance with a man of philosophical turn of mind, Emil Mortel, father of my dearest friend. I make bold to borrow from Max, as he was known to us, who suggested that there exists, “a worm at the heart of humanity”. Despite the seeming verity of this observation, I submit that consciously enacted good works far outnumber any deliberately perpetrated evil deeds. The fact that much misery and suffering occurs on this planet is not denied here. But most of the suffering does not stem from intentional acts of one human inflicting harm upon another. Rather, such grief is the result of natural disaster, incidental poverty, and various forms of disease. People generally only make decisions that work to the detriment of others in service to their own survival, not because harm is the goal. In this light any such “worm” can be seen as a dynamic of individual sustenance rather than a fatal flaw.

 2013 11 05

"Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers." --- Voltaire

I like to think that this is an essential element of the mission of this website.

2013 11 04

I reject the often-intoned equal balance between good and evil. The notion that good must be “balanced” by an equal amount of evil runs contrary to common sense. In fact it is nothing more than a misapprehension of of the basic dynamic of the Universe - positive and negative energy in flux.

2013 11 03

Slowly going blind is providing a unique platform for engendering self-observation in a phenomenological context. I am constantly testing the limits and extents of my changing perceptual abilities and observing my reactions to what I can no longer do as contrasted to what I can. This heightened self-awareness is an unlooked for benefit accruing from a disability.

2013 11 02

The book I'm reading, "Lone Survivors" by Chris Stringer, makes convincing arguments that interbreeding took place, back in the day, between possibly 6 or 7 different non-sapiens hominid species, all the way up to and including our buddies Neanderthal. And when you consider that normal, rational humans of today can apparently mate with Republicans and conceive viable offspring I suppose you must conclude that the practice continues even now.

2013 11 01

We note that a single bad act can erase a lifetime of good works. Does this mean that good is so fragile? To the contrary: good is held in such high esteem that when it falters our disappointment is so keen that we besmirch its very memory.

 2013 10 31

A persistent attachment to the comforting fantasies associated with gods and religions is mostly harmless for common folk. However, politicians, scientists and priests do have this luxury.

2013 10 30

Three deeply held but deeply flawed human assumptions work to frustrate efforts to manage our planetary sustainability. They are:

1 - God will provide;

2 - Science will fix;

3 - Earth's bounty is inexhaustible.

Far too many people still fundamentally believe in the fiction of God.

Far too many educated people regard science as having attributes of the miraculous.

Mathematics is elusive and so most people do not understand the finite relationship between the apparent vastness of the planet's resources and the the ever-increasing population which must employ those resources to survive.

2013 10 29

Three propositions that lend credence to the idea that life is not limited to our planet:

1 - the discovery of exo-planets;

2 - meteorites found on Earth that contain elementary amino acid compounds;

3 - the mind-boggling variety and insistence of life's manifestations here on Earth.

2013 10 28

When dining you must divorce yourself from the notion that you must "clean your plate" - that's kid's stuff. And your remaindered scraps will not serve to aid the starving chlidren in Albania or China er even San Rafael. As an adult your only obligation is to eat to satiety, keeping in mind that your brain doos not get the message of fullness from your stomach until 20 minutes after the first bite. So if you want to lose some weight, eat slowly.

2013 10 27

I find it entertaining to think of the Dark Matter of the Universe as being similar to the fascia of human body - not particularly visibly accessible but without which the structure collapses.

2013 10 26

Meditation is a function of repetitive perception - if you persistently perceive of yourself as being in a state of grace you will be in a state of grace.

2013 10 25

Headline this morning:

PEOPLE ON STORM-HIT JAPAN ISLAND TAKE SHELTER AS NEW STORM LOOMS

Tom Doubter observes: Often considered to be prudent behavior, as seen in the adage: “Having enough sense to come in out of the rain”.

2013 10 24

Marconi's first broadcast takes place in approximately 1902 therefore radio waves emanating from the Earth can have reached no further out than 111 light years - a very short cosmic distance. No exo-planets have been detected within that range.

2013 10 23

After discarding Gods and invisible overarching "purpose", what I find to be worthy is love (which includes friendship), and beauty in all its individuated aspects.

2013 10 22

Headline: GLOBAL WARMING LINKED TO WILDFIRES

Upon reading this Homer Simpson was heard to mutter, “Duh”

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/global-warming-linked-to/856892.html

2013 10 21

Everyone starts out being an atheist. No one is born with belief in anything. Infants are atheists until they are indoctrinated.” ---- Andy Rooney

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I must disagree. Religion did not originate with indoctrination. Religion is born of mystery, confoundment, puzzlement, as well as an insistence upon knowing how and why things are the way they are. So deep is this compulsion that Mankind is driven to manufacture improbable, even impossible intellectual structures such as gods to provide the necessary sense of relief from the ineluctable itch of not-knowing.

2013 10 20

pull-quote from Channel News Asia:

The United Nations marked World Food Day on Wednesday, warning against food waste as 842 million people go hungry and stressing the importance of healthy diets amid rising obesity.”

Some compositions simply transcend irony.

2013 10 19

Some people make insightful observations as a happenstance along the way to greatness. Others compose pithy pronouncements in the hope of achieving greatness.

2013 10 18

In a world where meaning is infused by the individual not revealed from on-high, not an integral building block of the univeres it is an existential imperative to discover and pursue one's, "life's work".

2013 10 17

History has been witness to many situations where populations were forced to relocate due to environmental degradation. The problem for today's population is that the retreat areas are shrinking fast as envionmental degradation grows increasingly widespread. While I am not a wing-nut survivalist I nevertheless don't want to die as a result of a 10-day water contamination event or a two-week food chain breakdown. Whil no one can avoid accidents it is nevertheless prudent to devote reasonable attention to those aspects of human environmental malfeasance we can protect ourselves from, and perhaps even minimize.

2013 10 16

One may find abortion ethically repugnant but morally it is a necessary construct of personal and social responsibility. It is immoral to bring an unwanted child into the world and it is immoral to negligently add another mouth to feed in an over-populated world.

2013 10 15

Remember when going to the theater turned into a community sing? Follow the bouncing ball. I wonder just how common that practice was?

(cf Sullivan's Travels on the field trip to the local cinema; also, the "Flying Trapeze" sing-along in "It Happened One Night",)

Such tradition is of course kept alive by Pete Seeger's regular exhortation of his audinece to join him in song. Each of these represent an expression of the commonality of emotional experience.

Today does Facebook etc. provide the same sense of community? I can't believe such social media can duplicate that sort of depth of feeling.

2013 10 14

If the law is upheld only by government officials, then all law is at an end.." --- Herbert Hoover

Aptly observed; law and government are inextricably bound and both must be constantly and vigilantly reviewed so as to avoid ossification.

2013 10 13

In an infinite Universe anything's possible - even Ted Cruz. Unfortunately.

2013 10 12

Given that the physical components that make up my body are fundamentally as old as the formation of the Earth, what is to say that the components that comprise my thoughts are not equally venerable? My body, after all is merely the temporarily arranged collection of nutrients and minerals extracted from the Earth's ancient soil. Those components have been here all along, waiting for me to be the unique configuration that is me. My thoughts may very well bear the same antiquity, likewise waiting to coalesce into coherence.

2013 10 11

It seems to me that people who put the United States in peril are behaving treasonously. Damaging our credibility in world financial markets is perilous. Therefore, John Boehner and his Tea Party cronies are traitors.

 2013 10 10

People who evade the law in our society are known as criminals.

Obamacare, The Affordable Healthcare Act, is the law.

Members of Congress are seeking to evade this law.

Therefore, those members are behaving as criminals.

2013 10 09

In all societies governed by laws, attempting to circumvent those laws is considered, at the very least unethical if not outright illegal. The Affordable Healthcare Act is in fact the law in the United States. It therefore follows that any member of Congress, either Senator or Representative, who votes in a fashion that would inhibit the execution of the law is certainly acting unethically and perhaps illegally.

2013 10 08

Winfrey suggesting  that a guest is not an atheist, “I think if you believe in the awe and the wonder and the mystery then that is what God is… It’s not a bearded guy in the sky.”

I submit that one does not “believe” in awe and wonder, one experiences such. And such experience does not require “belief”. Rather, belief would have the effect of obscuring, tainting, occulting the experience by attempting label or pigeonhole it with explanation.

2013 10 07

quarketc>hadron>atom>molecule>mineral>vegetable>animal>intelligence>consciousness>self-consciousness>??

 2013 10 06

Gods don't kill people; people with Gods kill people” --- anonymous

2013 10 05

The American jurisprudence system is fundamentally flawed in withholding from juries prior bad acts of defendants. Such denial presupposes that people are incapable of judging the crime at issue as an independent act. Simultaneously, judges instruct juries to “disregard” some piece of prejudicial testimony that sneaks in. If they can do one they can do the other, n'est pas?

2013 10 04

Once upon a time when I was young we had a babysitter by the name of Ida. Ida was a rather tough-minded Filipina who didn't take much guff from her charges. One morning she was fixing our breakfast and it was to be oatmeal. I said to her, “But we wanted cold cereal”. She immediately countered with,

Then you should have had your Mother make the oatmeal last night.”

