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Unbelievable, ain't it?
Oh well, it's all a part of God's plan.
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Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Right And Wrong
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Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.
--Isaac Asimov
Yesterday while researching some nearly unbelievable (but interesting) allegations, I read the following:
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has launched an independent expenditure ad charging Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) “voted to give Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants.”
Read more:
Well, I did read more, but now I am still no wiser... and no longer interested.
Another statement I read somewhere on the Internet was:
"Today, more than half of the world's people -- more than 3.5 billion -- are city dwellers."
WOW!
And...
According to U.N. estimates, by 2050, a third of the world’s population will live not just in cities, but in slums.
LINK
Makes me wonder what the number of people living in slums will be in the year 2099.
Not that it will matter to me by then.
I'm curious though.
For the last few weeks I have been working on (thinking deeply about) a method for putting into cogent words my personal beliefs and opinions concerning religion, and about the difference, if any, between life and death. And whether or not a belief in the existence of God (or a god) has any real meaning beyond an imagined concept embedded within the human mind.
Sadly, I have not yet arrived at a satisfactory conclusion.
But I'm still working on it.
I am writing this small portion of the blog entry the night before I post it, during commercials of the 1973 version of the movie Serpico, played by Al Pacino, who testified against a cruel cadre of corrupt cops. And so the composition will probably be a bit choppy in spots.
The movie following Serpico is Midnight Express, the harrowing story of a young American tourist arrested and sentenced to 30 years in prison by Turkish authorities for trying to smuggle two kilos of hashish out of the country. If I don't get too sleepy I'll watch it.
Did I mention that I have become a movie buff?
Okay, it's the next morning now. I must reveal that last night's movie, Midnight Express, proved to be nothing more than an overly long expose of the brutality within the Turkish prison system. Of course there was more to the movie than I can admit to... such as that mysterious certainty of a lack of sensitivity to the scenes depicting inter-personal relationships between prisoners. But even this failure on my part has value. It reminds me that I am not an intellectual at all, but merely a confused, ignorant mortal attempting to fool myself into believing there is actually some meaning to my life, and the futile feeling that I am intelligent enough to recognize it.
Something like that.
An upcoming movie to be shown later in the week is From Here To Eternity.
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Did You Know . . .?
Statistics have shown that in 2013 only 53% of Americans attending college actually graduated.
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HISTORICAL EVENT
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WORD FOR TODAY
fungible [FUHN-juh-buhl]
adjective
1. able to be substituted for something of equal value or utility.
2. Law: (especially of goods) being of such nature or kind as to be freely exchangeable or replaceable, in whole or in part, for another of like nature or kind.
Synonyms
interchangeable, exchangeable, replaceable
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
(born August 21, 1938)
Kenny Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, entrepreneur and author, and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
(born August 21, 1956)
Kim Cattrall is an English-Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO romantic comedy series Sex and the City.
(born August 21, 1951)
Harry Smith is an American television journalist, working for NBC News. He hosted the CBS News morning programs, The Early Show and its predecessor, CBS This Morning, for seventeen years. In July 2011, Smith left CBS News to become a correspondent for NBC News.
(born August 21, 1980)
Joanne Froggatt is an English actress of stage, television, and film, most notably appearing in Downton Abbey as Anna, Lady's Maid to Lady Mary Crawley.
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The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.
--Isaac Asimov
NASA TV
Saturday, August 16, 2014
8-16-14
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"Success is relative: It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things."
--T.S. Eliot
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Did You Know . . .?
A 21-year-old man was posing with a gun for a selfie to post on his Facebook page and was tragically killed when the gun accidentally went off.
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HISTORICAL EVENT
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WORD FOR TODAY
inculcate
verb
1. to implant by repeated statement or admonition; teach persistently and earnestly; to inculcate virtue in the young.
2. to cause or influence (someone) to accept an idea or feeling
Synonyms
instill, ingrain
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
(born August 16, 1953)
Kathie Lee Gifford is an American television host, best known for her 15-year run (1985–2000) on the talk show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, which she co-hosted with Regis Philbin. On April 7, 2008, Gifford began co-hosting, the fourth hour of Today alongside Hoda Kotb.
(born August 16, 1933)
Julie Newmar is an American actress, dancer and singer. Known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles, she is perhaps best known for playing Catwoman in the 1960s Batman television series.
