All posts by Richard

Affordable City

I’ve got too many balls

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I’ve got too many balls. I dropped a few recently. Apologies to all concerned.

Work got very busy. So busy that I stopped paying attention to a few things. Things like blogging and Facebook. A bit like before but no advance warning this time.

And I missed a couple of important non-work deadlines. In particular, I missed the Friday 20 August noon deadline to get my paperwork in to stand as a local body candidate for Affordable City. Again, apologies to all concerned. It was my fault. But feel free to blame my campaign manager. Oh, well, at least it wasn’t an entire party list that I failed to file. šŸ˜‰

Good luck to all who are standing for Affordable City. Especially my co-blogger, Tim. šŸ™‚

Deuteronomy, Exegesis, King James Bible, Luke, Mark, Matthew

Thou shalt THINK

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Thinking-With-Clarity1

I noticed something interesting about the Great Commandment.

The first and great commandment is stated in the Gospel of Matthew

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy MIND.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (KJV)

and stated again in the Gospel of Luke

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy MIND (KJV)

and again in the Gospel of Mark

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy MIND, and with all thy strength (KJV)

(emphasis mine).

Notice how in each Gospel account you are commanded to love God with all your MIND? That’s odd, because Jesus is supposedly quoting a verse from the Book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament. But there’s no mention of MIND.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (KJV)

So where did MIND come from? I think it’s a Christian innovation. I think Jesus is commanding us to THINK. What do you THINK?

Do you believe that the Bible (in particular, the KJV) is the inerrant Word of God? Then please explain why Jesus misquotes himself. (But first go away and have a THINK.)

JihadĀ onĀ Drugsā„¢, Psychoactive Substances Act

What’s in a man’s mind?

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Am I a closet authoritarian? I don’t think so. But what if I suffer from Capill syndrome? Well, I don’t. No way! Give me Liberty, or give me Death!!

But isn’t there a little bit of authoritarian in every libertarian? It used to be that libertarians had a fetish for public libraries. “I think libraries are great,” declares Jeff Landauer, author of The Scourge of Public Libraries. None but a cad could possibly argue against the existence of public libraries, isn’t that so?

The little bit of authoritarian in me has a fetish for mandatory labelling. I like to know what I’m eating. And smoking. So I took some small solace in Section 58(2)(a) in Part 3 of the recently enacted Psychoactive Substances Act.

58 Restrictions and requirements relating to labelling of approved products
(1) A label for an approved product must not be designed in a manner or way, or using a medium or form, so as to particularly appeal, or to be likely to particularly appeal, to minors.
(2) A label for an approved product must include the following information in a prominent position on the label:
(a) a list of the active ingredients of the product and the appropriate quantity of each active ingredient; and
(b) the appropriate health warning relating to the product; and
(c) the contact details of the importer, manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer of the product; and
(d) the telephone number of the National Poisons Centre information service or any other telephone service prescribed in the regulations; and
(e) any other information prescribed by the regulations.
(3) A person must not sell an approved product with a label that does not comply with subsection (1) or (2).
(4) A person who contravenes subsection (1), (2), or (3) commits an offence and is liable on conviction,ā€”
(a) in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $5,000:
(b) in the case of a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $10,000.

It’s only been a couple of weeks and already fake cannabis products are back on the market. The government has been quick to grant applications for interim approvals of psychoactive products. And why wouldn’t they at $10,000 per product?

5 Control of psychoactive products granted interim approval
Part 3 applies, with any necessary modifications, to a psychoactive product granted interim approval as if it were an approved product.

So now do I get to indulge my fetish?

Well, let’s see what we have here … some Red Kryptonite by Lightyears Ahead Ltd. And the new label says

Ingredients: SGT-7 (25mg per gram),
Damiana herb and flavouring.

Seems legit. Only problem is … no one knows what SGT-7 is. Even Google’s never heard of it.

I think Lightyears Ahead Ltd. is taking the piss. Perhaps they’re prepared to risk a fine not exceeding the licence fee they already paid. What do you think?

But it gets worse. Another new label says

Ingredients: This product is made with a blend of herbs and a single synthetic cannabinoid. The cannabinoid is not enhanced, adulterated or contaminated with any other substance.

Seems legit. I can’t name the active ingredient. And I can’t name the product or the retailer. But they know who they are. šŸ™‚

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Charity, Fastway, Isaiah

Heft!

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ā€œIs not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelterā€”
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

ā€œIf you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.ā€ (NIV)

Please brother can you spare me a dime
    To buy some bread and a bottle of wine
I’ll never ask for anything again
    Just help me, help me to survive

Bananas, Evolutionism

The half-banana. The theist’s nightmare.

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Richard Dawkins says

Evolution is a fact. Beyond reasonable doubt, beyond serious doubt, beyond sane, informed, intelligent doubt, beyond doubt evolution is a fact.

Physicists already have reason to suspect that our universe – everything we can see – is only one universe among perhaps billions. Some theorists postulate a multiverse of foam, where the universe we know is just one bubble. Each bubble has its own laws and constants. Our familiar laws of physics are parochial bylaws. Of all the universes in the foam, only a minority has what it takes to generate life. And, with anthropic hindsight, we obviously have to be sitting in a member of that minority, because, well, here we are, aren’t we?

We explain our existence by a combination of the anthropic principle and Darwin’s principle of natural selection. That combination provides a complete and deeply satisfying explanation for everything that we see and know.

But why give any credence to the primitive notions of a late 20th century domesticated primate whose DNA is 50% identical to that of a banana?

(See also Theism, Atheism, and Rationality.)

Bananas

The banana. The atheist’s nightmare.

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banana

Note that the banana:

  1. Is shaped for human hand
  2. Has non-slip surface
  3. Has outward indicators of inward contents: Green—too early, Yellow—just right, Black—too late.
  4. Has a tab for removal of wrapper
  5. Is perforated on wrapper
  6. Bio-degradable wrapper
  7. Is shaped for human mouth
  8. Has a point at top for ease of entry
  9. Is pleasing to taste buds
  10. Is curved towards the face to make eating process easy

To say that the banana happened by accident is even more unintelligent than to say that no one designed the Coca-Cola can.

The above is from a pamphlet called The Atheist Test by God’s own Ray Comfort.

Recognise a design argument for the existence of God?

Psalm 19:1 tells us, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Indeed. Even the humble banana declares the glory of God!

But why give any credence to the primitive notions of a bunch of superstitious Bronze Age tent-dwelling goat herders?

Carcass, Cats, JihadĀ onĀ Drugsā„¢

A star you can trust

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Big props to Grant Hall of the Star Trust. A formal statement will be made by the Star Trust on this issue by the end of the week.

I think what Grant says, on behalf of the industry, is good enough. It’s honest. And it’s better than we had any right to expect. Not good enough? Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

But problems remain.

The Star Trust should never have been put in a position where its spokesman had to make such a statement. That no animal testing shall be required should have been written explicitly into the Psychoactive Substances Act. It’s not too late to leave animals out altogether. Be on the march next Tuesday 30 July.

The Star Trust is funded by private contributions from individuals and industry members who support drug policy reform, but operates as an independent entity being audited and overseen by a Board of Trustees. This allows us to represent the industry and to monitor a voluntary code of conduct for responsible operators.

A voluntary code of conduct for responsible operators? I’m all in favour of industry self-regulation and the good work of the Star Trust. But what about the irresponsible operators? The people who not so long ago were happy selling K2 to children via local dairies? They didn’t follow a voluntary code of conduct then. They won’t follow one now.