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Could you do this at 12 years old for your 6th grade recital?

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/greyson-michael-chance-child-prodigy-to-star-on-ellen_100362849.html

We have a friend who is going to Georgia next week and she is bringing me back $40.00 worth of boiled green peanuts. It has been years since I have had any and i can't stop drooling.

Doks thread about Liberace prompted me to start this. HBO has a series named Treme. Mostly it concerns New Orleans residents coming home and trying to live. It centers on the music of that great city. The show uses as many real locals as possible and the one standout of the show is the love of the music.

Ingredients:
hamburger
chopped onions
mint
minced garlic
worchestershire sauce
red wine
seasoned salt
cilantro

Mix all together in a bowl. Patty burgers and cook.

How do you do yours?

Country music is NOT dead!

http://www.cmt.com/videos/miranda-lambert/500805/the-house-that-built-me.jhtml

This place is less than 40 minutes from home. In ! Place is full of surprises.

I am currently training to be a weather spotter and storm chaser. Because I get to put fancy emergency lights on my Jeep.

http://www.countrystampede.com/Lineup/index.shtml



Pretty good line-up this year!

I used thighs but a breast would work as well.

Rub with jalapeno jelly. Season with sea salt, oregano, cilantro, basil and a slight touch of crushed mint. Place in oven safe dish. Add worchestershire sauce. Chop green onions and sprinkle over chicken. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or 160 degrees. Serve on a bed of garlic brown skillet rice.

Enjoy.

Standing up.
Why would anyone allow another to dictate their direction?
Why would anyone surrender their personhood to another?
Why would anyone rather exist on their knees instead of living on their feet, even if it means death?
Why would anyone sheepishly follow another without putting their own effort forth to reach an opinion?
Why would anyone give up the opportunity to spit in the devils eye and laugh?
Why?

Admit it, you've all done it. I make a point of at least one evening each week we have breakfast. Last night it was eggs, grits and ham steak. Last week it was eggs and pancakes. Next week french toast is scheduled. And the following week we will have monte cristo sandwiches.

There is a place for Frontier Justice. In my opinion the place is right between where the system fails and no other option is available. A solid alibi, plenty of witnesses and no apparent reason for the deliverer of the justice to even be involved in the situation brings a very good chance of getting away with it. I know a friend who is in this position currently. I try to think of reasons to try and dissuade my friend from being this angel of mercy but I have no convincing arguments. Actually I empathize with the situation and inside want to applaud the effort.

This is not a jake my friend is planning but some hard core retribution. The no nonsense kind. The kind with a 20 year price tag attached. If caught. I will not expose any details out of respect of the KYFMS rule but I would like some input. What should I tell my friend?

I have finally identified 4 Gods I worship and there are subset gods within each major category.

IDAMNWELLWANTTO

This is the first God I will discuss. This one is fun loving and generally enjoys life.

IDAMNWELLDONTWANTTO

This God I was forced to acknowledge due to my contrary nature.

IDAMNWELLBETTER

This is the God of responsibility, a position shared hand in hand with the next God.

IDAMNWELLBETTERNOT

This God shares an avenging Angel with IDAMNWELLBETTER, usually in the form of MYWIFE.

My religion demands I use the first two and fear the second two.

This is my Church and my Gods.

Mrs. Asshat is GM and Executive Chef where she works. Except as of Feb. 27 they are closing it down. A while back there was a post around here about mortgages and repossessions. In that post I plainly said we bought a double wide because it left us with plenty of disposable income and if anything went south we would still be in a position to meet our bills. Well, the worst has happened. We have spent the last two weeks going over our budget as the biggest bread winner in the family is going to lose a big fat salary. We can do it, comfortably. Still, it has been agonizing to look at the things we will be sacrificing. Winery tours and a well stocked wine rack(s). My handmade imported cigars. So many things. I know they are miniscule compared to everything going on today, millions losing their jobs, foreclosures, lives falling apart. Dammit we planned for this and for the last two weeks we have really been stressed.
Yesterday we find out they are going to give her a job. We thought they would with a step down and reduction in salary. Now it appears they are making her Regional Manager over Sodexo government services. They said the downside is she will have to travel. Boofuckinghoo.
As bad as the economy I have to tell you all if you are working in decent jobs it is a great economy. Prices are down. Disposable goes further.
Mrs. Asshat and myself are DINKS and damn glad to be that. I have no idea how long this will last, but the company I work for is growing by 2/3rds this year and the department she is transferring to is growing as well. For those of you adversely affected by the economy I apologize but I needed to vent this off my chest. Thanks for listening.

