Drunk guy getting knocked out by a girl…

He was on my blist…. was.




Who’s that… Almog-something, Zerase, both leeching off some unknown hacker priest.

I lol’d

Before I forget, I will not mention when I make protected entries, you’ll have to log in to see for yourself (for those of you who have access to it anyways).

Finally, after years of delay and to much anticipation, the debut of seigejet’s myspace page. Thanks to Minah lol

Not the brightest bulb…

Is there anything against being raped by a dolphin?

It’s religion rant time!
Because it’s soooo easy to pick on it  just kidding!

Is there a God, in the sense that most people think of him (or her, for you feminists out there (though for ease I will refer to God as a him)). I see fingerprints of the possible evidence of God. Some days I notice it in culture, some days in law, some days in literature, some days in nature… and some days, in my own life. Trying to understand where God came from, his existence and all things related to him is most likely beyond anything my primitive imagination could conjure up. It is no different than a hive of bees or a hill of ants imagining the world of humans, the internet and the marvel that is the philly cheesesteak. Even the most brilliant people would agree that we only know a small fraction of a percent of the knowledge in the universe. Anyone with some semblance of intelligence must conceded that we don’t fully understand the universe. Neither Bible nor Quran (Koran) represents our best understanding of the universe… or why those damned philly cheesesteaks are so savory and flavorful. Answers to those questions and more will not be found in the Bible. Every specific science from cosmology to psychology to economics has surpassed and superseded what the Bible tells us is true about the world.

Often times I wonder if God wrote the Bible and if so, is it literally true. Clearly there is a spectrum of confidence within the text. I mean, there’s the “This is literally true, nothing even gets figuratively interpreted,” and then there’s the “This is just the best book we have, written by the smartest people who have ever lived, and it’s still legitimate to organize our lives around it to the exclusion of other books.” Anywhere on that spectrum I have a problem, because in my mind the Bible and the Qur’an (koran) are just books, written by human beings. There are sections of the Bible that I think are absolutely brilliant and poetically unrivaled, and there are sections of the Bible which are the sheerest barbarism, yet profess to prescribe a divinely mandated morality – where do I start? Books like Leviticus and Deuteronomy and Exodus and First and Second Kings and Second Samuel – half of the kings and prophets of Israel would be taken to The Hague and prosecuted for crimes against humanity if these events took place in our own time.

The Bible is NOT inerrant… unless, it is from its own claims. Even then, for example, when we look at Creation in the way Genesis describes it – you’d have to take away my socks, hide away the kleenex when I have a runny nose, steal my lovely “Take some time off” frame from my desk… and I still wouldn’t believe it. If you read what I poorly wrote previously (can be found >> here <<) you’ll see that while I do support evolution I’m not entirely against the miracles done by one “Mr.-Almighty-God.” Genesis should not be taken literally in my opinion, it is littered with too many metaphorical terms. And the basic point is that evolution by natural selection is random genetic mutation over millions of years in the context of environmental pressure that selects for fitness. One of my Bible toting friend actually asked me, “Well, who do you think is doing the selecting” and while I’m sure it was mockingly, I still answered frankly, “the environment.” You don’t have to invoke an intelligent designer to explain the complexity we see.

Another point I will admit is that we make all kinds of assertions based on our presuppositions. Both the scientific community (often times, atheists) and the religious community. However, there are some allegations against science and religion that I no longer ask. Certain laws are acceptable on earth, yet out in the vastness of space… those laws no longer apply (see: dark matter, dark energy, etc). On the other hand, I no longer wonder why if there was a God… why are fat people fat, why does such a great omnipotent being allow famine, pestilence and pain, etc. I would love to claim to be as smart as God…. but I’m not, maybe funnier than him, but certainly not more intelligent. If he exists, he knows better than I do. Sometimes you pray for a miracle to occur and God says ‘Yes’, sometimes it’s ‘No’ or maybe ‘Not yet.’ it’s all part of his master plan [I hope]. Science hides behind logic and rationalism, what of religion. Oh, feel free to take a break right now because I’m not done yet… go stand up, stretch your legs, maybe get a drink or play scrabble with friends… really, it’s okay. I’ll wait. Are you back? cool. Don’t worry, there will be many more breaks littered throughout.

