daily scratchpad

(4)

Speaking of 'butts,' as I was watching Hardball this evening I had to laugh at the discussion concerning Hillary Clinton's 'joke' concerning her qualifications to deal with 'evil men.' She posed the question herself, then laughed as those around her laughed too.

Hardball asked the question concerning Hillary's meaning: 'Who was the butt of Hillary's joke? Bill? Who?'

As I watched Hardball (which I love) tonight (boom) I thought: 'Butt is in the eye of the beholder!' Butts can be beautiful.Or ugly. Depending.

I could go on and on...

(3)

Which brings us to politics. I am not very political. I place myself somewhere inside the vast middle of American opinion in that regard.

But I saw on tv today that the Democratic Platform seemed to lack a coherent agenda. Apparently the Democrats are counting on the final denounment of Bush's Middle East fantasy to convince Americans to reject The Republicans. Those Democrats are probably correct.

Butt it seems to me that - as the report suggested - Democrats need to offer something positive. So here is my suggestion (tap): Democrats should make it mandatory in the proposed universal health care system that neonatal circumcision not be covered. It is a modest proposal. Current science suggests that neonatal circumcision is contraindicated. Indeed, it is very clear that neonatal circumcision amounts to Judeo-Mohammedization. While it is true that Jesus was circumcised it is also clear that He had no say in the matter, being an infant. The Democrats should make it clear that Jesus is not to be emulated in that regard.

(2)

I actually wish them well (booze does strange things to your mind).

Tonight's supper (compliments of Kootch) is spaghetti. (No sign of The Monster. But recall that I prefer Chinese bean noodles.)

Today is apparently 'Ashura,' a Muslim holy day when faithful Muslim men beat themselves with chains, swords, and knives. I look forward to this day every year. It is a spectator sport with me. I urge them on with, 'Harder, boys, harder!' I love the scenes showing Muslim men clothed in white garments with blood seeping (tap) down from their (tap) bald heads turning their white garments red. I am such a fan of self-flagellation! I love it even more than the running of the bulls in Pamploma.

Self-flagellation is an ancient religious practice based on the idea that God loves to witness the suffering of His creations. Christians practice somewhat the same ritual. Jews seem to console themselves with 'sackcloth and ashes' (being gassed here (tap) RLG about 9 coughs (boom). All three religions value the suffering of their devotees as somehow pleasing to God.

Other religions (Buddhism for example) see human suffering as the human lot: to be human is to suffer. There is no god above to enjoy that suffering. But humans can decrease their personal suffering by becoming aware of the nature of suffering. Buddhists say that human suffering is mostly self-inflicted. They say that when you understand the mechanism of suffering you can escape.

(1)

Well, folks, rereading (5) just below, I am reminded of the old saying that, 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.' In other words I am much less ambitious today (beginning tuesday night) than I was ending last friday night. In fact, the point was made and there is no need of an extended commentary. Whew. Saves me a lot of time. I would do the promised quote if I had more enthusiasm, but if you're really interested you'll just have to buy the book.

The couple upstairs move out (boom) over the weekend. Theoretically therefore, the apartment upstairs is empty (tap). But practice trumps theory. That is to say, nothing has changed. It is as if those two were still living up there doing their thing. And what was 'their thing?' (tap)

Quiet. Above all they were quiet (tap). Silence above was the norm. No walking around. No shouting. No tv. No music. None of the usual signs of normal habitation. The pervasive quiet formed the background against (tap) which small sounds (taps, faint wall booms) would be noticed. Stomps and wall bangs also stood out, of course. But these were all unusual in the sense that they were all small or large spikes in the pervasive silence. The silence served to provide the background against which subtle (and not so subtle) (boom) sounds would be perceived.

And these spikes were always related to some event down here. A cough, a comment (thump), a potty visit, a kitchen visit, an event on the computer (C-III, for example). A favorite was (and is) my penchant for commenting on streaming tv. Few of my comments fail to elicit at least a tap. So it is 'business as usual' down here, in the real world, as I endure (tap) The Exper(tap)iment (thump) above.

(5)

In my next (next week) missive I intend to elaborate on tonight's messages as well as commenting on 'The God Delusion.' I will zero-in on the emotional origins of nonsense. I will point out that nonsense is emotional, never logical. Logic and emotion live in different universes. Never the twain shall meet.

