The Green Eyed Geisha took the words straight from my fingers! Thank you for following my blog that led me to yours. What wonderful, logical arguments you present!
A friend recommended your post, he believed we were of like minds. You eloquently scribe mirror images my thoughts.Our stance is completely different, yet meet in that place called “like minds” This is coming from a girl whom the Anglican Church kicked out of Sunday school at the tender age of five. My mortified mother was pulled aside and told in no uncertain terms that I was not welcome the following week. It seems I was disrupting and upsetting the other children by asking too many questions. 🙂
John, I got a “Oops! That page can’t be found.” when I clicked on the link for “You’re Going to Hell” (2-5-13 or . . . 5-2-13 or however the hell you do it!).
Hi Laura. Interesting work, not for everyone, perhaps mildly offensive to a few, but we play nice 🙂 Nothing offensive about your work, though. It’s quite exceptional. Potters are the true salt of the earth.
Hi John, thanks for visiting my blog regularly. Your comments and likes are always appreciated and I regard you a friend, as far as one can be friends in the “bloggosphere”.
I am, however not such a regular visitor to your blog as you are to mine. The reason is probably that I am not so very interested in theism and atheism. Where I live, there are not so many theists and the society is generally quite secular, so you are not confronted with these topics every day. It is possible to move on to other things.
I am an atheist, but my atheism is not a defining characteristic of myself. I am just not so interested in religion. To explain this attitude, let me compare religion to other things: I am also not interested in soccer and I am not interested in dogs, but my “asoccerism” and my “adoggism” are also not defining features of myself. It is just not part of my life. There are people for whom soccer or their dog is the center of the universe.
Although some people I am connected to believe in this or that religion, that is their private matter and they leave me in peace. I considered blogging more on religion and atheism but noticed other topics interest me more, at least at the moment. And you and some others are covering this topic very well.
Greetings
Nannus
No worries, Nannus. I know what you mean about atheism. As an Australian it was a non-issue for me, too. Religion simply isn’t discussed and Australia is strictly secular with no religious interference at all. When i moved to Brazil i found the more insidious side of dogma. It seems to permeate everything here, and there is a growing evangelical movement. I saw the damage it does to people and how it fuels social apathy. That alone motivated me to dedicate the blog to it. If i was still in Australia i’d probably have a blog on folklore 😉
Thought of you today, reading Edgar Morin’s “Seven Complex Lessons in education for the future” and I quote:
“Rationality is the best safeguard against error and illusion…This rationality must remain open to everything that disputes it; otherwise it closes itself into a doctrine and becomes rationalization…True rationality is by nature open and engaged in dialogue with the real, which resists it…This is why, in educating for the future, we must recognize the ‘principle of rational uncertainty,’ if rationality does not maintain constant self-critical vigilance it can turn into rationalizing illusion. Which is to say that true rationality is not only theoretical, not only critical, but also self-critical.” It’s a great little book, but I found the easy slip from rationality to rationalization compelling and thank you for being vigilantly rational…(thought you might expound a post on that transition?) 🙂
that quirky line between rationality & rationalization… openness and closure type thinking? you’ve certainly the skills – no pressure, just struck me that your voice would do it well
Thanks, Kat! Good article, but i see he was at pains to try and present an image that people are leaving religion because it isn’t somehow satisfying them, rather than kids recognising the total absence of evidence for any supernatural deity. Still, studies like this are important to encourage dialogue. Was just chatting with another blogger about how important it’s going to be in the US to present an alternative to religion… to explain to people that there is no “loss”….. and eating babies, particularly if they’re free range babies, is perfectly fine 🙂
Erm… I’ve just replied to your latest thread, but I it hasn’t come up. I may have ended up in your spam filter, it’s been happening to me a lot lately… 😉
Hey John! Just wanted to make sure you were notified of this. You were censored by Mr. Franklin, but you’re more than welcome to continue the conversation on my reblog:
Gloomy here today, too! Grey from horizon to horizon, wet from top to bottom… and i have a giant dog under my desk who i suspect believes i control the weather. He has that accusatory expression about him 🙂
Ohh, don’t ya just hate that when the dog places all the blame on you? Perhaps a visit from a local evangelist would clear things up for the pooch? Har, har, har!
😉
He just came back from the day spa! Massaged for an hour by two Brazilian girls, smells like a salon (a special Boris-only oil/shampoo formula which is made up every month for a pretty penny), and sporting a new navy blue tie. Not bad for a dog we rescued half-dead from the street.
Hi John,
I have no idea in the world, why I haven’t visited your blog so far…
Probably just reading your comments, and Mak’s high regard of you, seem to have been “enough”☺
Will be following.
Thank you John! Nevertheless, if you run short of theists, just drop me a line, “been there, done that” for so long, that I can at least do a “courtesy car” run☺
Hey John,
Great site!
I came here via INSPIREDBYTHEDIVINE1.
Suppose that is why they call it ‘Networking.”
I am now your “faithful” follower.
Hahahha
Cheers!
–Lance
Eeesh, never heard of it, but i think i agree with you; it’s too over the top. The average Christian is not insane, just mislead. The gripe is with the evangelicals and the apologists; those delusional cupcakes selling the lie, not the victims.
Yeah. I agree. This dude ain’t trying to be funny either. I found out about this site because he ping backed my Nicolas Wade post on his site. He has another beside the one I linked here where he reposts stuff. I get the feeling he may not have understood I was writing satire and I don’t actually condone cannibalizing Christians. Ugh. Whack jobs all around.
John, I just spent the last 3 hours or so reading (and clicking “Like” on) many of your posts here. Huzzah! It’s so heartening to see someone who articulates so well what I’ve been feeling all my life. (Raised methodist, I’ve been an active atheist forever.) Yep, I’m following your blog now. Thanks.
John, being, as you are, in Brazil, have you a comment on this?
The city of Sao Paulo is home to 20 million Brazilians, making it the 12th largest mega-city on a planet dominated by shortsighted humans. Shockingly, it has only 60 days of water supply remaining. The city ‘has about two months of guaranteed water supply remaining as it taps into the second of three emergency reserves,’ reports Reuters.
Technical reserves have already been released, and as the city enters the heavy water use holiday season, its 20 million residents are riding on a fast-track collision course with severe water rationing and devastating disruptions.
But this isn’t a story about Sao Paulo; it’s a report that dares to point out that human societies are incredibly shortsighted and nearly incapable of sustainably populating planet Earth. In numerous regions around the world — including California, India, Oklahoma, Brazil, China and many more — human populations are rapidly out-growing the capacity of their local water systems. Even though keeping populations alive requires food… and growing food requires water… almost no nation or government in the world seems to be able to limit water consumption of local populations to levels which are sustainable in the long term.
Hey Arch, yeah, Noel just sent me this. Here’s what i said:
Yeah, I lived in SP for 6 years. Horrid place. The drought is one problem, but the greater reason for the emergency is the utter waste that goes on here. 30% of the water is lost in the pipes through simple leaks (bad infrastructure), but its the monkeys using the water that is the true problem. Brazil has been called the Saudi Arabia of Fresh Water, which is true, and as a result people simply turn the tap on, and leave it on. There is no sense of water conservation here. Being an Australian, where we learn from a very, very, very young age just how precious water is, I was gobsmacked when i first arrived here and saw this waste. It’s endemic.
I found this sentence particularly telling, in regard to how the Gospels were written:
“As a rumor travels, it is altered in a fashion that brings it more closely in line with the hopes, fears, and world view of those who hear it and retell it’.“
Now I know where she got the title of her post. Just think it all started cause one christian couldn’t bare to see me in a tank top and shorts. Good thing he didn’t read my post the culture of rape where I went actually naked for Naked Jihad!
