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PA RamParticipantI love reading his books. He went through the horrors of the Vietnam war and somehow came out of it with the ability to express peace and love and human nature and all that goes with it in a beautiful way.
He is big on mindfulness. I don’t do that nearly enough myself. But I am inspired by his words.
He talks about seed planting, in terms of thoughts–planting positive thoughts when you speak to someone, because you can also plant negative ones. I don’t do so well at positive most of the time–as much as I’d like. But we are all bound by this human condition. It’s okay to be angry. It isn’t okay to hold onto anger because then it becomes destructive.
When I was reading Buddhist books pretty heavy I found some of his writing my favorite. He walks a line which keeps things interesting and spiritual but doesn’t drift off into some of the odder Tibetan type(where reincarnation is big) or fall into a sort of soulless Buddhism that some western writers adopt.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI have waited a week to see what Taibbi would say.
And I don’t know what that was.
Kind of like watching somebody scratch his head, and wonder. And both take credit for seeing things, and take blame for not seeing things. And leaving us without a handle.
Okay.
Yeah–what I got out of it is that no one saw this coming in any real way and now that it has–they are all shocked. To his credit, Taibbi is a very good journalist who does a great job of covering subjects. I think he’s genuinely stunned at how much he and others missed here. It’s almost a self- autopsy of the whole thing. But what he doesn’t discuss is the role the media played in building Trump. They fed off Trump this year, for ratings, for sales articles, etc. Trump meant profit. That’s a subject that interests me that I hope he writes about some day.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
November 15, 2016 at 11:58 pm in reply to: Climate change: Learning to think like a geologist #58508PA RamParticipantGeology isn’t junk science. Without geology a modern life is impossible. The physical evidence doesn’t exist for man made global warming. Read the article. The invisible man in the sky wants to tax you for something that isn’t a problem.
The earth is warming.
I’ll stick with the climate scientists. If I want to know where to drill for oil I’ll ask the geologists.
Again, the planet doesn’t care. The invisible man stuff went over your head. Not important.
But I have nothing else to add. I won’t change your mind–and you won’t change mine. We can agree on that.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by
PA Ram.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantJust another quick thought:
Fisher can’t win here. If Goff sucks, fans will be jumping off the top of the stadium. If he’s great, they will want Fisher’s head for waiting so long to start him.
Basically he has to fall somewhere into the mediocre department.
Eh…may be okay–shows some stuff, but yeah–probably was best to wait.
Fisher is probably giving him that very speech.
“Jared, go out there–look good–not TOO good. Just okay. Do that and we can get to 7-9 and look to next year.”
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantYes–it’s time to unwrap this puppy!
You can’t go back now. He’s in the rest of the year. It’s his team now. I for one am not expecting miracles. I will not call for his head at the first INT. I hope he looks good–but I’m going to be patient.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantIt doesn’t matter whether people believe in climate change or not. The planet doesn’t care.
The problem is that the response will end up being those who bemoan the fact we didn’t do anything about it–or enough about it to make a difference. Or, there will be those who say–there was never anything we could have done about it anyway.
No matter what happens, no one will be convinced of anything.
Except the planet’s warming. That will be hard to ignore.
No. Earth is cooling.
Uh huh. Well–like I said. Anyway–tell me that you aren’t the sort of climate denying skeptic who believes that some invisible man in the sky will save us anyway? Because–I’ve never been able to wrap my mind around that sort of critical thinking, “skeptic”. See–some climate deniers believe firmly and without doubt in something there is absolutely no physical evidence for–unless you believe in junk science, of course.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI wish him the best. I would expect they will want to do a lot of tests before he’s cleared to do anything. When my son was around 12 years old he had a seizure. Scariest thing I ever saw. He only had that one. But, you want to talk about panic? I didn’t know anything about seizures, got on the phone with 911 and tried to breathe and calm myself until the ambulance got there. I know now about putting things in their mouths but at the time I didn’t. I put my finger in his mouth and he almost bit it off. They decided it was a type of childhood seizure problem that would probably go away. It seems that’s what happened.
But it was terrifying.