I also intend to elaborate on the concept of 'The Kingdom of Heaven' (or The Kingdom of God mentioned previously) from the point of view of a sophisticated commentator, P. D. Ouspensky. Furthermore I will point out that the human inclination to preceed logic with emotion is, in the modern world, contraindicated. I will suggest that in a modern world logic should take precedence over emotion. Emotion's time in human affairs has come and gone. Indeed, emotion seems to be antithetical to human progress nowadays.

I will also quote Ouspensky concerning the meaning of 'The Kingdom of Heaven, or 'The Kingdom of God.' Example: Ouspensky says that... 'the Kingdom of Heaven can be attained during life.' (page 143, A New Model of the Universe.)

Sounds fascinating.

(4)

Sophisticated religion understands what Jesus meant by 'The Kingdom of Heaven:' 'While you are alive you live in the Kingdom of Heaven.'

But you will die. What happens after your death?

Sophisticated religion answers, 'Nothing.'

But 'nothing' is a difficult concept. Do you want to know the meaning of 'nothing?' If so you want to know the unknowable. 'Nothing' is by definition unknowable. 'Nothing' is a mystery, forever unknowable.

The opposite of 'nothing' (four thumps above) is, 'something.' 'Something' is knowable. 'Nothing' is not. Which brings us to the end of our logic. We are at a dead end, metaphysically. We must conclude that metaphysics leads us nowhere.

This leaves us with our moment-to-moment sensations which have been previously defined as 'The Kingdom of Heaven.' We cannot imagine the opposite scenerio. It is beyond our ken. Therefore 'nothing' is irrelevant and may even be imaginary. But if 'nothing' is imaginary, what does that imply?

Welcome to Metaphysics 101.

(3)

Not that I am entirely against religion. Not at all. I think that religion, in order to be valuable, needs a certain amount of sophistication. Dumbass religion is contraindicated. Dumbass religion is save-your-ass religion. Dumbass religion is rapture-ready religion, babeling in tongues, waiting for Jesus. Dumbass religion creates 'marytrs' who kill themselves and other people in hopes of enjoying pussy in paradise.

There is no pussy in paradise. There is no paradise. Paradise is a delusion. There is no Holy Ghost. Your babel is confabulation. You will die. You will die like a dog. There is no escape from that. No amount of gibberish will save you.

Sophisticated religion understands that death is the end, but finds wonder and awe in the very fact of being alive in the moment. Sophisticated religion says that life is not only worth living but that life is astonishing! Enjoy it while you can! Make fun of it! But remember: it will end soon enough and you will never be alive again. Never. Ever.

Let me repeat that: You are alive now. You will die. You will never live again. Once you realize this you will have stumbled into the True Religion. You will realize that you have entered into what Jesus called, 'The Kingdom of Heaven.' There you are! You are there!

Here I am.

Come on in.

(2)

Just watched 'The Cafferty File' on CNN. Funny stuff! King George does indeed seem to live in the Twilight Zone. And I can't quite figure out whether vice president Cheney is delusional or only a pathological liar or both, but he clearly lives in lala land.

Amazon sent me an (thump) email suggesting I write a review of The God Delusion. Little do they know it is my potty book and I am less than 10 percent through it. So I'll pass on the invitation 'til I've read it, but naturally I'll keep you entertained with quotations from it. In fact, I have some juicy ones from some of the 'founding fathers' of this so-called 'nation under God.' But they'll have to wait until after the evening news...

Ok that's done. Here are the quotations. This could be a long night.

From the terms of a treaty with Tripoli, drafted in 1796 under George Washington and signed by John Adams in 1797:
'As the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has, in itself, no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musslemen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.' (My italics. 'Musslemen' and 'Mehometan' must be old spellings of, 'Mohammedan.')

The following are quotes from Thomas Jefferson:
'... Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.'

'Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man.'

James Madison: 'During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution.'

Benjamin Franklin: 'Lighthouses are more useful than churches.'

John Adams: 'This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.'

(1)

Well, maybe. It was fun to write, but now strikes me as a bit strident. Obviously, watching president Bush give a speech does little to improve my mood (stomp above me. two more stomps followed). I should also mention that two left over beers were not enough to power the recent posts so I asked Kootch to go get some more. Gave her a twenty and told her to keep the change.

