Truly, the policies of the past are very unlikely to undergo any significant change, faced with the unyielding stubbornness of a political leadership that is entangled in its own self-imposed resentments. And especially, when the entire nation is faced with a health epidemic that threatens to sweep young and old alike, and with Moscow appearing oblivious to the seriousness of what is before them, Putin is unmistakably barking up the wrong tree. One can only hope that before it is too late, he will awaken to the plight of his own countrymen, and cease the foolish ‘bully’ tactics that will only exacerbate his own discontent and harm his people!

Orlando Sentinel is reporting how the grand jury process works and it is supposed to be done in secret, to protect the jurors and their identities.

CF News is reporting that Casey Anthony's defense team and her neighbors are outraged that the fact that the grand jury will meet was leaked. That info is not supposed to be made public.

Channel 6 is reporting that TES will resume their search on Wednesday. They are waiting out of respect for the family and because of the grand jury meeting on Tuesday. They do not want it to look like they are trying to have any influence.

Well, there's the facts so far today. I don't know when they will let us know what the grand jury decides, as it is supposed to be secret. We'll keep watching and I sure hope TES can find Caylee and Jennifer Kesse this week.

We’re told that drug war is a moral imperative because, in the words of Walters himself, "dangerous drugs damage [children's] lives and limit their futures."  But like most temperance zealots, Walters measures success not by actual lives wrecked or ended prematurely, but merely by how many people are and aren’t getting high.

Switching from the "drugs ruin lives" justification for the drug war itself to "how many people are getting high" when measuring the same drug war’s effectiveness, then, hides a more important statistic:  How many people have had their lives ruined and futures limited by the drug war?  The vast majority of the 873,000 people arrested for marijuana offenses last year, for example, likely had more damage done to their lives by the prohibition of marijuana than could ever be done by the drug itself.

Such is why drug warriors like William Bennett, Karen Tandy, and Walters can assert with a straight face that alcohol prohibition was, also, a "success." Sure, the crime rate spiked, alcohol hospitalizations soared, and corruption and contempt for the rule of law was rampant.  But fewer people swallowed down less demon rum.  So, score one for social engineering.

Sure, deaths from drug overdose have jumped 70 percent, and more than doubled among young people.  But fewer people are smoking pot.  And that means we’re winning.

As they say, if you repeat a lie enough times, it becomes true. Bennett, Tandy and Walters are proof of that.

But surely then, if you repeat a truth enough times, as Radley, I and so many other try to do, it should make people listen as well? Isn't that the least that fairness owes us?

In the commendable efforts of various men of the early nineteenth century to restore the Bible order, there were two basic principles to observe: first, the difference between reformation and restoration; and second, the basis of scriptural unity.

The result of the Protestant reformation was orthodox denominationalism. Swinging away from the intolerable dogmas of Romanism, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, and others of the like spirit, built their protestant foundations on the sands of denominational creeds rather than on the rock of New Testament truth--and their foundations shifted with the crawling sands upon which they were built. Their reformations failed, falling far short of their original purpose.

A few generations later it fell to such intellects as Barton W. Stone, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, the Scotts and the Creaths, and a legion like them, to launch the mighty plea to abandon party names, party creeds, party organizations, and upon the right creed, the right name, the right doctrine, the right worship, such as taught in the New Testament itself, to restore the primitive apostolic church, the which couloved be neither Catholic nor Protestant, but scriptural, and therefore divine. There is no other basis of Christian unity—scriptural unity. And there is no other way to establish the identity of the primitive apostolic church. The wrong creed, the wrong doctrine, the wrong worship, the wrong organization and the wrong name could not possibly result in the right church. But the right creed, the right doctrine, the right worship, the right organization and the right name, for a like reason, cannot be the wrong church.

Foy E. Wallace Jr. Bulwarks Of The Faith, pp. 37-38

]]> http://mont4n4.wordpress.com/?p=273 Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:31:17 +0000 mont4n4 http://mont4n4.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/greys-anatomy-season-4-episode-3-let-the-truth-sting/

This thing I learned is called the principle of contradiction, or the law of non-contradiction. Basically it's just a rule of thinking that says contradictory statements cannot both be true at the same time.

So we can't say that God does and does not exist. Either he does or he doesn't. Just putting an ounce of thought into this demonstrates that this is true. If God exists and he is sitting there right in front of you then he obviously doesn't not exist. If he doesn't exist anywhere out there in the universe or beyond then he obviously doesn't also exist. Got it? Pretty simple.

So I plead with our generation, please stop saying that everything is true. It can't be. Happy thinking!

I leave you with Walking Contradiction by Green Day

This acknowledgment of the absence of objective truth in interpretation of past events is equally true in regard to current events. There are two sides to every story and every conflict. We deal not in facts, but interpretations.

We create unnecessary conflict when we dogmatically hold to interpretations, because we make ourselves right and someone else wrong. We draw lines, create sides, and wage wars - not over truth (no matter how strongly we believe), but over opinion.

