Sunday, December 30, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Letters From The Earth by Mark Twain
Satan had been making admiring remarks about certain of the Creator's sparkling industries -- remarks which, being read between the lines, were sarcasms. He had made them confidentially to his safe friends the other archangels, but they had been overheard by some ordinary angels and reported at Headquarters.
He was ordered into banishment for a day -- the celestial day. It was a punishment he was used to, on account of his too flexible tongue. Formerly he had been deported into Space, there being nowhither else to send him, and had flapped tediously around there in the eternal night and the Arctic chill; but now it occurred to him to push on and hunt up the earth and see how the Human Race experiment was coming along.
By and by he wrote home -- very privately -- to St. Michael and St. Gabriel about it.
Letters From the Earth
Mark Twain
Satan's Letter
This is a strange place, and extraordinary place, and interesting. There is nothing resembling it at home. The people are all insane, the other animals are all insane, the earth is insane, Nature itself is insane. Man is a marvelous curiosity. When he is at his very very best he is a sort of low grade nickel-plated angel; at is worst he is unspeakable, unimaginable; and first and last and all the time he is a sarcasm. Yet he blandly and in all sincerity calls himself the "noblest work of God." This is the truth I am telling you. And this is not a new idea with him, he has talked it through all the ages, and believed it. Believed it, and found nobody among all his race to laugh at it.
Moreover -- if I may put another strain upon you -- he thinks he is the Creator's pet. He believes the Creator is proud of him; he even believes the Creator loves him; has a passion for him; sits up nights to admire him; yes, and watch over him and keep him out of trouble. He prays to Him, and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea? Fills his prayers with crude and bald and florid flatteries of Him, and thinks He sits and purrs over these extravagancies and enjoys them. He prays for help, and favor, and protection, every day; and does it with hopefulness and confidence, too, although no prayer of his has ever been answered. The daily affront, the daily defeat, do not discourage him, he goes on praying just the same. There is something almost fine about this perseverance. I must put one more strain upon you: he thinks he is going to heaven!
He has salaried teachers who tell him that. They also tell him there is a hell, of everlasting fire, and that he will go to it if he doesn't keep the Commandments. What are Commandments? They are a curiosity. I will tell you about them by and by.
He was ordered into banishment for a day -- the celestial day. It was a punishment he was used to, on account of his too flexible tongue. Formerly he had been deported into Space, there being nowhither else to send him, and had flapped tediously around there in the eternal night and the Arctic chill; but now it occurred to him to push on and hunt up the earth and see how the Human Race experiment was coming along.
By and by he wrote home -- very privately -- to St. Michael and St. Gabriel about it.
Letters From the Earth
Mark Twain
Satan's Letter
This is a strange place, and extraordinary place, and interesting. There is nothing resembling it at home. The people are all insane, the other animals are all insane, the earth is insane, Nature itself is insane. Man is a marvelous curiosity. When he is at his very very best he is a sort of low grade nickel-plated angel; at is worst he is unspeakable, unimaginable; and first and last and all the time he is a sarcasm. Yet he blandly and in all sincerity calls himself the "noblest work of God." This is the truth I am telling you. And this is not a new idea with him, he has talked it through all the ages, and believed it. Believed it, and found nobody among all his race to laugh at it.
Moreover -- if I may put another strain upon you -- he thinks he is the Creator's pet. He believes the Creator is proud of him; he even believes the Creator loves him; has a passion for him; sits up nights to admire him; yes, and watch over him and keep him out of trouble. He prays to Him, and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea? Fills his prayers with crude and bald and florid flatteries of Him, and thinks He sits and purrs over these extravagancies and enjoys them. He prays for help, and favor, and protection, every day; and does it with hopefulness and confidence, too, although no prayer of his has ever been answered. The daily affront, the daily defeat, do not discourage him, he goes on praying just the same. There is something almost fine about this perseverance. I must put one more strain upon you: he thinks he is going to heaven!
He has salaried teachers who tell him that. They also tell him there is a hell, of everlasting fire, and that he will go to it if he doesn't keep the Commandments. What are Commandments? They are a curiosity. I will tell you about them by and by.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
O'reilly in combat
click above to listen to-
Bill O'Reilly on combat in the twilight ...er...no spin zone.
...and by the way,Bill-Happy Winter Solstice!
Bill O'Reilly on combat in the twilight ...er...no spin zone.