The sting ray. This is my name for it. It apparently radiates electromagnetic radiation in a narrow beam. The 95ghz frequency is way above the ELF (extremely low frequency) radiation directed at me (below about 9khz), and the results are somewhat different.

Speaking of which, I hit the sack at about 2345 last night. The log reads, 'bed at 2345 (EMR 0330-0600 (whole body), 0800-0915 (mostly TC (teeth chattering) (tap))).' I've noticed TCEMR in the LR too, but at a much lower intensity. I recently noticed TCEMR while standing near the bed (peeing in the pee pot). (Whew. Parantheses can be confusing.) I have not noticed TCEMR at the computer. Gassing remains minimal, limited to the occasional nose gas and the occasional lung gas.

As a result I am sleep-depri(thump)ved again. But I'll deal with it.

Been spending my time recently playing chess on Comcast, playing C-III, and watching tv. Sedentary stuff. So I've come up with a plan to get more active: set the timer at 15 minutes; when it rings I get up and walk around and maybe do some time on the stationary bike. Come on summertime!

Maybe I'll move to Arizona.

Labels: electromagnetic radiation

(3)

I should probably define the terms, 'stinkfinger' and 'mudra:' 'Stinkfinger' refers to the left middle finger, which is the finger used by folks who have no toilet paper and very little available water, to clean their anuses after a poop. They poop, then they 'wipe' with the middle finger of their left hand. They then presumably clean off the finger by dragging it through the sand. It is always the left middle finger. That is the stinkfinger. The right hand is used for grasping food, a practice which eliminates the middle finger on the right hand from consideration as the 'stinkfinger.' The Koran may contain directions in this regard. May not.

'Mudra' is an Indian noun meaning, roughly, 'posture.' Thus, 'stinkfinger mudra' translates to, 'left middle finger extended.' A 'mudra' is a posture.

But I take a more liberal view: when I pray to God I always form my right hand into the stinkfinger mudra. I see this as somewhat less offensive. But my primary reason is that I sit on the right hand side of the couch when I watch TV, and the couch armrest supports my mudra posture, which I sometimes hold for minutes on end depending on the subject being displayed on TV. I rarely talk to god if I am not watching TV.

Labels: mudra, stinkfinger

(2)

Toward that end I am doing my part. Are you? I think not. Here, for example, is a quotation from Gore Vidal:

'The great unmentionable evil at the center of our culture is monotheism. From a barbaric Bronze Age text known as The Old Testament, three anti-human religions have evolved - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These are sky-god religions. They are, literally, patriarchal - God is the Omnipotent Father - hence the loathing of women for 2000 years in those countries afflicted by the sky god and his earthly male delegates.

GORE VIDAL'

In other words the emotions of inherited (and ludricous) international religion trump international logic. Emotion preceeds logic. The 'war on terror' is an emotional war, not a logical war. We can stop it by making fun of it. We need to make fun of Allah. We need to make fun of Jesus. We need to make fun of WHTZSNM. We need to flip off the gods not only in the rhetorical sense but in the physical sense. We need to pray to the gods often, stinkfinger mudra displayed.

I mean that literally. Next time you pray to god you should hold your hand (and fingers) in the stinkfinger mudra position. In fact, you should not address god at all unless you have assumed that position beforehand.

(Interesting. I see that one of my original concepts has made it into Google.)

(1)

Two left-over beers and tonight's State of the Union event were all the excuse I needed to revisit (tap) you. (It doesn't take much!) Not that I'll watch the speech; I prefer my Bushisms filtered through Liberal Media. (Is there any way to morph 'nuculer' into 'nuclear?' No? Yeesh.)

It isn't just Bush. I once picked up a library book titled, 'The Critique of Pure Reason.' After a few pages I put it back thinking, 'Huh?' Years later I would discover the value of second-hand information which had been filtered through a knowlegeble intermediary, and nowadays when I read Kant it is through, for example, Will Durant. I never read Kant directly. Not that Bush equals Kant. Far from it.

As I see it the 'State of the Union' is precarious: we are poised on the cusp of a war with Islam Itself. (After having sat through about an hour of quackery I gave up and came back to my blog. Bush is The Anti-Christ and Jesus is a chimp. We are in deep doo-doo.) Here is the central (boom) pernicious dogma: 'To win the war on terror we must take the fight to the enemy.'

