Aspen

 

I know 'aspen' quite a while since I did anything here. Probably so long, nobody give a dang one way or another, and this probably won't be seen by many, if any. 

That's ok :-)

I came back around, not to brag,  just state, today January 17 2022, will be my 30th anniversary of having given up intoxicants. No booze, no weed, nuthin.  At this point, it could be 15, 30, 45, or 2 years, getting high just isn't something remotely of interest to me. 

There's more news:

I will brag on my new bride! Yes, I married again. Kelly is a wonderful woman. I can only hope I don't screw it up ;-)

On the mixed news front, I had a heart attack on Nov 12 2021. Apparently, it was mild (as I was able to drive half an hour during said heart attack to reach the hospital). But, 4 days later, I underwent a triple bypass. As far as a fun couple of months go, I wouldn't recommend it. However, it was probably for the best. I'm feeling much better now, if not 100%. 

It's a sad day in mac's house.

You scientific types have Dawkins. Us antisocial types had Lemmy.

So long, Good Sir!

Wherein I get spiritual....

Have you ever wondered how those new-aged guru types come up with all their shit?
Ever wonder if You could spout great phrases of enlightened bullshit?

Wonder no more. I present to you ( and by you, I mean me, the only person who still ventures into this sector of bloggyland. Save for an occasional spammer) the wonderful, fantastic New age bullshit generator:

http://sebpearce.com/bullshit/





:-)

Dinesh D'Souza is STILL a scumbag.

Everybody's favorite "family values" conservative  scumbag is back in the news. This time, he's gone beyond merely being offensive, he's, apparently, broken the law.

I am loathe to wish folks bad. But I hope this asshole goes down for this!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/conservative-author-and-pundit-dinesh-dsouza-charged-in-campaign-finance-case/2014/01/23/69c67ee4-848a-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html

Yeah, I'm still alive

 

 

Why yes, I am still out there, just maybe not as one would imagine it.

Success and secession....

In the days, weeks, and months leading up to the election, I heard, quite often, "God is on our side". Well, the election is now over, and it seems the outcome didn't produce the desired results for everyone. What's a good conservative to do? Yes, they'll whine and talk about seceding from the Union. I say, go for it. But, remember, the land stays with US. You may go anywhere you see fit at any time (only don't think Canada will be better - they have universal healthcare socialized medicine... Or Australia... or Britain...).

It's simple really. If you actually believe your god has a hand in the election of American Government, there's but two ways to look at it:

1) God wanted the Democrat to win. Who are you to question god's decisions? Is the thought that you may have been wrong about what god wanted so foreign that you can't fathom it?

2) Or, Your god is less powerful than a muslim from Kenya (No, I think you better stick with viewpoint number one).

If the shoe were on the other foot

"We despise all reverences and all the objects of reverence which are outside the pale of our own list of sacred things. And yet, with strange inconsistency, we are shocked when other people despise and defile the things which are holy to us." - Mark Twain

Religion in a Box - watch more funny videos

....sigh

The political season is upon us.
Is anyone else as fucking fed up excited as I am ?

53% ?

Bible verse of the day:

(We know I don't believe it, but YOU might)

"All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against.  Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles. " ~ 1 Timothy 6:1-2

Careful, there 53%er , you just might be an Uncle Tom  develop Stockholm Syndrome.

For a more human perspective on the occupy movement, I suggest PeNolan

over at Menopausal Stoners .

'sup ?

I know I have been gone for a long time. 
You know how it is, you just get busy and time gets away from you?  No? Well, it does.

That, and my son moved out of town with his mother. Trust me, a melancholy mac isn't the best read.  I have ran the full spectrum of emotions over that one. I've pretty much settled on his "mother is not a nice person" .  I won't get into a name calling or blame contest....because that would make me an asshole too ;-)


Needing a smile, I found this:

If this doesn't warm your heart, not much will :-)

Out of the mouths of babes...

I tend to not delve into partisan politics here, on this blog. The reason being, I see most politicians as pretty much the same.
However, every now and then, I see something so funny, I just have to share it.

The following video is one such item:

Honestly, you can't make up shit like this !

How about the way the superintendent passes the buck? I wonder how much he gets paid to act stupid.

Who does this Hawking guy think he is, anyway ?