Let me respond to this notion of answered prayer (see: paragraph before), because this is a classic sampling error, to use a statistical phrase. We know that human beings have a terrible sense of probability. There are many things we believe that confirm our prejudices about the world, and we believe this only by noticing the confirmations, and not keeping track of the disconfirmations. You could prove to the satisfaction of every scientist that intercessory prayer works if you set up a simple experiment. Get a billion Christians to pray for a single amputee. Get them to pray that God regrow that missing limb. This happens to salamanders every day, presumably without prayer; this is within the capacity of God. [cue rimshot for cheesy joke.] I find it interesting that people of faith only tend to pray for conditions that are self-limiting.

There are things in this world that we look at, we attribute to God – to be more precise miracles… and maybe Martha Stewart’s recipe for Bernaise sauce. For a moment of time, I also blamed many of his followers on the crimes done in his name… which was probably neither approved nor advocated. I recall previously condemning the followers of organized religion for some of the misdeeds they’ve done. There have been wrong things done in the name of religion, yes. However, there are just as many things done wrong by atheists (putting it midly *giggle*). This really is one of the great canards of religious discourse, the idea that the greatest crimes of the 20th century were perpetrated because of atheism. The core problem for me is divisive dogmatism. There are many kinds of dogmatism. There’s nationalism, there’s tribalism, there’s racism, there’s chauvinism. And there’s religion. Religion is the only sphere of discourse where dogma is actually a good word, where it is considered ennobling to believe something strongly based on faith

I’m sorry, you probably disagree with me. I’m quite dogmatic.

We have people flying planes in our buildings because they have theological grievances against the West. I’m noticing Christians doing terrible things explicitly for religious reasons – for instance, not fund-ing [embryonic] stem-cell research. The motive is always paramount for me. No society in human history has ever suffered because it has become too reasonable. You probably just happen to believe that Christianity saved reason. That we would not have the Bill of Rights without Christianity. Which is certainly a disputable claim. The idea that somehow we are getting our morality out of the Judeo-Christian tradition, in my opinion, is bad history and bad science. So I guess the question is where do we get our morality from. I caricature Christianity. If life is just random chance, then nothing really does matter and there is no morality – it’s survival of the fittest. If survival of the fittest means me killing you to survive, so be it. For years, atheists have said there is no God, but they want to live like God exists. They want to live like their lives have meaning. Our morality, the meaning we find in life, is a lived experience that I believe has, to use a loaded term, a spiritual component. I believe it is possible to radically transform our experience of the world for the better, very much the way someone like Jesus, or someone like Buddha, witnessed. There is wisdom in our spiritual, contemplative literature, and I am quite interested in understanding it. I think that meditation and prayer affect us for the better. The question is, what is reasonable to believe on the basis of those transformations?

What in your experience is making you someone who is not a Muslim? I presume that you are not losing sleep every night wondering whether to convert to Islam. And if you’re not, it is because when the Muslims say, “We have a book that’s the perfect word of the creator of the universe, it’s the Qur’an (koran), it was dictated to Muhammad in his cave by the archangel Gabriel,” you see a variety of claims there that aren’t backed up by sufficient evidence. If the evidence were sufficient, you would be compelled to be Muslim. If you are muslim, just use your imagination and switch to some other religion… you know, like, the opposite of yours

All of the religions basically point toward truth. Buddha made this famous statement at the end of his life: “I’m still searching for the truth.” Muhammad said, “I am a prophet of the truth.” The Veda says, “Truth is elusive, it’s like a butterfly, you’ve got to search for it.” Then Jesus Christ comes along and says, “I am the truth.” All of a sudden, that forces a decision. Many, many other prophets and gurus have said that. Here’s the difference. Jesus says, “I am the only way to God. I am the way to the Father.” He is either lying or he’s not.