Nonsense. 'Taking the fight to the enemy' will only only inflame enemy passion; will only act to recruit more enemy. We need to realize that 'the enemy' are old and odius ideas themselves. Nothing more. We need to ridicule the enemy, including the enemy within, including Bush. We need to recognize that the real enemy is old and odious religion - and not only old and odius Mohammedanism but old and odius Judaism and old and odius Christianity. Our enemies are religion and emotion. Our friends are Science (and her consort, Technology) and Reason.

One last quote from Bush the Anti-Christ: 'The evil that inspired and rejoiced in 9-11 is still at work in the world.'

Yep. And we saw it tonight as we watched the State of the Union speech.

Labels: anti-Christ, President Bush, reason, science, technology, terror

(6)

I could go on and on concerning this latest telephone call to God but I will spare you further details. Suffice it to say that I was able to determine that God was afraid Jesus would experience orgasm and that the experience would color His allegiance to the current assexual divine state. In fact I asked God specifically how I should kill the chimp in question and He responded with, 'Crucifiction if possible. Jesus will be ok with that.'

This shocked me again. I then informed God that it was a very old and odious idea, not likely to be accepted in a modern zoo.

God suddenly hung up at that point. I got the impression that I'd better not die in the near future (lots of stomping above me just after I wrote that).

(5)

I was shocked of course, shocked by God's blatant threat. It seemed to me that God was threatening me unnecessarily. It seemed to me that God had a hidden agenda regarding the death of Jesus. I determined to expose it for what it was if I could.
----------
me: I need a sufficient reason.
gd: We need Jesus available at a moment's notice given the current international situation.
me: Which is?
gd: Bush has gone berserk.
me: Granted but how can Jesus help?
gd: Jesus must be available. As matters now stand Jesus is a chimp. Unavailable.
me: Please elucidate.
gd: Bush might attack Iran. Israel might attack Iran. Pakistan might attack India. India might attack Pakistan. Russia might attack U.S. U.S might attack Russia. And I could go on and on.
me: And?
gd: And chimps live waay too long.
me: I am not impressed, and I think You know what I mean.
gd: Ok, ok. Here is the real reason: We do not want Jesus to go through puberty as a chimp. You are in a position to prevent that catastrophe.
me: And You want me to kill Jesus?
gd: Exactly.
--------

(4)

Needless to say I was somewhat taken aback (tap) by these revelations. It dawned on me immediately that God had much less power in human affairs than previously thought. Jesus was a chimp and God needed him back immediately?! And couldn't bring Him back Himself?! Very strange. With a renewed confidence I decided to press The Almighty on the matter:
----------
me: That chimp is Jesus?
gd: Unfortunately. We want Him back.
me: You can't just zap Him back?
gd: Doesn't work that way. The chimp has to die first, then We get Jesus back.
me: Why the concern? Why not just let the Chimp Jesus live out His natural life? When He dies You'll have Him back.
gd: There are several issues in that regard. Take My Word: We want Him back. Now.
me: Be clear: You want me to kill the chimp?
gd: Exactly.
me: You want me to kill Jesus?
gd: Somebody has to do it. You are elected.
----------

(3)

So in my quest for the truth I resorted to the brown telephone once again. It seemed to me that we really needed to know how to treat this chimp. Thus representing Humanity, I picked up the telephone with some trepedation and dialed 666. God answered immediately.
----------
gd: Hello.
me: Hi there. You know, of course, why I'm calling?
gd: I know better than you know.
me: So what is it? Jesus or just a chimp?
gd: An unfortunate mix-up. Don't worry about it.
me: We only want to know.
gd: If you must know it was a DNA problem.
me: DNA?!
gd: One of the angels in the (?) department misread the formula. He has since been fired.
me: Fired?
gd: Exactly.
me: Oooo. Sounds gruesome.
gd. Errors are costly. Satisfied now?
me: Not exactly. What happened with the DNA?
gd: The fired employee misread the order and substituted the wrong formula. A simple mistake.
me: Ah, that explains it. So tell me: how is Jesus doing nowadays? Copacetic?
gd: More or less. But there is a problem. We need Him back.
me: Don't you already have Him?
gd: Unfortunately, no. He's a chimp. We need Him back. Now.
----------

Labels: 666, brown telephone, chimp, jesus

(2)

Since it was my turn to cook supper (tap) I broke off posting and whipped up the following juicy stuff:

(a) A stir-fry consisting of sliced onions, sliced asparagus, bean sprouts, and lettuce. The onions go in first, followed by the asparagus. Toward the end add the bean sprouts, and finally the lettuce. Salt and pepper to taste. Yummy. Don't overcook. You want uniform crunchiness.
(b) One burnt salmon steak (oops, I forgot to turn down the heat after heating up the frying pan).