...and by the way,Bill-Happy Winter Solstice!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Evidence of My Existence by Jim Lo Scalzo
click above to look at a really interesting video by a photojournalist
Guess who's next on the no fly list?
In a brief passage from the upcoming book, McClellan comments on his 2003 denial of charges that Karl Rove and "Scooter" Libby were involved in the leak of Plame's identity:
"The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.
"There was one problem. It was not true.
"I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the President himself." Public Affairs (McClellan's Publisher) Web Site
"The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.
"There was one problem. It was not true.
"I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the President himself." Public Affairs (McClellan's Publisher) Web Site
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Glory Days
Eastwood Little League,Syracuse,N.Y.-League Champions-Dairylea Dairy Company
I wish I still had that glove
Saturday, November 17, 2007
The Human Condition
This is one of the first pictures I developed and printed in the darkroom back in photo class at FSU. I called it the human condition[imprisoned within the limitations of our own imaginations]. I only bring it up now to piss off the creationists whose understanding of Darwin is apparently limited to the terrifying and totally unsavory notion that we are related to monkeys. I actually prefer the idea of having evolved from an ape to that of not having evolved at all.
Taking a stroll
When I walked out of the house,these birds were just walking down the street. Some sort of club,I guess.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Words actually have meanings
In this age of Orwellian newspeak it might be useful to remember that words actually have meanings.
For instance The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
liberal
SYLLABICATION:
lib·er·al
PRONUNCIATION:
lbr-l, lbrl
ADJECTIVE:
1a. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry. b. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded. c. Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism. d. Liberal Of, designating, or characteristic of a political party founded on or associated with principles of social and political liberalism, especially in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. 2a. Tending to give freely; generous: a liberal benefactor. b. Generous in amount; ample: a liberal serving of potatoes. 3. Not strict or literal; loose or approximate: a liberal translation. 4. Of, relating to, or based on the traditional arts and sciences of a college or university curriculum: a liberal education. 5a. Archaic Permissible or appropriate for a person of free birth; befitting a lady or gentleman. b. Obsolete Morally unrestrained; licentious.
NOUN:
1. A person with liberal ideas or opinions. 2. Liberal A member of a Liberal political party.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, generous, from Old French, from Latin lberlis, from lber, free. See leudh- in Appendix I.
conservative
SYLLABICATION:
con·ser·va·tive
PRONUNCIATION:
kn-sûrv-tv
ADJECTIVE:
1. Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change. 2. Traditional or restrained in style: a conservative dark suit. 3. Moderate; cautious: a conservative estimate. 4a. Of or relating to the political philosophy of conservatism. b. Belonging to a conservative party, group, or movement. 5. Conservative Of or belonging to the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom or the Progressive Conservative Party in Canada. 6. Conservative Of or adhering to Conservative Judaism. 7. Tending to conserve; preservative: the conservative use of natural resources.
NOUN:
1. One favoring traditional views and values. 2. A supporter of political conservatism. 3. Conservative A member or supporter of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom or the Progressive Conservative Party in Canada. 4. Archaic A preservative agent or principle.
Orwell writes about the decline of language in this essay-
http://www.george-orwell.org/Politics_and_the_English_Language/0.html
Or you can just let great minds like Limbaugh,Coulter,and O'Reilly do your thinking for you. What the hell, it's easier,less time consuming...
For instance The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
liberal
SYLLABICATION:
lib·er·al
PRONUNCIATION:
lbr-l, lbrl
ADJECTIVE:
1a. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry. b. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded. c. Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism. d. Liberal Of, designating, or characteristic of a political party founded on or associated with principles of social and political liberalism, especially in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. 2a. Tending to give freely; generous: a liberal benefactor. b. Generous in amount; ample: a liberal serving of potatoes. 3. Not strict or literal; loose or approximate: a liberal translation. 4. Of, relating to, or based on the traditional arts and sciences of a college or university curriculum: a liberal education. 5a. Archaic Permissible or appropriate for a person of free birth; befitting a lady or gentleman. b. Obsolete Morally unrestrained; licentious.
