Double Aught Buckshot
Posted: January 1, 2009 4:13 pmFiled under: Kevin, Uncategorized, internet, photo, rant, reflection
‘Kevin,’ some may ask me, ‘what have you been doing the last couple of days?’
I’d have to tell them this:
I’ve been doing a lot of reading, writing, thinking, uploading, research, etc.
As well, I’ve been eating, drinking, going to church, shopping for a few items, and on Sunday, I went into the downtown area to photograph.
Right now, I’m enjoying some sparkling Spanish wine (Freixenet Cordon Negro, Brut - méthode traditionnelle), eating cheese and have been searching, doing some reading among research papers, books, etc., about the “etiology of evil.” I was curious about the phrase, having read it in a lengthy article “The controversy of the occult reich.” I found it from a link, from a link, from a link. It started off from RZIM.org (a Christian apologetics site), from there to a link to another apologist’s site, to a site from the Southern Baptists, from there to Biola University (a private Christian university in Southern California), to a link for now-ceased publication for an award winning magazine about spirituality, to one of their archived articles - which is what I’m now reading. BTW, it’s the one about the occult reich.
I might mention also I’ve been doing a lot of logic and reasoning work - that means some research as well - for apologetics. Specifically, this evening, I spent a couple of hours researching and writing for a post in an online forum - the topic of which was a comment made in response to a question posed to Richard Dawkins, a British researcher of some renown, and avowed atheist. (I’ll share my post at the conclusion.)
Several hours ago, I took a nap for a bit, having started to nod off at my laptop after downloading some mp3 files of lectures. (How boring are you!?) I’d already spent several hours reading, and had earlier gone out to buy some Jack Daniel’s Old Number 7 Whiskey (made in Lynchburg, Tennessee), RC Cola (another Southern invention), 2 pounds of French roasted coffee (yes, that’s 32 ounces), Sutter Home brand Moscato wine, toilet paper, toothpaste, the wine I’m now enjoying and two Edwards brand pecan pies (made in Atlanta, Georgia). Those are delish! And on close-out sale each at $3.97, that’s a bargain! My bill was $75.58.
Hey! Not only am I doing my part to support this fragile economy, I’m supporting Southern institutions! LORD have mercy, I miss the Southland!
Earlier this past Sunday, I attended the 8AM service at St. Mary’s parish where I’ve been attending since in the San Joaquin Valley. For the 10:30 service, the children and adults presented a short skit about the Annunciation, and Birth of Christ. While on my way out of the 9 o’clock service I consented to photograph the event… using the participant’s camera. In retrospect, I should’ve used my Nikon. I kick myself for not going out to the Jeep and getting it. Oh well…
Andy way (yes, andyway), Sunday I bought a little SD card reader at an Office Depot store on Divisidero Street in the downtown area of Fresno. That, and an 8GB SD card for about $30 totalled $48.57.
Now, I’ve been uploading pictures from last OCTOBER! (yes, October) to my Flickr website. I have about oh… 50± GB of pictures (each 8GB card holds 1000± hi-res photos) to browse through. Yeah… THAT’S some work!
Plus, I shot my second Baptism at church about two weeks ago. And I haven’t even gotten the shots from that off to the folks to whom I offered my gratis services.
So, I have a butt-load of stuff to do!
Then, I’m also in the midst of doing all this… and, I REALLY want to “get lost” up in the Sierras. Around here, that’s Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia… and Mammoth Lake is just nearby, as is Death Valley. No kidding! Even though it’s below freezing every night, I want to go camping - raw, rugged, no-holds-barred-all-I-brought-is-toiletpaper-water-sleepingbag-and-tent camping. Now THAT, my friends, is CAMPING!
‘Course, if I meet a bear or mountain lion, I’ll SCARE the shit out of ‘em! YEEEAAHH! H’YAAA! YOW! YOW! HOOAHH!
(Dang… if I was a human, I’d stay away from me like that!)
Reckon that’ll work? Or, should I carry a .44 and a 12 guage pump shotgun with 00 buckshot and a few slugs for good measure?
If I’m stopped by any Forest Rangers, I’ll tell ‘em, “I ain’t huntin’… I brought these for self protection!”
Now… as I promised, here’s the post I made, to which I earlier referred.
“In order to fully understand, the content of the post which is the subject of this thread will be posted below.