(born 16 August 1946)
Leslie Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles in films such as The Happiest Millionaire, Victor Victoria, Clue, Burglar, Cop, Color of Night and Secretary. She has also had roles in popular TV shows such as Mission: Impossible, Desperate Housewives, Will & Grace, and In Plain Sight.
(born August 16, 1958)
Madonna is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and businesswoman. She achieved popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the best-selling female recording artist of all time by Guinness World Records.
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"The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn't know how to read."
--Benjamin Franklin
NASA TV
Friday, February 7, 2014
Endless Sleep Without Dreams
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A few nights ago, just before falling asleep I thought of what it means to die, and to be dead... to not be. It's a difficult task to absorb the deep meaning of non-existence of self. It is akin to accepting the notion of infinity. The infinite non-boundried universe is a concept that simply will not mesh in my mind with my mortal experiences pertaining to beginnings, duration, and endings.
And I wonder if anybody else who has ever mused, with seriousness, upon the subject has arrived at a satisfactory conclusion -- has come to fully grasp the concept of death -- has faced the fact that we (you, me, and every person that has ever lived) will eventually not exist, and will remain non-existent forever.
Forever is not merely a really long time. It is forever.
A scary thought?
It doesn't have to be.
To some, including me, perpetual oblivion is a soothing and comforting promise of eternal peace.
Endless sleep without dreams or nightmares.
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Did You Know . . .?
Every day, each one of us breathes about 23,040 times and move around 438 cubic feet of air.
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HISTORICAL EVENT
One of the people the police questioned was Roger Payne, a recent acquaintance of Bernard and Claire. Forensic evidence focused on Payne's clothing. Claire Josephs had been wearing a cerise woolen dress at the time of her murder. Although Payne's clothing had already been laundered, the seams and hems still contained over 60 cerise wool fibers matching Josephs' dress. Investigators then examined Payne's car and found traces of blood matching Josephs' blood type, as well as additional clothing fibers.
Payne was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in May 1968.
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WORD FOR TODAY
heinous [HAY-nuhs]
adjective
- evil; atrocious
- grossly wicked or reprehensible; abominable: a heinous crime
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
(born February 7, 1965)
Chris Rock is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and director. After working as a standup comic and appearing in small film roles, Rock came to wider prominence as a cast member of Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s. He went on to more prominent film roles, and a series of acclaimed comedy specials for HBO.
(born February 7, 1978)
Ashton Kutcher is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. He had lead roles in the Hollywood films Jobs, Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married, The Butterfly Effect, The Guardian, and What Happens in Vegas.
(born February 7, 1960)
James Spader is an American actor best known for his eccentric roles in films such as Pretty in Pink, The Pentagon Papers, Less Than Zero, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Crash, Stargate, Secretary, and Lincoln. His most famous television roles are those of the colorful attorney Alan Shore in The Practice and its spin-off Boston Legal and Robert California in The Office. He currently stars as Raymond "Red" Reddington in The Blacklist.
(born February 7, 1985)
Deborah Ann Woll is an American actress best known for her role as Jessica Hamby on HBO's True Blood.
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Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it.
--Douglas MacArthur
APOLOGIZE:
To lay the foundation for a future offence.
--Ambrose Bierce
The Devil's Dictionary
NASA TV
Monday, December 30, 2013
More On Getting Old
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It seems that I have reached the age wherein I feel the need for a nap in the afternoon and to retire to my bed earlier than formerly each night. Why this is I do not know, as I rise each morning feeling just as fatigued as I had felt the night before.
Even the relative excitement of gift-giving and receiving at Christmas-time doesn't seem to upset this newest routine of momentarily slipping away.
Dozing Off On Christmas Eve
Tucson, Arizona
December 24, 2013
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Since there is no scientific evidence that suggests consciousness survives the death of an organism, this indicates (to me) that there is a Heaven after all.
Think about it.
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Did You Know . . .?
The Grand Canyon can hold around 900 trillion footballs.
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HISTORICAL EVENT
On this day in 1994, John Salvi III walked into two separate abortion clinics in Brookline, Mass. and shot workers with a rifle, killing two receptionists and wounding five other employees. He was captured the next day after firing 23 shots at a Norfolk, Virginia, medical clinic.