NOUN:
1. A person with liberal ideas or opinions. 2. Liberal A member of a Liberal political party.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, generous, from Old French, from Latin lberlis, from lber, free. See leudh- in Appendix I.
conservative
SYLLABICATION:
con·ser·va·tive
PRONUNCIATION:
kn-sûrv-tv
ADJECTIVE:
1. Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change. 2. Traditional or restrained in style: a conservative dark suit. 3. Moderate; cautious: a conservative estimate. 4a. Of or relating to the political philosophy of conservatism. b. Belonging to a conservative party, group, or movement. 5. Conservative Of or belonging to the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom or the Progressive Conservative Party in Canada. 6. Conservative Of or adhering to Conservative Judaism. 7. Tending to conserve; preservative: the conservative use of natural resources.
NOUN:
1. One favoring traditional views and values. 2. A supporter of political conservatism. 3. Conservative A member or supporter of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom or the Progressive Conservative Party in Canada. 4. Archaic A preservative agent or principle.
Orwell writes about the decline of language in this essay-
http://www.george-orwell.org/Politics_and_the_English_Language/0.html
Or you can just let great minds like Limbaugh,Coulter,and O'Reilly do your thinking for you. What the hell, it's easier,less time consuming...
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Click the link to read the entire Edward Fitzgerald translation. Omar Khayyam was a 12th century Persian Poet,Philosopher, Mathemetician and Scientist. Two of my favorite quatrains[verses of four lines] are
For in and out, above, about, below,
'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
Play'd in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,
Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.
And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press,
End in the Nothing all Things end in ---Yes---
Then fancy while Thou art, Thou art but what
Thou shalt be---Nothing---Thou shalt not be less.
Whether it was the genius of Fitgerald or Khayyam is for the scholars to decide but the result is one of the most beautiful and thought provoking pieces of literature ever written.
For in and out, above, about, below,
'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
Play'd in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,
Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.
And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press,
End in the Nothing all Things end in ---Yes---
Then fancy while Thou art, Thou art but what
Thou shalt be---Nothing---Thou shalt not be less.
Whether it was the genius of Fitgerald or Khayyam is for the scholars to decide but the result is one of the most beautiful and thought provoking pieces of literature ever written.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
"Once you have learned how to ask questions - relevant and appropriate and substantial questions - you have learned how to learn and no one can keep you from learning whatever you want or need to know."
- Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner: Teaching as a Subversive Activity -
William Jennings Bryan: "I do not think about the things I do not think about."
Clarence Darrow: "Do you ever think about the things you do think about?"
- Inherit the Wind -
"When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it.
"Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!
"But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!"
- George Carlin -
- Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner: Teaching as a Subversive Activity -
William Jennings Bryan: "I do not think about the things I do not think about."
Clarence Darrow: "Do you ever think about the things you do think about?"
- Inherit the Wind -
"When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it.
"Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!
"But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!"
- George Carlin -
Saturday, November 3, 2007
War Is A Racket
by Two-Time Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient:
Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC [Retired]
Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC [Retired]
Serenity III
Here is my place of employment. 72.5 ft.,all steel,twin Detroit diesel 671's.
We cruise up and down the intracoastal waterway 5 days a week.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Donovan McNabb - more proof that Rush Limbaugh is an idiot
A multi-dimensional threat at quarterback, Donovan McNabb has helped raise the standards of success of this franchise since 1999, when the Eagles chose him with the 2nd overall pick in the draft. Along the way, McNabb has become one of the NFL's most recognizable and elite players. During his career, he has led the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance, four NFC Championship games appearances and more postseason wins (7) than any other quarterback in team history.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
• In 2004, led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1980. Set team records with a 104.7 QB rating (4th in the NFL), a 64.0% completion percentage (10th in NFL), and 3,875 passing yds. (8th in NFL). His 31 TDs (3rd in NFL) were the 2nd most in team history
• Joined Ken Stabler (Raiders), Jim Kelly (Bills) and Troy Aikman (Cowboys), in 2004, as the only QBs since 1970 to take their teams to four or more consecutive championship games
• Had five games in 2004 with 4-or-more TD passes (Only three other players in the history of the NFL have done so) and recorded a career-high 6 combined 300-yd. passing games
• With a club record 14 consecutive passes to start the game vs. GB (12/5/04) combined with 10 consecutive passes to end the game at NYG (11/28/04), to set a NFL record with 24 consecutive completions. Joe Montana, who held the previous record, completed 22 straight - vs. Cle. (5) on 11/27/87 and GB (17) on 12/6/87
INJURY HISTORY:
Was placed on the Injured Reserve list on 11/21/06 after suffering a torn ACL vs. Ten. (11/19/06). Was placed on the Injured Reserve list on 11/22/05 because of a reaggravated sports hernia injury vs. Dal. (11/14/05). Was inactive at NYG (11/20/05) while waiting to see if he could recover from the injury. He was diagnosed with the sports hernia on 9/27/05 but was able to continue playing. Also suffered a rib contusion at Den. (10/30/05). Suffered a chest contusion at Atl. (9/12/05). Suffered a fractured ankle vs. Arz. (11/17/02) and missed the final 6 games of the regular season. Was inactive vs. NE (12/19/99) after suffering a knee injury the week before at Dal.