If, however, we admit to ourselves that no matter how sure we are, there is at least some small chance we could be wrong - we then open ourselves to common ground, creative solutions, and a greater potential for finding truth.

Truth itself is elusive. It is a flickering flame. Try to grasp it, and it darts out of reach. Try to capture it in a small container, and it is extinguished. But free it, and it burns through the darkness.

Let us seek the truth honestly, openly, and not too aggressively. Let us not supplant truth with our own beliefs or agendas, and put it out forever. Let us free the truth to burn through the darkness, revealing the real and unreal.

But most of all, let us realize that the truth is pure. To receive it, we must ourselves be pure. In truth, there is love; and in love, there is truth. Once we understand its nature, and bring ourselves into harmony with it, the truth will be more apparent. And our stories, interpretations, opinions, beliefs, and agendas will clear away, as we awake from dreaming, to the reality of truth.

Liz DiVittorio, of Raleigh, N.C., a mother of three, recalled walking with her 10-year-old son, Michael, this summer after a rainstorm and seeing a neighbor running his sprinkler.

“My son looked at him and said, ‘Why are you watering your lawn? It just rained,’ ” said Ms. DiVittorio, who works for a software company. “I sat there and cringed.”

Cringed?  Seriously?  Kid, that was a good question.  Do not listen to your mother; keep asking questions.  Just because you know that overwatering is a bad idea, both for grass and the planet, does not mean that these things occur to other people.  Go ahead, push them outside of their comfort zone- and after they stop being appalled at your "rude behavior", they'll come to their senses.

One interviewee does get to the heart of the matter.

“One of the fascinating things about children is that they don’t separate what you are doing from what you should be doing,” Ms. Bovey said. “Here’s this information about how we can help the environment, and kids are not able to rationalize it away the way that adults do.”

Yeah.  So the next time your kids or anybody else asks you why your actions don't conform with your ideals, be prepared to admit your hypocrisy.  Maybe you have a good reason.  Explain it, but don't excuse it.  We're all hypocrites about something.  Don't blame the tiny messengers.  Sheesh.

PS.  In what I assume is an attempt at journalistic unbias, the article helpfully points out that some people think "turning children into stewards of the environment is an inappropriate use of taxpayer money."  Who are these people, these citizens who honestly think that it's a bad idea to instill a respect for their environment in schoolchildren?  Will one or more of these people please get in touch with me so we can have exchanges of opinion?  I'll refrain from telling them what I actually think of them if they give me one good reason why they make any sense at all.

He has nothing to lose. His campaign is totally overmatched by Obama's. The Obama team is well organized, flush with resources, and the candidate and the campaign are in sync. The McCain campaign, once merely problematic, is now close to being out-and-out dysfunctional. Its combination of strategic incoherence and operational incompetence has become toxic. If the race continues over the next three weeks to be a conventional one, McCain is doomed.

He may be anyway. Bush is unpopular. The media is hostile. The financial meltdown has made things tougher. Maybe the situation is hopeless — and if it is, then nothing McCain or his campaign does matters.

But I'm not convinced by such claims of inevitability. McCain isn't Bush. The media isn't all-powerful. And the economic crisis still presents an opportunity to show leadership.

The 2008 campaign is now about something very big — both our future prosperity and our national security. Yet the McCain campaign has become smaller.

What McCain needs to do is junk the whole thing and start over. Shut down the rapid responses, end the frantic e-mails, bench the spinning surrogates, stop putting up new TV and Internet ads every minute. In fact, pull all the ads — they're doing no good anyway. Use that money for televised town halls and half-hour addresses in prime time.

And let McCain go back to what he's been good at in the past — running as a cheerful, open and accessible candidate. Palin should follow suit. The two of them are attractive and competent politicians. They're happy warriors and good campaigners. Set them free.

Provide total media accessibility on their campaign planes and buses. Kick most of the aides off and send them out to swing states to work for the state coordinators on getting voters to the polls. Keep just a minimal staff to help organize the press conferences McCain and Palin should have at every stop and the TV interviews they should do at every location. Do town halls, do the Sunday TV shows, do talk radio — and invite Obama and Biden to join them in some of these venues, on the ground that more joint appearances might restore civility and substance to the contest.

The hope for McCain and Palin is that they still have pretty good favorable ratings from the voters. The American people have by no means turned decisively against them.

The bad news, of course, is that right now Obama's approval/disapproval rating is better than McCain's. Indeed, Obama's is a bit higher than it was a month ago. That suggests the failure of the McCain campaign's attacks on Obama.

So drop them.

Not because they're illegitimate. I think many of them are reasonable. Obama's relationship to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is, I believe, a legitimate issue. But McCain ruled it out of bounds, and he's sticking to that. And for whatever reason — the public mood, campaign ineptness, McCain's alternation between hesitancy and harshness, which reflects the fact that he's uncomfortable in the attack role — the other attacks on Obama just aren't working. There's no reason to think they're suddenly going to.

