In The Name Of NASA

     

Tucson Weather Today

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176 pounds


In a recent NASA bulletin I read: "Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's (ESA's) XMM-Newton to show a supermassive black hole six billion light years from Earth is spinning extremely rapidly."

That, of course, may not be true as stated. That specific Black Hole was perhaps spinning extremely rapidly, but if so, it occurred approximately six billion years ago. Who knows if it is still spinning extremely rapidly at this exact instant in time? Or if it even still exists this year, when it was first observed?

The bulletin contains a great deal of information, but I can't help wondering how these scientists can be so sure they are correct, and all things are as they seem. They are just so damned positive that their mathematics-based conclusions are facts instead of merely conjecture.

Read more than you probably want to know at the link below.

Chandra X-Ray Observatory

Why should I believe these pronouncements (theories?) any more than I would believe that a Jewish man named Jesus was born from the loins of a virgin named Mary and grew up as a human being living among men and women but was in reality a supposedly incarnate member of a trio of divine beings within a single entity who bears the name of Jehovah? Because the pronouncement was made by scientists in the name of science?

I guess you just gotta have faith.

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Did You Know . . .?

Smoking pot (cannabis) in your teens can lead to a decline in I.Q. not seen in those who start smoking it as adults.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1923 The New Republic published Robert Frost's poem "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening." The poem, beginning with the famous line "Whose woods these are, I think I know. His house is in the village though," has introduced millions of American students to poetry.

Frost tried unsuccessfully to run a New England farm, and the family, which soon included four children, struggled with poverty for two decades. Frost became more and more depressed, perhaps even suicidal, and in 1912 he moved his family to England to make a fresh start. There he concentrated on his poetry.

Although Frost never graduated from a university, he had collected 44 honorary degrees before he died in 1963.

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WORD FOR TODAY

celebrity
noun
1. A famous person.
2. Renown; fame.

Wikipedia says a celebrity is a person, who has a prominent profile in day-to-day media and because of this commands some degree of public fascination and influence. A celebrity is usually expected to be wealthy (commonly denoted as a person with fame and fortune), implied with great popular appeal, prominence in a particular field, and is easily recognized by the general public.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Willard Herman Scott, Jr.

(born March 7, 1934)

Willard Scott is an American actor, author, media personality, clown, and comedian, best known for his TV work on The Today Show and as the creator and original portrayer of Ronald McDonald.

Note: I once saw Willard walking by me. I called out, "Willard Scott!" He smiled, waved, and said, "How ya' doin', Pardner?"

Laura Prepon

(born March 7, 1980)

Laura Prepon is an American actress, known for her role as Donna Pinciotti in all eight seasons of the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. She is also known for the role of Hannah Daniels on the ABC drama October Road. Following That '70s Show, Prepon worked mainly in television, guest-starring in episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Medium, and Castle. In 2011, Prepon was cast in the lead role of Chelsea in the short-lived sitcom drama Are You There, Chelsea?, based on Chelsea Handler's 2008 book Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. She portrays Alex Vause in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.

John Heard, Jr.

(born March 7, 1945)

John Heard is an American actor known for his recurring role as Peter McCallister, in the first two installments of the Home Alone movie series. He starred or was featured in films including Cutter's Way, Chilly Scenes of Winter, Cat People, The Milagro Beanfield War, The Pelican Brief, and Big, and the TV-movie Sharknado.

Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer

(born March 7, 1974)

Jenna Fischer is an American actress and director. She is known for her portrayal of Pam Halpert (née Beesly) on the NBC situation comedy The Office. She has also appeared in several films, including Blades of Glory, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The Promotion, and Hall Pass.

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I am utterly bored by celebrity interviews. Most celebrities are devoid of interest.
--Roger Ebert

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

A Piece Of Prosaic Poetry

     

They Call Themselves Saints - (Latter Day?)

Elder Prater, a bicycle mounted teen-age Mormon,
Secure in white shirt, tie, and Identification Badge,
Questioned my faith thusly: "Everyone has faith;
You have faith," he said, " that the sun will rise
Into the sky tomorrow morning... do you not?"

My answer was, "I believe that tomorrow morning,
Earth will rotate me into the brightness of the sun,
Based upon my seventy-five years of observing that
It has done so each and every day of my entire life,
But I have no faith that since it has, it next day will."

"You know what faith is, don't you," he queried;
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
And faith is the evidence of things not seen."
I said, "I have read the KJV of the bible may times,
 And Hebrews 11:1 is a platitude without meaning."

"It seems that you have grown senile in your old age,"
He said, "Don't you prefer going to Heaven than Hell?"
"Every earthly biological creature that has ever lived,"
I said, "is destined to transmute into eventual death --
And eternal oblivion, in its purist form, is a Heaven.

Copyright 2014 Charles Gene Chambers

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Daniel Lawrence "Larry" Whitney

(born February 17, 1963)

Larry the Cable Guy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, and former radio personality. He was one of the members of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a comedy troupe which included Bill Engvall, Ron White, and Jeff Foxworthy (with whom he has starred on Blue Collar TV).

Mary Ann Mobley

(born February 17, 1939)

Mary Ann Mobley is a former Miss America, actress, and television personality. Between 1969-1973 she made five appearances on Love, American Style, and eight appearances on Fantasy Island from 1978-1984. She had a recurring role as Maggie McKinney Drummond on Diff'rent Strokes in the series final season, having taken over the role from Dixie Carter.