I just wanted to say this: “Gulliver’s Travels” was also one of my many favourite books as a child. I need to buy another copy to replace the one that got lost so many years ago…
🙂
Yes…but the header that I see at the top, clearly shows the head of Gulliver as he is being tied down by the Lilliputians. I could be wrong, I’ll admit…but that’s what I see!
😀
Hope you don’t mind, I’ll make it go away if you do – I posted a link to “Linguistic Creationism” on Quora.This is one of the comments…
I honestly can’t tell if that link is supposed to be real of if it is an atheist site mocking creationism. At any rate, I suspect that the group of people who would believe that kind of thing would be a perfect overlap to the group of people who believe in plain old creationism.
If you want to follow the question, here’s the link –
Of course I don’t mind, Notes, but I didn’t even pen this one. It’s from Uncyclopedia. The link is at the top of the post.
Paul Braterman (a biology Professor) and I looked into it a little after posting and it turns out there are linguistic creationists. Christians, of course. The power The Dumb is truly astonishing 🙂
I saw the link but preferred linking to your blog. I’m in a snarky mood (one freaking wedding too many) and wanted to stir the pot for shits and giggles. Sigh.
“I’m in a snarky mood (one freaking wedding too many)” – I went through that phase once, back when I was young and foolish. Unfortunately, I had to attend each time, I was the groom. That can make one snarky.
John, having a small debate concerning the creation. Opponent said what caused the beginning? i replied “Bang” They replied what caused the bang? I thought i remembered you giving an explanation of this somewhere. or at least a logical response.
Short answer, no one knows if this universe had a beginning. If someone tries to say it did, they’re lying. The Big Bang has never been proven. It’s still a hypothesis. A strong hypothesis, but still a hypothesis. The problem is, we have exactly zero information in this universe of what was happening before Inflation. All physics breaks down, leaving the only honest answer to be “We simply don’t know… Yet.”
The cosmological argument is a favourite of theists, but it commits a shocking logical fallacy. For the argument to work the rules of causality must be unbreakable, meaning you can’t have an infinite regress. This in itself is wrong. As Anthony Aguirre said: “Given eternal inflation, the universe may be free of a cosmological initial singularity, might be eternal (and eternally inflating) to the past.” Still, the theist relies on this premise, but then they throw in god and say it is not subject to those rules. Viola! It’s magic!! It’s also a festering case of Special Pleading. So, if your friend is trying to posit a first cause (ie. god), then the simple thing to ask him/her is: If you’re willing to grant an exemption to the rules of causality to your particular god, why then not grant this exact same exemption to the universe itself? Why one and not the other? If they try and answer it’ll typically be a word salad of “metaphysical” nonsense.
But ultimately, on the question of origin, no one knows. That is the only truthful answer.
“Opponent said what caused the beginning? i replied ‘Bang’” – You walked into their trap, Larry. You should have answered their question with this question:
“What do YOU think caused the beginning?” – then when they say, ‘god,’ you ask, “What caused your god?” Then you follow with this:
“If you’re willing to grant an exemption to the rules of causality to your particular god….” – As the video points out, John, that’s special pleading.
When Man was earthbound, His god lived in the clouds, above the earth, hence the Tower of Babel fable. Then, early in the last century, Man learned to fly, so their god put in a change of address card and moved into space. Then we went to the moon. Now their god conveniently lives in a place beyond time and space – a location the Bible authors would never have dreamed even existed, and where theists are certain Man can never go.
Hi Paul! Both those links take me to the same page from here, though thank you for including the shortened version. And yes, I am indeed the mysterious Laconic Sesquipedalian. I read your own review earlier this evening in fact; it seems we both got much from John’s work. See you soon my friend, Hariod.
I’m gobsmacked! That’s an awesome review, my friend… and I utterly adore this line:
”just as does the invisible and unknowable God commonly worshipped by much of humankind”
Now, I must apologise for the time its taking me to finish your work. It’s not something you pick up for a 5 minute pre-sleep read. Presently I think I’m about 2/3’s of the way through, but I need time to dedicate to it… and that’s been proving difficult these last few weeks.
My account is with Amazon U.K. John, so when I signed in to make the review it tracks me as a verified purchaser within the U.K. and posts the review to the relevant site. In the U.K., the Amazon.com reviews are accessible, but you need to click a link to see them all – so what appears first are U.K. reader reviews, of which mine is the first. I have no idea if the same applies in reverse, though assume U.S. readers can see my review somehow? If not, I can probably duplicate it on Amazon.com for you.
There is no need in the least to apologise for not reading my own book John; I suggested at the outset that it’s not going to be your cup of tea, it being an introductory guide to formal contemplation and all that malarkey. Also, you oughtn’t feel in the least that you must wade through it so as to leave a comment on Amazon, by way of reciprocation – really. I am more than happy to have the engagements we do on each on other’s blogs, and the book is very much secondary to that.
Did you understand the remark I made in the review about the greyed-out sections? I thought I should leave some minor gripe there, yet not one which in any way detracted from your amazing words, which were a thrill to read.
I loved that you made some criticisms. Hell, I’m waiting for someone to lambast it completely!
I didn’t know Amazon UK would be different from Amazon.com. You’d think all reviews would be bundled together regardless of geography. Odd.
And, my friend, formal contemplation and all that malarkey is my cup of tea! I used to devour Jane Roberts’ books and have explored a universe of alternative concepts. I’ve even seen the Dali Lama speak twice. Atheism doesn’t mean non-spiritual. Buddhists are atheists, after all. In fact, I’ve been meaning to ask you about how much influence Buddhist thought has been on you. I get the sense you’ve read Jainism, too. The concepts come through, but I’m curious to know if you follow those trains of thought through to similar ends?
Hi John, I’ve made a couple of minor tweaks to the review and posted it on Amazon.com because it wasn’t showing any option to display reviews from other territories, such as the U.K.
Thanks for asking about my interests and training. I spent about 25 years having a very close involvement with a Buddhist monastery here, practising dry insight meditation. I was typically male-obsessive about it, and used to meditate 4 hours every day, except for the retreats, which comprised about 7 weeks a year, when it would be 8 hours a day. This was entirely due to my lack of perspicacity of course.
After that, I drifted into the self-formed practices you see in my book, which are somewhere between Vipassana and Zen I suppose, but really neither – particularly not the non-local stuff, which you may not have got to yet. That came about due to what some might call a Satori experience, when everything fell into place, and was so powerfully obvious, yet never realised before then. There had been glimpses of this and that, but never a full-on disappearing act, which was so striking in what I can only call its revolutionary ordinariness. It comes and goes.
I realised that the whole conception of a subject becoming ‘enlightened’, or absorbing into something conceived of as ‘enlightenment’, was a complete fallacy, a total conceptual failure and misunderstanding. That’s why I write on my blog about the unattainability of spiritual freedom – much to the annoyance of some, as the seeker necessarily conceives of themselves as a subject apprehending objects. In other words, enlightenment is conceived as an object (knowledge) attained by a subject (me the seeker). At some point, the seeker has to disappear, and for it to be seen that subject and object are purely mind creations. Of course, the physical world is still there – Transcendental Idealism is nonsense – but the constant referencing to a point of centrality (my self) is not.
Awareness is apprehended as non-local, not presumed as something that channels as if along a unique conduit to ‘me here’ from objects or people ‘over there’ (in the way that particles of light do, say). Yes, there is ‘my body here’ in physical reality, and ‘things over there’ too, but the awareness knows of itself that it’s not a localised point of centrality for apprehending the world. It’s bloody hard to explain of course, but there are practices that gently introduce this idea, and even quietly asking of oneself ‘where is awareness?’ inclines the mind to being open to new possibilities. There’s a certain contentedness in it John, or that’s what I choose to call it, as it removes the erroneous idea that there’s something special to be attained, something out of the ordinary and ‘spiritual’ to be grasped by the mind – that can never happen. Some say differently of course.
Reading this I couldn’t help but think of Jonathan Livingston Seagull… The fastest way to travel is to know you’re already there 🙂 This is sort of what you’re hitting at, right?
