Monday, November 30, 2015

Socrates's views on soul and God


The question of God and soul has always baffled me. Below is the commentary of Socrates views on divinity.



"If anything in general can be said about the philosophical beliefs of Socrates, it is that he was morally, intellectually, and politically at odds with his fellow Athenians. When he is on trial for heresy and corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, he uses his method of elenchos to demonstrate to the jurors that their moral values are wrong-headed. He tells them they are concerned with their families, careers, and political responsibilities when they ought to be worried about the "welfare of their souls". Socrates' belief in the immortality of the soul, and his conviction that the gods had singled him out as a divine emissary seemed to provoke, if not ridicule, at least annoyance. Socrates also questioned the Sophistic doctrine that arete (virtue) can be taught. He liked to observe that successful fathers (such as the prominent military general Pericles) did not produce sons of their own quality. Socrates argued that moral excellence was more a matter of divine bequest than parental nurture. This belief may have contributed to his lack of anxiety about the future of his own sons."


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Photo of Colorado abortion clinic gunman, motive for attack still unknown

It is becoming more and more difficult to watch the news.Everyday some crazy person goes to a public place and starts shooting people dead. What is this leading to?



Police have released a photo of the man arrested for allegedly shooting dead three people and wounding nine others in an anttack on a Colorado family planning centre.

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Michele Bachmann for the president of U.S

The well qualified candidate for the president is missing this time. She would have defeated Donald Trump.


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Sunday, November 29, 2015

U.S Federal Elections

Poor Obama feels ignored as all the media attention is on elections.


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Putin orders sanctions against Turkey




Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday called for sanctions against Turkey, following the downing this week by Tur1key of a Russian warplane.The decree published on the Kremlin's website Saturday came hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had voiced regret over the incident, saying his country was "truly sadden.
MSNBC

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Donald Trump on campaign trail!


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Saturday, November 28, 2015

TRUDEAU’S PLEDGE TO CLIMATE FUND



It is great to see Canada playing a productive role on the World stage.
The Trudeau government’s pledge of $2.65 billion dollars to help developing countries with sustainability is important. It shows Canada takes climate change seriously. It is important for these countries to build a green economy and take advantage of the opportunities therein. Thus it is important for wealthier countries to provide assistance to this goal. It is an important step to helping the poor and vulnerable most affected by climate change.

As quoted in this Huffington Post article, UNICEF Canada’s president states that:" We know that children, particularly the poorest, are disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, a fundamental threat to their most basic rights, including access to food, water, education and survival.”
Great to see Canada playing a productive role here.

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Friday, November 27, 2015

Spikes Don't Prevent Jumper From Whitehouse Lawn

Secret Service is investigating the first White House fence scaler since spikes were installed last summer. The first family was at home celebrating Thanksgiving when the incident happened.

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Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Talented Putin


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Turkey downing Russian jet


Europe is distancing itself from Turkey, it looks a reckless action by Turkey in shooting down the Russian plane. It has potential implications because Turkey is a NATO country.

Vladimir Putin is a ruthless dictator, but he is very clever and crafty. That was clear in a Fifth Estate documentary on his career. One can view Putin as a successful dictator.


Putin will push the envelope, on Ukraine for example, but is careful not to go too far. He is cautious. It is hoped that he will be cautious regarding Turkey. It is expected that he be careful and will avoid the outbreak of a wider conflict over this.

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Sunday, November 22, 2015

Provincial support exceeds Canada's Syrian refugee  target: immigration minister




Read more here: http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/toronto/john-mccallum-syrian-refugee-conference-1.3328851

Human history is full of wars and the atrocities which is the outcome of these wars. Will we ever learn that wars mostly create problems and do not solve them.?

I find Middle East situation very heart-breaking. CIA and MOSSAD are behind the current turmoil in the Middle East.

I am still struggling with the tablet. Sorry for all the mistakes I make.

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Saturday, November 21, 2015

Tablet


I used desktop for many years now. I had lap-top but never cared for it that much. Now I have bought a Tablet. I find very hard to use it. Although I like it because I can take it with me where ever I go.

I request visitors of my blog to give hints how to best use it.


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Donald Trump - The Republican Front runner

Donald Trump is comprehensive in his approach.

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Friday, November 20, 2015

Does God Exist?

This question has been in my mind since I was a child. To this day, I have not found the answer. I have read parts of the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, but never got any convincing evidence. Unfortunately I remain agnostic, unless somebody can prove to me otherwise.

I came across this very interesting article, Does God Exist? The writer makes some very interesting points:


Does God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.

Many examples showing God's design could be given, possibly with no end. But here are a few:

The Earth...its size is perfect. The Earth's size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth's surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter. Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.

The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth's position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day.

And our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents.

It's a fascinating article to read. It is long but worth reading. To read the rest of the article, please click here.

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Monday, November 16, 2015

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Rona Ambrose elected Interim Leader for Cons

Sara Palin congratulates Ambrose.

It is a good sign that Cons have a woman as an interim leader. Who they elect as a leader will be interesting. Is it possible that they will elect a woman?