There are still enough doubts about Obama to allow McCain to win. But McCain needs to make his case, and do so as a serious but cheerful candidate for times that need a serious but upbeat leader.

McCain should stop unveiling gimmicky proposals every couple of days that pretend to deal with the financial crisis. He should tell the truth — we're in uncharted waters, no one is certain what to do, and no one knows what the situation will be on Jan. 20, 2009. But what we do know is that we could use someone as president who's shown in his career the kind of sound judgment and strong leadership we'll need to make it through the crisis.

McCain can make the substantive case for his broadly centrist conservatism. He can explain that our enemies won't take a vacation because the markets are down, and that it's not unimportant that he's ready to be commander in chief. He can remind voters that even in a recession, the president appoints federal judges — and that his judges won't legislate from the bench.

And he can point out that there's going to be a Democratic Congress. He can suggest that surely we'd prefer a president who would check that Congress where necessary and work with it where possible, instead of having an inexperienced Democratic president joined at the hip with an all-too-experienced Democratic Congress, leading us, unfettered and unchecked, back to 1970s-style liberalism.

At Wednesday night's debate at Hofstra, McCain might want to volunteer a mild mea culpa about the extent to which the presidential race has degenerated into a shouting match. And then he can pledge to the voters that the last three weeks will feature a contest worthy of this moment in our history.

He'd enjoy it. And he might even win it.

October 13, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Fire the Campaign
By WILLIAM KRISTOL

It's time for John McCain to fire his campaign.

Obama's oratory skills are legendary; as long as his teleprompter is working. Otherwise, when the teleprompter fails as it occasionally does at Campaign events around the country... we have a problem with making any sense of Obama's speechifying. Have a listen!...

If you think Obama was just having a "Bad Day" like we all do every once and a while.. Here is another example of not having a teleprompter crutch to speak coherently addressing a question..

Hold the phone! Maybe the above video was a little too complicated or a question taking Obama by surprise leaving him, well.... speechless..and stumbling. If that is so...what about this next example of a non-professional audience member asking a typical audience question?

I don't know folks, I guess I could provide a few more examples if I've failed to convince you.... without a teleprompter and Hollywood writers composing scripts containing those "lofty" words, ( a list of words gleaned after polling the masses for their wants and needs.) "Words" Obama's audiences are longing to hear -

Obama isn't fooling anyone who does the hard work composing their thoughts and putting their thoughts into words for transcription onto a teleprompter when they are speaking to an audience on the campaign trail.

Bill and Hillary Clinton and John McCain are stark examples of the difference of a teleprompter reader and serious contenders who have working plans for every issue they propose as policy. They all can speak freely and fluently with or without a teleprompter and answer follow up questions with clarity and knowledge drawn from years of experience.

As it's plain to see, Obama can NOT! IT'S all "JUST WORDS" Touchy-Feeley nuanced words... meant for you as the take away from your experience listening to an Obama speech. The same feeling you get when you are undecided between 2 car salesman. One salesman you've done business with before who has demonstrated a good service record, delivering the goods to your satisfaction. And the popular new one on the block, who's offer just seems TOO good to be TRUE. ( of course you get the full picture, if his teleprompter isn't in the shop)

My Best advise to anyone reading here. Is order the book:

"Obama, the Postmodern Coup" and fill the "transparency" gap where Obama refuses you access to his nefarious plans with Brzezinski.

After you see what you are dealing with... order for your own Good and Welfare:

"Obama, The Unauthorised Biography" fleshing out a complete picture of Obama's personal history allowing yourself the time and opportunity to make a well informed decision before casting your vote.

]]> http://tariqahalkaamilah.wordpress.com/?p=55 Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:21:10 +0000 tariqahalkaamilah http://tariqahalkaamilah.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/shaykh-ibrahim-al-husaini-al-dasuki/ Shaykh Ibrahim al-Husaini al-Dasuki, may Allah be pleased with him, was ibn Abi l-Majd bin Quraysh bin Muhammad bin al-Najjar bin ‘Abd al-Khaliq bin al-Qasim bin al-Ja‘far bin ‘Abd al-Khaliq bin Abi l-Qasim al-Zaki bin ‘Ali bin Muhammad al-Jawwad bin ‘Ali al-Ridha bin Musa al-Kathim bin Ja‘far al-Sadiq bin Muhammad al-Baqir bin ‘Ali al-Zahir (Zain al-‘Abidin) bin Sayyiduna l-Husain bin al-Imam ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with them.

His Birth

He was born in 633 H. and wore the noble patched robe from Shaykh Najm al-Din Mahmud al-Isfahani. He graduated with Shaykh Nur al-Din ‘Abd al-Samad al-Nathari and with Shaykh Abu l-Hasan al-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased with them.

