I looked up "excitement" in Roget's Thesaurus and it listed the following:
stimulation, provocation, inspiration, interest, fascination, ravishment, entrancement, passion, thrill, intrigue, glowing, soul-stirring, heart-swelling, tantalizing, enrapture, astounding, electrifying
It also listed "spicy"...the spice of life...and if there is one thing that the repetitious lifestyle which society imposes on us is missing from many people's lives, it is spice. It is excitement (whatever that might be to each of us individually) that revs up our motor and carries us further on our quest for happiness. Excitement is the best concrete proof that life is the glorious, wondrous, incomparable gift we ever receive. Don't settle, compromise, merely go along/get along. Normality, the popular, the usual, are sinister killers...of the human spirit
We each take only one trip down the mountain. Make it an exciting one.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
(Repeat of previously-published post, because we need a starting point to turn our society in a better direction.)
JUBEL!
Americans are often thought of as being so in a rush, they do not have the time to stop and communicate with others. And that has some truth in it.Americans are often thought to be so self-occupied that they have little concern for others. And that has some truth in it.
I think it starts with the very first words we use when we see or greet each other. "Hello" has always seemed to me to convey nothing much other than "Hey, I see (or hear) you". And that short 5-letter word seems too time consuming to say in full, and is commonly reduced to the quicker "Hi" or the flippant wave of two fingers...which may give some credence to the ideas about Americans expressed above.
As a child studying Bible, I was fond of the way ancient wanderers greeted each other. "Shalom"...and its various offshoots, "Salaam", "Shlom", etc... all conveyed so much greater meaning. In various places in the Old and New Testaments, it is taken to mean peace, completeness, health, welfare, safety, tranquility, prosperity, fullness, rest, harmony, absence of agitation, distress and discord.
How wonderfully much to say in one word to the wanderer, to let the stranger know immediately that he is welcomed as friend, as tribesman, as family. How calming to be immediately gifted with spiritual affinity and camaraderie and blessing!
We need a word like that in the English language...a word that expresses the opening of one mind, one soul, one spirit, one universe, to another.
JUBEL! Enter, be at peace, serene, safe, I am interested in your story.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
THE TRUTH ABOUT APPLE PIE
Virtually all our attitudes in this country about sexuality are unfathomable, infantile, senseless. We titter, chuckle, guffaw, when the subject of sex is brought up, even just hinted at, seemingly forgetting that all of the following are true:
* there were likely over 1 BILLION acts of intercourse committed on the planet last nite, and every nite
* Mom and Dad had sex or we wouldn't be here
* sex is natural to our species...even Adam and Eve engaged in it
* sex is a very pleasureable experience
* sexual desire comes early in life, and remains to one's last breath
* most everybody wants more of it
* sex is necessary for the survival of the species
* the advertising business is intentionally sexually oriented
* women's clothing is frequently sexually provocative
* tell a woman she has a great face, and she is flattered...but tell a woman she has a great body, and
she is overtly offended...but inwardly flattered?
* nudity is smirked about notwithstanding that we are all naked under the clothing mask we wear...and
not one of us has a body part that every other member of our gender have
* giant biblical heroes had sex...frequently polygamously...and in Solomon the Wise Man's case, a thousand times polygamously
* jokes about sex are considered "dirty", though the cleanest, most upright members of our society laugh hysterically at them
* Hugh Hefner made a fortune showing us pictures of breasts...the first things we came to have
experience with in our lives when we suckled our mother's breasts as infants
* references to sexual intercourse abound in euphemisms: "slept with". "went to bed with", "had relations with", "was intimate with", "made love to"...as if saying the truth of it makes us, well, dirty and perverted, a deviant, abnormal, when in fact we are as normal, as healthy, as apple pie.
Wouldn't you like a piece right now?
* there were likely over 1 BILLION acts of intercourse committed on the planet last nite, and every nite
* Mom and Dad had sex or we wouldn't be here
* sex is natural to our species...even Adam and Eve engaged in it
* sex is a very pleasureable experience
* sexual desire comes early in life, and remains to one's last breath
* most everybody wants more of it
* sex is necessary for the survival of the species
* the advertising business is intentionally sexually oriented
* women's clothing is frequently sexually provocative
* tell a woman she has a great face, and she is flattered...but tell a woman she has a great body, and
she is overtly offended...but inwardly flattered?
