Powder - Keg & Puff

To Kill or Not to Kill?

2007-08-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

It's time to speak of war. Or, if you wish, "sactioned killing." Warring, is, of course, older than civilization, and intrisic to most life-forms on this planet. Whether we speak of the hummingbird battles on my back deck (where, although feeders are everywhere, my little hummers spend half their energy "defending" the feeder they've chosen as theirs!) - Or whether we speak of Iraq, Afganistan or Darfur - war is still the primary way that the denizens of Earth resolve their disputes. Humans have created an Art Form of it, perfecting strategies and weapons with immense skill, ever escalating the stakes.
We now possess the ability to destroy the entire earth ten times over, and still we press on, tirelessly working to surpass both our enemies and our friends in the ability to annihilate the mostest the fastest.
Why? Because there are evil forces out there, threatening our very existence (as if we don't ourselves?) who can only be stopped if we slaughter enough of "them" to bring them to their knees. Of couse, plenty of our own get slaughtered in the process; nearly all of them our youngest, healthiest and brightest - who die on the battlefield, or limp home, wounded in body and soul, a permanent drain on the medical resources of the country and unlikely to ever make the contributions to their families and their society that they might have.
So; I must ask - when do we become civilized enough to realize that there must be (or, must be) a better solution than war?

Powder keg

Back from the Wars

2007-08-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry for the long silence! Actually, I've been on what we'll call medical leave; several surgeries to correct some increasingly debilitating problems. It was long, tedious and a bit grueling, but I'm well on my way back to life as it should be. The summer is waning; at least here in the high country, where Labor Day signals the beginning of autumn. My hummingbird count is around fifteen, busily draining the sugarwater from my five feeders. The Rufouses (named for their rusty-redness) have made their late-summer appearance; they are aggressively territorial and greedy, so the deck is now often the scene of whirring hummer-wars. Quite amazing little creatures; they are unendingly delightful to watch.
I suppose we could call this post a "soft re-entry" - perfect for such a splendid, sunny summer morning. I'll get to more serious topics later!

Powder

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

My days, lately, have been much too full, to give my blog the time it deserves!
But, on this significant day; if you are amother, I hope you feel loved and apprciated. If you have a mother, make sure she feels that way.
I'd like to share an excerpt from Khalil Gibran's "The Profit" which pretty much sums up my feelings about motherhood.

“Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.”

Finally, if you're not a mother, and don't have one, either, call somebody else's mother and wish her a happy day!

Feeling Like a Bit of Fluff?

2007-03-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

George Smoot, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics, explains that our view of the universe has become exponentially more complex in just the past decade. Smoot's work is part of a revolution that has forced cosmologists to confront a universe wholly unlike any they've ever known - one where only 4% is the kind of matter we have always assumed it to be; that is, the kind that makes up you, me, all the planets and stars in our galaxy, and in all 125 billion galaxies beyond. Let me repeat that; 4%. The other 96% is . . .?
Cosmologists refer to it as "dark" - meaning unknown for now, and possibly forever.

Here's what that means: we are not at the center of anything. We're not even made up of the same stuff as most of the rest of everything.

Lawrence Krauss, a theorist at Case Western University, put it bluntly; "If you got rid of us, and all the stars and all the galaxies and all the planets and all the aliens and everybody, then the universe would remain largely the same. We're completely irrelevant."

So, how important are you feeling right about now?

Thought for March

2007-03-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

Whatever you are,
be a good one.
A. Lincoln

Have You Googled Yourself Lately?

2007-03-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

It helps to have a slightly uncommon name, but in any event, it can be quite an experience to see what googling your name elicits. One thing that mystifies me; I usually get differeent results. I've published numerous articles in periodicals, and posted several requests for genealogical leads, and sometimes quite a few of them pop up. Other times the stuff is quite different. Of course, my name isn't that unusual; I've found quite a bit that pertains to total strangers. But the most intriguing is that my name shows up on German (at least Germanic) porno sites. I don't even want to delve into that one.
So, go check up on yourself - it might be a real eye-opener.