I suppose that’s one way of putting it, but knowing something intellectually isn’t much help; if it was, then sometime in the last 5,000 years we’d have it orally transmitted, then documented or formulated, and the best anyone’s managed is expressing it in terms of a ‘via negativa’ – a way of knowing what it is not. But yes, obviously there are not two ‘realities’, two ‘truths’, so we can never be removed from either – not that those particular terms are helpful in any way. The mind is stuck in the gearbox of its own comprehension, dividing everything up into a subject/object dichotomy as a reflection of the physical world – it just doesn’t know it’s doing it as a fabrication, a meta-level abstraction from that physical world. We can appreciate that is so intellectually, but it’s not enough for it just to be an accepted concept. The shift is far subtler than we imagine, like a 1db attenuation in signal noise or some visual equivalent, but weirdly it seems revolutionarily different – at first anyway. The lasting effect is that thoughts lose their power over what is now known as an imagined subject, and given they are the prime source of discontent, so we feel more at home in ourselves. Blathering on here!
Feynman’s one of my heroes, I never tire of lauding his praise. I chose the shorter version – click on YouTube, and it will take you to the original, where you will also have the opportunity to choose from other videos he made before his untimely death.
Yes, after a brief look at what’s on YouTube I noticed that. His videos will most certainly be watched. Will likely feature one or two of them over on Learning from Dogs. Once again, great addition from you.
Thank you. Christmas was not white, we had something like 12°C. Up to now, there is no winter, at least not what we used to call winter. It is like this in most years since the late 1980s and getting warmer on everage every year.
Considering, John, that the sun is a relatively stationary object, wouldn’t it be less egocentric – to which all humans are prone, else why would some humans believe that we are made in the image of their god? – to hold that the earth may be moving closer to the sun?
(No doubt greenhouse gasses may be playing some small part –)
It is just God’s will that it is happening like that. Since he took that weather making job over from Thor, Zeus, Jupiter and all those and handed it over to St. Peter, weather is under his control, so everything is all right. 😉
Absolute ages ago you asked me for recommendations re science fiction novels.First paragraph into tonight’s ponder (remarks on Heinlein”s novel Starship Troopers)finds me breaking away to send this link.With a “duh, why didn’t I think of it sooner”, followed immediately with “duh, I’m sure he thought of it himself” I send you to the complete list of Hugo Award winners since 1953. 🙂 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel
John, Nan and Professor Taboo think that Leroyx10 and Bobbie are one in the same. I know they’re not. If they are, I’ve been truly fooled. Let me and them know you’re opinion. $Amen$
Actually they were both concerned that archaeopteryx was not my real name, and I’ve not met anyone else who has ever questioned that, so while they may not be the same person, I suspect that at least, they know and email each other.
It was fun, until they shut the whole things down. That was where i first learned there were people, Americans, who believed the earth was 6,000 years old. I thought it was a joke at first, but…
OK! I’m really, really glad that this is all settled! This whole thing last night had me going in circles (not too hard to do).
BTW, Jeff, did you really mean what you said in the comment on my blog about the grandmother and mother thing? You sounded very upset, but you do have a way with words that leaves one wondering at time whether you’re serious or not. 😉
Yes. I got an email from a hushmail account minutes after apologizing to Leroy that I didn’t know he was Bobbie. The email was filled with cuss words directed at me, and threats against my mother (who’s been dead for many years, btw) and and grandmother (who’s also been dead for many years). Why these 2 people, I don’t know, but the timing of the email and the language in it coupled with the fact it was sent from a hushmail account lead me to greatly believe it came from our friend with many personalities. Hushmail is encrypted and not traceable. Very creepy. The behavior here, with multiple online identities and the use of untraceable emails, is the type of thing online stalkers and pedophiles do. So, I’m outta the mix on your blog for awhile. That email was REALLY creepy.
It only lasted half a day. I’m back. Just really got weird-ed out, which I usually don’t. Talking about my mother kinda struck a nerve. I drank a lot, so the nerve’s fine now. Could be coincidence, but it sure is odd timing if so.
Besides, who else — at this particular point in time — would be sending such a message? I think your instincts are right-on. (BTW, glad to see you’re back on my follower list.) 😀
I agree. His 2 internet identities are different too. I started referring to “Bobbie” as “Leroy”, I even apologized for not realizing he was the same guy, and he stopped responding. Kinda creepy. Internet stalkers and pedophiles do this kinda thing. I tell ya, these bible quotin’ Christian types are not playing with all their marbles intact.
He very well might be. There’s strong similarities between the 3 with enough variation to show the split personalities. What a fascinating character. He’s a walking DSM 5.
Ahh, well… apparently I’ve missed this party by several days. LOL
I had sent you a Gmail John about the very “character(s)” you, Jeff/InspiredBy, ARCHAEOPTERYX1, and Nan are all discussing here. As Jeff is already familiar over on my blog — on 1 page and 1 post — the very topic all of you are sorting out here was manifested on my blog 2-3 days ago.
Came home from work to a what the fuck moment and I need to vent, so – tag, you’re it. 🙂 Left a comment on this post,https://sepultura13.me/2016/07/08/still-speechless/#comment-6571 ( mine is the only comment, the next 5 entries are responses from the blog author to my comment. America is bat shit (even if this Canadian was 3 glasses of wine deep when she wrote it ) If the link doesn’t work, let me know and I’ll cut/paste.
I sent WP an email on this. My guess is, it may be an issue they’re having. You can access my blog via the WP reader, and by googling it directly. I hate not to get comments now that I’m “Poe’s Lawing” all this Trump stuff. The guy is a meal that simply does not not feeding me. 🙂
But like I said, same thing happened with another blog just earlier. Problem must be on my end. Russia might be hacking my computer. I better move those 33,000 emails Aunty H sent me for safe keeping.
This week, several of Ark’s posts have given me, “Well, This Is Embarassing!” and informed me that that webpage can’t be found. But only on some of his, the rest, no problem.
Still waiting for WP to get back to me after they said they’re checking on it. I pay them hundreds of thousands every year for my blog. You’d think things like this wouldn’t happen.
Yep, just tried again and same result. How odd,. Can’t get to it through email notification, or through your avatar here. You are working in the nude, aren’t you? You know WP doesn’t work properly unless you’re naked.
Others don’t have that issue. They can get to it through my avatar but not the variouspontifications.com address from the comment section. Very odd. Still waiting on WP. Can you get to my site from your reader or from a Google search? Oh, I’m always naked and sitting in a bath of warm scented oil when I blog. 🙂
Copy and paste variouspontifications.com into your browser and click on it. Let me know if that works. DAMN! The oil I’m soaking in has gotten to cold. Gotta add more coal to the fire under it.
John- I am now following your blog. Thanks. How did you learn all this stuff? I looked for a biography or something but could not find it using my small, broken and hard to see notebook. I find myself asking myself if I am just slow at learning and remembering things or is everyone else just better at it than me? HaHa.
Very good blog. I would like to know more about you personally if that is OK. -MD
Hi MD. You’re talking about the stuff here? Product of simple curiosity and a deep love for the Lord Veles: the god of mischief, musicians, and magic… But I can’t play an instrument, or even do a card trick 😉
Hi John. Yes the stuff you wright. The Lord Veles eh. I will have to look that up on your blog. Any kind of biography? Is that even you in the picture or are you being mischievous? I think I need a new computer and a faster connection. -MD
Yeah, that’s me, MD. My biography, though, has nothing to do with the content here.
Just scanning through your blog, and I’m sorry to hear about your son. I’d never heard of YL until now, but they sound a little like the Good News Club, which I have written a post or two on. In fact, it’s because of organisations just like that why I started blogging.
I have a great blogging buddy here, Neuronotes, Victoria, who has experienced something along the lines you have. I hope your paths meet.