Ka-boom!

2013 10 03

What is the purpose of Life? The purpose of Life is to provide a platform for the promotion of consciousness. Then...what is the purpose of consciousness??

2013 10 02

Everyone knows that they exist. They may not stop to think on it particularly but they innately know. The key to transcendence (assuming that's what is sought) is knowing that you know.

 2013 10 01

In the long run, we are all footnotes in the histories of each other's lives. Each of us is the author and embodiment of such narratives and the footnotes provide the color and context that round out the experience of composition.

 2013 09 30

Don't you sometimes wish you could find that goddamned door in the back of the closet so you could duck through and visit your friends in Narnia?

2013 09 29

The human body is a construct that is 55% to 75% water, depending on diet, metabolism and environmental factors. Considering that all of the water on Earth has always been here since the formation of the planet some 4 billion years ago, it would seem that a great deal of recycling has been going on. Have you ever wondered just where your water came from? Where it's been? How old it is? What transformations it has been through before becoming an intrinsic part of you? And of course, what becomes of it when you're done with it...

2013 09 28

Years ago I made up the acronym, IMP - for Intention, Meaning, and Purpose. It is useful to note that none of these can be demonstrated to exist independent of human consciousness.

 2013 09 27

Tom Doubter to his friend, T. Bleever: “I can't feature how someone of your intellectual perspicacity can avoid being an atheist.”

Well Tom, I'm terrified of oblivion.”

Tom replied: ”Hmm; once you were there how would you know to be afraid?”

 2013 09 26

I was raised to question authority and deconstruct ossified societal norms that insult and degrade women, minorities and other disenfranchised people. I was raised an American patriot who was taught to see the greatness of the American ideal, an ideal that can only be realized by establishing system of governance with equality, compassion and conscience as its foundation. I was raised to understand that accepting the status quo is not good citizenship – each of us must strive to make our family, our home, our country - kinder, more generous and more conscientious. And we do this, not by looking not backward for what worked in the past, but forward toward new constructions and always with a firm grasp upon The Golden Rule.

 2013 09 25

We the People in order to form a perfect comprehension do declare an end to agenda driven drivel and self-serving hyperbole. Iconoclasts and demagogues are hereby invited to stand down from public office in favor of men and women who are capable of stating and defending the public weal.

 2013 09 24

China's maritime ambitions are founded in population pressure and the need for more sustenance from the sea. Combined with other over-harvest issues I perceive a positive feedback disaster will escalate into The Asian-Pacific War, or WW3. How involved the Western powers become in this mess is a matter of more than passing interest.

 2013 09 23

Curdled coriander coolers caused corpulent corporals considerable consternation.

2013 09 22

The myriod Experiences of Life are best measured, not in the quantity of minutes, rather the quality of time.  ----------- (with special thanks to Lee Henrichs)

 2013 09 21

The contemplation of beauty, the experience of intense liking (some call it love), the absorption of pondering - once again we visit the meaning of life.

 2013 09 20

It is easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”

--------------- Mark Twain

 2013 09 19

From an international perspective American “exceptionalism” is might be considered a dubious claim. However in at least two areas there can be no debate: we are exceptionally destructive with our guns and we are exceptionally callous about our sick and wounded.

2013 09 18

Riddle me this: Inasmuch as we, the human species, determinod a great many years ago that chemical weapons are forbidden to us, how is it that chemical weapons exist at all?

 2013 09 17

Always remember: Stale chocolate cake is better than no chocolate cake.

(with a grateful nod to Hermann Hesse)

2013 09 16

It is time for the lexicon of science to mature and move away from the implied Creationism inherent in the term “Big Bang” which suggests some sort of First Cause to the Universe. A better term is the acronym, COREM – the Currently Organized Reconstitution of Energy/Matter.

2013 09 15

God” is best interpreted as a make-believe word to describe the various events and phenomena we don't yet comprehend; its potency is commensurate with our fear of the unknown.

2013 09 14

One 21st century teen to another: "Can you imagine growing up in a world where the only genitals you ever saw were you own?”

2013 09 13

Life, although cosmologically meaningless, remains functionally fascinating – hence I continue.

2013 09 12

I describe myself as a”socialist” because the civil dynamics embraced by socialism most closely represent the kind society I wish to live in.

2013 09 11

If you mis-hear someone's name it is less embarrassing to ask for clarification early than it is to be corrected later.

2013 09 10

The gambling known as business looks with austere

disfavor upon the business known as gambling”

----- Ambrose Bierce


Yes, and the business known as gambling looks with quietly bemused disdain at the gamble known as 'business'."

----- Tom Doubter

2013 09 09

Being anti-gay belies a deeper disquiet about sexuality in general. It reveals a fear of vulnerability, a disquiet relating to all things feminine, The notion that one might be found attractive by another male puts one at risk of being “feminized” and therefore vulnerable. This deeply and pervasively misogynistic thinking reveals yet another “worm at the heart of humanity”, to borrow a phrase from Emil Mortel.

2013 09 08

The simple resolutions to Olbers' Paradox is that the infinite, eternal Universe is vast, so vast that stars come and go over a span of time and distance that isolates the light of any given star and relegates such illumination to the status of "temporary". A star is born, expends its energy and then winks out, leaving a void that we perceive as darkness.

2013 09 07

In crafting your powers of observation it is likely that not all that is observable will be pleasant to observe. However, the sense of self-esteem that blossoms in knowing that you are capable of observing is well worth such discomfort.

2013 09 06

It would appear that there are significant risks to one's sanity associated with becoming POTUS. Lyndon Johnson stood for many good and forward-thinking things – America's illegal and cruel interference in Southeast Asian domestic affairs was not one of them. In like fashion Barack Obama is a visionary man with compassion and idealism as defining elements of the psychology he brings to the office. Sadly however, he appears to have been seduced by the destructive fiction that the United States occupies some moral high-ground that legitimizes dropping bombs into sovereign nations.

The disintegration of ethics that such a stance represents is very disappointing and will leave many of us who supported a revising vision of America manifested by Barack Obama quite disconsolate.

2013 09 05

Recent research seems to indicate that prolonged exposure to Facebook -type social networks boosts testosterone production. So I guess Humanity's future looks like a bunch of vaguely disconsolate older fellows suffering from throbitis chasing after middle-aged semi-bearded women.

2013 09 04

In the midst of our very busy and important lives it is important to remember to stop for a moment and give mental houseroom to, “The Fleeting Thought”.

2013 09 03

Question: What is the point of being alive?

Answer: The point of being alive is to experience thought. Thought can take many forms - love, sex, flavor, smell, tingle, vision, sound - all are at some level definable as thought. We are not put here, as W. H. Auden so succinctly put it, "to do good for others". (Note of course that he succeeded that observation bemusedly with, "What others are put here for I don't know.") In fact, we are not "put" here at all - we simply are here. And since we are here it seems to me that we ought to experience as much thought as we possibly can.

2013 09 02

I would suggest that one need look no further than the scrotum to conclude that "Intelligent Design" had nothing to do with the evolution of the human body.

2013 09 01

In a novel twist of justice India has decided to prosecute tho gang-rape of a foreign photographer as a "crime against the State", reasoning that such behavior casts a poor light on the country as a whole.

2013 08 31

To my surprise I discover that I have a hobby - I am constantly constructing new metaphors to make the ineffable experience a more accessible one.

2013 08 30

When the period of meditation concludes and one again dons the clothing of worldly interaction, one does so with an undefinable yet palpable sense of self-possession - feelings that suggest that whatever situation may be presented, "I can accommodate, it to me or me to it."

2013 08 29

from ChannelNewsAsia - "Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel warned fellow defense ministers on Thursday that a growing number of maritime incidents and tensions in disputed Asian waters could increase the risk of a dangerous international confrontation."

We were forced to watch our lame-brained Congress engage in an imbecilic spectacle of confirmation so that we can pay this man big bucks for insightful political analysis such as this. Sheeesh!

2013 08 28

Headline from ChannelNewsAsia:

Rising Sexual Violence Puts Spotlight on India's Judicial System

Strikes me that the "spotlight" might be more appropriately aimed at the dysfunctional social psychology brought on by demongraphic madness and dire economic distress.

2013 08 27

Can "thought" be considered as organic? A notion born of the observable phenomenon that emotions have organic origins - fear produces an adrenaline response, oxcytocin seems to engender a "love" response, etc.

That thought may be influenced  by emotion/organic stimulus is not subject to debate, but this does not address the more fundamental questions relating to the actual origins of "thought". Emotions are definable as survival dynamic responses to environment; thought it seems to me, is the capacity to interpret these responses and make decisions that are not instinctual.

 2013 08 26

As we grow up we come to forgive our parents for the gentle fictions of Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairy. In like fashion we are compelled by our common sense to forgive our culture for saddling us with religion.

2013 08 25

Just a quick reminder: Epistemology is the study of how we know what we know, not the rather earthier study of urination.

2013 08 24

Can consciousness exist independent of tho sophisticated organization of matter known as life?

A question prompted by a friend's assertion that evolution is a natural development of consciousness, in contrast to my stating that consciousness is a natural development of evolution.

2013 08 23

Score one for my pal, The Infinite Universe!