I sit here with my thoughts and ponder the mysteries of the harmonic chaos of existence.

Why is it that there is a razors edge between genius and insanity?
Why are the brightest the most likely to fall victim to obsessions?
I think sometimes that there is a great deal of truth to the old saying about ignorance being bliss.

Having said that I must also say that ignorance disgusts me. Especially self imposed ignorance, the kind where people refuse to learn about a thing because they feel deep within themselves that they would have to consider and actually form a different opinion. These people will mount the pulpit to scream about what they have stupidly decided is right, not to convince you and I. No, they do it to convince themselves. If you attempt to counter with actual facts they will shout louder and deny you the opportunity to speak, because as we all know the one who shouts the loudest and the most is always right. So my new method of talking to these people will be to allow my eyes to glaze over just a little, possibly allow some spittle to come out of the corners of my mouth while I agree with them and encourage them to continue to ramble!

While at dinner last night in a popular I overheard several conversations. A young woman in particular made my ears point up. She opened the conversation with "I didn't vote for Obama, but not because he is black." I grabbed Mrs. Asshats hand and said just listen, don't kill her. As Mrs. Asshat settled back into her chair the young woman continued saying if Biden had been running for president she would have voted for him, and this on the tails of just having said she didn't like the Democratic party.
Mrs. Asshat and I discussed this between ourselves and came to the obvious conclusion that from the opening statement made by this young woman that she is indeed a bigot and her vote was determined solely by color. Now, understand that while Mrs. Asshat and myself both feel that Obama was by far the better candidate neither one of us feel that the world is now a better place. This isn't about politics. This is about the ways people can and will unthinkingly deceive themselves.

It takes determination and old fashioned guts to look in the mirror and stare the reflection down until all the makeup is stripped away and the soul is laid bare. The first time I ever did it I ended up sweating and with shaky legs. And a healthy disdain for myself which allowed me to make some changes.

People are forgetting how to think. Thinking has been replaced with robotic responses to something half heard (because people have also forgotten how to listen) that they have managed to convince themselves that has actually come from them.

The good news is that this can be a tool. Yes, a tool. A carefully thought out and defensible opinion can be presented in such a way as to sway sheep. It can be done to change the world or as I prefer to amuse myself and give me something to laugh about.

There is a razors edge between genius and insanity that is called laughter. So look around. Listen. Manipulate.

And don't forget to laugh.

Has made me proud.

Not because I think Obama can fix everything.
Not because racism is cured.
Not because everything is suddenly rose colored.
Not because a black man was elected.

I am proud because differences were put aside. Because hope was chosen over desperation. Because people came out in record numbers and made a difference and left their apathy at the door. It seems to me that Americans took a baby step yesterday towards taking our country back.
I doubt that Obama will be a miracle worker. He will face ups and downs like any other. This isn't about Obama. It's about Americans finally standing up. It's about just a few of the scales falling off of our eyes. My sincere hope is we will realize that for changes to work we have to work them.
Yes I am aware of the anti gay legislation that passed and that disgusts me. I am focusing on the bigger picture and have some optimism that the youth movement this election developed will grow and prosper and with it bring change. The change will come slowly and painfully, but it can come.

My country did not elect a black man, they elected a man who is black.

I feel hope for the first time in a long time. Just a small stir of it.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2735

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15754186/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93638961


To those who support the government unquestionably, to those who get all teary eyed when the flag is raised, to all who say that if we don't support the war we aren't supporting our troops.


Try reading something other than a slanted, disreputable source.

The Haliburton War™ was never about WMD's. It wasn't even about oil. It was never about terrorism. Has anyone noticed that Haliburton has recently relocated to the ME? Has anyone noticed no bid contracts? Has anyone noticed Black Swan?

What the war was about was establishing a major military presence in the ME with total control and uninterefered by a foreign government. OH, and the bottom line for several persons pockets and a major corporations bottom line.

Let me ask why I should support that? Returning reservists can't even go back to their job when they return. Is that supporting the troops? Wounded and disabled veterans can't get complete medical coverage for prosthetics or decent rehab. They are not retrained to reenter the work force. Soldiers homes are being illegally repossessed and their families are being thrown in the street while the spouse is putting their ass on the line for this country.

What America™ has become is conquerers. We decide what we need and then we act. We try to justify it with words, false intel, hyperbole and outright lies. This makes the bile rise in my throat. We ignore international law. We ignore human rights. We torture people. We bail out large corporations with tax payer money yet we spend $10 billion dollars a month in a senseless war. We are beating our war drums at other countries now. We sent an attack force into Syria at a delicate time in the region because god is on our side and we are In The Right™.