John- Doing my regular research on YL I saw that they are established somewhere in your part of the country and noticed that they are talking about expanding their influence there. Bigger and more more more seems to be their style. Neuronotes and I have met a little already. I really need to get a real computer that doesnt lock up and crash regularly. -MD
YL is in both countries and expanding in both. I had noticed that they have a special site just for Brazil and expansion is all that they know. It operates like a pyramid scheme, always building up the bottom with energetic young people while the rich get richer and become “millionaire prophets” with ready made worshipers everywhere. -MD
I really like the quote from the Lewis Carroll book. Reminds me of a nice song by George Harrison; “Any Road” If you don’t know where you’re going, any road can take you there.
Morning, on whichever side of the world you are….
Going through your Blogs as I chanced upon a comment or three of yours on another Blog and thought I would come over and see what you are about. Well, such an interesting Blog. You are probably raising your eyebrows and saying ” patronising” but it is fascinating. I don’t subscribe to the Atheistic view (?) but I love the reading’ mental fencing I do in my mind with you and generally the lovely style of prose. I am a mere foot soldier with regards to your writing, but more importantly is that I love your point of view. Absolutely disagree with all of it ( I am a great believer in reincarnation) but its wonderful to get balanced views and opinions, so I shall read more and allow my mind to be opened – but never turned…. 🙂
Hi Looney. Buddhists are atheists, and they believe in reincarnation, so there’s no problem there. A-theism is simply the absence of belief in the gods. You can be an atheist and also believe in panpsychism (Buddhism is a flavour of this), which could well be true. I’m certainly open to that idea, especially considering it’s what 13.8 billion years of cosmic evolution seems to point to. Long story short, no problem here 🙂
Yo there back to you. Thanks for the reply and apologies for the delay in replying. I had to look up a lot of the words and means. Fascinating though. I like the idea of panpsychism and spent a hour or four reading this up today. I see you have great followers and so I fear my comments may be too bland, but I shall continue to read and follows. I love a bloke with passion! 🙂
I have your Lewis Carroll quote on my screensaver now. It focuses me when I get all ethereal! its a great bit of text to focus the ( wandering) mind. I think you seem to be pretty prolific re posts but they are so complex I need to spend time on them. Makes a change though to read something other than Pussy Posts – oh well onward and upwards
Saw the NZ Prime Minister on Stephen Colbert’s show last night. What a wonderful, human, nice, woman. Lordy be, what a contrast to the horror going on here in the U.S. of MAGA.
Nice. Getting the energy is always going to be the sticking point. I like the idea of black hole drives. Isaac Arthur has a superb You Tube channel dealing with this stuff.
I’ll check it out. This type of thing always gets me thinking about advanced civilizations that might have solved this problem already and are using such things. Give us a few hundred years of not killing ourselves, and who knows, eh.
Hey John, just read the (expected) bad news. Good luck. Maybe The Generals would be better than this bootlicker or the entire corrupt political class, though?
(I kid, I kid. I know how bad the dictatorship was in Brazil. 😦
I really like how you say what you say.
Not trying to suck up—as kiss, but I just got your book; “The Owner of all Infernal Names” this week Wednesday and so far all I can say is bloody damn good book sir.
Oh, to go with the Alice quote on this page, check You Tube, George Harrison (yes the former, now dead Beatle) and his song “Any Road”. If you don’t know where you’re going any road will take you there. I really like that song among a great many more.
For the fear of being called “gay” I rarely comment on male blogs. However, still, I loved this brief intro of yours in shape of an Alice cartoon. The ones who honestly admit that they don’t know anything are the best learners out there. You just inspired me to write something related to my own blog and I’m going to steal this awesome Alice cartoon image with a proper reference back to you, of course 🙂
The great John Zande pasted away this day of the Lord, March 16, 2021. May his soul rest in peace. He hated the idea of a Creator but in the end succumbed to what we all we do on our death beds…He asked God to forgive him of his foolishness and asked for forgiveness. Rest In Peace my friend.
OMG!!!!! There is an afterlife!!!! Zande speaks from beyond the grave!!! Praise be Jesus!!!! Praise be his name!!!! 😀 I knew that speck of dried cow cum, Roy/Bobby/Peggy Sue was being a cunt. What A smoldering cunt she is!)
That was a stupid action whether you were drunk or not. I had even written a blog post in memory of John. And why when you posted at 1.31 am this morning were you Roy and now you are Ronald? So is John Zande alright?
I would tend to say he’s fine. I think the bloggers closest to him (and “Roy” or “Ronald” is not one of them) would most certainly know and notify others that follow him in the blog world.
So why doesn’t my avatar image come up? All I get is a dazzle pattern. Frankly I still blame God, from whom all blessings flow … you know, scorpions, poison ivy, politicians, door-to-door religion salesmen out for their quick buck from the gullib … oops …
I think I’m finally all sorted, here permanently now in the wilds of darkest Norfolk (England). Still posting, still Argus … still wide-eyed and innocent.
thesuperstitiousnakedape.wordpress.com 
A very wise feline, that Cheshire cat.
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John,
I have nominated you for a blogging award. This is not a hoax 🙂
http://maasaiboys.wordpress.com/2012/12/16/honoring-awadz/
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I saw that! An honour, Mak, especially you’re kind words! 🙂
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Pingback: Long Overdue Award « Verba Mea Vita
http://caitlambert.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/long-overdue-award/
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Hi there … thanks for following my blog and in turn, introducing me to yours 🙂
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Pingback: Congruency: Of Delight in It « manoftheword
The Green Eyed Geisha took the words straight from my fingers! Thank you for following my blog that led me to yours. What wonderful, logical arguments you present!
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Cheers heathen!
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A friend recommended your post, he believed we were of like minds. You eloquently scribe mirror images my thoughts.Our stance is completely different, yet meet in that place called “like minds” This is coming from a girl whom the Anglican Church kicked out of Sunday school at the tender age of five. My mortified mother was pulled aside and told in no uncertain terms that I was not welcome the following week. It seems I was disrupting and upsetting the other children by asking too many questions. 🙂
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Questions? The HORROR! 🙂
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@NOTES – You must have been doing SOMEthing right!
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I was five! Holy crap, too funny.Read this post of mine, it makes my sick head chuckle.
http://notestoponder.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/ponder-our-world-if-joseph-smith-and-l-ron-hubbard-had-met/
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I’ve dobbed you in for an award 🙂 http://myheathenheart.com/reader-appreciation-award/
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John, I got a “Oops! That page can’t be found.” when I clicked on the link for “You’re Going to Hell” (2-5-13 or . . . 5-2-13 or however the hell you do it!).
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It was up then it was done, Steve. Was just messing around with a meme… still trying to work out publisher 😦
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You are so going to keep me busy here… I may not have time to write silly dreamy stuff any more…
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🙂
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Hello! Interesting work you have here… thanks for the follow, and introducing me to your ideas! xLaura
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Hi Laura. Interesting work, not for everyone, perhaps mildly offensive to a few, but we play nice 🙂 Nothing offensive about your work, though. It’s quite exceptional. Potters are the true salt of the earth.
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Aw, thanks JZ! I feel honored that my work is appreciated by others. It is my prayer, after all 😉
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Now THAT’S a prayer i can believe in 😉
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I know you hate this stuff, but I did it anyway and nominated you for a Very Inspiring Blogger award, 🙂
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How glorious that your ‘About’ page was found down the rabbit hole……unexpected and unique….just like Alice herself.
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Ah, Alice is my hero!
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greetings by
http://flickrcomments.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/taboo-atheism/
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I like 🙂
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Hi John, I enjoy your blog and I’ve nominated you for the sunshine award
http://lahacienda.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/sunshine-award/
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Thank you so much! 🙂
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Hi John, thanks for visiting my blog regularly. Your comments and likes are always appreciated and I regard you a friend, as far as one can be friends in the “bloggosphere”.