His Position in the Spiritual World

He is one of the four principle qutbs. He was among the illustrious shaykhs of Egypt who excelled and became well known by the permission of Allah to the existence. The people of his time openly recognized his having a great wilaya and his being a great qutb; eventually he became the head of a tariqah. He studied the fiqh of Imam al-Shafi‘i and then followed in the footsteps of the Sufis. He had the status of the shaykhs and carried the white flag. His du‘as were accepted and he openly manifested many miracles. He was well versed in the rules of wilaya and their application, and there are many quotations attributed to him regarding the tariqah.

His Death

He died, may Allah be pleased with him, in 676 H. at the age of 43 and was buried in the city of Dasuk. Today his grave is still visited.

It's called false advertising on the scale of billions.

You have 'bots' so you say. Index the net per http 'hyper text transfer protocall' and stop trying to push your nazi 'nasa' Web 2.0 on the earth. It's not only treason to America, but to the species as a whole. Screw this or any election. The species CANNOT evolve without Truth.

WalKnDude

*nofear*

Even the deceased cannot escape her heartless denunciations

By Allan Erickson

10.13.08

Why is Arianna Huffington attacking her friends in the mainstream media?  Can it be the MSM is about to report on matters she finds offensive, and thus, she employs a kind of Bush pre-emptive strike with this incredible scrawl?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/the-self-loathing-liberal_b_98419.html 

Concerning Tony Snow, may he rest in peace, she writes he lied to us, consistently, saying he promoted “ . . .  some pre-packaged PR pitch cooked up in the White House to keep us in the dark. This was always Snow's specialty -- along with a glib dismissiveness that made him the poster child for the Bush administration's brand of Callous Conservatism.”

Now there’s credibility, Arianna style.

Well, read on, because it has been made Kristol clear by Arianna Huffington: American politics is not, and cannot be, an exercise in reasoned debate engaged by contending patriotic parties working to acquire legitimate majorities.

No. Those who disagree with Arianna & Friends (Soros, MoveOn, Obama) are the “enemies of . . . reality.”  Of course to embrace this lunacy one must agree only Arianna has a grip on reality, which is, needless to say, beyond nuts. 

Arianna readily admits, as far as the Left is concerned, politics is war: the Right is the enemy, an enemy to be destroyed, not debated. 

She celebrates this kind of warfare on her propagandist blog, ignoring her own hyper-partisanship, at the same time accusing the MSM (the MSM!) of bias Rightward.  Yes, we all know how the massive media only serves the interests of conservative Christians and Republicans! 

The author of “Pigs at the Trough,” appears totally uninterested in the pigs at Fannie and Freddie, seeking our vote on confidence with a book entitled:

“Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe.” 

Presumably the ‘lunatic fringe’ encompasses the 51% of Americans who put GWB in the White House, twice, but let’s not quibble.  Arianna has already demonstrated a chronic aversion to facts.  (And, don’t the facts have something to do with honesty, truth, and . . . reality?)

Arianna declares:  " . . . make no mistake, (Karl) Rove, (Bill) Kristol, and (Tony) Snow are the enemies -- of honesty, truth, facts, reality, and the public's right to know. Anything."  Arianna on Huffington today, an April reposting.  Good thing we have Huffington Post or we’d know nothing!

Certainly, Americans are a contentious lot.  We've been buttin' heads since 1776.  However, for Arianna, a once-devoted conservative, to insist politics is warfare belies her ignorance concerning values we once held dear, values that have tended to bind us together, rather than rip us apart.  Obviously she prefers ripping.

And if binding together in these perilous times provides the tipping point to survival, Arianna's world view tends to hand our future to our real enemies.  In other words, demonizing Americans who disagree with her is not only sophomoric, it actively works against the greatest good for the greatest number.

The Founders set up a system of government where competing points of view could be heard, debated and evaluated, such that compromise and consensus might yield positive decision-making.   All this, it was expected, would be conducted in the context of honor, fair play and mutual respect, the assumption being everyone at the table sought what was best for the country.

Arianna's opinion and attitude demonstrates we have drifted far from any notion of fair play, mutual respect and a general focus on the greatest good for the greatest number. 

Arianna and like-minded people prefer we divide into warring camps.  They prefer savage politics and reject the politics of good will.  While she points the boney finger of accusation---denigrating good men by going so low as calling them the enemies of truth----she simultaneously ignores serial crimes in her own camp, and excoriates a massive media sympathetic to her cause.  If her goal is to alienate everyone, she appears right on track, or should one say, Left.

If she is not the personification of a loose cannon, then perhaps Arianna is simply taking a slight back seat to the likes of Joe Biden or John Murtha, two individuals chronically incapable of holding their tongues, uninterested in building bridges or embracing policy consistency, indeed, like Arianna, two people who demonstrate their net contribution has been making enemies of their own countrymen and ripping America apart from within.   

In war, all that matters is winning.  Some people fight according to the rules.  Others decide that winning is so important, the rules don't matter.  This is what Saul Alinsky taught Barack Obama, and this is what Arianna embraces. 

So, in war, without rules, ACORN, Ayers, Rezko, Annenberg, Jeremiah Wright and Farrakhan are of no concern to Arianna and her allies.  These are mere distractions, unless the MSM picks up the scent.

