Vanity is a sin therefore Christians have a duty to be ugly.
Keep up the good work.
Four ways to escape Behemoth
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (KJV)
Behemoth ranks first among the works of God
“Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
What strength it has in its loins,
what power in the muscles of its belly!
Its tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like rods of iron.
It ranks first among the works of God,
yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
The hills bring it their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.
Under the lotus plants it lies,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;
the poplars by the stream surround it.
A raging river does not alarm it;
it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.
Can anyone capture it by the eyes,
or trap it and pierce its nose?” (NIV)
Behemoth is coming.
Dutch King Kills the Welfare State…
The Following is From The Libertarian Republic
Dutch King Willem-Alexander did his best to garner support for the country’s new austerity measures yesterday in a speech that proclaimed the end of the Welfare State and welcomed the beginning of a “participation society.” Speaking in defense of spending cuts that have been sharply criticized, the monarch said the second half of the twentieth century had brought about arrangements in social security and long-term care that are “unsustainable in their current form.” In the participation society, people would be responsible for their own futures, and would have to plan for financial and medical needs on their own with less help from government. – See more at: http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/dutch-king-kills-welfare-state-lauds-new-participation-society-video/#.UjrOotJkSqg
The budget revealed yesterday by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte contains cuts to their military, axing 2,300 military employees in addition to the 12,000 the country had already committed to eliminate between 2011 and 2015. The new budget comes after several years of unpopular spending cuts, as the Dutch try to gain control of unsustainable entitlement programs and bring their deficit for the upcoming year under the EU’s permitted 3% of GDP.
The European Union’s Stability and Growth Pact which took effect in 1999 seeks to limit member nation’s deficits and debts. It sets a 3% of GDP deficit cap which the Dutch are currently projected to go over by 0.3%. The moves towards austerity by European nations are not due to populace demands but rather an increasingly grim and sobering financial outlook. Despite resistance, King Willem-Alexander’s speech marks an important shift in European politics. The progressive, post-World War II welfare state has failed and its continuation is not financially possible.
– See more at: http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/dutch-king-kills-welfare-state-lauds-new-participation-society-video/#.UjrOotJkSqg
****************************************************
….Wow!
The Truth!
Can you take it from a Fortunate son?
The lefties will call for the Kings head.
Demonstrations may follow.
Rioters may Kill, burn and loot…. yet nothing can eradicate the fact that Socialism is a Lie and a delusion.
It is not only completely Unsustainable… it is completely tyrannical.
It does not alleviate suffering!
It generates poverty and dependence!
Most socialists *Don’t want to know!* …. yet deep down they do know!
They know they are guilty of Cannibalism… they secretly enjoy it …. out of pure envy and malice.
They hide their vile approbation of looting and extortion under the guise of ‘Humanitarianism’, ‘Utility’,’Democracy’,….
They refuse to admit that Socialist Democracy…. ‘Pure’ Democracy….Unchecked/ Unlimited Democracy has destroyed Western civilisation… and yet the destroyers will sucker many by saying that the blame is not due to their Tyranny… but to their lenience!
They continue to delude the sheeple by insisting instead that their Legislative Micro-management and regimentation of our lives has not been thorough enough!
Yet as the Rot sets in the harder the Lie is to maintain…
The King speaks the truth when he says that Socialist Paternalism is untenable, and that Individuals must shoulder their own responsibilities….yet the Idea that we must take care of our own Health, education, Retirement, etc is simply too frightening for many institutionalised and dependent Plebs to bear!
Many will hate him for it!
They will cry “Regicide!”
“Lets Build a scaffold… a guillotine…. and rid ourselves of the Monarchy”…. wilfully pretending that ‘Democracy’ is synonymous with justice…. yet this is a great lie!
All forms of Government have their strengths and their weaknesses.
All suffer from the ‘Human Condition’ making them susceptible to corruption… so why Give any government Absolute power?
Best to strictly limit political power and leave Individuals free to take care of themselves and to pursue their own happiness.
Socialism has failed on every level, and Western civilisation teeters an the edge of economic catastrophe… and this King…. has in fact proven what are some of the virtues of Monarchy…. of being an unelected ruler and having a birthright which makes his self interest and the interests of his nation/ Dominion synonymous… The Fact that it is both his duty to care for his Subjects, and that he can speak an unpopular truth without having to face an election… ie his Seat of power is not so immediately dependent upon appeasing the Whims of the Mob… as is the chief problem of the demagogue.
A king still requires the support of his subjects, yet it is Easier to vote out an unpopular Demagogue, than to legally dethrone a King.
Back in the late 1700s, the American Founding Fathers discussing these questions of ‘What constitutes the proper role of Government?’…. John Adams said to Thomas Jefferson … “You Fear the Few, whereas I fear the Many…”
Both were right.
Whether Monarchy, Oligarchy, or Democracy… “He who governs Best… Governs Least.”
Thomas Jefferson…
These are Issues facing all Western Nations…. All Nations.
New Zealand included.