“The post reads in its entirety:
“”When asked:
““What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it”
“Richard Dawkins responds:
““I believe that all life, all intelligence, all creativity and all ‘design’ anywhere in the universe, is the direct or indirect product of Darwinian natural selection. It follows that design comes late in the universe, after a period of Darwinian evolution. Design cannot precede evolution and therefore cannot underlie the universe.””
“Let’s break it down.
“When (Richard Dawkins was) asked:
“”What do you (Richard Dawkins) believe is true even though you (Richard Dawkins) cannot prove it (that which you believe)?”
“Richard Dawkins responds:
“”I (Richard Dawkins) believe (even though I, Richard Dawkins cannot prove it) that all life, all intelligence, all creativity and all…” blah, blah, blah…
“The subject in the question is “believe,” which is also that to which the pronoun “it” refers. Worded another way, it would say similarly say, “What do you believe to be true even though you cannot prove that which you believe to be true?”
“Were the sentence to be reworded for greater clarity it might have read, “Is there anything you believe that cannot be proven?” As well, similarly, “Do you believe anything that cannot be proven?” Both those sentences are essentially the same, because, while worded only slightly different, they contain the inherent idea expressed in the original question.
“The imperative is “cannot prove it.”
“Thus making ANY response is inherently contradictory and self-negating sentence.
“Dawkins, an obviously intelligent being, should have noticed the question and rephrased it so that it were more in line - logically speaking, of course - to his taste.
“Further, the definition of the verb “believe” is to accept something as true or existant (such as religious faith, or God), or to hold as an opinion.
“If there is no God, then belief is simply out of the question, making any characteristic associated with belief a moot point. Opinion is subjective, not independently verifiable, or conclusory (defined as “consisting of or relating to a conclusion or assertion for which no supporting evidence is offered,” i.e. “not supported by all the facts”).
“Thus, the words used to construct the sentence were also in error. To ask someone who does not believe (anything) what they do believe (anything) is self contradictory. And for that queried party to respond to such negates the position they have previously asserted.
“Here ends the lesson.
“Amen.
“(Remember now… these folks suppose themselves to be “bright”! This, however, is elementary logic! And the English language… well, it should have been fully grasped by 5th grade.)”
January 1st, 2009 at 5:32 pm
But - - -
Most of us are not as smart as a 5th grader.
There is even a popular TV show to remind us so .
/;^)
January 1st, 2009 at 5:39 pm
It is also self-contradictory to retain the label of ‘uncategorized’ after you have attached the article to one or more categories.
I ‘believe’ you are interpreting “uncategorized” as a category - which is not likely the intent.
/;^)
January 1st, 2009 at 6:10 pm
*LOL* Ahhh… so it would seem, so it would seem. Yet I wonder, perhaps there is no such thing as “Uncategorized”? For when it is checked, it is then “categorized,” is it not?
January 1st, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Perhaps instead, the nomenclature of classification should be so rendered to be reflective of nothing? Were it so be done, it would be the “null set.” As well, we have heard the news that there is now conclusive evidence from astrophysicists with NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory in Cambridge at Harvard University that there is no such thing as nothing. Dark Matter - a type of “reverse gravity” i.e., a repulsive, rather than attractive force - takes up the space previously hypothesized to be void, or empty.
Of course, ontologically, as a child, I held that there is no such thing as nothing, because the naming of a thing gives substance to it, if only in our brain… which is a physical thing.
Logically, one cannot first prove the negative. A thing must first be, before it cannot be.
January 1st, 2009 at 6:38 pm
In lieu of “Uncategorized, may I suggest “None Of The Above”?
That way, when selected, it would be NOTA thing! *LOL*
Of course, there would have to be “Some Of Related Things Above,” or “SORTA.” Then, there’s KINDA…
Alternatively, it could be “I couldn’t figure out what else to select to categorize it.”
Naaah.
Let’s just stick to “NOTA.”
January 1st, 2009 at 8:12 pm
I guess most of us simple-minded bloggers just recognize ‘uncategorized’ as either ‘not-one-of-the-named-categories’ or I’m too lazy to uncheck the box when I pick a named category.
No matter what it is called, it comes with the software as is, and I’m not likely to go looking for how and where-all it would have to be changed to call it by a different name. Nor am I likely to change the logic, so that if one selects a ‘category’ that the ‘uncategorized’ box unchecks itself…
You may not do category searches here, but I find them sometimes useful. Some of that usefulness is lost if you leave ‘uncategorized’ checked after checking other categories.
Sometimes it is desireable to be as uncomplicated as a 5th grader…
/;&)