Dick Morris, writing today, indicates those associations will be of interest to most Americans, if the markets stabilize and financial chaos no longer occupies the front page.

"As ACORN gets raided by the FBI, it will hurt Obama. He was general counsel to its Illinois affiliate, and Obama channeled millions to the radical group when he got control over the money William Ayers got from the Annenberg Foundation.  All of these ties are damning for Obama and will reinforce the doubts that Wright first put in our minds. They will lead people to question Obama's values and his fitness for the presidency.  A man whose spiritual adviser is Wright, whose financial backer is Tony Rezko, and whose first major employer was William Ayers might not be a good choice for president. But for these associations to loom large enough in our consciousness to impact our vote, the market has to settle down so we can hear the campaign over its din."

Will voters turn and consider the glaring warning lights on Obama's dashboard?

Not if Arianna and her cohorts have their way.  

Dominating media, education, entertainment and politics for 50 years, the Left has learned how to manipulate, confuse and distract the public.  And the Left knows if you appeal to selfishness, you have an advantage right out of the gate.  Most people are motivated by selfishness, and so, the Left preys upon that destructive impulse.  Hence, the pervasive cries are heard:

>My healthcare: healthcare is a 'right'

>A college education is a 'right'

>My body, my self: it's my right to kill my unborn child due to an 'inconvenient' pregnancy so I can benefit economically and not be called upon to sacrifice

>My 'right' to marry my same sex partner and redefine traditional marriage

>Me, me, me, me, me . . .

Arianna, leading the Obama charge, will have you believe it is their 'right' to rule this country because anyone who disagrees with them is the enemy of " honesty, truth, facts, reality, and the public's right to know."  Is it not selfish to claim exclusive 'right' to truth and power, even infantile?

You will notice the Right acknowledges selfishness, as did the Founders, but encourages people to move beyond it in their politics, to focus on the greatest good for the greatest number, a focus which has always seen greater measures of success when we embrace democracy and economic freedom.

Historically, trending otherwise, toward government control, Leftist domination, and socialism, always translates into tyranny, always. 

Thus, Arianna and Friends trend tyrannical, unwittingly, waging war against our fundamental strengths: mutual respect, fairness, love of country, and a tradition of preferring patriotism to ideology. 

Fueled by an almost hysterical devotion to ideology bordering on psychosis, Arianna cannot even extend mercy to the deceased, slandering Tony Snow, by all accounts, one of the most decent, honest and respected figures ever to grace American public life. 

Misinformation accomplished Arianna.  Your blog is a bludgeon in the war you obviously relish, and profit from.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PS:  Karl and Bill are good guys too.  Contrary to Arianna, they proceed according to what they truly believe is best for the country. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BACKROOM CONNECTIONS:

FYI--- Surprise, surprise.

"The Huffington Post has raised a modest sum of close to $11 million in two rounds of funding. Backers include the venture-capital firms Softbank Ventures and Greycroft Partners, and co-founder Lerer. Small investments also came from his friend former AOL president Robert Pittman, and writer Nora Ephron, a friend of Huffington's. As editor-in-chief, Huffington is paid a salary and also has a minority equity stake (she says she doesn't know exactly how much she owns) in what increasingly appears to be a more mainstream business. In September, the Huffington Post hired Betsy Morgan, who was general manager of CBSnews.com, to be its first full-time CEO. Willow Bay, the former TV anchor and producer, recently joined as editor-at-large."

http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/26/magazines/fortune/huffington.fortune/

Chuck Norris Cleans Arianna's Clock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_Rb4W54JnI

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/09/13/chuck-norris-smacks-down-arianna-huffington

Hello all. Things have calmed down. Last week I had a test Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Yea, my professors are crazy. I did alright on them. 

I want to talk about something that has had me thinking for a VERY long time. I am writing about it now because in my Philosophy class, I ask questions the professor or the GTA can't answer them. Mainly because no one knows. Here goes nothin....

Ever since we were young, we have been told what is right and what is wrong. My question is: Who are we to determine what that means? Someone told me that it will never be answered because only God knows. 

I don't accept that. I was put on this Earth for a number of reasons unknown to me. If I was meant to do something (if anything at all) then why is it impossible for me to find the answer? Why is it impossible to know what I am supposed to do?

I think that people who really don't know the answer try and give you: 1. A religious response. Someone told me that in order to find the answer, I should "Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior". Now, I'm not against anyone's religion or even my own BUT isn't that a defensive response? Is that an easy way out? 

2. I get, "just wait and you will get the answer". Do I have to explain why this is crazy? Wait for what? How do I know when I get "the answer". Come on. I need more.

I guess I have to know the answer because I want to go through life making the True right decisions and not just the true right decisions. I use a capital -T- because what's (t)rue for some people is not the ultimate (T)ruth.

How do we know that whatever we are doing is (R)ight, and not just (r)ight? How do we know that abortion is right/wrong if it is right or wrong in different countries. How do we know if being gay is right/wrong if different people have different views? 