* nudity is smirked about notwithstanding that we are all naked under the clothing mask we wear...and
not one of us has a body part that every other member of our gender have
* giant biblical heroes had sex...frequently polygamously...and in Solomon the Wise Man's case, a thousand times polygamously
* jokes about sex are considered "dirty", though the cleanest, most upright members of our society laugh hysterically at them
* Hugh Hefner made a fortune showing us pictures of breasts...the first things we came to have
experience with in our lives when we suckled our mother's breasts as infants
* references to sexual intercourse abound in euphemisms: "slept with". "went to bed with", "had relations with", "was intimate with", "made love to"...as if saying the truth of it makes us, well, dirty and perverted, a deviant, abnormal, when in fact we are as normal, as healthy, as apple pie.
Wouldn't you like a piece right now?
Saturday, November 19, 2011
INSIDE OUT
Children love play, adults worship pay...where the hell did the l go?
Don't remember the Alamo, remember you are alive to remember.
Today is better than tomorrow,...it comes with more tomorrows.
If a bird in the hand were truly worth more than two in the bush, no one would ever switch jobs...or get divorced.
Silence may be golden, but its a fool's gold.
But you always have something nice to say: the truth.
Others are free to have a low opinion of you...you are free not to think of them at all
Plato was right: perfection exists...in you...find it., live it
Don't remember the Alamo, remember you are alive to remember.
Today is better than tomorrow,...it comes with more tomorrows.
If a bird in the hand were truly worth more than two in the bush, no one would ever switch jobs...or get divorced.
Silence may be golden, but its a fool's gold.
But you always have something nice to say: the truth.
Others are free to have a low opinion of you...you are free not to think of them at all
Plato was right: perfection exists...in you...find it., live it
Thursday, November 17, 2011
INJusTICE
The assistant football coach at Penn State is charged with molesting young boys in his care...and if he is guilty, he violated their rights and ought be punished.
But the tv shows running up to an hour discussing the unfolding case are violating his rights...to a fair trial before an impartial jury. Most if not all of them, condemn and"convict" the coach (without having all the facts or hearing his testimony or listening to his attorney's defense), label him "sick" (what psychology school did they study at), and tell and retell the alleged sexual acts he performed on the kids...all to the point of ingraining his guilt on the American public's mind.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! Unfair and unjust. Can he get a fair trial in America? The answer to that question should always be "Absolutely", but the answer is now "Maybe" or "Doubtful".
And its all being done by tv networks and stations worshiping the Golden Calf. And by so many of us who (a) revel in unproven gossip, (b) accept unproven rumors, (c) are somehow validated by a malevolent view of the Universe.
Unacceptable in a country where justice is the main (only?) bulwark against oppression.
Click! off these destructive shows.
Click! off buying the products of advertisers on these programs.
Click! off malevolent attitudes.
Click! on "with liberty and justice for ALL."
But the tv shows running up to an hour discussing the unfolding case are violating his rights...to a fair trial before an impartial jury. Most if not all of them, condemn and"convict" the coach (without having all the facts or hearing his testimony or listening to his attorney's defense), label him "sick" (what psychology school did they study at), and tell and retell the alleged sexual acts he performed on the kids...all to the point of ingraining his guilt on the American public's mind.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! Unfair and unjust. Can he get a fair trial in America? The answer to that question should always be "Absolutely", but the answer is now "Maybe" or "Doubtful".
And its all being done by tv networks and stations worshiping the Golden Calf. And by so many of us who (a) revel in unproven gossip, (b) accept unproven rumors, (c) are somehow validated by a malevolent view of the Universe.
Unacceptable in a country where justice is the main (only?) bulwark against oppression.
Click! off these destructive shows.
Click! off buying the products of advertisers on these programs.
Click! off malevolent attitudes.
Click! on "with liberty and justice for ALL."
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
GET REAL!
I hear people wondering whether tv reality shows are honest or fixed...the contest or competition unfolding as the owner of a show wishes it to unfold.
They're fixed, all of them fixed (did we learn nothing from the $64,000 revelation that it was fixed, the winner given answers in advance of the competition).
How do I know they're fixed?
* most people are not totally honest (for many reasons, including the fact they don't know WHY they should always be honest)
* most people, in fact, take a measure of pride if they "got away with it"
* most people are even less honest when they can gain something tangible from the lie
* most people are flagrant liars when big time MONEY is on the line
* the ability to lie has gone from a sin to a virtue in the inverted popular mindset
* tv shows are "protected" from accusations of cheating by the catchy cleanser, "it's only entertainment" (ranking alongside "it's only business", "it's only for fun", "it's only a game")
* most liars find refuge in what is close to a truism: "everybody is doing it"
* it is generally believed by most people that God doesn't watch reality shows
Do you really think the owner of a hit reality show is going to allow that guy/gal attracting all those advertiser-loved viewers to be "prematurely" voted off, taking all those advertising millions with him/her?