I support our troops. I support our troops by seeing the reality of what our government is doing. I support our troops by believing they should have their job back when they return. I support our troops by thnking they should be very well cared for after being wounded or disfigured. I support our troops by knowing their families and homes here in the US should be safe and in place when they return.

But then you see, I support the troops and not the government. So if you exercise your right to wave a tainted flag in my face don't be surprised when I exercise my right to set it on fire.

Revolution indeed. What kind of revolution? Against whom?

Here we all sit blaming Bush. Blaming the government. Blaming Wall Street. Blaming <insert favorite target>.

Do you want to know who is really to blame?

Look in a freaking mirror. That's right.
The American people are to blame. Apathy, indifference, greed, self indulgence. The "As long as I have everything I want then everything is fine so leave me alone" attitude has caused this. The American people overall are so lazy they want to know everything that is going on and what to do about it in a 30 second sound byte. God forbid they have to read and research the facts to formulate their own opinion, they want to be told what their opinion is by a slick slogan.

On second thought this country does need a revolution. This revolution needs to start with each individual turning off American Idol and actually re-educating themselves. That's right, looking up information. Comparing 'he said/she said' with the facts. You see, the facts are there, they just get buried under tons of hyperbole and false denial or deliberate distortion. Here's a genuine sad fact. We expect to be lied to and we don't care enough to actually do a fact check.

So revolt. Against the inclination to expect someone else to fix things. Against the knee jerk reaction of a slick slogan. Against apathy.
Revolt against the ability to insulate yourself from the outside and convincing yourself that everything will be alright.
But when you have your knee jerk reaction to revolt against the government first remember exactly who it was that allowed the government to become what it is. That is where your revolution needs to start.


Or kill me.





Footnote:
Now I stole the tag line from TGRR in response to Xentor Trying to nail Roger for using it when I posted this at MW. Any fine points to help polish it up for other sites would be appreciated.

around in my cell the other day and I forget what I did but a large ray of sunshine came in. It looked inviting so I went over and sat in it. For a very long time. It was comfortable and cozy and I became lazy the way the sun can induce when things are just perfect. I went to sleep and I dreamed. I suppose it was due to the level of comfort in my sleep, but I dreamed of total perfection, I mean everything was just perfect.


I woke screaming and rushed to the cold and uncomfortable side of my cell and stayed there for a while in absolute terror. I stayed there until the Grey fell back off. That was the worst nightmare I have ever had. I can now clearly see that enticing ray of sunshine as the trap it obviously is. And I avoid it. I will not remove it from my cell because some things are best learned only once and I never want to have that same nightmare ever again.

Teach me to shit hate you fucking freelance conservatard fucker.

Last night I was grilling steaks and realized I was out of mushrooms. As any respectable cook does I faked a topping. OMG it turned out to be an oral orgasm.

1/4 finely chopped fresh onion.
2 finely chopped pepperoncini's
1/4 stick butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup sweet Italian cream
1 good squeeze of three pepper mustard

Over a hot (preferably open) flame saute until reduced to a paste like substance.

Deglaze with 1/4 cup Shiraz wine and reduce again.

Spread over the steak and eat!

a large spider web on my front porch. I was going to have a knee jerk reaction and remove it but I realized it was a knee jerk reaction and didn't. It turns out observing spiders at work is a very rich text of beautifully written life lessons. After some consideration by the spider (assumption) she picked a spot to build her web. It has cover, light at night and an ample food supply. It is beautifully crafted and well constructed. She is patient and motionless as she waits for her prey. Once an insect is in the web she is lightening fast as she poisons it and wraps it up. She has to be sometimes. Some insects struggle very little trying to escape and are summarily eaten. Others struggle mightily and actually escape. Some put up a good fight and are eaten anyway.

As I watch this process in utter fascination it occurs to me we as primates are not so very different from the insects. If we had souls I wonder how many of us would have had ours eaten by now. The web we are trapped in has been beautifully crafted and well constructed. Could it be that it is comfortable and seems a good time to rest from flying around all the time? If it does then we are not aware of the danger lurking just out of sight and we will be devoured.

This brings another thought to mind. Do we have the desire and strength to struggle and fight our way to escape? Then what? Back to mindlessly flying around? Probably, it's what we do after all.

I'm going back out to watch so I can learn to struggle and fight.

[do something.]

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."  - Theodore Roosevelt


I couldn't agree more with this quote.

I don't know why the road to success is paved with the bones of failures but it is. The trick would seem to be trying to minimize the failures. At the least though a failure is a result of an attempt to do something.

BBQ season is upon us.

1) Never use a gas grill.