I hope Robert Quinn is okay. No football game is more important than his life.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
November 15, 2016 at 10:04 am in reply to: Climate change: Learning to think like a geologist #58396PA RamParticipantIt doesn’t matter whether people believe in climate change or not. The planet doesn’t care.
The problem is that the response will end up being those who bemoan the fact we didn’t do anything about it–or enough about it to make a difference. Or, there will be those who say–there was never anything we could have done about it anyway.
No matter what happens, no one will be convinced of anything.
Except the planet’s warming. That will be hard to ignore.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantThis post should be deleted.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI think that starting Goff isn’t about winning THIS year. If you honestly think you can make the playoffs, stay with Case. If not–make the switch.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI don’t know–but as a Rams fan I kinda feel like I’m somewhere between the fifth and sixth level right now. If they beat Miami maybe we get to fourth?
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI have to agree with Zooey here.
My son texts me about how scared his friends are(most are Latino or African-American and even a married lesbian couple)and he tells me how fearful he himself is for he and his girlfriend(also African-American). He says he wants to get a concealed carry and I basically told him, “Good idea”.
There’s nothing comforting I can tell him to blunt the reality of what happened. It happened. It’s real. I get sick of hearing about Clinton and the popular vote. It’s meaningless. It changes nothing.
Better to deal with it.
Don’t hide behind a feel good book. Get involved.
But don’t pretend everything will be okay.
And yes–move on with your life.
Do not get trapped in anger and despair. Don’t let the election destroy YOU. Live your day to day life and find a way to deal with the challenges you may face. There is no other way.
I will be the first to point out all the things I see that I feel are bad for individuals and the country. I’ll be right on top of any fingerpointing to the left when things go wrong.
No sell.
No blaming the media, the democrats–anyone. If their program fails they must accept PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. That is not just for Democrats and liberals.
In the meantime. Just live your life. That’s all you CAN do.
You don’t have to feel good about any of this. But you can’t wallow in misery forever, either. You have to move forward.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI had to go pick up my wife so I missed the thrilling ending but I see the Rams played perfect Fisherball and got the win. I’ll take it. A win is a win is a win. Did the team really improve? Not really. They are still who they are.
Technically yes–they are still in the playoff hunt so I expect Fisher to stay the coarse.
I don’t think it’s a playoff coarse but…well, hopefully it works.
The question is do they prepare for next year(Goff) or do they try to get to the playoffs?
I don’t see a playoff team.
But I think Fisher does.
I hope Fisher is right.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantBack in the playoff hunt – kinda, sorta.
So, does Keenum start next week?
Not my QB. LOL
Okay–that’s actually pretty good.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by PA Ram.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI find myself reading this with a smile as I think back to Bernie.
Like him or hate him, does anyone believe that he would have had someone like Jamie Dimon on his short list for Treasury Secretary?
He was the most genuine candidate in my lifetime. I appreciate him more every day.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI don’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m very concerned right now about my son and his girlfriend. And they are a bit terrified. He’s white and she’s black. That can be stressful under the best of times because you can’t be more in the middle of the racial tension divide than that.
And yes–even before Trump they could feel the pressure of being an interracial couple. But now? Off the charts. And I’m not just talking about straight out physical stuff. Just social life in general is challenging.
Whatever side you want to blame, it is really important for Trump to come out and make a speech, reassuring Americans of color that he has their back, and distancing himself from white hate groups. He must condemn those groups in the harshest terms. He must find a way to calm this down.
“He’s not my President” may feel mentally nice, but it’s meaningless. It holds no power. He has to change that and somehow show that he IS everyone’s president, that he will not stand for any sort of hate, be it physical or verbal or other. That he will not tolerate his name being used in hate slogans and intimidation. There is no one else who can defuse this.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantPA Ram wrote:
I am not a religious person. I do quite like eastern philosophy involved in Taoism or Buddhism, but my own take on religion personally is sort of its own thing.Nice. Can you expand a little on what your own thing means?
Okay–but first a little bit of my religious history.
My mother took me to church during a phase in my childhood—perhaps between 6-10. It wasn’t very regular attendance but we would go to a Methodist church and I guess I was okay with it at that time. But my mother was never one to push religion. I suppose she was more distantly religious. She believed. She loved Gospel music and country music. But she wasn’t a Bible reader or zealot. It was just…there. I just don’t think she thought about it much.