I am, however not such a regular visitor to your blog as you are to mine. The reason is probably that I am not so very interested in theism and atheism. Where I live, there are not so many theists and the society is generally quite secular, so you are not confronted with these topics every day. It is possible to move on to other things.
I am an atheist, but my atheism is not a defining characteristic of myself. I am just not so interested in religion. To explain this attitude, let me compare religion to other things: I am also not interested in soccer and I am not interested in dogs, but my “asoccerism” and my “adoggism” are also not defining features of myself. It is just not part of my life. There are people for whom soccer or their dog is the center of the universe.
Although some people I am connected to believe in this or that religion, that is their private matter and they leave me in peace. I considered blogging more on religion and atheism but noticed other topics interest me more, at least at the moment. And you and some others are covering this topic very well.
Greetings
Nannus
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No worries, Nannus. I know what you mean about atheism. As an Australian it was a non-issue for me, too. Religion simply isn’t discussed and Australia is strictly secular with no religious interference at all. When i moved to Brazil i found the more insidious side of dogma. It seems to permeate everything here, and there is a growing evangelical movement. I saw the damage it does to people and how it fuels social apathy. That alone motivated me to dedicate the blog to it. If i was still in Australia i’d probably have a blog on folklore 😉
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Obviously, the topic is very important in the Americas (maybe with some exceptions, like Quebec, for example) as it is in Africa.
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And yet another blog I have to follow. Time is going to be tight for sure.
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Good thing about time, its flexible 😉
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I’ve enjoyed reading your comments here immensely! 😉
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Why thank you muchly!
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Hi, thank you for following ‘The Savvy Senorita’. I appreciate it!
Bex
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No thanks required… i like your blog, you make me giggle 🙂
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Oh that is kind of you 🙂
Thanks!!!!
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Pingback: Blogs the boss likes | Random thoughts
Thought of you today, reading Edgar Morin’s “Seven Complex Lessons in education for the future” and I quote:
“Rationality is the best safeguard against error and illusion…This rationality must remain open to everything that disputes it; otherwise it closes itself into a doctrine and becomes rationalization…True rationality is by nature open and engaged in dialogue with the real, which resists it…This is why, in educating for the future, we must recognize the ‘principle of rational uncertainty,’ if rationality does not maintain constant self-critical vigilance it can turn into rationalizing illusion. Which is to say that true rationality is not only theoretical, not only critical, but also self-critical.” It’s a great little book, but I found the easy slip from rationality to rationalization compelling and thank you for being vigilantly rational…(thought you might expound a post on that transition?) 🙂
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Vigilantly rational… i’m actually just being accused of being a fundamentalist! Oh, the irony 🙂
A post on the transition, huh? Not sure if i have the skills for such a thing, but i’ll have a look at it.
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that quirky line between rationality & rationalization… openness and closure type thinking? you’ve certainly the skills – no pressure, just struck me that your voice would do it well
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Always think of you now when I run into articles and ideas about Christianity… http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/listening-to-young-atheists-lessons-for-a-stronger-christianity/276584/
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Thanks, Kat! Good article, but i see he was at pains to try and present an image that people are leaving religion because it isn’t somehow satisfying them, rather than kids recognising the total absence of evidence for any supernatural deity. Still, studies like this are important to encourage dialogue. Was just chatting with another blogger about how important it’s going to be in the US to present an alternative to religion… to explain to people that there is no “loss”….. and eating babies, particularly if they’re free range babies, is perfectly fine 🙂
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Eww. Babies are too squishy. That’s my contribution to the dialogue. 🙂
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Noted 😉
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This reminds me of Yogi Berra’s sage advice: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/35976055/Fork%20in%20the%20Road.JPG
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Ahaha, classic!
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Evening John, or in your case probably just afternoon. Thanks for stopping by today, I hope it’s a good one 😉
M
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Are you chastising me for not leaving a comment? 🙂
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Nope, just saying hi… 😦
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Oh, turn that frown upside down 🙂
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It might hurt my head… 😉
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Erm… I’ve just replied to your latest thread, but I it hasn’t come up. I may have ended up in your spam filter, it’s been happening to me a lot lately… 😉
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Liberated!
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Gawd! Thanks 🙂
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Pingback: Attitude of Gratitude | follow your nose
Hey John! Just wanted to make sure you were notified of this. You were censored by Mr. Franklin, but you’re more than welcome to continue the conversation on my reblog:
http://duckrabbits.wordpress.com/2013/09/26/i-read-the-bible-literally-sometimes/
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I’m not censored, am I? I can still see my comments, although the last one (to you) is awaiting moderation.
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I have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award! Should you accept, please follow the link provided. Thank you and well done 🙂 (http://sargassogyre.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/versatile-blogger-award/)
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Thank you, kind sir!
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Outstanding blog you have here. And thanks for continuing to read mine.
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Thanks, sir.
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Tis a rather gloomy grey day here in Michigan. But i know i can always come here for some sunshine. Thanks for the shits and giggles John. 😉
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Gloomy here today, too! Grey from horizon to horizon, wet from top to bottom… and i have a giant dog under my desk who i suspect believes i control the weather. He has that accusatory expression about him 🙂
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Ohh, don’t ya just hate that when the dog places all the blame on you? Perhaps a visit from a local evangelist would clear things up for the pooch? Har, har, har!
😉
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He just came back from the day spa! Massaged for an hour by two Brazilian girls, smells like a salon (a special Boris-only oil/shampoo formula which is made up every month for a pretty penny), and sporting a new navy blue tie. Not bad for a dog we rescued half-dead from the street.
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How will I ever find the time to follow all these blogs??? This has been very good reading, though.
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Welcome on-board, Belle!
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John, I have a post I would like to you read and would appreciate your thoughts?
password protected, new post. password is hell.
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Marvelous! Let me go see!
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I’ve nominated your blog for The Inventive Blogger award. Follow the simple instructions here, and claim your prize: http://variouspontifications.com/2014/01/03/see-ma-you-were-wrong-i-am-smart-ive-won-the-inventive-blogger-award/
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Wohoo! I have to say I’m atrocious at following through on these things. The though, though, means a lot.
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Oh. I meant to say not to worry about that if you didn’t get to it. Sorry. Forgot to say that off the bat.
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No problem.
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Wishing you another year of beautifully written, thought provoking posts.
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And to you for such wonderful art!
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You’ve probably seen this already, but I immediately thought of you: http://imgur.com/T7Zz0R2. Happy Thursday!
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I hadn’t, but i like it! Thanks. To be honest I didn’t even catch the “debate.” Creationists like Ham are beyond all rationality.
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Pingback: And the Award for Most Terrifying Toilet Goes to… | Tip of My Tongue
Cherish it, them, I will 🙂
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John, thanks for stopping by my blog. It’s great to be in the company of brilliance. 🙂
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Oh, with flattery like that you’re going to fast become my best blog buddy, Vic! 🙂
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No complaints on my end. 🙂
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Oh, except for one thing — I’m not fond of the name ‘Vic’. The fundies call me that all the time. 😉
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Victoria, then?
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That will work. 😛
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🙂
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John,
I found a copy of Tyson’s Cosmos. My advise is to watch it soon before the YT police raid it. 😉
Enjoy.
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Champion! 🙂
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🙂
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Psssst — did you see this? Rather exciting.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/17/us-science-bigbang-idUSBREA2G16F20140317
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Indeed! I’m keen to see which model (if any) of inflation it might support.
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Ah, i just saw this: the creationists have already responded! Good for a giggle 🙂
http://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/aig-reacts-to-the-cosmic-inflation-news/
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“They have the bible, so they already know the scientists are wrong.”
OMGawd — I can’t breathe ’cause I’m laughing to hard.
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Great blog, nice to be here, regards from Poland 🙂 EM
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Cheers Em!