They are called reality shows precisely to make you not question what the true reality is.
They're fixed, all of them fixed (did we learn nothing from the $64,000 revelation that it was fixed, the winner given answers in advance of the competition).
How do I know they're fixed?
* most people are not totally honest (for many reasons, including the fact they don't know WHY they should always be honest)
* most people, in fact, take a measure of pride if they "got away with it"
* most people are even less honest when they can gain something tangible from the lie
* most people are flagrant liars when big time MONEY is on the line
* the ability to lie has gone from a sin to a virtue in the inverted popular mindset
* tv shows are "protected" from accusations of cheating by the catchy cleanser, "it's only entertainment" (ranking alongside "it's only business", "it's only for fun", "it's only a game")
* most liars find refuge in what is close to a truism: "everybody is doing it"
* it is generally believed by most people that God doesn't watch reality shows
Do you really think the owner of a hit reality show is going to allow that guy/gal attracting all those advertiser-loved viewers to be "prematurely" voted off, taking all those advertising millions with him/her?
They are called reality shows precisely to make you not question what the true reality is.
Monday, November 14, 2011
FORGET IT!
Democrats are laughing at Governor Rick Perry's inability during a debate to remember the three federal departments he would seek to dissolve should he win next year's presidential election. The Democrats have conveniently forgotten that their main man has forgotten virtually every significant promise he made during his campaign. But why should any of this junk surprise us. Politicians (and I mean all of them) are prone to lie, to forget to remember, to double-talk, to speak half-truths, for the goal of attaining or
retaining power. You know it, I know it, they know it...and we do nothing about it.
Perry has it backwards. It is not three departments we should throw out, but three only we should keep: the military (to repel our enemies), the FBI and CIA (to provide us with needed security), and a judiciary (to provide a forum for the peaceful settlement of disputes and grievances). That would comply with and conform to the principles set out in our Constitution...particularly that little seemingly insignificant one that recognizes the sovereignty of my life, that I own my life, and that the ONLY function of government is to provide me with an environment in which I am free to choose the course of my life.
Oh, I forgot. Who reads the Constitution?
retaining power. You know it, I know it, they know it...and we do nothing about it.
Perry has it backwards. It is not three departments we should throw out, but three only we should keep: the military (to repel our enemies), the FBI and CIA (to provide us with needed security), and a judiciary (to provide a forum for the peaceful settlement of disputes and grievances). That would comply with and conform to the principles set out in our Constitution...particularly that little seemingly insignificant one that recognizes the sovereignty of my life, that I own my life, and that the ONLY function of government is to provide me with an environment in which I am free to choose the course of my life.
Oh, I forgot. Who reads the Constitution?
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
PORN STORM
I have heard that there are some who would like to see all porn barred from the Internet, some who would like to see certain types of porn (eg, homosexual porn) barred...all because in their minds, porn (or homosexuality) lowers the moral standard of our society.
What I say is that the government setting the standard for societal behavior and forcefully enforcing that standard by punishing those who violate it is what literally lowers moral standards.
Morality is a code of pro-life conduct and there may be nothing more pro-life than each person choosing the course of his/her life...whether it be regarding sexuality or otherwise. The only logical limitation on what we ought be allowed to choose for ourselves (speaking of adults) is the use of physical force against others...since that force denies to others their choosing the course of their lives.
So that adult consensual pornography ought be legal and legally available. Those that are abhorred by it may choose not to view it. Loving, caring, parents are the natural guardians of what their children do...and not the impersonal government which decides matters on the basis of political motivations, aspirations and expediencies, misguided morality, etc.
Freedom is rooted in the moral virtue of independent thinking. As is, the joy of life.
What I say is that the government setting the standard for societal behavior and forcefully enforcing that standard by punishing those who violate it is what literally lowers moral standards.
Morality is a code of pro-life conduct and there may be nothing more pro-life than each person choosing the course of his/her life...whether it be regarding sexuality or otherwise. The only logical limitation on what we ought be allowed to choose for ourselves (speaking of adults) is the use of physical force against others...since that force denies to others their choosing the course of their lives.
So that adult consensual pornography ought be legal and legally available. Those that are abhorred by it may choose not to view it. Loving, caring, parents are the natural guardians of what their children do...and not the impersonal government which decides matters on the basis of political motivations, aspirations and expediencies, misguided morality, etc.
Freedom is rooted in the moral virtue of independent thinking. As is, the joy of life.
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