Kootch ate while I drank beer as we both watched a TiVo'd Millionaire.

Back to business. A certain story all over the national news recently has caused me to wonder whether Bush's new plan for Iraq has actually already worked. Yes, I am referring to the apparent virgin birth of a baby chimpanzee recently at the (?) zoo. I say 'apparent' because although the available male chimpanzees have all been circ -er vasectomized, it is possible that the vasectomy failed in one or more of the males. In any case a female chimpanzee has given birth and the father - if any - is unknown. Suspects include the human cage cleaner. But could this be a virgin birth? And of so, could this be Jesus returning prematurely? Because of Bush's middle east policy?

I think there is a distinct possibility of that. Here is the scenerio:

Jesus was not scheduled to return until the Year of Our Lord 2017. But Bush set certain irreversible processes into motion in the middle east prematurely. Heaven was forced into a panic reaction which included returning Jesus to Earth ahead of schedule. The hasty re-incarnation of Jesus unfortunately went awry somewhere and Jesus was born at the (?) zoo instead of in the usual manger. His birth went unnoticed until a zoo worker saw the new mother carrying a brand new infant. No angels were present, a fact which tends to either emphasize the panic in Heaven on this occasion or discount my conjecture entirely.

Labels: stir fry

(1)

A review of The God Delusion by Stephen Weinberg. It contains a quote from the book which I absolutely love:

"Dawkins, like Erdos, dislikes God. He calls the God of the Old Testament “the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully”. As for the New Testament, he quotes with approval the opinion of Thomas Jefferson, that “The Christian God is a being of a terrific character – cruel, vindictive, capricious, and unjust”. This is strong stuff, and Dawkins obviously intends to shock the reader, but his invective has a constructive purpose. By attacking the God of sacred Scripture, he is trying to weaken the authority of that God’s commands – commands whose interpretation has led humanity to a shameful history of inquisitions, crusades and jihads. Dawkins treats the reader to many brutal details, but we only have to look at today’s headlines to supply our own. For some reason, Dawkins does not comment on the God of the Koran, who would seem to provide equal opportunities for invective."

(I should note that the words written in bold type above represent omissions (errors) in Weinberg's quotation of Dawkins.)

The costs of war.

Faces are fun.

Fun little game. Direct traffic by clicking the arrows. Get all the way through it and you are certifiable. You also get to view your final score.

Labels: Dawkins, faces, games, war

(5)

This seems to be a way to characterize your blog ala your library catalog. Well maybe.

It is now just past 0300L and I must therefore leave you for a while. The weather in Denver is cold. It snowed again. I have recent photographs. I might show them to you. Stay tuned.

(4)

Which brings up the question of what might happen should Jesus come prematurely. I think it would be a disaster.

For example many Jews (tap) might not be saved.

(Jews are of the opinion that Jesus' arrival will signal a decision point for Jews and that therefore any Jew faced with the decision to believe Jesus or not will be able to make his or her decision simply by watching the Evening News. Jesus Came? Believe! But Many Christians think that once Christians have been Raptured Up to Heaven it will be too late for The Jews.)

Many Christians who were scheduled to eventually accept Jesus as their Savior would be preempted outright and consigned to Hell. And on the other hand many Christians who would later abandon their religion in favor of a modern view of things would be prematurely Raptured right out of their jockey shorts and their panties, landing in Heaven unprepared. All this would be very traumatic, not only for the individuals concerned but for God as well.

Do you think that Jesus would be able to easily tolerate a truncated Atheist? In Heaven? Naked? Do you think that God Himself could tolerate such an obviously alien invasion? Not!
Heavenly chaos would be the result. (See this site for a fuller explanation of the title of this post.)

So I see it as my duty to do my part to delay the Bush plan to Tempt The Lord in these areas.

(3)

As I thought about the most recent Bush idea concerning Vietnam... er Iraq, I wondered whether we might just leave the country and reinstall Saddam. That might solve the problem. Iraq, under Sunni domination, would act as a counterbalance to Iran. Unfortunately, however, Saddam was hung and is now presumably dead.