I wouldn’t put it in such an invidious way, but…. it is intellectually dishonest, frankly, to say that you are sure that Jesus was born of a virgin. You can say you accept that by faith and think it’s intellectually dishonest for me to say I have proof that it didn’t happen. You’d probably go on to tell me the difference between you and me. That you’re open to the possibility that you am wrong in certain areas, and I am not. However, you’re wrong. I am open to the [slim, hehe] possibility that I am wrong. Wrong about Jesus, wrong about religion, wrong about science/God.  Heck, even wrong about Zeus and those other Gods that no one cares about anymore.

It is quite possible I am wrong. — as are most people who think evolution didn’t occur. How’s THAT for arrogance! Well, I think I’m also being honest haha.

The sins and solutions of the world, I attribute to myself. There’s no blame displacement here, no sir, none, nada, zippo, zip, zilch, ixnay, knick-knack-patty-whack-give-your-dog-a-bone. Don’t misunderstand when I say I am responsible for sins, they don’t include things like the bubonic plague or why Carlos Mencia steals jokes… I mean, I believe I am at fault for the millions of people who still contract malaria every year, or those who are afflicted with the HIV/AIDS virus, because I am held accountable for my life. I have never prayed “God, why don’t you do something about this.” To me, it’s clear what his response would be….

(God: “you were the answer to your own prayer).

…and to answer your prayer, yes… you may take a break. Don’t worry, we’re on the home stretch, I’m getting tired too lol.

The thing that bothers me about faith-based altruism is that it is contaminated with religious ideas that have nothing to do with the relief of human suffering. So you have a Christian minister in Africa who’s doing really good work, helping those who are hungry, healing the sick. And yet, as part of his job description, he feels he needs to preach the divinity of Jesus in communities where literally millions of people have been killed because of interreligious conflict between Christians and Muslims. It seems to me that that added piece causes unnecessary suffering. I would much rather have someone over there who simply wanted to feed the hungry and heal the sick.

Many of the great movements forward in Western civilization were by believers. It was pastors who led the abolition of slavery. It was pastors who led the woman’s right to vote. It was pastors who led the civil-rights movement. Not atheists. I brought up slavery so I could piss irony all over it. Slavery, on balance, is supported by the Bible, not condemned by it. It’s supported with exquisite precision in the Old Testament, as you know, and Paul in First Timothy and Ephesians and Colossians supports it, etc. Actually, let me rephrase… they allow it, not support it. I could argue that we got rid of slavery not because we read the Bible more closely. We got rid of slavery despite the profound inadequacies of the Bible. We got rid of slavery because we realized it was manifestly evil to treat human beings as farm equipment. As it is. Regardless whether you support it or not, allowing evil is no better.

How is it fair for God to have designed a world which gives such ambiguous testimony to his existence? How is it fair to have created a system where belief is the crucial piece, rather than being a good person? How is it fair to have created a world in which by mere accident of birth, someone who grew up Muslim can be confounded by the wrong religion? I don’t see how the future of humanity is in good care with those competing orthodoxies. The truth is, religion is mutually exclusive. The person who says, “Oh, I just believe them all,” is an idiot because the religions flat-out contradict each other. You cannot believe in reincarnation and heaven at the same time.

I don’t believe that someone whose spent much of their life on religion has wasted it though. At least, I wouldn’t put it in those stark terms, because I don’t have a rigid view how someone should spend their life so as not to waste it. My politically incorrect answer would be, I think you could use your time and attention better than organizing your life around a belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and the best book we’re ever going to have on every relevant subject.

I could probably go on and on, but let’s end with something light. Why isn’t atheism more appealing if it’s supposedly the most intellectually honest? Apart from, frankly, its terrible PR campaign. In all honesty, I think atheism is right next to things that you wouldn’t want to be… maybe not say, a child molester, but you get the idea. Most likely, and this is arguable, spread by religious people.

Closing thoughts, finally eh.

Religious Eric: I’m probably more spiritual than I think. I just don’t want a boss. I don’t want a God who tells me what to do.

Science Eric: I don’t want to pretend to be certain about anything I’m not certain about.