"In 2003 the Ultra Deep Field Camera of The Hubble Space Telescepe was pointed at what appeared to be the emptiest piece of the night sky and the film exposed for a million seconds (approximately 11 days). The resulting picture showed tens of thousands of hitherto unknown galaxies, each consisting of hundreds of millions of stars, stretching away into the dim reaches of the Universe."

                                                                      -------------from The Book of General Ignorance

2013 08 22

I am entranced by the clouds in majestic profusion as seen looking East while onboard the Northbound train:

sometimes the crowned heads of kings, sometimes the faces of Greek philosophers, sometimes the voluptuous breasts of temple maidens;

a rushing elephant, a hippo with his mouth raised, a giraffe at extension;

and sometimes sculpture entirely of the clouds alone - magnificent in their grandeur, soaringly transcendent of earthbound comparisons.

This is the stuff of idle minutes and hours on a train.

2013 08 21

Even if one were to accept the rather obviously debunked notion that being homosexual was somehow a matter of "choice", where could one find the psychological, ethical or moral basis for discrimination, meanness and opprobium?

2013 08 20

The thing aboutme is that I don't seek or damand an end to mystery - rather I seek greater and greater mystery. I seek to expand the question base, uncover more to ponder.

2013 08 19

Where does power come on this planet? It is interesting and useful to note that the foundation of our power resource remains water. Hydroelectric dams and nuclear reactors are both engaged in harnessing water to generate electricity. We do not in any real sense harness "atomic power" for any application more sophisticated than boiling water to produce steam to turn turbines, thereby extracting electricity from magnetism.

2013 08 18

"Free will is the wiggle that absolves God of responsibility his creations and their rather less than admirable behaviors." ----------- Deborah Newbury

2013 08 17

Shorthand version of "Life":

sub-atomic particles>atoms>molecules>amino acids>proteins>compounds>mineral>vegetable>animal mind>consciousness>self-consciousness>universal consciousness

2013 08 16

I live in the hope that my intellectual perspicacity is tempered by my emotional vulnerability.

(Note the author's employment of interchangeable phrases. --- Tom Doubter)

2013 08 15

There are people who excoriate the Green movement as “anti-human”. They likewise suggest that those who advocate a respectful relationship with our natural resources are placing “the environment” above humanity. Apparently what these people don't seem to grasp is that the environment being saved is inextricably coincident with the one they require.

2013 08 14

The misapprehended myth insinuates into dogma which creeps into tyranny. This form of usurpation of common sense is to be avoided at all cost.

2013 08 13

The problem with doing housework is that nobody particularly notices that you're doing it until you stop doing it.

2013 08 12

COREM (Currenly Organized Reconstitution of Energy/Matter) revisited: the fact that observations in quantum physics yield such bizarre results has led some theorists to go so far as to suggest that within its organizing principles, "something can from nothing" - an obvious absurdity born of the human insistence upon "first causes".

2013 08 11

Articulate artisans abjure asinine assumptions as addicted adoration at antiquated altars.

2013 08 10

Making a wrong decision is understandable. Failing to investigate how it was made is irresponsible.

2013 08 09

People who think too much are doomed to living examined - and thus more fulfilling - lives.

2013 08 08

from Quotes of the Day, May 5, 2013:

The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
Søren Kierkegaard, 1813 - 1855

                                        ***

from Pelkey's Ponderings, 2012 12 26:


Prayer is less an effort to establish communication with God than it is an attempt to manipulate one's circumstances.

2013 08 07

As the world's poor and unenfranchised starve out of existence are we witnessing economic genocide dictated by plutocrats or a predictable mechanism of survival of the fittest dictated by natural selection?

2013 08 06

To propose that human intelligence has an extraterrestrial origin is ultimately unsatisfactory because it doesn't anwser the fundamental question it merely moves it to another planet. Then we must ask, "How did those LGM get so smart?" And at that point we must ponder further, "Where does smartness come from? -- How does smartness arise?"

2013 08 05

It took Gaia, or Mother Nature, or Elan Vital three and half billion years to produce the human race, casting aside billions of species to arrive at one that could actually think reflectively. And yet, here in the 21st century humanity refuses to do so, squandering its planetary resources with suicidal abandon.

2013 08 04

If we humans are the creation of some God then we have expectations to live up to, a hope to be realized, possibly a destiny to fulfill - in all cases we are thus circumscribed. If, on the other hand we are the serendipitous accident, the natural, inevitable product of an evolving Universe, we are gloriously, totally free.

2013 08 03

"I was young once; it doesn't seem to have done me any permanent harm." -------- Tom Doubter

2013 08 02

The problem occurs when people treat capitalism as a philosophy instead of an economic dynamic, thereby elevating free enterprise into a moral position rather than natural and ethical ambition.

2013 08 01

If you dream the proper dreams, and share the myths with people, they will want to grow up to be like you.”
     - 
Ray Bradbury, 1920 - 2012

2013 07 30


Francis may turn out to be the reform Pope and as such I am happy at the suffering he will alleviate, but ultimately I'd prefer that the Church maintain its more outmoded and repulsive doctrines and thus continue to drive itself into irrelevance and insignificance.

2013 07 26


"You cannot have power for good without having power for evil too. Even mother's milk nourishes murderers as well as heroes. " - ---- G B Shaw


This and other baseless platitudes regarding good and evil are common and vicious misconception of human potential that have led to unimaginable unhappiness born of frustration and an embarrassing complacency.

 2013 07 24


The Gaia hypothesis is useful as an admontion that is vital to our survival. But it is nevertheless an anthropomorphic misapprhension - the Universe, while fundamentally alive behaves so without sentiment and without "respect" for the creations of its vitality. The Gaia hypothesis too readily suggests a certain conscious intention which I must reject. That the event of consciousness grows ever more sophisticated, complex and self-reflective seems demonstrably axiomatic (albeit in seeming controversion to entropy), but it does so naturally, without reason or teleology. Another way of addressing this is to note that it is a mistake to grant Gaia an "identity" or "personality". (Though in a figurative cosmic view both might be applied to Earth by some other Gaia-type ecosystem denizens; in this view we humans might be seen as "spokescreatures" for our Gaia.)

2013 07 22


Positive and negative energy exists in near equal proportion to each other, in all probability switching dominance regularly in the ebb and flow of the dynamism of the Universe. True equilibrium would result in stasis, a condition demonstrably not so.

2013 07 20


When President Barack Obama chose to speak out and identify the "900 pound gorilla" on the scene with George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, he demonstrated the kind of bravery that should define America while at the same time revealing his commitment to the promulgation of the ideals embodied in our constitution. He was willing to ask us to address the obvious - Zimmerman doesn't confront and kill nigger-boy if nigger-boy isn't an Afro-American. Those who fail to recognize that this ugly dynamic was at work in this tragedy are living in a form of denial that will only serve to perpetuate the insidious undercurrents of racism in America.

2013 07 16


The notion that the Earth was "seeded" by some extraterrestrial intelligence, while entertaining and even possible, begs the fundamental and much more interesting question, which is, "How did those aliens get so smart?"

2013 07 15


Nasrudin's neighbor asked to borrow his donkey
for a few days. Nasrudin agreed, but under one
condition:


"This is a good, hardworking donkey, but
it is very sensitive and delicate. it must be cared for
with real attention, treated with kindness, and guided
by encouraging speech and cajoling… do not ever
attempt to make it follow instructions by harsh orders
or by force!"
The kindhearted neighbor readily agreed, but some days later he brought back the donkey, quite angry, and said to Nasrudin:


"I followed your advice, and got it the best hay and sweetest water, kept it in the shade and protected from wind. I treated
the ass like a child - petting , singing to it, convincing -
but it didn't agree even to move! only ate and drank,
but otherwise took no step as required. I am very
disappointed, Nasrudin!"
"Sorry, forgot to tell you...wait a moment", said Nasrudin.


Returning promptly, he produced a stout, heavy wooden
stick, and dealt the donkey a mighty blow right between
the eyes.


"What are you doing?! You said to treat the donkey with utmost kindness!!" shouted the surprised neighbor.


"This is very true" said Nasrudin, "but i forgot to tell you
that most important is to get it's attention first!"

2013 07 14


I find that I am disappointed that no convulsive civil unrest attended the Zimmerman verdict. Not because I take pleasure in destruction but rather, I lament the abscence of a sense of outrage. Citizens should rail and rise up in protest when a young man is slaughtered merely for being black in the wrong place.

2013 07 13


Blindly depending upon science to extricate us from the impending disasters brought about by our mismanagement of the planet's resources is tantamount to believing that "God" will somehow intecede. Trying to extract optimism or hope from either one is naive self-deception. Hope cannot be born of “faith”. Hope must have its foundation in reality -the tangible evidence of possibility.

2013 07 12


I seek to avoid accidental behavior and therefore I observe that closing a door should be an act of volition.

2013 07 11


It appears to me that there are four things required if mankind is to colonize space and other planets.