In March 1996, Salvi's trial jury rejected his insanity defense and convicted him of murder. After receiving two life sentences, he killed himself in prison in November 1996.
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WORD FOR TODAY
death
noun
- The state of being dead.
- The act of dying; the end of life.
- The total and permanent cessation of all the vital functions of an organism.
Death is the cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include biological aging (senescence), predation, malnutrition, disease, suicide, murder and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death. There is no scientific evidence that suggests consciousness survives the death of an organism.
--Wikipedia
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
(born December 30, 1975)
Tiger Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No. 1, he has been one of the highest-paid athletes in the world for several years according to Forbes.
(born December 30, 1957)
Matt Lauer is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1996. He is also a contributor for NBC's Dateline NBC.
(born December 30, 1942)
Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the rock band The Monkees and co-star of The Monkees TV series (1966–1968).
(Dec 30 1945 - 29 Feb 2012)
Davy Jones was an English actor, musician, recording artist, performing artist, and businessman best known as a member of the pop rock band, The Monkees, and star of the TV series of the same name. His acting credits include a Tony-nominated role as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! as well as roles in The Brady Bunch film and television show; My Two Dads, and Love, American Style. Jones is considered by some to be one of the great teen idols
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I actually think there's an incredible amount of self-knowledge that comes with getting older.
--Jamie Lee Curtis
NASA TV
Saturday, April 28, 2012
What Am I?
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Yesterday afternoon I allowed myself an hour off from my usual routine to view an hour-long YouTube video wherein Professor Richard Dawkins reveals how he came to write his explosive first book The Selfish Gene, a work that was to divide the scientific community and make him the most influential evolutionary biologist of his generation. He also explores how this set him on the path to becoming an outspoken spokesman for atheism.
I found this BBC presentation to be both entertaining and informative, a combination of personal pleasures not often granted me. I enjoyed it immensely.
The Selfish Gene
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WORD FOR TODAY
spiritual
adj.
1. Of, relating to, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit; not tangible or material.
2. Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul.
3. Of, from, or relating to God; deific.
4. Of or belonging to a church or religion; sacred.
5. Relating to or having the nature of spirits or a spirit; supernatural.
The word 'spiritual' denotes a concept I am unable to comprehend. Whenever I read its definition or hear it described the idea will not take concrete form within the sphere of my understanding. I cannot separate some imaginary mental-only me from the solid mas of the physical me. All is one.
At Wikipedia I am told:
Most Christians understand the soul as an ontological reality distinct from, yet integrally connected with, the body. Its characteristics are described in moral, spiritual, and philosophical terms. According to a common Christian eschatology, when people die, their souls will be judged by God and determined to spend an eternity in Heaven or in Hell.
Nonsense.
To me, my spirit, my soul, are merely synonyms for my self.
Simple as that.
Wikipedia also tells me: When modern scientists speak of the soul outside of this cultural and psychological context, they generally treat soul as a poetic synonym for mind.
Well, hurrah for the scientist.
"What then is human life?" I ask.
And I answer:
"Life is an accumulation of chemical elements and compounds that combine and react together in a natural manner for a specific duration and then disperse."
Simple as that.
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At what exact moment does death occur? When the heart stops beating? When brain waves go flat? When breathing stops?
An intriguing article in Salon addresses the question.
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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Born April 28, 1926
Author of To Kill A Mockingbird
ALSO
Born April 28, 1948
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre.
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There is nothing so ridiculous but some philosopher has said it.
--Cicero
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The Good, The Bad, And . . .
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Last Sunday At Fry's
Outside Fry's Supermarket sitting on the loafers' bench. Rich tells me the story of the man who died in his arms just a few minutes before I arrived. The EMT truck and the Fire Truck were just leaving when I walked up to the bench. I remember feeling so irritated because the EMT siren was so loud (five feet away from me) that it hurt my ears. It was in the parking lot, Rich told me, that he came across the old guy lying on the asphalt. Foam was coming out of his mouth. He had no heartbeat and was not breathing. Rich said he tried to resuscitate the guy but couldn't. "And to make matters worse," Rich said, "I knew the guy. He was a friend of my mom's"
Rich seemed to be pretty shaken up so I didn't linger as I usually do, but walked away as he began to again relate the story to a Fry's cashier who had just arrived for her smoke break. I went inside the store and got my lottery tickets and talked to the friendly young Customer Service girl as I always do. Then I shopped for a while and finally bought some frozen fish, a box of saltines, and a jar of peanut butter.