So during that phase I believed in Jesus but, like her, didn’t think much about it.
Around age 12, two things happened. I became interested in magic as a hobby, and developed an interest in supernatural phenomena. I read about astral projection, E.S.P. Hans Holzer books about ghost hunting and on and on. This stuff was cool. Very cool. But being also interested in magic as a hobby, I became very skeptical. I knew how things could “look” but that “looks” weren’t always reality.
This led me to atheism. I didn’t believe in any of it–anything.
I became VERY interested in science and REAL answers.
And I was that way for a very very long time. Then–in my early thirties, I believe, I read “The Tao of Physics”. It was the first book I read that compared science thought to similarities in eastern thought. Buddhism wasn’t science. But it was radically different from western religion. I became a sort of but not really Buddhist. I read some books on that.
But any organized religion can be used to control, with leaders who can manipulate people for their own purposes. Buddhism was freer in many ways than Christianity…but it was still a religion. Still–it could also be looked at as a philosophy and that’s what I really fell in love with.
So I became” spiritual”.
I was inspired by Buddhism heavily and I came to believe what I pretty much believe today:
There is no “personal” god. God isn’t up there worrying about PA Ram today…or guiding his life. PA Ram is just a tiny part of nature…along with everything else.
I don’t believe there is a creator god, exactly.
In fact, I don’t really believe”god” is a being at all. I view it as a process.
But the more I try to fence in this process in a description of words…the further I get from it.
I believe “god” is non-verbal.
If there is a book of God it is simply nature itself. It isn’t something broken down into manmade language. It’s more about feelings. And I could never convey that to you. It’s a very personal thing. There can be a moment when I “find god” and another when I don’t.
I don’t particularly worship it, but I respect it and can be in awe of it.
I don’t fear it. I couldn’t follow a God I had to fear.
I think the closer man gets to defining God in a certain way–the further he removes himself from it. So there’s no point in trying.
And none of it matters. I do have this sense of spirituality and I choose to keep it. The dark, hopeless musings of Richard Dawkins are not quite enough for me. They are for some. Not for me. I love science. But I keep thinking it’s missing, something. I keep thinking it just will never quite capture that thing for me, and it doesn’t care or want to.
And in that space, I find god.
But again–and this is the most important thing: it doesn’t matter. I don’t live for the afterlife. I just live for now. I think of the future now–here and hope I can make things better but when PA Ram is gone–he’s gone. (And here comes a Buddhist thing: Impermanence.)
Everything is changing and impermanent. Including me.
And god doesn’t care because it’s all part of the process. And so am I.
I realize this will read like the ramblings of a madman–but, as I said–words fail. God is non-verbal. Expressing what it means to me in words is futile.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantJust a personal note on religion.
I am not a religious person. I do quite like eastern philosophy involved in Taoism or Buddhism, but my own take on religion personally is sort of its own thing.
Anyway, when it comes to THIS country—what we really mean by freedom of religion is one religion: Christianity. What would happen, I wonder, if excerpts of the Koran were posted at a school or Federal building. My guess is that the fundies would lose their minds. They are already desperately in fear of Sharia law.
It has happened before, of course. In the 1800s when the Protestants were in the majority they hated and feared all the Catholic immigrants. Again–they wanted THEIR religion. And they were both Christian religions!
So when people talk about freedom of religion they do not mean the Hindus, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Jews or even the Scientologists.
They will tell you it is a Christian nation as if that explains everything. Well–before that it was a very different nation with different people and different religions. And the founding fathers were basically deists. But yes–much of those who fought in the war were Christians. The founding fathers tried to word everything very carefully but certainly there was pressure even then from the Christians.
So lets be clear about that.
With a nation of diverse religions–as the Constitution allows, they knew that any sort of overlap of Church and State would be divisive. They were very wise in that regard.
No one is taking away anyone’s religious freedom. They’re just keeping it separate from the State. The world had been there before, when it wasn’t. They’ve seen the results. We can even see it now.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantWell, hopefully nobody helped them out. You wouldn’t want them to get all soft, and dependent.