*sneaks in maple*

Just for you Alex

Kick ass Simpsons intro… honestly, this just topped in at number 1 on my list.
Science > Religion, one of the many left winged ideas on the show lol

Maximize the power of your mind.
…or don’t, what do I care lol.

dam i’m 91

I’ve got nothing interesting to talk about, so I’ve added a couple more people onto the protected posts list (and removed some). Now you get to read [more] nonsensical ramblings. Would be nice if xanga allowed a third list where people can view private entries. Anyways, that is all.

Why do guys get sleepy after sex.
See, it’s not intentional!

WTC mixed with Star Wars…

How to talk to a climate skeptic.
Maki would love this.

Stats at level 90… as always, still a work in progress.

Killed Papulatus Clock boss.

I think my schedule is something like, on hermit until 3a-6a, then variation of priest/hermit.

Oh my… not to mention I also turned down diton’s hermit.

It’s easy to confuse physical/material attraction with a real connection… oh, and this just in: BEER MAKES YOU FAT!  Nothing new but a nice little reminder. Lack of content this entry, probably spill some over onto a protected entry instead.

*waves* bye bye!

From SW.net

Wise words.

 >>> 
New Look.

In my world I’m God! Who else could change water into wine, walk on water, give sight to the blind, cast out demons… oh wait… that was someone else, a guy named Jesus, wasn’t it. Whatever the church doctrines, or Bible, has lead you to believe, I don’t buy it. Not even for a second. If you’ve read some of my previous entries, you’ll notice that I show quite a bit of contempt for organized religion and its structures. I think, we as individuals, have full responsibility to create meaning within our own lives. Aristotle (great philospher, student of Plato) had a premise that ‘essence precedes existence’, where man exists to fulfill some purpose – we’re simply thrown into existance without having chosen it. I refuse to believe that we are placed in this world on a predetermined path towards an unknown purpose. Even belief in God, among many other things, is a personal choice based on passion, faith, observation and/or experience. Just as it is personal choice to practice christianity instead of judaism or islam or any other religion. I think ‘existence precedes essence’, we have no predefined purpose or meaning. We define ourselves and only through our experiences in life and our responses to the challenges posed before us.

We possess the ability to make our own decision, thanks to free will. The individual consciousness is responsible for all the choices it makes, regardless of the consequences. Condemned to be free because man’s actions and choices are his and his alone, he is condemned to be responsible for his free choices. Often times people conceal their own meaninglessness of life through diversion to escape from boredom – because, if we’re just along for the ride on a set journey to a soon-to-be-revealed destination, we might as well look out the window and entertain ourselves, right. Well, we’re not all passengers… we can create and change our fundamental values and beliefs. Great individuals invent their own values and create the very terms under which they excel.

On an unrelated note, towards the latter half of the evening yesterday… I met up with people and my mood ended up taking a nosedive. Anyways, rather than take it out on someone (or the risk thereof), I decided to seperate myself from people. Much of it, in my opinion, is attributed to the gradual thaw I’ve undergone.

Mood: Annoyed (borderline angry).

From SW.net. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by born2kiss yeah i saw him in ludi but he didnt seem to like to talk , well i dont blame him , im lvl 42 and he is lvl 100

Quote:

Originally Posted by keo That’s when you take control. Be like…”Hey! You! We’re getting married.”

I lol’d.

Seriously, no maple or videos this entry (and subsequent lying about it)

Safe to say, most people want to lose weight yet despise the method, mean and ideas in which to do it. It comes as no surprise in our fast paced, quick fix era of cookie cutter diets, promise pills, medical surgeries… that sometimes we lose sight of the little things that make the biggest impact. Here are ten things that I think should be able to help people (I actually could only think of eight… but squeezed a couple more so it ended up being a well rounded ‘ten’ lol)

1. Cut out calorie containing drinks. If you limit your drinks to water or tea… it’ll significantly improve your metabolism (esp. tea).

2. Eat fat to burn fat. Try to consume 20-30% of your caloric needs from fats, keeping your fat ratio at 1:1:1 (Polys/Monos/Sats). Avoid trans fat and “hydrogenated” fats.