1 – the establishment of artificial, manipulable gravity fields;


2 – some form of universal translation mechanism;


3 – “warp drive” or its equivalent;


4 – we must solve the problem of time distortion due to velocity. This is a sub-set of #3: if travel can take place outside of "normal" time and space (wormholes etc.) then the time distortion problem should be averted. The answer to this conundrum likely lies in quantum physics where particles have been shown to act instantaneous upon one another, any distance notwithstanding. Clearly such particles are motile at a rate greater than the speed of light. Harnessing this phenomenon to our use presents a significant hurdle since, as Richard Feynman observed, nobody truly understands quantum physics.

2013 07 10


Altering reality is really no big trick: the current reality is that there is no cherry pie in my house. It exists in potential - I have flour, can obtain cherries, can employ the oven, etc. I can therefore change reality by engaging in certain activities. After some time passes and some energy is expended reality has been changed: the now reality is that there is cherry pie in my house. How far into abstraction this truth can ascend is of course a topic for meditation.

2013 07 09


An increasing body of evidence suggests that the nature of the Universe is to be alive, sometimes in potential, other times in motile dynamism.

2013 07 08


from ChannelNewsAsia


http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/top-retailers-pledge-to/737626.html


Top retailers pledge to make Bangladesh factories safeSeventy top retailers pledged to open up their Bangladesh factories to safety inspections within nine months as part of a pact finalised Monday in the wake of a deadly garment factory collapse.


* * * * * * *


Now there's a headline to make one seethe. "Why 9 months?" one is moved to ask. Are the current conditions so deplorable that exposing them to immediate inspection would be a public relations disaster? Or do they imagine that in 9 months the world will have gone about its other business and left them to continue grinding humans into bloody dust in the interest of profit? Either way a nine month hiatus from public scrutiny is an unconscionable and despicable example of soulless capitalism continuing to sacrifice the lives of the desperately poor on the altar of greed.

 2013 07 07


In today's world this pair of headlines is poignantly bizarre:


AT LEAST 80 PEOPLE MISSING IN CANADA TRAIN INFERNO


TWO KILLED AS ASIANA JET CRASHES IN SAN FRANCISCO


(harvested from ChannelNewsAsia.com)

 2013 07 06


Sometimes in meditation I am embraced and enswirled by glorious, cacophonous humansong...

2013 07 05


Contemplate this:


What do you get when you combine a combustible gas with a corrosive gas?


Answer: H 2 O

2013 07 04


Tom Doubter relates this story about his friend Nasrudin:


A neighbor who Nasrudin didn't like very much came over to his compound one day. The neighbor asked Nasruddin if he could borrow his donkey. Nasrudin not wanting to lend his donkey to the neighbor he didn't like told him,


"I would love to loan you my donkey but only yesterday my brother came from the next town to use it to carry his wheat to the mill to be ground. The donkey sadly is not here."


The neighbor was disappointed. But he thanked Nasrudin and began to walk away.


Just as he got a few steps away, Mulla Nasrudin's donkey, which had been in the back of his compound all along, let out a big bray.


The neighbor turned to Nasrudin and said, "Mulla, I thought you told me that your donkey was not here."


Mullah Nasruddin turned to the neighbor and said, "My friend, what do you wish to listen to? My voice or the voice of as ass?"

2013 07 03


Long-standing observation suggests that the human brain has vast areas of unrevealed potential. Current cosmological research indicates that our Universe is composed of vast areas of Dark Matter/Energy which could likewise be described as unrevealed potential.


I submit that a parallel exists - at least for purposes of meditation.

2013 07 02


The superficially enigmatic philosophical conundrum, "Why is there Something rather than Nothing?" is actually rather simply answered: There is Something because the question can be asked - if there were Nothing no questioner would exist, thus no question could be posed.

2013 07 01


Though massaged by the light of uncountable trillions of stars we still too often embrace the darkness of ignorance.

 2013 06 27


It is important to take the rejection of the DoMA out of a sexual context and keep in mind that this decision is an affirmationt of basic human rights as expressed in our Constitution. In other words this is a vindication of the fundamental truths of our way of government, as should have been the case with the voting rights act.

2013 06 26


If my meditations are so damned good do I have the right to withhold them from the world?

2013 06 21


Tears are the rainfall of emotional nourishment.

2013 06 19


On living in San Francisco:


It is an emotionally satisfying experience to live in a city that is characterized by its reputation for compassion.

2013 06 18

People who think too much are doomed to living examined lives.

2013 06 17


Humanities Pelputt's fantasy:


A possible explanation for why there is no contact after death would be that once past the death-point the experience of being is akin to awakening from a dream. You cannot re-enter the dream nor continue to converse with those in the dream because your level of consciousness does not permit such complete attentiveness to the dream-state. The awake-state has its own set of busy protocols and is thus completely absorbed in attending thereto. So it is with the "post-vivo"-state. Non-communication with those left behind is not a matter of choice - it is a functional impossibility.

***********

"Dreams are real while they last. Can we say more of life?"
     - Havelock Ellis, 1853 - 1939



2013 06 16


A sperm cell, composed of elements drawn from the father's body combines with an egg cell composed of elements drawn from the mother's body. Once joined the new, complete cell replicates and divides, drawing the material to so expand from the nutrient stores of the mother. In each case the material that was used to compose the cellular matter came out of the Earth - in the form of foodstuff, either animal, vegetable or mineral, consumed by the parents and converted into the building blocks of a new entity - namely you or me - which will grow to accomplish the same converting dynamic.


And so it goes...

2013 06 15


Is it true, as some claim, that English lacks sufficient vocabulary to embrace "denial" as a psychological concept? If so we must work to amend such lacunae.

2013 06 14


Sometimes the Silver Cord snaps suddenly and we are shocked and bewildered; other times it degrades, strand by strand and we watch helplessly as our loved ones slip further and further into oblivion.

2013 06 13


Exactly why is it that our culture demands a suicide watch on a death-row inmate?

2013 06 12


I would like to make the acquaintence of any Christian who has the temerity to suggest that human civil authority has the right to take away a gift that - according to his or her own belief system - was granted by God.

2013 06 11


The number of unjust and outright idiotic laws that exist in America make for a landscape of potential abuse that argues powerfully against the idea that universal surveillance is an acceptable idea.

2013 05 25


None of us can know who we'll never see again.

2013 05 24


Memo to the "Intelligent Design" crowd:


Placing primate male gonads in such a position as to make them appear to be some form of sexual piñata seems unnecessarily cruel…

2013 05 23


Etiology and teleology have a place in the study of the organic workings of the universe we live in, but are meaningless when applied to an attempt to grasp a cosmological whole. "Beginning" and "End" have zero significance in a Universe that is necessarily infinite and eternal.

2013 05 22


I believe the “Universe” is utterly indifferent to the existence of Mankind. It is neither fair or compassionate. To some this harks of hopelessness; to me this belief underscores the necessity for the application of love, beauty, compassion and justice in our (however brief) human lives. What an indifferent universe doesn’t grant us we are compelled to inculcate. The cosmos may not provide meaning but we do by recognizing and encouraging these qualities.

2013 05 18


Even though I'm confident that the Christian afterlife vision is prosaic nonsense as a skeptic I can't help but allow for the possibility that as my boat approaches the Heavenly shore, there stands Jesus, gently smiling as he sadly waves his finger in admonitory rejection.

2013 05 17


Mulla Nasrudin observed:   "Determind dervishes detachedly dance, deftly describing developing destiny."

2013 05 16


The talking heads consistently misinterpret the dynamics of two significant elections:


In 2008 Obama wins but mostly the country was sick of Bush and Company's lies;


In 2010 the Tea Party doesn't win if the turnout is as it was in 2008.


Neither election was a philosphical mandate for a political position.

2013 05 15


Homanity has devoted its mental resources to an unrelenting quest for longevity instead of seeking to enhance and beautify the span of life we have. Old age in a geriatric ward phsyically or mentally discommoded is not a desirable outcome of our vaunted sciences.

2013 05 14


Excerpted from Wikipedia article on Evolution:


"Natural selection occurs because only a few individuals in each generation will survive, since resources are limited and organisms produce many more offspring than their environment can support."


Humans don't produce as many disposable individuals per generation as many other species do but the cumulative effect is obvious as population grows beyond the planet's capacity to supply food and water. The human race must succumb to this same implacable evolutionary law. Nature will eventually pare down the numbers of surviving humans to conform to the limits of the natural resource base. The non-survivors will either be victims of natural disasters such as famine and water depletion or those who are crushed out of existence by the economic genocide being carried out against the world's poor. The human race will not be wiped but it will be dramatically reduced in number. And while the loss of life is tragic, it is also inevitable.

2013 05 13


No organization of human society can be wholly socialistic or wholly capitalistic. To attempt to enforce inflexible rules of behavior or conscience in accordance with a delineated philosophy is to court tyranny, which ultimately begets rebellion. Thus, neither doctrinaire socialism nor unbridled capitalism is desirable. Rather a melding of the compassionate conscience of socialism with the invigorating ambition of capitalism is what is to be sought.

2013 05 09


Consider an ocean wave reflecting the sunlight as it rolls towards the shore - each composed of a collection of molecules of water arranged in unique constitution, utterly unrepeatable. So it is with each genetic package known as individuals. And, so it is with each species - a specific, unique genetic arrangement that, once extinct can never be again. Further consider how many such presentations have been made and are still being made, not just here on Earth but everywhere in the broad Universe. For Life is ubiquitous and its manifestations are infinite.