When I came out of the store, Rich was again relating his story to yet another recent arrival so I waved and walked on by, beginning my mile long walk back to the apartment.
And it had begun to rain.
I decided to just walk on anyway instead of catching the Sun Tran city bus. A little rain never hurt anyone. And fifty-cents saved is fifty-cents saved. But a nice hot shower sure felt good when I got home. We old people, I have been told, are susceptible to pneumonia. Especially old fools who walk a mile in the rain in late December.
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LAUGH! And The World Says, "What's So Funny?"
Here is a short movie clip I thought was amusing:
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Today's New Word
callipygous
(adj.)
having well-shaped buttocks
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So many writer wannabes complain that they are unpublished, and when they are asked, "Have you written a full length novel? Edited it? Revised it? Polished it until you are satisfied that it is the best you can make it, then sent it with payment to a competent professional editor? Again revised it incorporating the editor's suggestions? Polished it again? Sent it to every publisher and every agent you can find addresses for? While doing all that, have you written another novel? A better novel?"
"What? No?" And yet, still they whine about being unpublished.
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“Poor intricated soul! Riddling, perplexed, labyrinthical soul!”
--John Donne
Saturday, December 10, 2011
The Lottery, Pascal's Wager, etc.
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The Lottery
Wow! Again this past week I was a lucky winner in the Arizona Mega Millions lottery. My ticket matched only 1 of the drawn numbers... but it was the Mega-Ball number, so I raked in a grand total of $2.
Better than nothing. Right?
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Moving on . . .Pascal's Wager says that it is better to believe in god and be wrong, as you’ve lost nothing, than to not believe and be wrong, thereby going to hell.
I've heard some supposedly intelligent persons use that argument to justify their own official memberships in various denominations of recognized organized religion. Some of these faithful churchgoers (the ones I have known quite well for a long time) do not so much believe as pretend to believe. And when pressed, they even admit to this pretense. Now, surely an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God would be able, with no trouble at all, to recognize the difference between believing and pretending to believe.
Don't you think?
Pascal’s Wager -- Why It Doesn’t Work is the subject of a Martin S. Pribble blog entry that is probably the clearest explanation you will find anywhere.
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On YouTube, Aaron Evans from Milwaukee jumps over a car speeding at him at 30 mph. and it is awesome.
Note:
Something Surprising is Plasma Engineer's always interesting blog and is the first site, on December 7, 2011, at which I viewed the video.
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Two new words
First new word:
theodicy
An explanation of why a perfectly good, almighty, and all-knowing God permits evil.
and
Second new word:
etiolate
(verb tr.)
1. To make pale by preventing exposure to sunlight.
2. To make weak by stunting the growth of.
(verb intr.)
3. To become pale, weak, or stunted.
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What Doesn't Kill Me Makes Me Stronger.
Oh yeah?
In a Vanity Fair article I read a few days ago, Christopher Hitchens presents some of his interesting and always insightful views that are well worth pondering. The piece stimulated me to consider what changes in personal beliefs and attitudes may come about when one's brain (mine) begins to weaken or to otherwise lose some powers of thought by perhaps some trauma or through some natural brain deterioration such as growing old, senile, or suffering in agonizing (wholly unnecessary) pain.
That is a frightening possibility . . . to me, anyway.
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My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.
--Michel de Montaigne
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Religion, Religion, And More Religion
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Religion and Ethics is a website I recently discovered, which is a companion to the WNET TV show and it promises to be a source of valuable information regarding religion.
Since its debut in 1997, RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY has set itself apart from the mainstream media by providing distinctive, cutting-edge news coverage and analysis of national and international events in the ever-changing religious world. Hosted by veteran journalist Bob Abernethy and produced by Thirteen/WNET New York, the acclaimed one-of-a-kind TV show examines religion’s role -- and the ethical dimensions -- behind top news headlines.
Major funding for RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY is provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. with additional support from Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, The Henry Luce Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and individual supporters.
One of the things I learned from listening to the show is that George Beverly Shea is now 102 years old and still sings his Christian spiritual hymns to large audiences... amazing.