But what if we could resurrect him!

Consider the case of Jeremey Bentham, English philosopher. He died but was resurrected. (His body was preserved (more or less) and kept in a wooden cabinet.) Legend has it that he subsequently presided over the meetings of regents of The University College London where he was listed as, 'present but not voting.' Could we do the same with Saddam? I think so. Here's how:

We should dig up Saddam. We should then apply our most modern technology to restoring him to his previous state, making modifications as necessary. We should then sit him in his usual chair and photograph him holding a recent Iraqi newspaper. We should declare him alive. We should then declare that since Saddam appears to be divine and invincible (thump), we are leaving Iraq. Then we should leave Iraq.

We should then rule Iraq through our puppet, Saddam (Screw 'democracy,' it doesn't seem to work in the Middle East).

I propose this plan only because it seems to me that the Bush plan (to tempt Jesus to return) just might work. Jesus might return prematurely. Who knows what chaos that might cause. Remember The Creation?

(2)

The big news this week is the prez's (tap) decision to 'escalate; surge; augment' (take your pick) forces in Vietnam... (Oops, I mean Iraq). The additional forces will be used to implement a new strategy to secure Bhagdad labeled 'clear and hold.' That is to say that we intend to 'run 'em out' AND 'keep 'em from coming back!' Hmm. Sounds like a good idea. Whomever thought that one up should be promoted.

But it seems to me that we have overstayed our welcome. Consider: we have deposed (and unfortunately hung) Saddam. We have discovered no 'weapons of mass destruction.' We have instituted Democracy in Iraq. Mission Accomplished. Shouldn't we leave now?

Apparently not. We seem to be stuck to a sort of 'tar baby' and are unable to free ourselves. Were it not for the news that an aircraft carrier and Patriot Missles were being added to the mix we could rest, assured that here was essentially the SOS (same ole shit). But the carrier and the missles alert us to the possibility that Bush the Believer is really on a mission to tempt Jesus to return.

The plan - ostensibly a plan to pacify Iraq - seems on second thought to contain the seeds of an attack against Iran. I recently saw in the news that Israel might be planning a pre-emptive strike on Iran. Is that true? Could Bush be augmenting US forces in the area for the purpose of aiding and abbetting such an attack? Or could this strange buildup be for the purpose of saving Israel the trouble of attacking Iran Itself? Is Bush really a circumcised Jew who plans on moving to Israel if impeached?

(1)

Nor did I email Grayson Robinson this week. But I have been working on the problem. Here is the problem: What can the cops do? Suppose they believe me; what can they do? Good question (delayed boom).

The Constitution protects us all against unwarranted search (tap) and seizure. Therefore the cops will not be able to inspect the 'abandoned' apartment below for evidence of EMR (electromagnetic radiation) or EMR radiators (antennas) without the permission of the owner. If the owner is 'in on it' as I suspect he is, he would deny permission so long as he thought there was a chance the cops would find evidence. My conjecture is that there are radiating antennas mounted in the ceiling of the apartment below. Sounds ludicrous! (tap - another tap) Even to me it sounds ludricous. Would skeptical cops be satisfied with a statement by Excel Energy to the effect that little or no electricity has been used by the apartment below in several years? Would they accept that 'fig leaf' (another electrical source might have been tapped)? They might, especially if there is a Gerash mole making or influencing decisions in that regard.

Concerning the people upstairs, the cops could request an interview. But those folks would be under no obligation to cooperate. Even if they did agree to 'cooperate' they could lie. And my experience with them (tap) is they are excellent liars. It is my word against theirs.

But on the other hand there is the bald fact that the apartment down(tap)stairs has been vacant for years. Such vacancy fits with my theses. (Or conjectures. Whatever.) That apartment is a valuable financial asset which has apparently gone to waste for years. Why? Does the owner (tap) have a reasonable explanation?

(3)

So much for recent philosophy. And I must confess that I (tap) doubt I will email Grayson Robinson this week. So I broke my promise of last week. Speaking of whom, who is Grayson Robinson? I don't know. Do you know?

Is Grayson Robinson Jewish? Republican? African-American? English? Circumcised? Intact? Who knows? I certainly don't know. Do you know?

Nighty-night.