2013 05 08


The fact that time is meaningless in the context of eternity can lead the deep thinker to conclude awry that time has no significance in its linear manifestation.

2013 05 07


Those who seek to de-construct the environmental movement as “anti-human” fail to grasp that in fact environmentalism demonstrates the highest form of regard for Humanity – the quest to preserve and sustain Earth's bounty for ourselves as well as succeeding generations.

2013 05 06


I am often convinced that my body is growing old faster than I am.

2013 05 05


Extra-terrestrial historians may one day observe that the human race found the experience of being alive so compelling that they bred themselves out of existence.

2013 05 04

"When we are forced to look into the shadowy parts of our hearts, it is comforting to remember that our souls are composed of light."  - 2012 09 30


Not long after I posted the above, a friend wondered how I, an atheist, could be comfortable using the word “soul”. So I cogitated a bit and this is what I came up with.

It appears to me that photosynthesis (or the bombardment of carbon particles by photons) seems the probable initiator of animation, which inexorably, and naturally, leads to us. From there it's not difficult to conceive of each of our cells as envelopes of photonic interaction, and we ourselves as coherent energetic forms held in temporary stasis by an as yet not fully comprehended elan vital. (That any sort of post-vivo coherence sustains seems unlikely but the possibility can't be wholly dismissed.) In any case I am content adopting the concept that the accomplishments of consciousness, compassion and conscience constitute the construction of a "soul". And since awareness, perception and illumination are the tools by which such construction is made manifest, "light" seems a definitive term in context.

2013 05 03


It is necessary to recognize existential angst as the creative goad that it must be if we are to transcend despair.

2013 05 02


In the days when I drank I tended to drink fast simply because the liquor sitting on the bar was doing nothing for me. It's only when it got inside me that it had any useful purpose.

2013 05 01


If, as it seems, the mood of the times is defeatist I may have to manufacture, believable psychological mechanism for hope – I do not care to think of myself as barometrically connected to the zeitgeist.

2013 04 30


Tom Doubter, in his role as English instructor addressed his class as follows:


Your assignment for the weekend is to read the classic, 'Brown Spot On The Ceiling' by the noted Oriental author, Hu Flung Dung.”

2013 04 29


I wonder how one decides to become a proctologist? I mean, spending one's working life being attentive to diseased assholes. But then I suppose it's not dissimilar to being a journalist covering the Congress of the United States.

2013 04 28


Speculation exists that along with such baffling phenomena as storms, dreams and death, alcoholic intoxication may have been one of the factors that propelled early societies toward organized religion.


I'll drink to that...

2013 04 27

It occurs to me that North Korea's Kim Jung Un wants to put his country on a war footing. Under war-time conditions he can propagandize his citizens into nationalistic fervor and thus convert deprivation and austerity into noble sacrifice in the name of patriotism.

 2013 04 26


It is intellectual suicide to hold an opinion simply because it is conforms to a body of thought identified as a “conservative” or a “liberal” viewpoint. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds".


2013 04 25


In his short story The Mysterious Stranger, Mark Twain eloquently excoriates "The Moral Sense" in humankind. After reading this I was moved to wonder just what element of evolutionary survival dynamics would make it possible to form a decision about "right/wrong"? When did consciousness beget conscience?

2013 04 24


If Lassie manages to convey the message that Little Timmy needs help it reveals that the dog recognized that its abilities were insufficient to the need and human help was required. This bespeaks a certain level of self-consciousness – a recognition of limitation.

2013 04 23


It is not reasonable to expect that “cutting back” will ever be an option – people and their attendant industries will not voluntarily deprive themselves of the comfort associated with consumption of fossil fuels. Therefore it is imperative that the hydrogen alternative come to pass. The use of solar energy to sustain the conversion process would seem to be the most efficacious methodology.

2013 04 22


Language is fascinating: when describing the size of a human ovum, a common comparative is to suggest that it is the size of a period (.) ...

2013 04 21


Folks occasionally ask me, “Why a website instead of a blog?” The answer is simple: I don't like the word “blog”. Blog to me sounds like some sort of dysfunction of the lower bowel and I don't care for the association.

2013 04 20


Every conceivable emotion or imagination is available from the well of the “racing mind”, which some call the “unconscious”. All thinking creatures have specific filter dynamics which serve to constrict thought into a palpable form. In the case of humans this constrictive activity can become a conscious process.

2013 04 19


The events in Boston were unquestionably hideous but I can't help but observe that those injured and killed were not more human than the numerous victims of similar violence occurring in various parts of the world.


2013 04 18


Frivolous farting, far from forbidden, frequently finds far-flung fans favoring flatulence.

 2013 04 17

Each human being is a unique concentration of energy and time, existing as a dynamic fulcrum point where the eternal past tilts toward the infinite future.

2013 04 16

"...abortion is not about ending a pregnancy; it is about not beginning a life."


This statement was embedded in a pejorative polemic authored by some right-to-life nutcase who clearly intended it as an insult to those seeking to come to grips with the questions relating to choice. I found it to be a fascinating and insightful shift in perspective – the recognition that “beginning a life” should be a glorious decision, not an “Oh shit! I'm pregnant” moment. And therefore, if sufficient gravity cannot be brought to the event then termination should be an option.

2013 04 11


A conunbrum for Evangelicals: What if Jesus came back as woman? Photoshop that beard off, add a couple of strategically placed bumps and the traditional image is transformed into a pretty nice looking babe. Certainly “Jesusa” would arrive equipped with a full complement of feminine attributes – compassion, nurturing, empathy, etc.

 2013 04 09

It seems that a pretty good theory of life's origins suggests that opportunistic meteors, carrying their complement of amino acid compounds plopped into a friendly environment here on Earth. As these chunks of space debris bumped and scraped each other in the primordial soup where they abraded each other until such time as they became agitated enough that their inherent motility was converted into animation.

2013 04 08

I am an alcoholic. I've been through rehab, AA, abstinence, relapse, rededication, relapse redux, and so on and on.

AA's first step reads in part: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol”.

Being far too egotistical to surrender so much, I amended this to read, “When I drink I am … powerless over alcohol.”


I find that I still occasionally enjoy the illusion that I am in control of my “surrender-of-control” and have a wee binge. Seeing as how it is impossible to not engage in some forms of self-deception it seems wise to learn to pick and choose which ones we will allow ourselves to be subject to.

2013 04 02

Though this site is primarily devoted to my personal observations, I couldn't resist borrowing and posting this gem:


I don't know if God exists but it would be better for his reputation if he didn't.” ---- Jules Reynard

2013 03 31

On this day it seems appropriate that Christians should recall that in their belief system all of us are God's Children and, thus, akin to Jesus, God incarnate. It would be an abdication of intellect to refuse to accept this responsibility.

2013 03 30

I am sometimes given to quizzical arithmetic notions. Like, how many hens eggs equals one ostrich egg? Or the corollary, how many omelets can you expect to make from an ostrich egg? (22 and therefore roughly 6)


And then there's this one: how many human eggs would it take to make an omelet?

2013 03 29

They call today 'Good Friday' but I must say that it certainly wasn't the best of days for the principal player in the production.”

                                                                                                          ----------------- Tom Doubter

2013 03 28

The same rationale that will be applied to repeal DOMA will, sadly, also validate California's Proposition 8. The Court will evasively and cravenly rule that Gay Marriage is a matter to be determined by each State. This is of course incorrect as the fundamental issue is one of civil rights and thus is by definition a Federal issue, defining the entire United States of America and all of her citizens.

2013 03 27

A modern version of the old “chicken or egg” conundrum: Does the sophisticated organization of energy/matter lead inexorably to consciousness, or does some incorporeal form of consciousness manipulate the organization of energy/matter?

2013 03 26

Always remember: you can't break your own rules unless you've been following them.

2013 03 25

Most of Mankind's religions mistake the biological imperative to replicate for some kind of Intention, Meaning and Purpose, or what my friend Tom Doubter refers to as, “The IMP” that plagues human consciousness.

2013 03 24

We observe that once assembled, molecules have the “ambition” to duplicate, then to animate, then to replicate; at each level of biological sophistication the native consumes a slightly larger portion of its surroundings. At some point in evolutionary history something crawled out of the sea to eat something on land; eventually we came along and began to consume everything.

2013 03 23

Given that ongoing procreation is the driving force behind all life on this planet, what survival dynamic is served by the prohibition of sexual pleasure that is so firmly embedded in Christian and Islamic doctrine?”

                                                                          ---- wondered Tom Doubter

2013 03 21

History will judge whether or not Barack Obama is a great president. But at the very least he is not a sociopathic egomaniac willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of Innocent lives in a murderous expiation of his feelings of personal inadequacy.

 2013 03 20

Harvesting wild mushrooms is not for the  ignorant or foolhardy. Or, upon consideration, even for the optimistic.

 2013 03 19

Somewhere on Earth it is dawn every passing second of the day.