Recently, The Guardian published an interview with Stephen Hawking ( Here )  where he expounds on life, death, and the beginning of the universe, among other things.
In response to Mr Hawking's views , The Washington Post published this  from Nicholas Wright:

________________________
It’s depressing to see Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant minds in his field, trying to speak as an expert on things he sadly seems to know rather less about than many averagely intelligent Christians. Of course there are people who think of ‘heaven’ as a kind of pie-in-the-sky dream of an afterlife to make the thought of dying less awful. No doubt that’s a problem as old as the human race. But in the Bible ‘heaven’ isn’t ‘the place where people go when they die.’ In the Bible heaven is God’s space while earth (or, if you like, ‘the cosmos’ or ‘creation’) is our space. And the Bible makes it clear that the two overlap and interlock. For the ancient Jews, the place where this happened was the temple; for the Christians, the place where this happened was Jesus himself, and then, astonishingly, the persons of Christians because they, too, were ‘temples’ of God’s own spirit.
Hawking is working with a very low-grade and sub-biblical view of ‘going to heaven.’ Of course, if faced with the fully Christian two-stage view of what happens after death -- first, a time ‘with Christ’ in ‘heaven’ or ‘paradise,’and then, when God renews the whole creation, bodily resurrection -- he would no doubt dismiss that as incredible. But I wonder if he has ever even stopped to look properly, with his high-octane intellect, at the evidence for Jesus and the resurrection? I doubt it -- most people in England haven’t. Until he has, his opinion about all this is worth about the same as mine on nuclear physics, i.e. not much.
As for the creation being self-caused: I wonder if he realises that he is simply repeating a version of ancient Epicureanism? i.e. the gods are out of the picture, a long way away, so the world/human life/etc has to get on under its own steam. This is hardly a ‘conclusion’ from his study of the evidence; it’s simply a well known worldview shared by most post-Enlightenment westerners. It is the worldview which enables secular democracy to consider itself an absolute, despite its numerous and rather obvious failings right now. The depressing thing is that Hawking doesn’t seem to realize this and so hasn’t even stopped to think that there might be quite sophisticated critiques of Epicureanism, ancient and modern, which he should work through. Not least the Christian one, which again focusses on Jesus.
Of course, the old set-up of the ‘science and religion’ debate was itself deeply influenced by this same worldview, and needs realigning. In fact, the ancient Christians would have been shocked to see their worldview labelled as a ‘religion.’ It was a philosophy, a politics, a culture, a vocation... the category of ‘religion’ is part of the problem, not part of the solution.
_________________________________


Excuse me Rev Wright, I think Mr Hawking is emminently qualified to speak on the origins of the Universe. Perhaps he can't speak to your religion. But, he cancertainly use reason and science to show it's implausable. Just because his findings don't point your way, does not mean he can't speak expertly on a subject.

Evidence for the resurrection? Are you kidding? What evidence have we? Ancient writings done a generation (or more) removed can scarcely be counted as evidence. Or am I wrong?  I wonder if Rev Wright has examined this evidence objectively as well.

As to Wrights claims of Hawking's "Epicurean" stance (ie. God is not really in the picture anyway): I can't argue that. Can anyone show me how God is in the modern picture? We haven't heard much from him since he knocked up that virgin.    What has he done these last 2,000 years?

Then, Rev Wright closes with the old "Christianity isn't a religion and Jesus didn't establish it as such" argument.
I'm sorry, Rev Wright. But in John 16:6  when Jesus says, " “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.", he is doing just that. He is establishing a religion, not a philosophy, not a really cool way to behave, but a religion !

But, I understand. That eletronic voice thingie kinda creeps me out too ;-)

Whatever happened to giving peace a chance ?

Some will tell you it's all the Conservative's fault. Some will tell you it's all the Liberal's fault.
The Christian will tell you it's the Muslim. The Muslim will tell you it's the Jew. The Jew will tell you it's the antisemite.....

I'm here to tell you, it's all their faults. And ours, too!
Why don't we demand a stoppage to the seemingly endless conflicts? Why do we trust any politician when they claim they will end "this war".

I know, many will say I am being naive, that we must stop these thugs. 
Again, I ask, "Why?" Why must the US involve itself in the business of a sovereign nation? Would we appreciate it if they did it to us?

Tell me this shit isn't about oil?


Maybe one of you smart folks can explain this to me :(

I have found god....

Yes, he resides in your brains.

Let's all be good to one another on this April 1st :-)

What the ............

I was visiting Stacy (Colloquy) over on facebook. She has the most amazing links ever :-)
I saw this one and was speechless !

Elephant paints self-portrait !
How amazing is this? Thank you, Stacy :-)

We're not so different

If you know me, chances are you know I don't follow any religion. You may know that I sometimes rail against Christianity.  You may also know, I have similar feelings for most religions.