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Hi John,
I have no idea in the world, why I haven’t visited your blog so far…
Probably just reading your comments, and Mak’s high regard of you, seem to have been “enough”☺
Will be following.
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Cheers, Liberty! The door is always open, and we always have a resident theist or two serving drinks 🙂
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Thank you John! Nevertheless, if you run short of theists, just drop me a line, “been there, done that” for so long, that I can at least do a “courtesy car” run☺
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Hehehe, understood 😉
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Hey John,
Great site!
I came here via INSPIREDBYTHEDIVINE1.
Suppose that is why they call it ‘Networking.”
I am now your “faithful” follower.
Hahahha
Cheers!
–Lance
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Cheers Lance 🙂
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Wasn’t sure where to ask you this question, so I’ll ask it here. Have you ever heard of this: http://www.internetarchaeology.org/www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/9104/index.html ? For some reason, I find it almost as unsettling as xtianity itself though I’m not sure why.
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Eeesh, never heard of it, but i think i agree with you; it’s too over the top. The average Christian is not insane, just mislead. The gripe is with the evangelicals and the apologists; those delusional cupcakes selling the lie, not the victims.
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Yeah. I agree. This dude ain’t trying to be funny either. I found out about this site because he ping backed my Nicolas Wade post on his site. He has another beside the one I linked here where he reposts stuff. I get the feeling he may not have understood I was writing satire and I don’t actually condone cannibalizing Christians. Ugh. Whack jobs all around.
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Well, “not condone” unless its a Polynesian Christian. I mean, come on…. 🙂
Hey, check your last post, and click on the link i put there. That’s something you can do, if you’re up for it.
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John, I just spent the last 3 hours or so reading (and clicking “Like” on) many of your posts here. Huzzah! It’s so heartening to see someone who articulates so well what I’ve been feeling all my life. (Raised methodist, I’ve been an active atheist forever.) Yep, I’m following your blog now. Thanks.
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Now that’s a very nice message to come home to after a day out! 🙂 Thank you, my good man!
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Excited to be jumping aboard John! This is MY kind of snacks! 😀
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See what happens when you put your “trust” in me. Mwahahhahaha
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LMAO…yes, of course Madame V. You are certainly Queen of that introduction. 😉
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You may call me Queen Victoria, Sir. 😀
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John, being, as you are, in Brazil, have you a comment on this?
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Hey Arch, yeah, Noel just sent me this. Here’s what i said:
Yeah, I lived in SP for 6 years. Horrid place. The drought is one problem, but the greater reason for the emergency is the utter waste that goes on here. 30% of the water is lost in the pipes through simple leaks (bad infrastructure), but its the monkeys using the water that is the true problem. Brazil has been called the Saudi Arabia of Fresh Water, which is true, and as a result people simply turn the tap on, and leave it on. There is no sense of water conservation here. Being an Australian, where we learn from a very, very, very young age just how precious water is, I was gobsmacked when i first arrived here and saw this waste. It’s endemic.
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John – I know you’re interested in this particular era in history, so when I ran across it, I thought I’d pass it on:
https://www.academia.edu/12348042/The_Legend_of_Arius_Death_Imagination_Space_and_Filth_in_Late_Ancient_Historiography?auto=bookmark&campaign=weekly_digest
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Cool! Thanks Arch
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I found this sentence particularly telling, in regard to how the Gospels were written:
“As a rumor travels, it is altered in a fashion that brings it more closely in line with the hopes, fears, and world view of those who hear it and retell it’.“
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Now I know where she got the title of her post. Just think it all started cause one christian couldn’t bare to see me in a tank top and shorts. Good thing he didn’t read my post the culture of rape where I went actually naked for Naked Jihad!
Lol good blog now following.
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Hey Michelle! Yeah, Insanitybytes likes to be mad at me. It’s a job 🙂
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Looking forward to checking out your blog, it’s interesting so far 🙂
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Cheers, my friend, and welcome! There’s a lot of mischief here, so don’t take things too seriously 🙂
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Ohk, that works for me! 🙂
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I’m reading your post on homosexuality. Great reading so far. I like the way your mind is set up.
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Thanks, I enjoyed reading “Omnimalevolence”, though obviously there’s a lot more to be read!
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john zande: is it possible to send email to you??
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Of course. It’s johnzande@gmail.com
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John – got something you might find interesting, email me at archaeopteryx@in-His-own-image.com
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Arch, I sent you an email. Did you get it?
Send one to me: johnzande@gmail.com
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Done X 3
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I just wanted to say this: “Gulliver’s Travels” was also one of my many favourite books as a child. I need to buy another copy to replace the one that got lost so many years ago…
🙂
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Gulliver’s Travels? That’s Alice up there 🙂
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Yes…but the header that I see at the top, clearly shows the head of Gulliver as he is being tied down by the Lilliputians. I could be wrong, I’ll admit…but that’s what I see!
😀
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Ahhhh, true! I completely forgot about that up there! 🙂
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Hope you don’t mind, I’ll make it go away if you do – I posted a link to “Linguistic Creationism” on Quora.This is one of the comments…
I honestly can’t tell if that link is supposed to be real of if it is an atheist site mocking creationism. At any rate, I suspect that the group of people who would believe that kind of thing would be a perfect overlap to the group of people who believe in plain old creationism.
If you want to follow the question, here’s the link –
https://www.quora.com/How-many-people-believe-in-Linguistic-Creationism
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Of course I don’t mind, Notes, but I didn’t even pen this one. It’s from Uncyclopedia. The link is at the top of the post.
Paul Braterman (a biology Professor) and I looked into it a little after posting and it turns out there are linguistic creationists. Christians, of course. The power The Dumb is truly astonishing 🙂
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I saw the link but preferred linking to your blog. I’m in a snarky mood (one freaking wedding too many) and wanted to stir the pot for shits and giggles. Sigh.
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“I’m in a snarky mood (one freaking wedding too many)” – I went through that phase once, back when I was young and foolish. Unfortunately, I had to attend each time, I was the groom. That can make one snarky.
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Oh, notes, did you see the frame-video from DSCVOR showing the moon transiting earth?
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/from-a-million-miles-away-nasa-camera-shows-moon-crossing-face-of-earth
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Gorgeous, and yes I did – it gives me goosebumps 🙂
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Just called in here to offer my profound thanks for your recent decision to follow Learning from Dogs! That means a great deal to me.
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Cheers Paul, I enjoyed dashing through your blog earlier. I have three dogs, and cannot imagine life without them.
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I nominated you for the Sunshine Blog Award 🙂
https://tweetlessblogmore.wordpress.com/2015/09/20/what-i-learned-from-bloggingsunshine-blog-award-nominations/
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Wohoo! I’m hopeless at these things, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart 🙂
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Yw 🙂
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Nice blog, John!
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Thanks
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John, having a small debate concerning the creation. Opponent said what caused the beginning? i replied “Bang” They replied what caused the bang? I thought i remembered you giving an explanation of this somewhere. or at least a logical response.
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Hi Larry
Short answer, no one knows if this universe had a beginning. If someone tries to say it did, they’re lying. The Big Bang has never been proven. It’s still a hypothesis. A strong hypothesis, but still a hypothesis. The problem is, we have exactly zero information in this universe of what was happening before Inflation. All physics breaks down, leaving the only honest answer to be “We simply don’t know… Yet.”
The cosmological argument is a favourite of theists, but it commits a shocking logical fallacy. For the argument to work the rules of causality must be unbreakable, meaning you can’t have an infinite regress. This in itself is wrong. As Anthony Aguirre said: “Given eternal inflation, the universe may be free of a cosmological initial singularity, might be eternal (and eternally inflating) to the past.” Still, the theist relies on this premise, but then they throw in god and say it is not subject to those rules. Viola! It’s magic!! It’s also a festering case of Special Pleading. So, if your friend is trying to posit a first cause (ie. god), then the simple thing to ask him/her is: If you’re willing to grant an exemption to the rules of causality to your particular god, why then not grant this exact same exemption to the universe itself? Why one and not the other? If they try and answer it’ll typically be a word salad of “metaphysical” nonsense.