Powder (Puffily!)

So Much for Proofing

2007-02-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

The following post should have been: "What I'm Talking About" - of course, maybe, subconsciously I meant "Taking"!

Powder (Puff)

What I'm Taking About

2007-02-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

The following, from a brochure by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, is an excellent introduction to the concept of Freethinking. It isn't a position you are necessarily expected to embrace, but, if you follow my blog, you need to at least understand the position behind my thoughts (at least the philosophical ones.)

Powder

What Is A Freethinker?
A Freethinker is a person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established Belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics, secular humanists and rationalists.
No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, creed, or messiah. To the freethinker revelation is invalid and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth.

What Is A Freethinker's Basis For Knowledge?
Freethinkers are naturalistic. Truth is the degree to which a statement corresponds with reality. Reality is limited to that which is directly perceivable through our natural senses or indirectly ascertained through the proper use of reason.
The scientific method is the only trustworthy means of obtaining knowledge. For a statement to be considered true it must be testable (what repeatable experiments or methods confirm it?), falsifiable (what, in theory, would disconfirm it, and have all attempts to disprove it failed?), parsimonious (is it the simplest explanation, requiring the fewest assumptions?), and logical (is it free of contradictions or non sequiturs?).
Arguments based on faith, authority or ad homonym character attacks are unacceptable.

Do Freethinkers Have A Basis For Morality?
Freethinkers accept human life as the primary basis for morality. That which enhances humanity is "good"—that which threatens it is "evil." There are no cosmic absolutes. Given our existence in the universe, life must be the basis for values. Hence, most freethinkers are humanists. This usually embraces a respect for the welfare of our entire planet, including the other animals.
An ethical choice is rarely a simple "right and wrong" decision. Most moral questions involve a conflict of values, requiring a careful use of reason. Obedient conformity to the dictates of another mind is supremely immoral and very dangerous.

Do Freethinkers Have Meaning In Life?
Freethinkers know that meaning must originate in a mind. Since the universe is mindless and the cosmos does not care, you must care, if you wish to have purpose. Individuals are free to choose, within the limits of humanistic morality.
Some freethinkers have found meaning in compassion for needless suffering, social progress, the beauty of humanity (art, music, literature), personal happiness, pleasure, joy and love, and the advancement of knowledge.

Doesn't The Complexity Of Life Require A Designer?
The complexity of life requires an explanation. Darwin's theory of evolution, with cumulative nonrandom natural selection "designing" for billions of years, has provided the explanation. A Divine Designer is no answer because the complexity of such a creature would be subject to the same scrutiny itself.
Freethinkers recognize that there is much chaos, ugliness and pain in the universe for which any explanation of origins must also account.

Why Are Freethinkers Opposed To Religion?
Freethinkers are convinced that religious claims are false—they have not withstood the tests of evidence and reason. Not only is there nothing to be gained by believing an untruth, but there is everything to lose when we sacrifice the indispensable tool of reason on the altar of superstition.
Most freethinkers consider religion to be not only untrue, but harmful. It has been used to justify war, slavery, sexism, racism, mutilations, intolerance, and oppression of minorities.

Hasn't Religion Done Tremendous Good In The World?
Some religionists are good people but they would be good anyway. Religion cannot take credit for actions which are just as easily accomplished by freethinkers.
In fact, most modern social and moral progress has been made by people free from religion—including Clara Barton, Margaret Sanger, Albert Einstein, Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, H. L. Mencken, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Robert Burns, Percy Shelley, Johannes Brahms and many others whom we honor today for their contributions to humanity.
Most religions have consistently resisted progress—including the abolition of slavery; women's right to vote and to choose contraception and abortion; medical developments such as the use of anesthesia; scientific understanding of the heliocentric solar system and evolution, and the use of lightning rods; and the American principle of state/church separation.