2) Allow the charcoal to fully engage.

3) Soak mesquite chips in Jack Daniels for 3 days in a tightly covered bowl. Add the mesquite chips to the coals just before putting the chicken on. Close the lid on the grill.

4) Marinate the chicken breasts overnight in Sweet Vidalia Onion salad dressing.

5) Turn the chicken at regular intervals to prevent burning.

6) Cook the chicken at a medium grill temperature and temp it as it nears being done. It is important to not overcook it as this will dry it out. Cook to 160 degrees. Just before you pull the chicken from the grill add a slice of swiss cheese and pour a generous amount of the Sweet Vidalia Onion sauce over it. Adding bacon is optional. Serve with corn on the cobthat has been grilled wrapped in foil and butter.

7) Strain the Jack Daniels in a fine collander and drink.

Have you seen it?

Cold, emotionless compilations of glass and exposed steel, forbidding in its sharpness. It requires no craftsmanship. The mirrored glass is blinding when the sun reflects of of it. I know there are exceptions, but they are too far and few in between. Buildings constructed in the late 1800's and early 1900's in the USA are far more durable and appealing. A great many of them are worth going to just look at. There was an obvious and generous amount of pride and imagination in the planning and construction of these buildings.

The difference sickens me.

Why is it the more I learn the more I realize how little I know?

Here in the confines of my own construct every time I reach a stage of enlightenment I am immediately made aware of the vastness and the smallness of this place I have built.

Call it the Black Iron Prison, the Golden Sphere, or any other name you can imagine. What I am slowly realizing is the vastness is a natural order but the smallness is created by me. The walls of this place are in constant flux, ever changing by experiences and knowledge won. With a surge of knowledge it seems the walls start to fall away at first, then close back even tighter as the very knowledge I have just won makes me aware of how much there is to learn and how little I know. At times this frustrates me and at other times it leaves me awe struck. At the times of awe I realize that there are no walls. I have put borders on the universe to keep myself from being overwhelmed, but the walls simply do not exist. They are my blanket to keep me feeling warm and secure. During the periods of frustration I claw and scream at the walls that do not exist, blinded by my own smallness and inability to perceive the reality that is and is not at the same time.

My most recent state of enlightenment has left me aware that time and knowledge are things of infinite patience. They are and always will be there, waiting, watching. I will either find things in my alloted time or I will not. It doesn't matter to time or knowledge, and in the end it really doesn't matter to me. I am what I am and I will become what I will become. The things I learn are of my own choosing, my paths are of my own making. Decisions I have made, my reactions to experiences, my personal perceptions to things will determine this. I know if I fail to learn a thing, the knowledge of this thing will not judge me, and being ignorant of the thing I will not judge myself.

There is so much there that no one of will ever taste it all, or even a large part of it.

It is good to be alive.

What would you do? You make the choice. Don't look for a punch line,
there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made
the same choice?

At a fund raising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled
children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that
would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the
school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: 'When not
interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is
done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other
children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.

Where is the natural order of things in my son?'

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay,
physically and mentally handicapped comes into the
world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself,
and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew
were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me
play?' Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want
someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that
if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed
sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in
spite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not
expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for
guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the
eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put
him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put
on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and
warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being
accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a
few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth
inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field Even
though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in
the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father
waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning,
Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded,
the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be
next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to
win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was giv en the bat.Everyone knew
that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how
to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing
that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in
Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay
could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung
clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to
toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung
at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder
and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay
would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's
head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and
both teams star ted yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to
first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his
breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling
to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second
base, the right fielder had the ball .. the smallest guy on their
team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He
could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he
understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw
the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward
third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases
toward home.

All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help
him by turning him in the direction of third ba se, and shouted,
'Run to third! Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators,
were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!' Shay ran
to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit
the grand slam and won the game for his team.

'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his
face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love
and humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having
never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and
coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of
the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of
jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes
to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude,
vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public
discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools
andworkplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that
you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who
aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message. Well,
the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a
difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day
to help realize the 'natural order of things.' So many seemingly
trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do
we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up
those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the
process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's
least fortunate amongst them.

You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward

May your day, be a Shay Day!


(I found this and thought I would share.  The story has a great point.)