I am always eager to learn more about religion...for my own reasons, of course.
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Who is Justin Bieber?
After hearing the name Justin Bieber mentioned several times on TV this week, I decided to find out more about this person. And I read: "With a smooth voice, good looks and a string of hits, teen icon Justin Bieber has accumulated millions of fans and sold 3.7 million albums, according to Nielsen Soundscan. Now Bieber's handlers are showcasing another side of the 16-year-old pop sensation to strengthen his fan base: his Christianity."
That tells me all I want to know about Justin Bieber.
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TO BE OR NOT TO BE absolutely IS the question, especially when one grows old and damnably frail.
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Thursday, December 30, 2010
I Am Not An Artist
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From A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, I read:
White roses and red roses: those were beautiful colours to think of. And the cards for first place and second place and third place were beautiful colours too: pink and cream and lavender. Lavender and cream and pink roses were beautiful to think of. Perhaps a wild rose might be like those colours and he remembered the song about the wild rose blossoms on the little green place.
What is a reader to think immediately upon reading those lines? I am probably the only person alive who would think the inappropriate thoughts that crept into my mind after I read those words. I thought:
...of rods and cones and extremely short wavelengths and unimaginably high frequencies.
Neither the beauty of colors nor the artistry of the words and phrasing impinged for even an instant upon my literal analysis of what I was reading. Not until much later, that is, after the moment had fled -- had drifted off to (as always) disappear into whatever hidden depths such moments are fated to fall.
What the hell is the matter with me?
Why am I always the one who sees things differently than others see things?
Why is it always me who visualizes (while reading a novel) that a character described as "driving along the coast and looking out at the ocean" is a driver gazing over the waters of the 'Atlantic,' -- until I later read that this character is driving North along the coast, looking to his left, and only then do I come to realize that he is seeing, not the Atlantic, but instead, the Pacific Ocean.
Perhaps I am Joyce's solitary green rose growing in some alien place.
But I have now read the first two chapters of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and (surprisingly) enjoyed the reading of them.
#
Why is death a thing to be feared, or to evoke sadness? I can understand why one would fear the pain that might occur just preceding death, but not the state of being dead itself. And why should one be saddened by the passing from life to death of another: a treasured pet, a close friend, or even a much loved family member? It seems to me that the grief attending death is a sadness one feels at being deprived of another's companionship, a sense of loss at no longer being able to interact with the one who has just died.
I don't mean to appear callous by writing this. All I am trying to do is discover and honestly express in words how I truly feel about life, death, and bereavement.
I should keep those non-typical feelings to myself . . .
Words are sometimes inadequate for a full disclosure.
#
It has come to my attention that a 3.8 Earthquake occurred East of Kokomo, Indiana this morning. That is the vicinity of my old home town, which is less that a hundred miles from Kokomo. I am sending out questioning emails to friends and family still living there.
More here about the quake.
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Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Sylvia Plath Was Born On This Date...
The temperature today in Tucson, AZ at 6 A.M. was 54 degrees (F.)
. . .
A lady named Beth commented regarding my little snack picture on yesterday's blog entry. I visited her blog and came to the conclusion that I might enjoy corresponding with her via email. But sadly, I could not find her email address published anywhere on her blog. My email address is posted on my blog's profile page, so if Beth is interested at all, I would hope she would get in touch with me.
. . .
Have you ever heard (herd?) of Two Cow Philosophy? Read all about it at:
. . .
There is so much on this Earth of ours that I do not understand, and probably never will.
Such as:
"Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
Once again, early this morning, I read those two lines written by Dylan Thomas. And once again I have failed to understand the nearly universal attraction of that so vain and arrogant, coarsely pugnacious command.
Why should one who has lived a full quota of years comprising a lifetime somehow deign to "rage" against the inevitable approach of a natural death? To live beyond one's allotted span of subjectively conceived instants of time is not only unnatural it is hellish punishment, whether the dying one is aware of it or not. Eternal life? To live forever? Only human vanity could spawn such a ridiculous notion.
(Just one opinion on the subject I'd welcome from Beth)
But, that's probably enough about that.
For now.
. . .
Pumpkins are curious objects
. . .
The temperature today in Tucson, AZ at 11:45 A.M. is 68 degrees (F.)
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“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand.”
--Milton Friedman
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