Rene Marie Russo

(born February 17, 1954)

Rene Russo is an American actress and former model. She is known for starring in a series of popular, big budget thrillers and action movies throughout the 1990s.She made her debut in film as the girlfriend of the Tom Berenger character in Major League. Her breakthrough role is generally considered to be her part as internal affairs detective Lorna Cole in Lethal Weapon 3 (and again in Lethal Weapon 4) opposite Mel Gibson.

Denise Lee Richards

(born February 17, 1971)

Denise Richards is an American actress and former fashion model. She has appeared in films, including Starship Troopers (1997), Wild Things (1998), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), The World Is Not Enough (1999) as a Bond girl, and in Valentine (2001). She later appeared in Scary Movie 3 (2003), Love Actually (2003), Edmond (2005), and Madea's Witness Protection (2012). She appeared in guest arcs on television series such as Melrose Place (1996), Spin City (2001) and Two and a Half Men (2003-2004). She also played Monica and Ross Geller's cousin on Friends (2001).

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This Is Who I Am

Mormonism, Politics, And Insanity

Tucson Weather Today

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Question: What Is Mormonism?

Answer: The doctrines and practices of the Mormon Church based on the Book of Mormon.


The Latter Day Saint movement, including Mormonism, originated in the 1820s in western New York. Restored by Joseph Smith, Jr., the faith drew its first converts while Smith was dictating the text of the Book of Mormon.


This book described itself as a chronicle of early indigenous peoples of the Americas, portraying them as believing Israelites, who had a belief in Christ many hundred years before his birth. Smith claimed that he translated over 500 pages in about 60 days, and that it was an ancient record translated "by the gift and power of God". During production of this work in mid-1829, Smith, his close associate Oliver Cowdery, and other early followers began baptizing new converts into the Christian primitivist church, formally organized in 1830 as the Church of Christ. Smith was seen by his followers as a modern-day prophet.

The following Articles of Faith were taken from mormon.org:

13 Articles of Faith

1.
We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2.
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
3.
We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5.
We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6.
We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7.
We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
8.
We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9.
We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10.
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11.
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12.
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13.
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.


Okay . . . but what is Faith?

According to Dictionary.com --

faith
noun
1. Strong or unshakable belief in something, esp without proof or evidence.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.

So, faith then is believing a thing without any logical reason for believing that thing.

How can I, a person who believes in logic, vote to put a candidate who professes to believe things without any logical reason for believing them into The White House as President of the United States of America?

And yet I suspect that voting for President Obama will merely help to continue the nation's current direction toward a government that will soon grow so big and so powerful that a future unscrupulous leader can (and will) be elected who then will turn that government into the most dangerous and unstoppable dictatorship the world has ever known.

And there will be no God The Holy Father to step in and miraculously intervene, no Mighty Moses to lead the oppressed people out of bondage into some glorious promised land.

There will be only Big Brother.

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WORD FOR TODAY

hallucinate
Verb
Experience a seemingly real perception of something not actually present, typically as a result of a mental disorder or of taking drugs.

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Faith: not wanting to know what is true.
--Friedrich Nietzsche

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

In the closing lines of yesterday's entry I declared my intention to attempt to honestly describe some of the instances wherein I believe something other than my ordinary, everyday self intervened to steer the course of my life in a different and better direction.

By that I mean, of course, stressful times in which some 'higher power' stepped-in (at my impassioned behest) and assumed an over-riding control of my actions.

But I found that doing so in a factual-memoir form is too terribly frightening and is much more difficult to report with stark honesty than I had anticipated.

So, I then decided to take a friend's earlier advice and present those essential truths in fictional form, announcing that the story is merely based on actual events.

Here is what came of that . . .

Brief Story Plan

TENTATIVE TITLE: To Be Or Not To Be?

(Main-Character-Name) at the age of nearly 40 finds himself isolated from family, friendless, dejected, depressed, alone, and apparently approaching an attempted suicide. (Show, don't tell)

(Name) prepares (how? be specific) for his evening-shift (where?) of mind-numbing and physically exhausting, unskilled labor. (Which is?)

(Name) suffers emotionally, (retreats into solitude) despair deepens, premature escape from life looks better and better, seems the 'only' solution.

Finally at the absolute nadir, (Name) calls out to the universe, imploring someone, anyone, any thing for help.

And is answered by a strong presence
from somewhere deep within himself.

"DON'T BE AFRAID."

"I WILL HANDLE THIS."

"I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU."

"I AM HERE FOR YOU, ALWAYS."

(Name) stands up straighter, walks more briskly onward past all the formerly threatening landmarks until he reaches the work-place and perseveres throughout the long work-period in the sure knowledge that someone, some...Thing, some Fierce and Powerful being that is both a part of himself and yet somehow separate from his 'self' is protectively hovering over him, watching out for him with mighty muscles and nearly-invincible weapons -- keeping at bay the ever-present hordes of snarling attackers that inhabit the menacing world -- and is holding the entire legion of horrendous enemies at bay.

And that is the initial idea for a fictional
story of true Belief and Faith the size
of a single mustard seed molecule.

To be continued . . .