We are currently going through the pretences of ‘a Constitutional review’ and yet it is a Charade!
So few of the Real issues are being discussed…. because the Status quo seeks to maintain and even strengthen the status quo!
There is no desire for any True reform….. no question of the surrendering of any government powers or spheres of Intervention, regulation, Taxation…etc.
It is a parade….. an act…. a formality…. for the sake of The Morons…. It’s the ruse of setting up ‘commissions’ etc so that the the powers that be can claim “due process was followed”… the fools can be duped into believing they ‘witnessed’ Justice being done…. even though the conclusions were all forgone… and not one ounce of political power revoked.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.
Ministry of Stupid
Here‘s the page where the Ministry of Health tells us that synthetic cannabinoids pose no more than a low risk of harm to people using them.
Here‘s the page where the Ministry of Health goes into further detail.
(What did you understand we meant by “no more than a low risk of harm”? Let us tell you, because I think you misinterpreted us. We meant …)
difficulty breathing
feeling cut off from the world or what is happening
seeing, feeling or hearing things that are not real
high blood pressure
chest pain
racing heart rate
chest pain
shaking and twitching
eyeballs move up an and down rapidly
nonstop vomiting
fainting or loss of speech and eyesight
extreme anxiety and panic
paranoia
loss of contact with reality (psychosis)
seizuresproblems sleeping
nightmares
heavy sweating
nausea
low appetite
headaches
moodiness
irritability
restlessness
craving drugsextreme anxiety and panic
paranoia
on-going nausea and vomiting
confusion and memory problems
depression
suicidal thoughts
high blood pressure
racing heart
anger
aggression and violencereduced self-care
less school attendance
less motivation
more apathy
less thought about the consequences of actions
less ability to focus and pay attentionDisorientation
Painlessness
Head rush when smoking cigarettes
Heightened sense of awareness
Mood changes (some reporting happier moods, some reporting an increase in anxiety)
Loss of co-ordination
Loss of balance
Nausea and vomiting
Inner unrestDisorientation
Sensitivity to light
Nausea and vomiting
Sleeplessness
Anger outbursts
Heightened sense of awareness
Head rush when smoking cigarettes
Inner unrest
Pins and needles sensation
Low mood
Altered perceptions
Sense of hopelessness
Feeling “left with all the dumb sh**”
Feeling faint
Willing to take more risks
DehydrationSleeplessness
Anger outbursts
Altered perceptions
Disorientated
Low mood
Pins and needles sensation
Use of cannabis to self-medicate symptoms
Dehydration
Cold flashes
Now look here, Ministry of Stupid. I’m a libertarian and I don’t think you should be involved in regulating psychoactive substances at all. But I’m a realist too. I know it’s not like I have a choice. But didn’t I hear you say, “it’s for your own good”? If you really must get all paternalistic about it, couldn’t you at least get that bit right?
You know, you really dug yourselves into a hole when Peter Dunne was calling the spadework. Stupid is as stupid does. Stupid Dunne. But maintaining blatant contradictions on your website? That’s a special kind of stupid. Hasn’t anyone told you? When you’re in a hole, stop digging.
Notwithstanding what I said a couple of days ago, the moles from the Ministry of Stupid really have abdicated their tiny minds and evicted themselves from the realm of reality. Will they ever find their way back? They’ve lost their moral compass so maybe we should send out a search party.
Right now I’m
Feeling “left with all the dumb sh**”
I think I need a smoke.
It’s time to drive a stake through the heart of Objectivism
I’m not sure how I ended up here. But I did.
The desire for the unearned has two aspects: the unearned in matter and the unearned in spirit. (By “spirit” I mean: man’s consciousness.) These two aspects are necessarily interrelated, but a man’s desire may be focused predominantly on one or the other. The desire for the unearned in spirit is the more destructive of the two and the more corrupt. It is a desire for unearned greatness; it is expressed (but not defined) by the foggy murk of the term “prestige.” . . .
Unearned greatness is so unreal, so neurotic a concept that the wretch who seeks it cannot identify it even to himself: to identify it, is to make it impossible. He needs the irrational, undefinable slogans of altruism and collectivism to give a semiplausible form to his nameless urge and anchor it to reality—to support his own self-deception more than to deceive his victims.
– Ayn Rand in “The Monument Builders,” The Virtue of Selfishness
And I was mortified. Just a few days ago I accused Rand of this.
The conventions that govern our use of stipulative definitions demand that any use of a word stipulatively defined is preceded with the appropriate disclaimer, i.e., “In what follows, I use ‘X’ to mean ‘Y’. Rand rode roughshod over this convention with cavalier contempt.
But in these two paragraphs (the Ayn Rand Lexicon entry on Prestige) not only does Rand adhere to the rules meticulously, – (By “spirit” I mean: man’s consciousness.) – she levels the very same charge at those who desire unearned greatness that I’d leveled at her.
I hastily posted an embarrassed retraction to atone for my rush to judgement. 🙁
But then I realised. I’d thought I was wrong but actually I was right. The two paragraphs do not exonerate Rand. They seal her doom.