(2)

Back, therefore, to The God Delusion. It is now my new potty book, replacing my perennial favorite, The Story of Philosophy (by Will Durant). As you might have guessed I left off Durant's book recently on page 276 which is in the chapter, 'Kant and German Idealism.' So much for that at the moment. I may return.

I love Dawkins' book so far! The preface is particularly pleasurable because it very much confirms my ideas about belief in God. But I would take issue with Dawkins concerning the 'ease' with which a 'believer' might abandon his childhood religion after reading this book. Dawkins seems to think that belief in religion is mostly a function of the logical brain. Not so, in my opinion. 'Belief' is primarily a function of the emotional brain. The twain rarely meet. My experience has been that the emotional brain resists the logical brain, at least in matters of 'importance.'

I also know that it is the emotional brain which allows the logical brain to question one's inherited religion right at the beginning: you need to have been disappointed by religion in some sense before you can begin the process of logical criticism. Logic necessarily follows emotion, not vice versa. This is because emotion is an ancient, reliable (Darwinian) tool, whereas logic is a new idea related to modernity, and modernity is a recent cultural development related to technology, which is most prominent at first in ancient Greek Culture.

Did you get that?

No?

(1)

Well, as you can see, my previous lament concerning too-frequent drunknight obligations has gone by the wayside. I had four 3.2 beers left over today (Tuesday) and decided to expend them all in the interests of expounding (elaborating?) on the previous posts in Enough... I have done that. In the process I have had the great pleasure of charactering Paul E Goodman as, 'Gullible Goodman.' What a shot! And Goodman deserved it. Goodman strikes me as the kind of 'detective' who couldn't find his own fat ass with both hands. And this is a kind evaluation. A more realistic evaluation of Goodman would characterize him as, 'corrupt' not stupid.

But one beer led to another and I began to dip into the stash reserved for next Friday. My recent (tonight's) comments in Enough... are the result. So here I am, Tuesday night (tap) doing my Friday night thing. Not that I need an excuse, but this current situation is the result of my predeliction to 'go with the flow' of my life.

I'll be back Friday night too, of course. Stay tuned. Meanwhile I am not finished with tonight. It seems to me that since I am already juiced up I should favor you with my usual outrageous opinions.

(5)

It is now 0139L. I have just returned from the fridge. While there I counted the remaining beers: four. And since I cannot possibly imagine drinking another beer tonight I think I can talley tonight's final booze count: 11 beers and six shots (three double shots) of whiskey. This leaves me four beers too many for next week. How will I overcome this obvious imbalance? Stay tuned.

(4)

Chess lessons first. As you already know I am one of those folks who are inclined toward public service: I love to enlighten my fellow man. Toward that end I have been playing a lot of chess at Comcast.net and kicking a lot of ass in the process. So far, so good. But recently I am of the impression that my public service in this regard is less and less appreciated. Eheh.

Wesley Autry is an amazing dude: he observed a white guy (honkey) fall off the subway platform in the path of an approaching train. His natural inclination was to help. So he jumped into the area between the tracks as the train approached, his mission being to save the honkey from destruction. Idiot! Autry obviously had not read Darwin. What was he thinking?!

Clearly Autry did not act after calculation but acted instinctively. Autry was not 'thinking' in the usual sense of that word. Autry did what needed to be done in the moment. Very Darwinian. Very emotional. Autry didn't need to read Darwin. And notice that 'race' played no role. Autry saw, not a honkey, but a human being who needed help. Note also that his decision to jump was not a moral decision in the sense that it was arrived via calculation: his decision was moral but not 'moral.'

What does this say about 'morality?' (And by 'morality' I mean Immanuel Kant's 'categorical imperative,' a theoretical construct which improved on received moral ideas.) In my opinion Autry was demonstrating an idea in chapter six of Dawkins' book. We shall see.

Which brings us back to the supposed source of morality: holy books. In this case it is the Old and Odious Koran. Seems some misguided Christian politicians are objecting to Muslims who have been elected to government office taking that oath of office while swearing on the Koran. Kieth Ellison is a case in point. They can't believe that Ellison has the same emotional connection to the Old and Odius Koran (OOK) that Christians and Jews have to the Old and Odius Testament (OOT).

(3)

I'm off to Enough... Be back in a bit.

I'm back at 2156 after an onerous task which took about an hour. Next week I will expound (faint boom) on that stuff in 'Enough.'