Again, you could turn to religion but all religions believe that they are the (R)ight one, when to others they are, not wrong, but (r)ight. 

I was not happy with my professors response when I asked him this question and said "It's driving me crazy". he said "Well the only advice I can give you is: don't let it drive you crazy". The second time he said "Sorry, I'm going to lunch". This is my Philosophy professor. Fraud?

My GTA said "Good question. I don't know. I can't help you because that is an epistemological question. Take that class". I almost pounced on him. 

I don't turn down religious talk. I know I can't have a "God's eye view" (professor Corvino) of anything. What am I supposed to do? How do I find the answer? Does it exist? Am I or we supposed to find it? What a gre(a)y area. 

Help?

When I say Magic, people normally think of one of three things: the card game, magicians (or illusionists) that saw scantily clad women in half, or wizards the likes of Gandalf or Merlin. This is not what I mean, and why, to the best of my knowledge, people spell our kind of magic(k) with a K; to differentiate it from fantasy or tricks. When I say “the Occult” people normally think of one or both of two things: Satanic rituals with inverted pentagrams and severed goat heads, or hippy-dippy Wiccans grinding up herbs and invoking the “Mother Goddess.” This is also not what I mean.

I believe that symbols, or, more accurately, the ideas behind them, have enormous power. It’s quite possibly the most powerful force in the universe. Believe something hard enough, regardless of how ridiculous it is and you have the power to command armies that will stop at nothing to help you reach your goals (see: religious fundamentalists of any stripe). Reality is not static. There is no such thing as true objectivity. Belief creates reality. Take the most devout Christian in the world. Someone tries to tell them God does not exist, and he knows the atheist is wrong. It’s not a question of proof, or rational discourse, God is the truth. That’s just one example. Think of your own beliefs. Think of the most strongly held belief that you have. Are there people out there that think the EXACT opposite? Are they wrong? Of course they are. To you. To each of you, that belief, or lack thereof, has power.

We believe what we perceive, and there is no way we could be completely objective unless we were able to perceive everything in existence at all times. How would we be able to function with that volume of information flowing through us? We couldn’t. So it is necessary for us to have finite perception. We draw the conclusions we can with the information we’re given. So, if two diametrically opposite views can be seen as objective truth by two separate people, then what is Truth? There is no capital T Truth because no one has every possible bit of information. Nothing is true. So, if nothing is true, then nothing is false. If nothing is false, then there is no limitation on thought. If there is no limitation on thought, then everything is possible.

When I say “there is no Truth,” don’t take me to mean “there is no fact.” There is objective data that can be observed, recorded, and verified. But the conclusions reached using that data can vary wildly. Think of global warming in this way. There are scientists that believe it is caused by human interactions, those that believe it is a natural occurrence, and those that believe it is a mix (then of course, there are those that believe it is a myth all together, but they use a text written thousands of years ago to guide their and others’ lives, and believe that Jesus spoke English. They aren’t using any kind of verifiable data). Think also of advances in science. Before the 17th century, people believed that maggots spontaneously generated from rotting meat, aphids from morning dew, and mice from stored grain. It’s not that they were stupid, it’s just that they didn’t have all the data. Ok, so maybe they were a little stupid, but I’m sure hundreds of years from now, people will say they same thing about us and the conclusions we’ve reached.

This brings me to an article I read in a book called Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult. (The Disinformation Company Ltd. 2003) It’s a great primer on Chaos Magick and has really propelled me forward in my study. The article was called “The Executable Dreamtime” by Mark Pesce. I won’t go deeply into it, because I don’t fully understand everything he is saying and I don’t want to misrepresent, or misinterpret his views (there we go again with data vs. conclusion), but here is a bit of it:

“A few weeks before I wrote this essay, I had a private conversation with a neurophysiologist at UCSD … who passed along some stunning insights he’d gathered from his research on the human brain. It seems that we like to perceive ourselves as rational, reasonable creatures, carefully weighing our decisions before we commit, the fact of the matter is precisely the inverse. We arrive at our decisions through emotional sensations, acting “from the gut” at all times. Our reason enters the process only after the decision has been made, and acts as the mind’s propagandist, convincing us of the utter rightness which underlies all of our actions.” (pg 28)

Fucking weird, right? If this is true, then how can there be truth? Every conclusion is made before any data is analyzed!

What does this have to do with magick? Well here’s the conclusion that I have reached, true or untrue. Magi such as ourselves use powerful symbols, ancient gods that have been ingrained in our psyches for centuries, for example, in order to focus an aspect of our desires and execute our will upon the world. This is not a mystical endeavor, thought at times it may seem like one. It is a form of neuro-linguistic programming. We convince our subconscious to act on desires that we may reach difficult goals.

Maybe my article falls apart there for you. It sort of does for me. I’m sure my ideas and conclusions will change in time to come...
Hopefully I can crank out another article this week. Dickie's starting to make me look bad! ;)

On to tonight's beer!