Example:
Polyunsaturated fat (safflower, sesame, soy, corn and sunflower-seed oils, nuts and seeds)
Monounsaturated fat (olive, canola and peanut oils, avocados)
Saturated fat (animal fat)

3. Eat little and often. In body building, we eat a lot and often, however this rule also applies to losing weight. Eating often will ensure your body is always getting the macronutrients and micronutrients it needs, this will speed up your metabolism and keep you healthy. You should be eating 6-8 small meals per day. As opposed to 6-12 large meals that body builders do lol.

4. Never starve yourself. If you starve yourself your body will breakdown muscles for fuel and maintenance, less muscle results in less calories burned, your body will go into survival mode to conserve energy supplies (fat), your metabolism will slow down until you cave in mentally, and you end up gaining more fat than you had in the first place. Aim for 500 Kcal deficit each day. Periodization & patience is the key.

5. Watch your carbohydrates. Try to consume most of your carbohydrates around training times. Keep your daily carbohydrates from fibrous vegetables and whole grain sources. Avoid sugars and starchy carbohydrates like biscuits, cakes, chocolate, etc.

6. Exercise regularly. The bane of most people. Exercise burns calories – not only during exercise, but also after. More muscle mass means more calories burned, so it might be worth taking up a weight lifting program

7. Set realistic goals. Setting yourself realistic goals can be a great way to motivate you and keep you going. Aiming for 1-2 lb of fat loss per week is a good ballpark figure.

8. Water and hydration. Dehydration impairs intensity, strength and endurance. Water helps cleanse the blood of toxins released during the breakdown of fat cells. Keep well hydrated, try to consume at least 2.5 litres of water each day.

9. Eat protein with every meal. Try to get a good source of protein with each meal. Protein burns more calories when being metabolised and helps maintain muscle mass. Save slow releasing proteins (casein) for periods of long fasting eg, sleep, and quick releasing proteins (whey) around training times.

10. Avoid sugars. Just don’t do it.

Colbert on the O’Reilly Factor. Colbert, 1. O’Reilly… goose egg.

Breaking down the body language of the above interview.

Is anyone else as genuinely scared of marriage as I am? I know, for me, I’m completely and totally terrified. I don’t even see any benefits to being married (well, apart from the government’s own stupidity and perhaps, joint health). Furthermore, once you begin to panic from seeing that ring on the lock down finger, the abundant paperwork feels as if it’s designed to be painstakingly tedious enough to cause you to reconsider. It doesn’t help that I’m around people who are like minded… (possibly continue on a protected entry) 

I don’t know where I’m going with that and rather then bash the sanctity of marriage, I’ll put up something else…

Buh-hakki

 >>> 
New look!

Jet Li joining The Mummy 3.
What an odd combination

Korean men use brokers to find brides in Vietnam.
Plenty of fish out in the sea… I guess

Japanese Gyroball mystery!
Thought I’d throw this in, with all the Daisuke Matsuzaka hype.

Scientists Invent Real-life ‘Tricorder’ For Chemical Analysis.
Neat… in a nerdy kind of way.

Think of a funny joke. Any one will do. Smile. Let the corners of your mouth turn up. Giggle. Chortle. Chuckle… and slowly build into a loud guffaw.  How do you feel? refreshed? exhilarated? positive? Good. Junkies, aging hipsters and young kids just looking for a easy way to get high have been raving about marijuana for years, often times citing its medicinal purposes. I’ve always wondered why holistic medicine is so quick to turn you into Smokey the Bear but they’re not passing out the obscure joke or two. Laughter is like the greatest panacea yet discovered. It has been credited with everything from lower blood pressure and reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes to increasing your intelligence and capabilities to retain and process information.

They say “laughter is the best medicine.” But the question remains is it really, and can you prescribe it to everyone? One major way that laughter effects the body is through the immune system. The act of laughing reduces the production of certain hormones associated with stress which disrupt the balance of the immune system. When one laughs, the body produces more gamma-interferon t-cells, or disease fighting cells (1). Don’t like to go to the gym? Just laugh the pounds away. Because of the natural shaking and gestures we make when we laugh, it can be an aerobic workout that lowers blood pressure and increases oxygen intake (2). While all of this is fine and good, there are other actions such as prayer, meditation, listening to music etc which provide the same health benefits in terms of increasing endorphins and decreasing blood pressure to clearing the mind reducing stress (3). Professor Diana L. Mahony of Brigham Young University in Hawaii says that laughter can best be described as a “learned automatic response” (4). Apparently, the body can not tell the difference between laughter that is forced and laughter that comes naturally (5). She suggests that laughter has become a social construct that we’ve learned to use to our own advantage. 