Lessee... currently I am on my 8th beer, with a 'recent' history of two double shots. Began around 1500 or so. Seven point five beers and four shots between 1500 and 2011. Feeling moderately good for booze night. Hunger is beginning to creep up on me. Kootch cooked up some spaghetti sauce and some Chinese Bean Threads. Beats pasta, bloodsugarwise. Try it. You'll like it.
Hmm. It just dawned on me that I might have just committed an unforgivable sin against the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Oh well. Maybe the Flying Bean Thread Monster will save me.

(later) 2325L and after watching some TV it seems to me - having finished the tenth beer - that I need to jump-start tonight's blog. So I have just poured my third double shot, holding those two beers in reserve. Plus I have three left over from last week in case I go berserk (not bloodyfuckinglikelyatmyage).

Since it's late and the spaghetti smells good I'll just list tonight's possible subjects and maybe comment on one or two:

Salman Rushdie (Bill Moyers on faith and reason)
Chess lessons: a public service not appreciated
Modern hero: Wesley Autry
Nancy Pelosi
Kieth Ellison and the Koran
The Bush goal

(2)

'Is an ethical Congress possible?' The question is currently (1627L) being debated on Tucker. The answer, of course, is: 'Only if Congress is ethical.' Given that answer it would seem to follow that... hmm.

My Christmas present arrived today, a week late. Looks impressive! In fact it looks so impressive that I will list the table of contents here. Book title: The God Delusion. Author: Richard Dawkins, naughty evolutionist. As I opened the book I noticed first that this is only the third Dawkins book I will have read, The Selfish Gene and A Devil's Chaplain being the other two. As I ventured further (into the Table of Contents) I came across chapter nine titled, Childhood, Abuse, And The Escape From Religion. I thought, 'Aha! He must have a blurb on Neo-natal Circumcision here!' Wrong. The only circumcision reference was to Female Circumcision.

The TOC follows:
1 A DEEPLY RELIGIOUS NON-BELIEVER
2 THE GOD HYPOTHESIS
3 ARGUMENTS FOR GOD'S EXISTENCE
4 WHY THERE IS ALMOST CERTAINLY NO GOD
5 THE ROOTS OF RELIGION
6 THE ROOTS OF MORALITY: WHY ARE WE GOOD?
7 THE 'GOOD' BOOK AND THE CHANGING MORAL ZEITGEIST
8 WHAT'S WRONG WITH RELIGION? WHY BE SO HOSTILE?
9 CHILDHOOD, ABUSE AND THE ESCAPE FROM RELIGION
10 A MUCH NEEDED GAP?

(1)

These 'Friday night drunks' have been coming around way too often recently. Whew. I predict that they will resume a respectable interval in the near future, unperturbed by calendar or by weather. But I am not much of a prophet.

Speaking of biblical ideas, this site matches old and odious writings with modern technology. Neat.

And speaking of The Bible, here's an interesting site.

The bad news for believers can be found here. Modern technology is accelerating the 'processes of modernity,' which are inevitable cultural processes. 'Modernity' is the answer to the current 'clash of civilizations' which is ultimately a clash between old and new. Should conditions on Earth eventually deteriorate in favor of the reverse processes of 'ancientanity,' then I suppose we will witness yet another 'clash of civilizations' which will trend toward a reversal of Modernity. God will become popular again.

What is your current position on the Ancientianity-Modernity scale?

Speaking of test questions, Are You Happy? I spotted this one back in soberer times (two hours ago) and was afraid to click it. Now, bolstered by one double shot of booze and two 3.2 beers I have found the necessary courage. Standby for my answer... yes at the moment...

Time for another beer.

Speaking of time, Time Ticker will keep you up to date all around the world.

(5)

0107 L and I am still sipping beer number nine. Argh. I will obviously not finish tonight's beer allotment this sitting. What went wrong? I don't know. I only know that 'my drunk' is beginning to drag a bit. My body seems to want 'food,' not 'wine.' (And you can't blame it: my last meal was about 2230 (tap) yesterday.)

So this is my last beer. Let the record show that I only managed 9 3.2 beers, but that my consumption of whiskey during the period in question was undefined, probably two or three double shots, all in all an impressive amount.

So here is where I will sign off. I wish you all a Glorious New Year. Damn I'm hungry!