Do Freethinkers Have A Particular Political Persuasion?
No, freethought is a philosophical, not a political, position. Freethought today embraces adherents of virtually all political persuasions, including capitalists, libertarians, socialists, communists, Republicans, Democrats, liberals and conservatives. There is no connection, for example, between atheism and communism. Some freethinkers, such as Adam Smith and Ayn Rand, were staunch capitalists; and there have been communistic groups which were deeply religious, such as the early Christian church.

Is Atheism/Humanism A Religion?
Atheism is not a belief. It is the "lack of belief” in god(s). Lack of faith requires no faith. Atheism is indeed based on a commitment to rationality, but that hardly qualifies it as a religion.
Freethinkers apply the term religion to belief systems which include a supernatural realm, deity, faith in "holy" writings and conformity to an absolute creed.
Secular humanism has no god, bible or savior. It is based on natural rational principles. It is flexible and relativistic—it is not a religion.
Isn't A Plurality Of Ideas Unsettling To Humanity?
Yes. That is the only way we will have progress. A multiplicity of individuals thinking, free from restraints of orthodoxy, allows ideas to be tested, discarded or adopted. The totalitarianism of religious absolutes chokes progress.

Why Should I Be Proud To Be A Freethinker?
Freethought is reasonable. Freethought allows you to do your own thinking. Freethinkers see no pride in the blind maintenance of ancient superstitions or self-effacing prostration before divine tyrants known only through primitive "revelations." Freethought is respectable. Freethought is truly free.
From the Freedom From Religion Foundation

Back from a Sabbatical

2007-02-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

Sometimes one goes away for just a moment, and that moment goes on far too long. If I've been missed, I apologize. Several things have kept me busy; most importantly, stumbling upon a group of Freethinkers, with whom I shared much. Many of the conversations have been thought-provoking, a few have been downright rewarding.

If "Freethinker" is a term you are unfamiliar with; it generally embraces those who either have significant doubts about the existence of any god(s) or who are quite certain that supernatural beings do not exist. The accurate term for the latter is "athiest" which is by no means ominous or dangerous; non-theist more or less serves the same purpose. Whatever.
Which term makes most sense to you, it describes me. I don't accept the naive notion that we were created by, and exist at the pleasure of, any god.

I find nature sufficiently wondrous without assigning it to a Creator - particularly the one the bible describes. I have explained my position in the most straightforward terms I can, so that you can choose to explore this arena with me, or turn tail and run. If you are terrified and repulsed by the very suggestion that your treasured myths may not be fact, then it's time to scamper on home. Otherwise, you're more than welcome here.

Powder (keg)

Brain Food & Other Diversions

2006-09-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

My son, who is infinitely brighter than I, sent me a puzzle (ostensibly to occupy my time when I've had my fill of sudoku . . ) I have yet to solve it, so I'll let you give it a shot.

(btw: the counter shows I've had 157 hits on this site, but only one comment. "lurking is fine if it suits you, but I'd suggest reading your local newspaper's "comment" page might be just as rewarding. If you've been here more than once, it's time to add your voice. Jump in, the water's fine!)

So - the puzzle.

Molly buys 16 rose bushes and considers a planting pattern that would please her. Because she has a thing about "rows of four" she lays out her bushes in four rows of four, because that is actually 10 rows of four: 4 rows across, 4 rows vertically, and 2 diagonally (the X) as follows:
. # # # #
. # # # #
. # # # #
. # # # #

But Molly wanted more, so she worked with her layout until she had 15 rows of four!
What was her layout?
(It took my son a week to solve this, so here's one clue: no row will have more than 4 bushes.)Have fun - if you get it, feel free to post your solution here!

Powder

Just Keep Looking

2006-09-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

I live in a beautiful place - wild, remote and soul-reviving, with not more than a couple hundred other hardy souls (summer tourists not counting.)
Unfortunately, most of those fellow residents aren't people I care for. No; I care for many of them; perhaps I mean "enjoy." We have little in common, and less to discuss. As a rule, I don't like to ask them questions about themselves or their lives, because I usually could not care less about the answers.
How nice, then, to meet a new neighbor who is bright, interesting, and promises to be fun to talk to. I traded a quilt I made (and he admired) for a book he wrote. We'll see if it was a win-win.