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Sunday, November 08, 2015

The Meaning of Life - Lorne Warwick

In a previous post I asked about the meaning of life, my friend Lorne gave a great response which I have posted here below:

"Hi, LD. I am quite flattered that you are seeking my view; I hope my answer does not disappoint you. I am going to post it in two parts, as I just found out there is an upward limit of about 400 characters for comments.

The question you ask is something that I have thought about for a long time, along with related matters. Much of the non-fiction I read has to do with some of these larger questions which, in my view, point to a transcendent reality that we can but dimly grasp. While I have little time for the traditional interpretations of religion, ones that talk in the standard Christian voice of salvation only through belief in Christ and the Christian God, I deeply believe that there is far more to existence than what we see and experience in the here and now.

The materialist notion that this is all there is, and the cant of the professional atheists like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, etc, leave me cold, because the arguments they bring forth are based on the mythology of organized religion, the one that sees an all-powerful father-figure deity sitting in judgment on us, ready to send us to Hell should we not conform to his standards.. I reject such a notion outright.

In progressive theology, writers such as Marcus Borg, Bruce Sanguin, Harvey Cox and John Spong take a far less definitive view of God; Spong calls God (and this took me a long time to get my head around) The Ground of All being, a description he never really defines, but when you think about it, it is a perfect description of the force or divinity that seems to permeate all of existence. It is existence that seems, from my own observations, always on an upward trajectory, something that suggests some underlying principle at work.

I see ours as a universe of potential. Whatever God is, for me it is a force that offers the opportunity for all life to find full expression. Personally, I believe human consciousness arose, not as a result of divine creation, but as a realization of that potential. In other words, I don't think that our existence was planned or preordained in any way, but arose through a fortuitous combination of forces that were set in motion when the universe came into being. I want to distinguish this from the notion of God as the clockmaker who established the universe and is no more to be seen; I simply mean that the divine force, as a creative expression, set down certain principles by which all kinds of possibilities might be realized.

Which brings me to the meaning of life. The only thing I can think that perhaps starts to answer your question, LD, is that we, as conscience beings, are expected to pursue our full potential, to use the things we are to better both ourselves and our world. For me, personally, part of that responsibility entails treating everyone and everything (except mosquitoes!) with as much respect as possible. Although very much buffeted by the often cruel realities of existence, battling both internal 'demons' and external obstacles, we are far from being simply victims of our circumstances and our biology. We can keep climbing the stairs no matter how many times we fall down. That is the most, and the best, that can be expected of us.

I take great inspiration and comfort from some of the moral giants who have lived and sacrificed much for their fellow human beings. At the top of the list for me would be Nelson Mandela, who maintained his principles and his integrity throughout his long period of incarceration, an incarceration that could have been abbreviated had he been willing to compromise his core values. Surely such people are expressions of the divine, embodying and reflecting part of what we mean when we use the word God.

As to the ultimate goal of all existence? I'm not sure there is one, other than continuous growth and progress; in that regard, I see God, or transcendent truth, as our partner in this journey, not our judge and jury.

Each person has to conduct his or her own search, LD. What is truth to me may appear as complete nonsense to others. The best thing I can suggest is that you perhaps take a look at some of the writing of the authors mentioned above. It took me a long time to come to my own views, but they certainly helped to point the way. May your own search lead you to some satisfying conclusions."

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Saturday, November 07, 2015

Dreaming


Since I was a child it seemed often I did not know the people in my dreams, and I also ran into well-known international leaders.

For example last night in my dream I was in a crowded room and there was a little girl crying. Vladimir Putin stuck his face out and told the people to be quiet because they were disturbing his little girl. I shouted at Putin that he was governing a powerful country and I have a question for him. That question was, what is the meaning of life?

Putin walked away without answering.


I want to add that since I was ten and even younger, I always questioned the "meaning of life." To this day I don't understand the meaning of life. I am requesting my readers to please give your views on the meaning of life. In particular I am asking Mound of Sound and Lorne Warwick, my favourite bloggers.

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Friday, November 06, 2015

Christians drop, 'nones (not nuns)' soar in new religion portrait- U.S.A. Today



-The shrinking numbers of Christians and their loss of market share is the most significant change since 2007 (when Pew did its first U.S. Religious Landscape survey) and the new, equally massive survey of 35,000 U.S. adults.- Read more here.

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Monday, November 02, 2015

Rename Stephen Harper after Calgary's airport


An online petition hopes to give wings to the idea of changing Stephen Harper's name to "Calgary International Airport."

While other online petitions debate whether the airport should be renamed after the outgoing prime minister, the latest entry proposes the opposite.

The change.org petition calls for the new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to change Harper's name, saying it would help Harper "rehabilitate his image" following "a disastrous campaign."
CBC


Forget changing the airport's name. Stephen Harper should change his name to 'Calgary International Airport,' yet another online petition suggests. (Norio Nakayama/Flickr/Canadian Press)

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Sunday, November 01, 2015

Time change - Fall-back


Spring forward does not bother me but Fall-back makes the first day very long.

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