This is a thought in infancy. I was watching television the other night and this thought kept pulling at me. The screen is viewed as single dimensional. I began reflecting on how much of real life we view as single dimensional. We all do it. Much of the time when we should be trying to see the depth we just skim over the picture with our eyes. The details are in the layers. Almost all situations are fluid, ever changing, always presenting a different picture. This is why our perceptions are always in flux. This is why the walls of our prison are not static. For every detail we actually do perceive, and for every detail we fail to perceive, something is altered whether we are are aware of it or not.
Every time we 'see' something that awakens a new idea, it also underscores the fact that we are only skimming the surfaces of possibilities. How many are undetected? How many are so obvious and missed that when we finally do see them it is literally a blood rush to the brain, and often many doors open simultaneously. When this happens does our cell expand, shrink, or is it just altered? Or is it possible for all three contradicting terms to happen at the same time? Quantum mechanics would suggest it is indeed possible for all to occur at the same time. See? Another conundrum. Another illustration of taking the time to peel the 'visual' layers away and see the full depth of the picture. Or is this yet another illusion?

Thought should be done in the Free Radical style when possible. No preconceived ideas, no restrictions based on teachings. And I suppose this is the real challenge. Fiction writers have a leg up on us in this. Remember, Buck Rogers was once considered silly fantasy. Once. When I was a child it was a joke that a man was going to walk on the moon. While 1984 was prophetic in actuality, it was intended as fictional warning. What this all proves to me is that if we can imagine it, we can do it. The one million dollar question is what SHOULD we be imagining? What kind of Free Radical thoughts should we be allowing to tear through the conditioned mass we call a brain? How can we develop the ability to let our fettered minds go free? How do we train our thoughts to be unfettered? Could we stand the consequences of such a thing? Would we prove ourselves right or wrong? Or would we realize that none of it matters? It has been proven that reality is fleeting and conceptions have to be changed as knowledge is gained. I wonder what reality this thought process would produce. It seems it is worth a shot, what do you think?

After seeing the POEE podcasts and some of your guys things on youtube a silly seed has been planted in my mind.
Is anyone here old enough to remember when news was presented as strictly factual with the intention to allow people to form their own opinions from information presented in an unbiased format? Me either.

Well, here's the idea. A weekly newscast. Does anyone here know the inner workings to get press credentials? Those could get us access for interviews with people who would otherwise ignore us out of hand. Open, fair, honest interviews presented in simple fact. Of course a commentary section would also be mandatory. There are enough of us spread around to have a diverse base for news. No hype, no sensationalism, just facts presented from different angles.

Well, like I said, just a silly seed of an idea.

In all of creation the need for religion is found only in the Human race. Did you ever think to question why? Did not all living things come from the same "source"? Can we attribute our higher brain functions to this? If indeed we do all come from the same source wouldn't we all want to return to that source? Human or beast?

No, the need for a higher being is a human trait. Ours alone. Sure, our pets can look at us in a way that makes us wonder if we aren't gods to them, but hurt that loving pet and likely as not you'll get bit. In the wild some animals will see you as lunch, not a god.

Is it a matter of perspective? Does our "higher" brain function give us that much more insight? Or is it much simpler than that?

Do we have a driving need for something to control the chaos that exists? Are we afraid that we are alone and the choices we make are ours? Why do we seem to be so willing to lay the woes of the world somewhere else?


So many questions. Can the answers be so simple as we are afraid? I often wonder as I see an innocent child suffering some horrible torment, could a just Supreme Being allow this. We all have. So to justify this in our minds we must believe there is some Greater Plan,Ñ¢ that we as mere humans don't understand. That child is suffering to teach us all a lesson. The Supreme Being,Ñ¢ knows what he/she is doing, who are we to question it?

Let's take a look at some of the things that have and are being worshiped as Supreme Beings. Cows. Snakes. Rats. Statues. Myths. Legends. Sunrises. Sunsets. Shooting stars. Meteor showers. Rocks. Springs. A person born of a Virgin. Lightening. Thunder. Kings. Pharohs. Once I added one cup of algaecide that would turn two acre feet of water blue. I saw a grown man fall to his knees and start praying as the water turned blue, and every day for the next year he went to the same spot every day and knelt and prayed. It was a reflecting pond at a commercial building.

We are no more advanced than our prehistoric predecessors, just more knowledgeable. And yet we still seek some reason or excuse for our existence. And we still do it for the same reason. Because we feel inadequate. That's right, we feel an over powering need to have a fall back position. As we grow older the need becomes stronger. We face our own mortality. We feel we should have stood for something, should have meant something. Why didn't we accomplish more?

What if this is all there is?


This human feels we are nothing but spiritual beings having a human experience. Of our own choosing. That's right, we decided on our own to be here, to do this. I don't know what comes next. No one does. I feel that the experiences we have gone through in this life will have prepared us for the next step, whatever it is.

But this is just one humans opinion.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003681580_essay26.html

Without comment.