North Coast Brewing Company, Fort Bragg CA

Brother Thelonious

Belgian Style Abbey Ale

12oz bottle poured into a wine glass because I don't have a goblet.

9.4% ABV

Pour s a beautiful dark brown color. When held to light it reveals red hues. Creamy tan head, starts out generous and dissipates before long. A thin ring of foam remains around the edges from the considerable carbonation.

A sweet alcoholic nose hits me first, but after a few sniffs there is a strong presence of peanut butter. Not expected.

Big malty character and alcohol in the taste, as expected in such a style. Can feel the alcohol in my nostrils. Get the feeling it’s a little cold for the style. I’ll let it sit for a bit.

It’s warmer now, but I’m still having trouble picking out flavors. Though, I do taste the peanut butter I smelled earlier. Either my palette isn’t mature enough for this beer, or the malt and alcohol are masking everything else.

It goes down fairly smooth despite the high ABV, but definitely not something I could drink multiples of it a row. Maybe two with a decent meal. Half way through, I start a small buzz. This is my first beer of the evening, and I’ve had dinner. Speaking of which, maybe some time soon, I’ll try some beer and food pairings… that would be fun…

I love my hops, but big Belgians like this are quick becoming favorites. Lucifer is another I love.

‘Till next time!

http://scaredmonkeys.com/2008/10/13/is-texas-equusearch-pulling-out-of-the-caylee-anthony-case/#more-6172

Scared Monkeys broadcast the searches everyday for TES. I pray they don't pull out, but if they do, I understand. CASEY IS NOT WINNING ANYTHING!!! I just wanted to make that point clear. My heart breaks for what poor Caylee had to endure being a part of such a DYSFUNCTIONAL, SELF-SERVING FAMILY, OR SHOULD I SAY CASEY SERVING FAMILY!!! Cindy can sit there on her backside and bash everyone that is trying to help, and calling in Caylee sitings, to throw the court of public opinion, but it no longer washes with me! If you heard the States Attorney's office reply in the hearing to Mr. Baez wanting what they have on live Caylee sightings, they said to ask his client's mother, as most of them were coming from her. I'm sorry, I don't remember seeing their phone #'s made public to call for tips. I think that is Cindy protecting her MONSTER OF A DAUGHTER! It is so sad that the very people that claimed to care so much for that baby, actually cared nothing for her at all. CASEY IS ALL THAT MATTERS TO THEM!!! It is unfortunate that they don't realize that she is a threat to society. I'm done venting now. Still praying for justice and truth for Caylee!

The purpose of this blog is to serve as a testimony of truth.  According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law a testimony is "an affirmative declaration of fact and is based on the personal knowledge of the testifier" (Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/testimony). My personal knowlede of the subject matter contained in this blog has been given to me by the power of the Holy Ghost as I have studied, prayed, and pondered over the scriptures.  The sciptures themseves teach about the roll of the Holy Ghost in the process of learning about God anf gaining a personal testimony of truth:

• John 14:26 "But the aComforter, which is the bHoly Ghost, whom the Father will send in my cname, he shall dteach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
•  1 Cor. 2:10-12 "But God hath arevealed them unto us by his bSpirit: for the cSpirit dsearcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
     "For what man aknoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God bknoweth no man, cbut the dSpiritof God.
     "Now we have received, not the aspirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."
• John 15:26  "But when the aComforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shallbtestify of me"
• Moroni 10:5 "And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may aknow the btruth of all things."

I want to bear my testimony of what I have learned to be true through the power of the Spirit of God.  I know that God is our Heavenly Father and that He loves each one of His children on this Earth.  I know that God has provided a way for us to retun and life with Him and that way is through our Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and obedience to the commandments we can prepare our selves for eternal life.

I also know that the Bible is the word of God; words that were recorded by ancient prophets.  I know that since God loves all of his children, He has revealed His words to prophets in all ages and places.  I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and is a true witness of Jesus Christ and His teachings from prophets in the anchient Americas. I know that God has not forgoten His children in these wicked days and that there is a living prophet on the face of the Earth, namely Thomas S. Monson, who leads and guides the Churh of our Lord Jesus Christ by direct revelation, just as the prophets of old. 

The Spirit of God has born witness of these truths to my heart, and I inturn bare winess of them in the same Spirit. 

Colby S. Johnson

As women we come seeking a reality to which we are called by our Savior. As women we come to affirm our life in Jesus Christ. As women we come to refute untruths, to challenge injustices, to confront oppressive structures that bind us. We, therefore, are called to declare the following truths:

One voice:
IT IS NOT TRUE that women should feel and experience that being a woman is of secondary value to the community.

All:
THIS IS TRUE that women are created women, the image of God, co-workers with God in caring for life, in struggling for the liberations of humanity and for a world order that respects each one's dignity.

Read the rest of the litany.