Bam!
And Zooey drops the mic.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantHe was given no chance to win by the pundits and almost every poll. So yes I don’t doubt that it cost him votes from supporters who listened to the negative barrage against him and stayed home. Which is why the MSM relentlessly hammered him for 17 months. That is the “airtight, unbreakable reality”. Okey dokey?
Uh huh. And what did the Orange Trump fairy do after he slayed the big ol’ nasty Media Monster?
Tell us more, grandpa!
Great stories!
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI’m waiting for Trump to rip up the Iran deal. That’s when the real fun internationally will begin. And he is sooooo ill equipped to deal with that. He’s a checker player against chess masters.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI’d say he had more supporters that didn’t vote than those that stayed home for Hildabeast. Next time don’t nominate a corrupt traitor.
So they loved him so much they stayed home? And more of her supporters showed?
And she got more votes.
I will never understand how the right can create such an airtight, unbreakable reality for themselves. Now he has more support but…they didn’t vote.
Okey dokey, then.
Carry on.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantIf Trump were a true leader he would be out there today rejecting the KKK and the white power movement creeping into the high schools.
I suspect that won’t happen.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantHaving posted this, I think it’s important to point out that I do not think all Trump supporters are idiots. They have whatever reasons they have. Do I believe that Trump thinks they are idiots? Yes. And yes–most politicians believe we are idiots.
It’s more about who Trump really is–and it is not a “man of the people”.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI’ve been half-heartedly picking the Rams the last few weeks and that strategy hasn’t worked. GZ never kciks that last second game winning field goal. I’ve learned my lesson.
Rams: 12 Jets: 10
Last second safety by Quinn.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantBottom line: Instead of looking up at the people really screwing them — billionaires like Trump, corporate America, and both of the major parties working for those financial elites — they just blame people of color and one half of the duopoly. They’ve been fed so much bullshit propaganda, they can’t see straight, and they’re so filled with paranoia, they refuse to hear otherwise.
I always say that about people. they always look below them to identify the problems–seldom above.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantDon’t forget the wall.
Willingness to work with Putin to eliminate ISIS.
Repeal and replace Obamacare.Uh huh. Rainbows and lollipops, bnw. Rainbows and lollipops.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantI got nuthin’.
And I think any sparse benefits will surely be overshadowed by all the disasters.
I mean, Hitler signed the ‘Reich Nature Protection Act’ that saved several endangered animal species from extinction including the Eurasian lynx.
Funny how that’s never the first thing that comes to mind when I think about his impact on the world though.Well thank you for that, Mr. Positivity!
I’ll put you at the top of my list of people to call when I decide leap from a tall building.
PA Ram: Maybe I won’t jump today. It’s a beautiful day, today. Sun’s shining.
Nittany Ram: Eh. They want rain later.
By the way–I had no idea Hitler was sympathetic to the lynx.
Maybe Trump likes spotted owls.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantWell–it’s a very divided country so maybe half the people won. More people actually voted for Clinton so…not everyone is happy with the golden boy.
But that’s fine.
You own it. You own it all bnw. I hope you’re right. I hope the country becomes great, although I guess the term “great” means different things to different people. But anyway–you got the House, the senate, the Court and the White House. There is no more blaming all the ills on Dems. It’s yours now. Win, and take the credit. Lose and take the responsibility of failure.
Oh–and no one, “drained the swamp”. Those guys are still there. The guys who fought to make health care horrible and fought to repeal it 50 times instead of once trying to fix it are still there. And they run it all now.
Like I said, you own it.
Good luck.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
PA RamParticipantWe can despair or take this opportunity to eschew the corporatist DLC/DNC and really push actual progressive action once the Trump crap hits the fan.
Edit: wow… Looks like Trump will win PA and WI short of a miracle and that puts him over the top.
Freak…
The problem is that the damage he will do in four years–the Supreme Court, the Senate, the House—-how long will it take for some progressive agenda to fix that? Trump has played the populist card. When everyone sees what he is will they want to run back to that establishment?
I don’t know, Mac. It’s pretty bad.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
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This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by
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