I even did the homework for you! However, before you start “tee hee-ing” to better health, I’m sure there are negative side effects to laughing as well. Before you reach for that dead weasel you scraped off the highway to bludgeon me over the head for bad mouthing laughter, hear me out. Imagine if someone was tickling you. Sounds so innocent, doesn’t it. However, they continue to tickle you and don’t let up. What happens you’re continuously tickled? you laugh hysterically in almost gelastic like seizure. Now you’re laughing, unable to stop and not able to tell anyone something was wrong because you just seem so damn happy. Frightening, isn’t it? (probably would have been if I didn’t over dramatize)

If laughter is in many ways a social construct, society and science does not yet account for the fact that laughter can be the product of a number of emotions other than happiness. People laugh when they are bitter, when they are angry, sometimes even when they are down right unhappy. To laugh at things that are no laughing matter. In this way we can convince the body that we have no troubles, but what about the mind. Are the other emotions lurking inside so easily distracted? The question becomes, if our body can not tell the difference between forced laughter, and laughter is a learned response, will we soon not be able to differentiate between a true guffaw, and a early morning work out? I fear we will forget to laugh for the sake of laughing; to enjoy that ache in the sides of the stomach and the tears streaming down the face, not because it is a release of tension or lowers the blood pressure but because we are enjoying the conversation and company of good friends.

So go ahead laugh out loud. Chuckle, teehee, snicker, guffaw and chortle your way to good health and the semblance of happiness. And remember as Bert from Mary Poppins so eloquently phrased it,

“We love to laugh (HA HA HA HA HA) loud and long and clear
We love to laugh (HA HA HA HA) so everybody can hear
The more we laugh, the more we fill with glee
And the more the glee, the more we’re a merrier we.”

In case I forget…

101 Amazing Earth Facts.

Superman is a Dick!
I found it humorous (re: lole nerd)

Rat infestation at KFC.
How would you like your rat, Original, Extra Crispy or Colonel Crispy? (nasty video included)

No maple, youtube or other filler
I don’t really know where I was going with this nor do I care enough to read/revise it for any errors.

We as human beings sometimes mistakenly compare how we feel to the way others behave. Inevitably, most others will behave more happily than the way we feel. So we conclude that no one can feel as bad as we do. This creates a vicious circle and gives rise to lower self esteem. It’s something unique that would not have naturally evolved nor made by any ordinary process. Dwelling on the negative is like a cancer. It grows and gets worse until it becomes all but impossible to force yourself to think differently when you feel so negative. One solution, if we can’t change the situation ourselves, is to change our attitude toward things. One way to do this is to figure out all the positive things we can do, which may be difficult at first. If this solution is fraught with hardship, you might need to enlist in the help of others. Keep in mind that when you’re partly causing yourself to feel worse, some people feel better by blaming anything and everything around them… but that often times will end up just making you feel worse. When you feel bad, you’ll feel the need to attack something just to unload those negative feelings. The problem is, however, that this does not really offer a long term solution even if it provides immediate relief. You need, instead, to look at what you can do to alter how you perceive things in the first place. This means finding a more positive way of viewing both yourself and your situation.

In my opinion, a more useful tactic would be to spend time doing and thinking about the things that get in the way of our focus on the negative. Do things that are constructive. Achieve things that take effort… since you can’t decvelop a sense of achievement with no effort at all. Achievement is one of the surest ways to bring yourself up while dwelling on ourselves is one of the surest ways of staying down.

I lied… thought I’d share this

Joe Rogan VS Carlos Mencia ONSTAGE VIDEO.
Wow.

Thought provoking  the full video can be found here… you’re welcome.

Real life stuff