How Do We Fix This?

2006-07-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

Imagine giving your money - and the right to influence your life, to an organization which has these employees:

7 have been arrested for fraud,
8 have been arrested for shoplifting,
3 have served time for assault,
19 have been accused of writing bad checks,
14 have been arrested on drug charges,
21 are currently defendants in lawsuits,
29 have been accused of spousal abuse,
117 have directly or indirectly put at least two businesses into bankruptcy,
71 cannot get a credit card because of bad credit,
and
84 have been arrested for DUI just in the past year.

Sad to say, this stellar group are members of
the United States Congress.

So Who Am I?

2006-07-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

The article, in a reasonably-respected, mainstream journal, began, "Americans are overweight, overspent, deep in credit card debt, and mired in their disoganized, cluttered lives."
Put differently, I might have agreed with it.
However; I am not overweight, do not carry credit card debt, have no debts except my home mortgage (with savings nearly equal to it) and have no need for hoarding, so have no clutter (at least not material clutter) in my life.

Am I not, then, an American?

Why must the media insist on treating us all as one? Did the author forget to begin "Too many . . ." or is it just so much more fun to lump us into one hapless, hopeless blob of humanity?

Or so much more controlling?

2006-07-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

Life is not a journey to the grave

with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and

well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside,

thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming

"Wow, what a ride!"

Powder?

2006-07-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

Powder keg - powder puff. Not at all related, but perfect opposites in nature. One pale, innocuous fluff, the other hard, black and potentially explosive. Some of my posts will be one, some the other.

Powder? powder room, powder horn, powdered sugar, gun powder, powder burn, face powder, baking powder, talcum powder, powder snow, powder monkey, powder blue, take a powder. . .

Press Power

2006-07-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

I doubt our founding fathers ever anticipated a free press driven, not by the desire to inform the populace, but driven primarily by the desire for profit. Today's "Press" (now popularly expanded to all forms of information dissemination, and called "Media") is the true Power Behind the Throne. (Oh, you thought we live in a Democracy?)

Do you ever wonder why it takes 150 photographers to record one congressional hearing? Or 40 rabid reporters thrusting microphones into the face of some hapless "person of interest" asking incredibly stupid questions? Couldn't have anything to do with personal gain, could it?

Find old tapes of interviews, or, better, of early Presidential press conferences, and you'll immediately notice that the reporters weren't the stars of the event. While you heard them voice their questions, the camera stayed on the object of the interview! How novel!

Pay attention to the TV newsreaders when they are forced to ad lib. Not too articulate, are they. So who is writing the words they're reading? Shouldn't we know that?

Are you dismayed when you're told "Americans think . . ."? I have trouble finding three other people who agree with what I think, let alone the entire country. Or, how about turning off your TV because you are sick and tired of the endless babel over Michael Jackson's trial, or some other media-hyped event - Then, when it's over, one of those hypers turns to a fellow hyper and says, "Why is it that America was spellbound by this trial?" (Maybe they were referring to a friend who happened to be named America??) Not.

Do you ever wish you could find balanced information about something you consider newsworthy - instead of only hearing about what "Media" has decided is newsworthy? Is there any doubt why we turn to the internet for information (even though newsreaders will be quick to warn us that the information is "unsubstantiated")?

The internet. What a blessing. Sure, there are those who abuse it or misuse it, but, for the first time in human history, we have an incredibly powerful communication tool, that is truly controlled by The People. I wonder when and how They will figure out how to take it away from us?

Welcome

2006-07-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my thoughts. We should begin with a few useful tips, in the event you choose to join in.
1. These are my opinions, beliefs and convictions.
No point in telling me I'm "wrong" - this isn't about right or wrong.
But feel free to disagree with me.
2. If you don't like what I say, go away. Nobody invited you here, after all.
3. I won't talk about my dog, my cat, or what I had for breakfast.
I don't care about yours, either.
4. Who I am is not important - this is only about what I think.
Same goes for you.

Okay - now the fun starts.