What you may not know  is,  I have no desire to end your religion. I will never knock on your door at 7:00am Saturday morning to tell you, " God does not exist. You are not going to Hell if you don't change."

I do not wish you harm because you pray to a god of your understanding. Regardless of whether it's  Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Santeria, Sikhism, Hinduism,  Paganism, or whatever, you are very close to my feelings on religion. That is, you disbelieve all of them, save yours. I just don't believe yours either.

I have no belief in 4,200 religions, the theist has no belief in 4,199 religions.
See, We are the same :-)



Namaste.

You have a problem with women?

The lady pictured above is Olivia Munn. She is quite an attrative woman. Recently, she has come under
controversy due to a magazine cover for Maxim Magazine.

Dan Gainor, Vice President of Business And Culture at The Media Research Center claims, "It’s disgusting. Maxim has moved their magazine from tawdry to full-on pornography.”

If by "pornagraphy", Mr Gainor means the photo is arousing, it is. However, I am also aroused by the top photo of Olivia. Is that porn as well?
I simply do not see anything to be concerned about here. It seems much less disturbing than offering someone, anyone, $100 to punch a sitting congressman, right Mr Gainor?

I dunno, what do you guys think?
Is this magazine cover over the top?  Should Miss Munn be hel liable 'cause she's so darned sexy?  

It kinda sneaks up on ya

January 17, 1992.
I am not sure why that particular day was any different than the hundreds before it. I had sworn to do it many times before. I didn't.
Maybe I grew up mentally as well as physically that day.  Perhaps my brain was catching up to my 220 pound body? Maybe riding that motorcycle in all those cold Ohio winters made me think I should get my act together, establish myself as a viable member of society, and just grow the fuck up already.
Of course, I wanted to know where, and with whom, I would wake up on any given morning too ;-)

(Pre-Peaches)






January 16 1992: I got drunk for the last time. Sorry, Jack Daniels, I do not miss you any longer.
19 years today, I have been sober.  Who wants to celebrate with a good drink ?

Now, my other addictions are not quite so easy to give up. I miss you, darlin :-)

Christmas is Christian?

Ok, so the holiday we call Christmas does have the word Christ in it. But, what about all those traditional Christmas customs?

Let's begin with the timing.  If one reads the Bibe, it certainly points to a time other than late December as the birth of Jesus. Oddly enough, many pagan rituals predating Jesus' birth take place in this time of year. Late December, specifically, the 25th, seems to be the time of birth for many deities - all predating Jesus.

Now then, what about those trees? Our beautiful Christmas trees, surely they are strictly christian in nature? Sorry, no they are not. The use of evergreen trees is a European pagan tradition. The evergreen symbolized rebirth to these pagans and was used in the celebration of the winter solstice. Which occurs, amazingly enough,  in late December. These was referred to as the celebration of Yule, for their "Sun God".

The fat man in a red suit? Well, it seems he may have started out as Odin, the pagan Norse god, a frightful character if ever there was.

None of which means a damned thing. Just don't try to convince me that "Jesus is the reason for the season". Because, it seems he has little to do with it after all.

Happy Holidays, pagans ;-) 

The purpose of life

The Muslims purpose may be to serve Allah, the Christian to serve God (they are the same!).
The parent's purpose may be to see that her children grow into fine adults.
The addicts purpose may be to find his next fix, or to get himself clean.
Politically, conservatives have a purpose, liberals have a different purpose.
A woman's purpose may be to be independent, or to be partnered with someone.
A man may or may not want self sufficiency.

My point is, we all want something different. We all have different perspectives, regardless how large or small those differences may be, they are differences. How then, can we ever hope to see a universal Purpose of Life?

In my life, I had the good fortune to meet and train with the father of American Tae Kwon Do, Grand Master Jhoon Rhee. Master Rhee and I are from different cultural backgrounds, different ethnic groups, and different religious beliefs. However, he taught me the universal purpose of life. The purpose, as he explained it, transcends all of our differences. We ALL have the same purpose.
The Purpose of life is to be Happy.

Simple really. We are supposed to be happy. Whatever we may do, whatever we may say, how ever we may believe, is all done in the pursuit of our happiness.

Can we actually achieve happiness? Who knows? What is important, is that we strive for that happiness.

Of course, we must be careful that the pursuit of our happiness does not infringe on someone else's happiness. Or at least try :-)


Or, I suppose one could follow Emerson:
"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."

But, then again, he is merely stating what made him happy ...

......

And, Yes. I am pursuing my own happiness ;-)