 2013 03 18

Some years ago when I lived in Tehachapi California I found that I was gathering something of a library in my little cottage. Much of what was accruing was devoted to philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychology, religion, etc. but with a smattering of humor and science fiction thrown in for variety's sake. Many of my books came from second hand shops around town but I also bought from a couple of sources on the Internet such as Amazon and Alibris. On one such occasion I purchased a copy of an old Fritz Leiber book, “The Silver Eggheads”, a yarn about a future in which books churned out by machines (computers as it were).


A couple of days after I had placed the order with Alibris my phone rang and the voice on the other end of the line said that it would be cheaper and quicker if he were to simply come by my house and drop off “The Silver Eggheads”. It seems that Steve Baughman was a seller of used books who just happened to live about a mile away from me. We were to have many such meetings in the days and months to come.


Steve having now reviewed as well a augmented my library, posed a question one day the answer to which I had to ponder over for some time. In fact, I still ponder it.


Noting the preponderance of the kind of books noted above he asked,


“Why all this?”


It had never occurred to me to wonder and I sat bemused for a spell until I finally replied,


“I'm trying to figure out if there's reason for hope.”

2013 03 17

Life, at least here on Earth seems to everywhere present -- all the way from the microbes that feed tiny krill who never knew they existed, swept into the maw of the mighty blue whale who might know, to us humans who do know but can't figure out why.

2013 03 16

Morality is concocted from behavior and decisions that make you feel good counter-balanced with the empathetic perception that what feels good to me probably feels good to you as well. Doing the “right” thing may not be comfortable but extracting a vicarious pleasure from another's experience seems to promote inner harmony and a sense of well-being.

 2013 03 15

Tom Doubter and I are Just idling on the Ides...

2013 03 14

While transcribing from my Warm Springs journal I encountered my first exposure to The Ontological Argument. It is quite clear to me now that I didn't understand it then. Reading and interpreting Anselm now, I distill The Ontological Argument rather more simply: if man can conceive of perfection, perfection must exist; God is perfection therefore God exists. Utter nonsense. The mind of man cannot conceive perfection and even if it could such “perfection” would be static since all movement provides the opportunity for change or mutation and in all such activity there exists the possibility of deviation from the pereceived “perfect” form. Since we know that the Universe is extremely motile The Ontological Argument is revealed as specious nonsense in the ongoing sophistry of trying to establish “God” as necessary.

2013 03 13

Once, as I lay half-asleep I imagined myelf to be a spark of light/ “consciousness” , tucked into my little bed-hideaway surrounded by the vast dark mass of life - the surging ocean, the green brooding trees, the very earth itself teeming with its almost infinite population of microbial life...


and – this is a true representation of reality.

 2013 03 12

As I emege from my meditations and again don the mantle of ego... I find myself at liberty to embrace and cherish all of the beauty and the terror that possessing a perceiving self entails. These experiences, both joyful and sorrowful, are the birthright of us humans - just as is the ability to step back, go inside, and know only oneself, however briefly.

2013 03 11

In today's, “Daily Atheist Quote” the question is posed, “How do you identify a Hoax Religion?” The question is then answered with a list of very reasonable propositions such as:




           no verifiable miracles;


           invisible deity;


           promise of an afterlife;


           requisite tithing;


          etc., etc.

In fact the answer is much, much simpler:

                 PICK ONE AT RANDOM!

2013 03 11

The book I'm reading, "Lone Survivors" by Chris Stringer, makes convincing argument that interbreeding took place, back in the day, between possibly 6 or 7 different non-sapiens hominid species, all the way up to and including our buddies Neanderthal. And when you observe that Republicans of today can apparently mate with humans and conceive viable offspring I suppose you must conclude that the practice continues even now.

2013 03 10

Atheism is more than just the knowledge that God does not exist and that religion is either a mistake or a fraud...”


------ Carl Sagan


While I agree with Sagan I will submit that in its inception religion was more a survival dynmanic than a “mistake” or a “fraud”. We humans seem to have a need to "explain" everything in our world and when unable to to do so have relied upon interpretations that were comprised of witful speculation and insufficient data. As we accumulate more and more information about the nature and structure of the Universe, God and gods become increasingly less relevant.

2013 03 09

Biological cultures are opportunistic – where there is food supply they multiply and flourish, unmindful of depletion of their bounty. When the medium is exhausted, they perish.

Along the seacoasts and in other fertile land areas of the Earth humans have flourished in much the same fashion, and with about the same lack of regard for the environment that sustains them. Thus does humanity's hubris command all the majesty of a Petri dish.

Of course, having invented Gods, humans can comfortably conceive of themselves as immune from the strictures of biology and thus in blissful oblivion can picture themselves toddling off to imaginary Paradises.

2013 03 08

The quality of “spin” that characterizes dynamism in sub-atomic particles may be unique to spiral, spinning galaxies such as the Milky Way. Absent the macro-dynamic of galactic spin would sub-A's spin? Or, would galactic spin occur if sub-atomic particles didn't spin?

2013 03 07

I found that the difficult part about meditating was overcoming the implication that I'm not “OK” without this addition to my psyche. In outher words I'm somehow deficient and must do something “therapeutic” to adjust my mind. I think this misapprehension runs deep, so deep as to not be casually recognized as an impediment to changing one's perspective.

Yet what is meditation but a form of knowledge? And who of us does seek more knowledge as we proceed through life? It matters not that this knowledge is not traditionally academic but in fact knowledge of oneself.

Beginning a discipline of meditation was perhaps a bit easier for me in that I didn't take up the practice until I found myself in an environment where the proposition was already in place that I needed to effect some changes in my life – alcoholic rehab. Having established at the outset that I wanted to “therapize” myself it was an easy next step to conclude that any and all measures could be invoked to effect the desired outcome.

So I resurrected a simple yet nonetheless challenging discipline I had learned some 30 years earlier. This consisted of merely sitting motionless for 3 consecutive minutes. Considering that there are one thousand, four hundred and forty such minutes available each and every day this hardly seems a daunting proposition.

It turns out however that we humans have very little experience with stillness and I found it more comfortable to simply start with one minute at a time and work my way up to three. After a while I noticed that I was no longer startled by stillness. Thereafter I found a spot of tranquility from which I could observe and enjoy the comings and goings of my mind. This in turn produces a feeling of placid control and “centering” which has the effect of making the vicissitudes of the day occur more smoothly.

2013 03 06

I like to think of my bed as a raft I travel upon as I float through my dreams...

2013 03 04

I am convinced that regular exposure to the Doppler effect produced by train whistles must be somehow psychologically therapeutic.


2013 03 05


I find it more intellectually satisfying to regard The Big Bang as an event rather than the event.

2013 03 01


The thing I like about eternity is that it really has no forward or backward – in either direction you look at an endless corridor of forever.

2013 02 27


“Perhaps it will be found that these “inexplicable” mass slayings are actually individuated manifestations of a zeitgeist response to the intuitive awareness of the race's suicidal population pressures.”


                                                      ---Tom Doubter, waxing metaphysically

2013 02 26


Given Earth's long history, perhaps an argument can be made that self-consciousness occurs quite rarely in the Universe. After all, it took five planet-wide extinction events and innumerable species start-ups and extinctions to finally arrive at the homo -sapiens known as us.

2013 02 25


As we approach the next witlessly manufactured fiscal crisis it is illuminating to recall that the previous House of Representatives vote of 267 to 167 to end the so-called Fiscal Cliff crisis revealed a callous and shameful disregard for the well-being of America. A margin of victory this large clearly indicates that this vote could have been taken mere minutes after receipt of the bill passed by the Senate, 89-8. Instead, a cadre of House Republicans led by Eric Cantor chose to engage in delaying practices that held the vote up for incomprehensible hours, pushing the inevitable decision to a perilous and wholly unnecessary brink. This willingness to subject the public to these extra hours of anxiety was unconscionable to the the point of being sociopathic. It is inexcusable that the peace of mind of the entire country should be sacrificed to assuage the egos of these unwarrantedly self-important individuals.

2013 02 24


In Colorado at present a sad travesty is unfolding.


In an attempt to expiate a sense of civic frustration a morally vainglorious court, invoking an unassailable self-righteousness, will conduct a grindingly vigilant prosecution of James Holmes, whose guilt is not in question. This rare surviving lunatic will be subjected to a spectacular “trial” and thus made to carry water for all the other lunatics who succeeded in evading “justice” by either selfishly killing themselves or getting themselves killed by the authorities. The viewing/consuming public will participate in a satiating catharsis of pathos while congratulating themselves that at last someone is going to pay the price for bewildering our comprehension with their inexplicable acts of violence.Unfortunately, there is no justice at work here, only a misplaced application of retribution. It is a wholly specious prosecution of an obviously insane person serving only to alleviate the public's sense of impotence when confronted with madness.

2013 02 23


To attempt to measure humanity's governing systems against an inflexible philosophical ideal is absurd - no government can be wholly “socialist” or “communist” - elements of each of these social dynamics must be seen to be interactive with enlightened self-interest as expressed by managed free enterprise and capitalism. It is imperative however, that self-interest be seen as stemming from the good-will of others who are benefiting from one's actions rather than as the result of taking advantage of the frailties, vanities or incomprehension of others.

2013 02 21


I saw one excellency was within my reach; it was brevity and I determined to obtain it.”


- John Jay, 1745 - 1829


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


In character, in manners, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.”


- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807 - 1882


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


For too long I have listened to advice such as Longfellow's and Jay's before recognizing it as yet another trapping of American anti-intellectualism. Simplicity and brevity are fine for the pithy comment or poetic moment but to apply such thinking in a broad, pedantic manner is to ignore the beauty and depth of language that is available to us as a birthright of our evolution.

Mark Pelkey, 1951 -

2013 02 20


On the subject of Capital Punishment, Tom Doubter observes:


If indeed, Life is God-given how can Man presume to deprive a fellow human of such a gift? Humans, in the person of the State, have not the authority to assert that any person has forfeited his right to be alive - that is God's prerogative - Man must not, in his hubris, usurp the Almighty's supremacy.”

2013 02 18


COREM (Currently Organized Reconstitution of Energy/Matter) revisited: the fact that observations in quantum physics yield such bizarre results has led some theorists go so far as to suggest that within its organizing principles, "something can from nothing" - an obvious absurdity born of the human need for etiology or first causes.

2013 02 17


It's a good idea to initiate the practice of a new discipline such as typing or guitar picking or memorizing the lines of a play in the evening when you are tired and a bit clumsy. When you start again in the morning you'll be surprised at how much easier it is to master.

2013 02 16


Philosophers nip at the edges of abstraction until such time as those edges become so frayed that a full-blown concept emerges. In similar fashion Reason chips away at religious myth and superstition slowly insinuating science into the common consciousness.

2013 02 15


A thought that isn't brought into manifestation by word or deed has no more impact than does a feeble fart in a firestorm.

2013 02 14


The ISS is a cruel joke – not only is not “international” inasmuch as China isn't involved, but it is designed to fall out of space after a pitifully short workspan. The failure to include China is a sad representation of the absurdity of operating parallel (even competitve) space exploration programs. The people of Earth, the whole Earth, need space and its resources if we are to survive. Such idiotic lack of cooperation is a huge waste of resources, both physical and, more keenly, mental.

2013 02 13


It is vital that we come to understand that space exploration is a survival dynamic, not an interesting scientific “option”. The only solution to our natural resource depletion disaster is to begin harvesting raw materials from a broader base – the solar system.

2013 02 09


Earth's relationship to its Sun is changing. Whether a natural phenomenon or a man-made violation of resource management is a moot point. Happy talk about reducing carbon emissions is witless blather inasmuch as it is not possible that humanity will, or even can, abandon its dependent relationship with fire, in all of its manifestations.

2013 02 08


Does it not seem likely that the legacy of human resourcefulness and ingenuity has resulted in an unrealistic expectation of scientific salvation from the imminent collapse?

2013 02 10


A vital new composition topic for 5th graders: 'How the Coming Collapse Will Affect Me Personally'.”


                                         ------ Tom Doubter

2013 02 01


The collapse is inevitable – 7 billion people will, neither individually or collectively, abandon their relationship to fire - in all of its manifestations.

2013 01 16


If legitimate OBE's (Out of Body Experience) could be achieved is it likely that the military/industrial complex would have failed to exploit such? In truth, the same yardstick of believability can be applied to virtually all parapsychological claims.

2013 01 14


Message to anti-abortion activists:


Your time, energy and money would be more compassionately employed saving the lives of the six million, already living, children who will die this year.

 2013 01 06


In Colorado at present a sad travesty is unfolding.


In an attempt to expiate a sense of civic impotence a morally vainglorious court, invoking an unassailable self-righteousness will conduct a grindingly vigilant prosecution of James Holmes, whose guilt is not in question. This rare surviving lunatic will be subjected to a spectacular “trial” and thus made to carry water for all the other lunatics who succeeded in evading “justice” by either selfishly killing themselves or getting themselves killed by the authorities. The viewing/consuming public will participate in a satisfying catharsis of pathos while congratulating themselves that at last someone is going to pay the price for bewildering our comprehension with their inexplicable acts of madness.


Unfortunately, there is no justice at work here, only a misplaced application of retribution.

2013 01 05


The recent House of Representatives vote of 267 to 167 to end the so-called Fiscal Cliff crisis reveals a callous and shameful disregard for the well-being of America. A margin of victory this large clearly indicates that this vote could have been taken mere minutes after receipt of the bill passed by the Senate, 89-8. Instead, a cadre of House Republicans led by Eric Cantor chose to engage in delaying practices that held the vote up for incomprehensible hours, pushing the inevitable decision to a perilous and wholly unnecessary brink. This willingness to subject the public to these extra hours of anxiety was unconscionable to the the point of being sociopathic. It is inexcusable that the peace of mind of the entire country should be sacrificed to assuage the egos of these unwarrantedly self-important individuals.

2013 01 04


                      TEMPORAL PERSPECTIVE


1 million seconds = 11.57 days


1 billion seconds = 31.71 years – Reagan's first term


1 trillion seconds = 31,700 years – oldest cave paintings

2013 01 03

I am asked why I oppose the practice of capital punishment; and I respond, because it's not OK to kill. When a culture says that it is OK to kill it unleashes a human quality of savagery that we could well do without. When Hitler preached that it was OK to kill, otherwise normal people began killing their Jewish neighbors. In America when the geographic imperative said it was OK to kill Indians, people suspended their humanity and killed with abandon.


This willingness to destroy others is apparently deeply rooted in us. What survival dynamic translate into the failure of empathy that permits depriving another, obviously similar, being, of the same life we have? Or, how is it that the homan mind can be so constructed that the death of one so similarly configured can be countenanced so blithely? What perceptual failure exists that is so occlusive that it fails to register the life-force of the other person as identical to our own?


The question is, how shall we identify and define that element of human psychology that permits such gross disassociation? And the answer certainly will not be found by more killing via capital punishment.

2013 01 02


I find I have deep misgivings about our government when I consider that critical decisions are made by men who vuluntarily encircle their necks with constrictive nooses.

2012 12 30


Distressed hand-wringing and public displays of shocked consternation over the immolation of children is emotionally satisfying but it's also topical and fleeting. Such pathos, although cathartic, is fundamentally counter-productive in that it creates the illusion of instilling a social conscience. The self-satisfaction that accrues from this illusion provides smug comfort while our attention is diverted from the issues that will truly destroy society as we know it: global climate change, rapacious capitalism, the plutocratic concentration of power in a sociopathic elite and the ongoing degradation of the planet's natural resources.


While I don't consider the inhibition of gun-consciousness to be a frivolous goal I do believe that the distraction it represents is an impediment to the resolution of the truly suicidal issues of our times.

2012 12 29


After years of hard drinking I checked myself into an alcohol rehab facility. After two weeks of abstinent living I awoke one morning with a distinctly clearer head than I had known in years. Musing on this I concluded that henceforward my task would be to somehow contrive to make thinking as stimulating as drinking...

2012 12 28

Possibly it will be found useful to consider Humanity as a kind of planet-wide kudzu, slowly choking the vitality out of the other life-forms that occupy the ecosystem.

2012 12 26


Prayer is less an effort to establish communication with God than it is- an attempt to manipulate reality.

2012 12 24


FOUR REQUIREMENTS FOR SPACE TRAVEL

1 - warp drive;


2 - artificial gravity;


3 - universal translator;


4 - avoid contracted aging due to velocity (this is a sub-set of #1: if travel can take place outside of "normal" time and space (wormholes etc.) then the time distortion problem should be averted. The answer to this conundrum likely lies in quantum physics where particles have an instantaneous motile effect on other particles at unfathomable distances.

2012 12 19


Einstein asks, “Is the Universe friendly?”


Well, perhaps not “friendly” per se, but pretty obviously conducive to the propagation of life, as evidenced by the existence of amino acid compounds embedded in the structural make-up of comets.

2012 12 18


It seems certain that more people on this planet live in misery than live in joy. Worse yet, misery is pretty much a steady-state condition while joy tends to be fleeting and circumstantial. Misery becomes a constant state due to unmitigated poverty resulting in unrelenting hunger, thirst, illness and depravity. It is no wonder that humanity at large is afflicted with the myth of post-existence ineffable joy.

2012 12 16


I don't give gifts obligatorially, I give a gift when and where appropriate to my thinking of the recipient. Christmas is a null-set for me in this regard. If the spirit of Christmas motivates a thinking process that involves consideration of what might be a gift-worthy idea, so be it. But I will not buy extraneously frivolous gifts simply because I am impelled to do so by the consumerist culture I have been subjected to since birth.

2012 12 15


What human survival dynamic resulted in clothing?

2012 12 14


How interesting is theatre: moving from the stage, where a prominent voice is a magnificent asset, to silent movies where no amount of voice can avail any traction, to talkies where once again the spoken word attains prominence, even though little of moment can be heard.

2012 12 13


from ChannelNewsAsia - http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1242585/1/.html


 

Ex-Thai PM Charged With Murder Over Protest Death
Posted: 13 December 2012 1630


[Abhisit]... said he would accept trial rather than "bargain" over a proposal by his political rivals in government for a wide-ranging amnesty plan that many believe could allow the return of the Reds' hero, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.


**************************************


I had been wondering how they could justify bringing murder charges under the circumstances; now seemingly the veil parts.