NICKEL AND DIME
Number Five's Top 10 List
1. Became the first player in NFL history to finish a season with 30+ TD passes (31) and fewer than 10 INTs (8) in 2004
2. Became the 4th-fastest QB in NFL history to reach the 50-win plateau in just 71 starts, vs. Bal. (10/31/04)
3. One of 7 players in NFL history to have amassed over 20,000 passing yards (22,080) and 2,500 rushing yards (2,726)
4. Among active starting quarterbacks with at least 95 starts, ranks 1st in win percentage (.663)
5. Ranks 1st among active passers in TD:INT ratio (2.11) and INT percentage (2.21). Ranks 2nd on the NFL's all-time list in TD:INT ratio (min. 1,000 atts.) to Steve Young (2.17) and 2nd all-time in INT percentage (min. 1,500 atts.) to Neil O'Donnell (2.11).
6. Ranks 2nd on the Eagles all-time lists in TDs (152) and completions (1,898) behind Ron Jaworski, and third in yards (22,080) and attempts (3,259) behind Jaworski and Randall Cunningham.
7. Has posted more playoff wins (7) than any QB in team history. Ranks 1st on the Eagles all-time posteseason list in completions (249), attempts (419), passing yards (2,630) and TD passes (18). Also ranks 4th all-time in postseason rushing yds. (362) and tied for 2nd in rushing TDs (3)
8. Ranks 2nd on the Eagles all-time list with 65 regular season wins as a starting QB behind Ron Jaworski (69)
9. His 19 combined career 300-yd. passing games ranks 1st on the Eagles all-time list
10. Has a 14-5 record in primetime starts, including one in the playoffs. He is 588-348-4,305-9-27TDs passing and 84-561-9TDs rushing in those games
-The Philadelphia Eagles Official Website
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/team/player60.html
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
• In 2004, led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1980. Set team records with a 104.7 QB rating (4th in the NFL), a 64.0% completion percentage (10th in NFL), and 3,875 passing yds. (8th in NFL). His 31 TDs (3rd in NFL) were the 2nd most in team history
• Joined Ken Stabler (Raiders), Jim Kelly (Bills) and Troy Aikman (Cowboys), in 2004, as the only QBs since 1970 to take their teams to four or more consecutive championship games
• Had five games in 2004 with 4-or-more TD passes (Only three other players in the history of the NFL have done so) and recorded a career-high 6 combined 300-yd. passing games
• With a club record 14 consecutive passes to start the game vs. GB (12/5/04) combined with 10 consecutive passes to end the game at NYG (11/28/04), to set a NFL record with 24 consecutive completions. Joe Montana, who held the previous record, completed 22 straight - vs. Cle. (5) on 11/27/87 and GB (17) on 12/6/87
INJURY HISTORY:
Was placed on the Injured Reserve list on 11/21/06 after suffering a torn ACL vs. Ten. (11/19/06). Was placed on the Injured Reserve list on 11/22/05 because of a reaggravated sports hernia injury vs. Dal. (11/14/05). Was inactive at NYG (11/20/05) while waiting to see if he could recover from the injury. He was diagnosed with the sports hernia on 9/27/05 but was able to continue playing. Also suffered a rib contusion at Den. (10/30/05). Suffered a chest contusion at Atl. (9/12/05). Suffered a fractured ankle vs. Arz. (11/17/02) and missed the final 6 games of the regular season. Was inactive vs. NE (12/19/99) after suffering a knee injury the week before at Dal.