But ultimately, on the question of origin, no one knows. That is the only truthful answer.
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“Opponent said what caused the beginning? i replied ‘Bang’” – You walked into their trap, Larry. You should have answered their question with this question:
“What do YOU think caused the beginning?” – then when they say, ‘god,’ you ask, “What caused your god?” Then you follow with this:
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“If you’re willing to grant an exemption to the rules of causality to your particular god….” – As the video points out, John, that’s special pleading.
When Man was earthbound, His god lived in the clouds, above the earth, hence the Tower of Babel fable. Then, early in the last century, Man learned to fly, so their god put in a change of address card and moved into space. Then we went to the moon. Now their god conveniently lives in a place beyond time and space – a location the Bible authors would never have dreamed even existed, and where theists are certain Man can never go.
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One of the greatest theoretical physicists who ever lived, Richard Feynman, had this to say:
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Just got round to watching this. Wow! Wow! and once more for emphasis: Wow! Thank you so much for posting this.
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Hey John, I stuck a few words up on Amazon U.K. – let me know if there’s anything you’re uncomfortable with:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1512263524/ref=acr_search_hist_5?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addFiveStar&showViewpoints=0
All the best, Hariod.
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Hariod, I’m not sure this is a valid link. I am unable to see your review over on Amazon. I am fairly certain that the URL should be: http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1512263524/
This goes to a review from a certain “Laconic sesquipedalian”. Would that be you? (But you may prefer neither to confirm nor deny that!) 😉
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Hi Paul! Both those links take me to the same page from here, though thank you for including the shortened version. And yes, I am indeed the mysterious Laconic Sesquipedalian. I read your own review earlier this evening in fact; it seems we both got much from John’s work. See you soon my friend, Hariod.
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Same here Paul. Can’t see it on the general Amazon page.
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I’m gobsmacked! That’s an awesome review, my friend… and I utterly adore this line:
”just as does the invisible and unknowable God commonly worshipped by much of humankind”
Now, I must apologise for the time its taking me to finish your work. It’s not something you pick up for a 5 minute pre-sleep read. Presently I think I’m about 2/3’s of the way through, but I need time to dedicate to it… and that’s been proving difficult these last few weeks.
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Harriod, how did you put that just on Amazon UK? For some reason, its not showing up on the general Amazon page.
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My account is with Amazon U.K. John, so when I signed in to make the review it tracks me as a verified purchaser within the U.K. and posts the review to the relevant site. In the U.K., the Amazon.com reviews are accessible, but you need to click a link to see them all – so what appears first are U.K. reader reviews, of which mine is the first. I have no idea if the same applies in reverse, though assume U.S. readers can see my review somehow? If not, I can probably duplicate it on Amazon.com for you.
There is no need in the least to apologise for not reading my own book John; I suggested at the outset that it’s not going to be your cup of tea, it being an introductory guide to formal contemplation and all that malarkey. Also, you oughtn’t feel in the least that you must wade through it so as to leave a comment on Amazon, by way of reciprocation – really. I am more than happy to have the engagements we do on each on other’s blogs, and the book is very much secondary to that.
Did you understand the remark I made in the review about the greyed-out sections? I thought I should leave some minor gripe there, yet not one which in any way detracted from your amazing words, which were a thrill to read.
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I loved that you made some criticisms. Hell, I’m waiting for someone to lambast it completely!
I didn’t know Amazon UK would be different from Amazon.com. You’d think all reviews would be bundled together regardless of geography. Odd.
And, my friend, formal contemplation and all that malarkey is my cup of tea! I used to devour Jane Roberts’ books and have explored a universe of alternative concepts. I’ve even seen the Dali Lama speak twice. Atheism doesn’t mean non-spiritual. Buddhists are atheists, after all. In fact, I’ve been meaning to ask you about how much influence Buddhist thought has been on you. I get the sense you’ve read Jainism, too. The concepts come through, but I’m curious to know if you follow those trains of thought through to similar ends?
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Hi John, I’ve made a couple of minor tweaks to the review and posted it on Amazon.com because it wasn’t showing any option to display reviews from other territories, such as the U.K.
Thanks for asking about my interests and training. I spent about 25 years having a very close involvement with a Buddhist monastery here, practising dry insight meditation. I was typically male-obsessive about it, and used to meditate 4 hours every day, except for the retreats, which comprised about 7 weeks a year, when it would be 8 hours a day. This was entirely due to my lack of perspicacity of course.
After that, I drifted into the self-formed practices you see in my book, which are somewhere between Vipassana and Zen I suppose, but really neither – particularly not the non-local stuff, which you may not have got to yet. That came about due to what some might call a Satori experience, when everything fell into place, and was so powerfully obvious, yet never realised before then. There had been glimpses of this and that, but never a full-on disappearing act, which was so striking in what I can only call its revolutionary ordinariness. It comes and goes.
I realised that the whole conception of a subject becoming ‘enlightened’, or absorbing into something conceived of as ‘enlightenment’, was a complete fallacy, a total conceptual failure and misunderstanding. That’s why I write on my blog about the unattainability of spiritual freedom – much to the annoyance of some, as the seeker necessarily conceives of themselves as a subject apprehending objects. In other words, enlightenment is conceived as an object (knowledge) attained by a subject (me the seeker). At some point, the seeker has to disappear, and for it to be seen that subject and object are purely mind creations. Of course, the physical world is still there – Transcendental Idealism is nonsense – but the constant referencing to a point of centrality (my self) is not.
Awareness is apprehended as non-local, not presumed as something that channels as if along a unique conduit to ‘me here’ from objects or people ‘over there’ (in the way that particles of light do, say). Yes, there is ‘my body here’ in physical reality, and ‘things over there’ too, but the awareness knows of itself that it’s not a localised point of centrality for apprehending the world. It’s bloody hard to explain of course, but there are practices that gently introduce this idea, and even quietly asking of oneself ‘where is awareness?’ inclines the mind to being open to new possibilities. There’s a certain contentedness in it John, or that’s what I choose to call it, as it removes the erroneous idea that there’s something special to be attained, something out of the ordinary and ‘spiritual’ to be grasped by the mind – that can never happen. Some say differently of course.
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Reading this I couldn’t help but think of Jonathan Livingston Seagull… The fastest way to travel is to know you’re already there 🙂 This is sort of what you’re hitting at, right?
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I suppose that’s one way of putting it, but knowing something intellectually isn’t much help; if it was, then sometime in the last 5,000 years we’d have it orally transmitted, then documented or formulated, and the best anyone’s managed is expressing it in terms of a ‘via negativa’ – a way of knowing what it is not. But yes, obviously there are not two ‘realities’, two ‘truths’, so we can never be removed from either – not that those particular terms are helpful in any way. The mind is stuck in the gearbox of its own comprehension, dividing everything up into a subject/object dichotomy as a reflection of the physical world – it just doesn’t know it’s doing it as a fabrication, a meta-level abstraction from that physical world. We can appreciate that is so intellectually, but it’s not enough for it just to be an accepted concept. The shift is far subtler than we imagine, like a 1db attenuation in signal noise or some visual equivalent, but weirdly it seems revolutionarily different – at first anyway. The lasting effect is that thoughts lose their power over what is now known as an imagined subject, and given they are the prime source of discontent, so we feel more at home in ourselves. Blathering on here!
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🙂
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Feynman’s one of my heroes, I never tire of lauding his praise. I chose the shorter version – click on YouTube, and it will take you to the original, where you will also have the opportunity to choose from other videos he made before his untimely death.
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Yes, after a brief look at what’s on YouTube I noticed that. His videos will most certainly be watched. Will likely feature one or two of them over on Learning from Dogs. Once again, great addition from you.