2012 12 12


It doesn't seem likely that “something” can come from “nothing”. Therefore I submit that nominating the “Big Bang” as the beginning of the Universe is rather misleading. I suggest the introduction of CORE, the “Currently Organized Reconstitution of Energy/Matter”, as a more useful term to identify the space we live in.



2012 12 10

If God hadn't intended Satan to fall He'd not have invented gravity.

                                                                                                                                                   --Tom Doubter

2012 12 09

I don't seem to recall any provision of  US Constitution that guarantees a "right" to work. Certainly the right to seek work exists, as a subset of the fundamental rights scripted into the defining documents of our American social dynamic, the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". There is no "right" of workers to become subservient to monolithic plutocracies that envision wage-slavery as a pragmatically effective tool of prosperity.

2012 12 08


From: Ted's Word on Journalism - https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#trash/13b6b5e6668437c3


News:VIENNA, Nov 21, 2012—A total of 119 journalists have been killed so far this year as a consequence of their work, according to the International Press Institute (IPI)’s Death Watch. This is the highest figure since IPI started systematically keeping track of journalists’ killings around the world in 1997.”


...and not one of them employed by Fox... Oh, right - the report spoke of “journalists”, not “agenda-driven propagandists for the nutted-up Republican Party”.

2012 12 07

UN Treaty - Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_the_Rights_of_Persons_with_Disabilities


     By voting to not ratify this treaty, 38 Senate Republicans have not only shamed themselves publicly but have brought disgrace and ignominy upon the United States and it citizens, as viewed by the rest of  the civilized world. These sour-minded individuals offer insult to the global community while once again making it an embarrassment to be an American.

     The Republican repudiation of this treaty, based almost entirely on the Americans With Disabilities Act, and having no enforcement provision whatsoever, can only be viewed as yet another partisan attack on all things Democratic generally and the Obama presidency specifically.

     Fortunately I don't personally need to cry “Shame!” on these despicable people - their execrable behavior should serve to publicly humiliate them sufficiently.

2012 12 06

News reports indicate that 25% of Republicans polled want to secede from the Union. Well, as the popular '60's bumper sticker slogan shouted:


     AMERICA - LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!

2012 12 05

Souls are not automatically dispensed, they are acquired. Not by the accomplishing of good works but rather by dint of intellectual and intuitional striving. That good works evolve naturally from such effort is merely the inevitable pulse of Nature.

2012 11 07

America rejects plutocratic elitist and chooses to cleave to the egalitarian vision of a former community organizer. Today is a day of celebration for all who hold humanitarianism to be a more revered goal than free-market profiteering; for those who believe that the members of Congress are charged with the sacred duty to shepherd the welfare of those who elected them, not devote time, energy and money to agendas of racism, hate and obstruction.


The citizens of the United States have voted to reject plutocracy in favor of egalitarian economics. They have likewise voted to embrace humane social policy over the economic genocide favored by the Conservative faction of American politics.

 

                                                   2012 11 05

I go on record as of this date with the following prediction:

Tomorrow's election will be declared decided by 9pm PST, Romney will deliver his concession speech by midnight.

2012 11 03

Yesterday I heard Mitt Romney introduced Ann Romney as, “the next First Lady of the United States” - I had no idea that Obama had divorced, much less remarried.

2012 11 02

The adage, “The more I know, the less I know” not only sharpens our appetite for discovery, it also helps us move further and further away from the necessity of using gods and magic to make our universe understandable.

2012 11 01

Although Time flies, boredom plods.

2012 10 31

For the Creationists who dismissively intone that evolution is, “only a theory”, I submit the following definitions of the word “theory”:

the·o·ry  (th-r, thîr)

n. pl. the·o·ries

1. A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.

2. The branch of a science or art consisting of its explanatory statements, accepted principles, and methods of analysis, as opposed to practice: a fine musician who had never studied theory.

3. A set of theorems that constitute a systematic view of a branch of mathematics.

4. Abstract reasoning; speculation: a decision based on experience rather than theory.

5. A belief or principle that guides action or assists comprehension or judgment: staked out the house on the theory that criminals usually return to the scene of the crime.

6. An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture.


[Late Latin theria, from Greek theri, from theros, spectator : probably the, a viewing + -oros, seeing (from horn, to see).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009.

                                                                                        Res Ipsa Loquitur

                            OCTOBER 29, 2012

EMERGENCY MESSAGE TO NORTHEASTERN AMERICA:

NEXT TIME YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, VOTE FOR AL GORE

                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       Hurricane Sandy

2012 10 30

Willful ignorance is the price to be paid for the comfort of religious faith or belief in the supernatural.

2012 10 29

I strive to never underestimate my capacity for belief by being judicious about whom I listen to.

2012 10 28

Someone observed that there is nothing more deflating than that moment in an argument when you realize that your position is wrong. I would submit that ultimately more deflating is when you persist in maintaining such a position regardless.

2012 10 27

Imagination is infinite, comprehension finite.

                                                                               -- Tom Doubter

2012 10 26

If, as seems evident, life is the inevitable outcome of naturally occurring chemical dynamics, the question is not, “What is the meaning of Life?” but rather, “What is the meaning of Pre-Life?”

2012 10 24

You bisect a line by cutting it half; you dissect a specimen by cutting it apart; what on earth do you do with an in-sect??

2012 10 25

Wisdom will garner much in this world but common sense is essential for the acquisition of happiness.

2012 10 12

Life teems, intelligence merely seems...

2012 10 09

Things happen, and thus time passes.

 2012 10 04

A bird in the hand is likely to prove somewhat messy but nevertheless merits our attention.

  2012 10 02

Time is homanity's mechanism for measuring change.

 2012 10 01

Humans should not overestimate the power of suggestion. We are far less willing to change than you might guess.

 2012 09 30

When we are forced to look into the shadowy parts of our hearts, it is comforting to remember that our souls are composed of light.

 2012 09 29

Common sense is the lubricant that allows for the smooth transmission of wisdom.

 2012 09 28

Adam and Eve had a snake, what is to be my excuse?

 2012 09 27

The grass may be greener on the other side of the fence, but the cow-pies are probably larger.

 2012 09 26

Walking in the dark sharpens your senses, especially those used for bumping into things.

 2012 09 25

I always overtip when the waitress has been surly in the hope that I might change her day.

 2012 09 24

When the answer is obvious, pay particular attention.

 2012 09 23

Beware of becoming too good at whatever you do --- those around you will come to require the same level of excellence in  your subsequent endeavours and you may not always feel up to it.

2012 09 22

How many photons are required to photosynthetically invigorate a chlorophyll-laden cell? Likewise, how many mentons are required to manifest a thought?

 2012 09 21

Reality , no matter how mundane or boring, has an annoying way of intruding upon the most glorious aspirations

 2012 09 20

If you surgically turn a frog's eyes upside down he'll see the world topsy-turvy for about 48 hours. After that his brain adjusts and he sees things as they are. True believers lack this useful ability.

 2012 09 19

They who wonder can never be truly lost. (Or as Daniel Boone said when asked if he'd ever been lost, “No, but I once was bewildered for three days”.)

 2012 09 18

A provocative excerpt harvested from Daily Atheist Quotes:

"...If god created us all for a purpose... we`re just pawns in his cosmic game. But if we are just...here by random chance, then the lives we have are truly something to value, enjoy, and celebrate."

Read full quote

2012 09 17

Dynamic Progression:

quark/lepton>atom>molecule>amino acid>protein>animation>Mitt Romney....ooops!

2012 09 16

Upon adopting the practice of meditation I found that after a time I stopped being startled by stillness and more profound contemplation commenced.

 2012 09 15

"The fact that you don't see well is not an excuse for failing to clean your glasses."  -- Tom Doubter 

 2012 09 14

We humans create Gods as repositories for our moral and ethical aspirations.

2012 09 13

human being: A mobile life-support system for a plenitude of microbial families, combined with that hint of divinity that fosters inspiration.

 2012 09 12

End of Civilization” calamitists and Raptureists have one thing in common - their belief system allows them to decide not to strive.

2012 09 10 - Thought for the Day:

In our Universe, "meaning" is inferred, not innate.

 2012 08 06 - Ponder Point:


When it comes to religion Humanity's propensity to misinterpret the obvious is superseded quaintly by a willingness to embrace the improbable.


  2012 08 05 – Deliberative Distinction:

Headline from Channel News Asia:

UN Weighs in on Philippine Birth Control Debate

full article: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1218085/1/.html

**********************************************

Given the many problems of our planet that are directly tied to over-population the only legitimate debate on the subject of birth control would seem to be whether it should be voluntary or involuntary. The argument for “involuntary” being that individual consciences are relieved of false guilt instilled by religion.       

 2012 08 04 – Thought for the Day:



In the dark of night the man with a lantern is leader and guide; but in  brilliant sun where is his kingdom?

China Roses 90=sec_Fade.mp3

 2012 08 03 – Murky Meandering:

If the Moon is taking it's light from the Sun, is the Sun diminished thereby?

 2012 08 01 – Peevish Ponder:

"If God hadn't intended Satan to fall He wouldn't have invented gravity." ------ Tom Doubter

06 China Roses.mp3

China Roses 90=sec_Fade.mp3