Rand knew the rules. She knew the danger of ambiguity. She acknowledged the need of one who seeks unearned greatness for “irrational, undefinable slogans … to give a semiplausible form to his nameless urge and anchor it to reality—to support his own self-deception more than to deceive his victims.”
And she went and broke the rules. She capitalised on the foggy murk of the very ambiguities she introduced to underwrite her egoistic creed. She satiated her need for prestige with the irrational, undefinable slogans of Objectivism – not to support her own self-deception but to deceive her wretched victims – her own followers.
Rand knew exactly what she was doing.
If I’m not wrong, I’ve resolved something that has long puzzled me. You see, I’ve spent considerable time in the virtual company of Rand’s deluded disciples. And over the course of that time I’ve developed a grudging respect for Objectivism’s founder. The lady was smart, super-smart. But her philosophy simply doesn’t stack up.
It was never meant to stack up. It’s a philosophy for life on earth. Rand’s life on Earth, surrounded by an inner-circle of adoring sycophants. And her philosophy served its purpose. It created an army of hapless dupes in thrall to their evil dominatrix.
Rand earned her greatness. But what shall she give in return for her soul?
Papers please!
In the last couple of months I have been stopped at least once a week by the police to check my WOF, Registration and Driver’s License. Always during the day too – so it’s not like they are seriously looking for drunk drivers.
I’m not feeling bloody safer.
Where to buy drugs
Want to buy drugs but don’t know where to shop?
The National government has thoughtfully provided a list of authorised tinnie houses and their locations.
Thank you National government!
For further information call the National Poisons Centre on 0800 764 766. 🙂
“Moral Teacher’s more important than Physicists”
Saith Einstein.
Science is Amoral in the sense that it works for whosoever employs her… without regard of the Righteousness or Wickedness of her Employer’s cause …
That is why Ethics are more essential than Technology.
As Einstein said… “Moral Teachers (like Jesus) are more important than Physicists”
And as the man who understood the horrific global implications if the Nazi’s should have time enough to get command of the power or the Atom…. He would know!
Ironically It was Hitler’s Immoral Anti-Semitism which caused Einstein to quit Germany and emigrate to America….
Poetic Justice!
What is rationality? (Part 1)
It’s been a while, but tomorrow night The New Inklings meet again! The time is 7 pm. The place is the Downtown House Bar and Cafe at the Downtown Backpackers, corner of Bunny Street and Waterloo Quay, Wellington.
We discuss philosophy (mainly) and theology. You’re welcome to join us, provided that you are (1) irenic, and (2) rational. If you don’t know what it means to be irenic, Google is your friend. If you don’t know what it means to be rational, well … tomorrow night’s discussion topic is for you!
the nature of rationality and what a commitment to Reason entails
So I thought I’d jot down a few recent thoughts … and start a series of posts … on this fundamentally important to everything topic.
Here’s my all-time favourite Ayn Rand quote.
To arrive at a contradiction is to confess an error in one’s thinking; to maintain a contradiction is to abdicate one’s mind and to evict oneself from the realm of reality.
I used to love to brandish this one at Ayn Rand’s hypocritical followers. I say ‘used to’ because it’s just dawned on me that Rand got it completely wrong! (Yet again! Wotta surprise!)
To arrive at a contradiction is NOT to confess an error in one’s thinking. To arrive at a contradiction is the strongest confirmation possible that there is NO error in one’s thinking!
And to maintain a contradiction is NOT to abdicate one’s mind nor to evict oneself from the realm of reality. At least, not in the short-term, probably not in the medium-term and possibly not even in the long-term! NOT to maintain a contradiction, in the short-term at least, would be irrational in the utmost extreme!
I really don’t know why I didn’t see this sooner … perhaps you don’t see it yet, so I’ll explain.
The simplest example of a contradiction is a proposition and its negation. P and not-P. Two propositions are contradictory, or inconsistent, if they cannot both be true. Three propositions are mutually contradictory, or form an inconsistent triad, if they cannot all be true. Four propositions that cannot all be true form an inconsistent tetrad. And so on and so forth.
None but the completely insane ever believes P and not-P. But believing A, B and C, where A, B and C cannot all be true? This is a commonplace. But most people who believe A, B and C don’t notice the inconsistency. A and B don’t contradict. B and C don’t contradict. C and A don’t contradict. It’s the mutual inconsistency that gives rise to the contradiction. To arrive at the contradiction you actually have to have some logical nous. You have to be able to recognise that
(P1) A
(P2) B
Therefore, (C) not-C
is a deductively valid argument. So to arrive at a contradiction is actually to confirm that you have at least a basic grasp of logic! Which most people don’t.
So you’ve arrived at a contradiction. You believe A, B and C and you are cognizant of the contradiction. You know your beliefs can’t all be true. You know that (at least) one of them has to go. But which one? You’d better sit down and try to figure that one out. But you don’t want to reject the wrong belief. So, in the meanwhile, you’ll maintain the contradiction. Take your time. It’s the rational thing to do.