NICKEL AND DIME
Number Five's Top 10 List
1. Became the first player in NFL history to finish a season with 30+ TD passes (31) and fewer than 10 INTs (8) in 2004
2. Became the 4th-fastest QB in NFL history to reach the 50-win plateau in just 71 starts, vs. Bal. (10/31/04)
3. One of 7 players in NFL history to have amassed over 20,000 passing yards (22,080) and 2,500 rushing yards (2,726)
4. Among active starting quarterbacks with at least 95 starts, ranks 1st in win percentage (.663)
5. Ranks 1st among active passers in TD:INT ratio (2.11) and INT percentage (2.21). Ranks 2nd on the NFL's all-time list in TD:INT ratio (min. 1,000 atts.) to Steve Young (2.17) and 2nd all-time in INT percentage (min. 1,500 atts.) to Neil O'Donnell (2.11).
6. Ranks 2nd on the Eagles all-time lists in TDs (152) and completions (1,898) behind Ron Jaworski, and third in yards (22,080) and attempts (3,259) behind Jaworski and Randall Cunningham.
7. Has posted more playoff wins (7) than any QB in team history. Ranks 1st on the Eagles all-time posteseason list in completions (249), attempts (419), passing yards (2,630) and TD passes (18). Also ranks 4th all-time in postseason rushing yds. (362) and tied for 2nd in rushing TDs (3)
8. Ranks 2nd on the Eagles all-time list with 65 regular season wins as a starting QB behind Ron Jaworski (69)
9. His 19 combined career 300-yd. passing games ranks 1st on the Eagles all-time list
10. Has a 14-5 record in primetime starts, including one in the playoffs. He is 588-348-4,305-9-27TDs passing and 84-561-9TDs rushing in those games
-The Philadelphia Eagles Official Website
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/team/player60.html
Rush Limbaugh-Ladies man,sports analyst,historian
"She comes to me when she wants to be fed. And after I feed her -- guess what -- she's off to wherever she wants to be in the house, until the next time she gets hungry. She's smart enough to know she can't feed herself. She's actually a very smart cat. She gets loved. She gets adoration. She gets petted. She gets fed. And she doesn't have to do anything for it, which is why I say this cat's taught me more about women, than anything my whole life." --on his cat
The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.
There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit
for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve."
"There are more American Indians alive today than there were when Columbus arrived or at any other time in history. Does this sound like a record of genocide?"
"Too many whites are getting away with drug use...Too many whites are getting away with drug sales...The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the river, too."
"I am addicted to prescription pain medication."
-Rush Limbaugh
I once heard someone say that the only thing they needed to be well informed was Rush.It's Probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard anyone say.
The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.
There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit
for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve."
"There are more American Indians alive today than there were when Columbus arrived or at any other time in history. Does this sound like a record of genocide?"
"Too many whites are getting away with drug use...Too many whites are getting away with drug sales...The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the river, too."
"I am addicted to prescription pain medication."
-Rush Limbaugh
I once heard someone say that the only thing they needed to be well informed was Rush.It's Probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard anyone say.
Thomas Paine-underrated American Hero, Independent,original thinker
"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
"I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise. They have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving: it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe."
"The Word of God is the creation we behold and it is in this word, which no human invention can counterfeit or alter, that God speaketh universally to man."
"It is only in the Creation that all our ideas and conceptions of a Word of God can unite. The Creation speaks a universal language, independently of human speech or human language, multiplied and various as they be. It is an ever-existing original, which every man can read. It cannot be forged; it cannot be counterfeited; it cannot be lost; it cannot be altered; it cannot be suppressed. It does not depend upon the will of man whether it shall be published or not; it publishes itself from one end of the earth to the other. It preaches to all nations and to all worlds; and this Word of God reveals to man all that is necessary for man to know of God."
[Thomas Paine-The Age of Reason]
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
"I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise. They have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving: it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe."
"The Word of God is the creation we behold and it is in this word, which no human invention can counterfeit or alter, that God speaketh universally to man."
"It is only in the Creation that all our ideas and conceptions of a Word of God can unite. The Creation speaks a universal language, independently of human speech or human language, multiplied and various as they be. It is an ever-existing original, which every man can read. It cannot be forged; it cannot be counterfeited; it cannot be lost; it cannot be altered; it cannot be suppressed. It does not depend upon the will of man whether it shall be published or not; it publishes itself from one end of the earth to the other. It preaches to all nations and to all worlds; and this Word of God reveals to man all that is necessary for man to know of God."
[Thomas Paine-The Age of Reason]
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
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