Arguably, recognizing the need for action is the most important factor in the process of creating a Path Toward Peace....Unfortunately once beyond this ,recognition, there is little to even no consensus as to the direction that such a path should take.

In that let me offer such direction, "Forward"...., though seemingly
simplistic in it's nature it is the only relevant and realistic choice.
Further more it is the only possibility lending itself to achievement.

I am not advocating an abandonment of lessens past, simply pursuit with the knowledge gleaned... An understanding and application, that though certainly possessing the ability for sidestepping and/or retreat, Man whether by design, evolution or a mixture of both is an amalgamation consisting mainly of forward moving adaptations, legs, feet, arms, hands, eyes and mouth!

Since the dawn of recognition, man has searched for his way "back", whether to the Creator and Heaven, or to the auroral pool of spirit. But~ think about this for a moment, "That which bars our way, is not behind us... , that both infant and prophet step forward with arms open."

How can any of us provide such motion?

Play to who you are. Are you a writer? Then Write.. Are you a builder? Then Build.. Are you a singer? Then Sing.. Are you a teacher? Then Teach... For those who may not know their strengths... Then strive to read.., or to Shelter..., or to Hum.., always strive to Learn!! Moving forward consist of simply taking a first step!!

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”~ Lao Tzu (600 BC-531 BC)

For those interested in participating in this discussion, please stop by and Share your thoughts and feelings on these topics at: Our Evolution’s Forums

For more please visit the ORIGINAL post Path Toward Peace and explore the blog at Our Evolution by ~Alexander M Zoltai

Nais Tuke,(Thank You}

This is what is meant by that old phrase--the truth breaks the internal consistency. It doesn't care about principle. The truth is spontaneous, rough, a samurai at war. The truth, too often a thing solely for transitory strangers, too often a driftwood luxury, is of a much deeper flavor than any alternative. The truth does not anticipate the future, does not anticipate or care for its response. To follow the truth is to follow it all through the world, through forests, levees, mountains, old villages, cities, cabs rides, hostels. The lies keep you safe and keep you living, until you're old, decaying, and finding everything to be too late.

Truth kills, chums the line, hurls down the road, presents itself to strangers, pines for lovers, screams for base jumps, vodka, everything. Tell the truth tell the truth. Tell it, destroy the world, see what surfaces, as if the world is a lake; you'll see what can really float. Then salvage what's going to last, stuff it in your backpack, and make your way.

So, no politician can guarantee that any specific policies or preferences will pass. That's a Good Thing (tm).
 
I read something recently that reminded me how differently we treat people when we define them as "other" instead of "one of us." We all do that. It's a survival mechanism. But we can also question it.
 
I hear that McCain is a former POW who was tortured. My decision to vote for Obama was made before I heard this, but this reinforced it. Many of you know I quit a job at Texas Instruments in about 1991 when I realized my work was supporting missile guidance for bombs.
 
You all know about my childhood sexual abuse.
 
So, you can imagine that I would not be likely to vote for someone who sounds more likely to be reactive and vengeful than proactive and forgiving.
 
'Nuff said.
 
Please pass it on.
 
Hopefully, this will be my last politically-oriented post this year. This time next month, we will have elected a new President.

Love, Ann

Too many times God's people are presented with what appears to be good, right, and nice; but it is wrong.

Too many times God's people are presented with something that appears to be the only course we should take; but it is wrong.

Too many times God's people are not even aware that what is presented to them as good, right, nice, and necessary is wrong.

Why?

Because God's people are altogether too often ignorant of God's Word.

The only way that we are truly going to be able to discern right from wrong in this life is to have knowledge of God's Word.

Search the Scripture.

Walk in the light of God's Word.

Follow the truth.

Just musing....

First, there is the question of language. The destruction of Aboriginal languages was one of the key outcomes of the Indian Residential School (IRS) system. Children were forced to speak English and were often the victims of abuse if they spoke their native tongues. They were alienated from their culture and stripped of their language. In what languages will the TRC be conducted? Will the TRC actively work to re-invigorate and re-establish these endangered languages?

The next question is one of timing. Why a Canadian TRC now? Grassroots movements have been collecting and archiving testimonials from IRS survivors for years. Many participants at the Breaking the Silence conference expressed distrust for a state-sponsored TRC. The last IRS closed in 1998. In the ten years that have passed, the legacies of the abuse and policies of assimilation are slowly beginning to become a part of mainstream awareness. With Prime Minister Stephen Harper's public apology in June 2008, the IRS and the Canadian TRC were thrust into the spotlight. Prime Minister Harper's apology came just months after Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a similar statement. What is the national and international political and cultural climate that has allowed for the Canadian TRC to come into being?

There are a multitude of questions that surround the Canadian TRC. The above questions are simply the beginning. As the process continues, more questions will be brought to the forefront. These questions may include: How will issues of gender be given consideration? What concept of healing does the TRC espouse? How or will the testimonies of the children of survivors be incorporated in the discourse? How will the outcomes of the TRC affect the ongoing public debates and legal battles concerning Aboriginal land claims?