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Looking for your email want to send you my blog regarding your book, prior to posting for your approval.
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johnzande@gmail.com
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Should have said inspired by your book.
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Thanks for being a new follower!
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No problem! Haven’t had a chance to poke around too much yet, but I like the way your mind works.
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You’re in the Christmas play John: https://sonmicloud.wordpress.com/2015/12/21/the-cloud-nativity-christmas-carol-pantomime-2015-the-dress-rehearsal/
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Awesome! Let me go read
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Hi John, I am wishing you a happy new year! Greetings from the currently colder half of the planet.
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Cheers, my friend, and a huge happy new years to you, too! Hope you also had a wonderful (white?) Christmas.
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Thank you. Christmas was not white, we had something like 12°C. Up to now, there is no winter, at least not what we used to call winter. It is like this in most years since the late 1980s and getting warmer on everage every year.
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Seasons aren’t behaving down here, either. I think the sun must be getting closer to the earth. Can’t be any other explanation 😉
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“Can’t be any other explanation”
Considering, John, that the sun is a relatively stationary object, wouldn’t it be less egocentric – to which all humans are prone, else why would some humans believe that we are made in the image of their god? – to hold that the earth may be moving closer to the sun?
(No doubt greenhouse gasses may be playing some small part –)
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Heathen! Why would the earth, the center of the universe and the apple of God’s eye, move toward the sun???
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Hey, he works in mysterious ways —
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It is just God’s will that it is happening like that. Since he took that weather making job over from Thor, Zeus, Jupiter and all those and handed it over to St. Peter, weather is under his control, so everything is all right. 😉
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I feel much better now.
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Absolute ages ago you asked me for recommendations re science fiction novels.First paragraph into tonight’s ponder (remarks on Heinlein”s novel Starship Troopers)finds me breaking away to send this link.With a “duh, why didn’t I think of it sooner”, followed immediately with “duh, I’m sure he thought of it himself” I send you to the complete list of Hugo Award winners since 1953. 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel
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Cool! I’d looked at GoodReads Best 100 list, which produced some good leads, but this list is better.
Have you delved in Robert Reed’s Great Ship novels? Utterly, stupidly, dangerously brilliant.
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Thanks for the suggestion, I was looking for something fresh. Dangerously brilliant is the measure of great science fiction – I’m intrigued 🙂
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John, Nan and Professor Taboo think that Leroyx10 and Bobbie are one in the same. I know they’re not. If they are, I’ve been truly fooled. Let me and them know you’re opinion. $Amen$
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They are the same person. I thought you knew.
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Actually they were both concerned that archaeopteryx was not my real name, and I’ve not met anyone else who has ever questioned that, so while they may not be the same person, I suspect that at least, they know and email each other.
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No, they’re both Roy. He admits as much in a recent post here.
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Are you saying, “they’re both Roy,” or, “they’re both, Roy“? – I ask because I wouldn’t want anyone speculating that my name was Roy.
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Let’s eat Grandpa!
Let’s eat, Grandpa!
Commas, they save lives.
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I agree. Either way, I’ll now refer to Bobbie Jr as Leroy. x10. If he’s not Leroy.x10 he’ll soon grow angry with that. 🙂
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Same person. I only found out a few weeks ago. Strange man.
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Ah. Sneaky fellow. Gets banned on a site under one name, then pops on under the other. The twisted, childish mind at play.
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He’s a strange fellow
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I was once pg gargleblaster —
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I like that. I’ve a confession, I’m SoM.
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My password was slartibartfast.
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I like that, too.
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My monika when I messed around on Fox message boards was Bardfast
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You were on Fox message boards? How is it you’re still sane?
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It was fun, until they shut the whole things down. That was where i first learned there were people, Americans, who believed the earth was 6,000 years old. I thought it was a joke at first, but…
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Yeah, we’re a smart group, ain’t we?
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LOL, not in the north, but I have my doubts about the south 😉
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My son commented on the same site – he was Zaphod Beeblebrox.
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Never came across him. There were some great names, like Teabagging4Jesus
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You wouldn’t have, these were stock message boards.
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He sort of has two “voices” when he writes, too. I don’t think he’s doing it completely on purpose either. Very, very odd, indeed.
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Split personality. That sort of shows up when he gets filthy mad and starts swearing. Completely different person.
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OK! I’m really, really glad that this is all settled! This whole thing last night had me going in circles (not too hard to do).
BTW, Jeff, did you really mean what you said in the comment on my blog about the grandmother and mother thing? You sounded very upset, but you do have a way with words that leaves one wondering at time whether you’re serious or not. 😉
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Yes. I got an email from a hushmail account minutes after apologizing to Leroy that I didn’t know he was Bobbie. The email was filled with cuss words directed at me, and threats against my mother (who’s been dead for many years, btw) and and grandmother (who’s also been dead for many years). Why these 2 people, I don’t know, but the timing of the email and the language in it coupled with the fact it was sent from a hushmail account lead me to greatly believe it came from our friend with many personalities. Hushmail is encrypted and not traceable. Very creepy. The behavior here, with multiple online identities and the use of untraceable emails, is the type of thing online stalkers and pedophiles do. So, I’m outta the mix on your blog for awhile. That email was REALLY creepy.
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That is odd.
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Probably just a coincidence, but the timing was impeccably odd.
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“So, I’m outta the mix on your blog for awhile.”
I can’t believe you’d let him control you like that, it just doesn’t seem like something you’d do.
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It only lasted half a day. I’m back. Just really got weird-ed out, which I usually don’t. Talking about my mother kinda struck a nerve. I drank a lot, so the nerve’s fine now. Could be coincidence, but it sure is odd timing if so.
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Besides, who else — at this particular point in time — would be sending such a message? I think your instincts are right-on. (BTW, glad to see you’re back on my follower list.) 😀
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Yeah. Sorry bout that. Just felt really creeped out when I read that email. I think my instincts are right, too, but I can’t prove it.
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Where is all this happening? Link please
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Here’s the link to the post … https://sayitnow.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/is-the-republican-party-doomed/
I’ve deleted all the comments related to the identity of the individual so it may be very boring now. 😉
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“…you do have a way with words that leaves one wondering at time whether you’re serious or not”
REALLY? I never noticed —
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I’ve no clue what you’re talking about. 🙂
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I agree. His 2 internet identities are different too. I started referring to “Bobbie” as “Leroy”, I even apologized for not realizing he was the same guy, and he stopped responding. Kinda creepy. Internet stalkers and pedophiles do this kinda thing. I tell ya, these bible quotin’ Christian types are not playing with all their marbles intact.
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He said something that got me to thinking he was also SOM, but when I put it to him he denied it.
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He very well might be. There’s strong similarities between the 3 with enough variation to show the split personalities. What a fascinating character. He’s a walking DSM 5.
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So do doctors, but ya don’t see me stickin’ ’em in sentences, do ya?
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Ahh, well… apparently I’ve missed this party by several days. LOL
I had sent you a Gmail John about the very “character(s)” you, Jeff/InspiredBy, ARCHAEOPTERYX1, and Nan are all discussing here. As Jeff is already familiar over on my blog — on 1 page and 1 post — the very topic all of you are sorting out here was manifested on my blog 2-3 days ago.
John, you may want to read my Gmail to you. 🙂
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BTW, I’m Iron Man.
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Hahahaha! Great to meet you Iron Man! Have you seen Ant Man? 😛
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… the movie/film? 😛
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You going to ask about that email you got?
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Just read it
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Replied to your reply. Thank you kindly John.
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Ant Man? That bastard told me his name was Giant Man! Ya simply can’t trust anyone to be honest these days.
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I’m also The Hulk, so don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.
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Naw. Won’t get an honest answer from our pal with the duel identities and I don’t want to encourage more such things.
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I can’t be bothered … but you may get a kick out of it~?
http://jacktheladhub.com/2016/03/15/hijab-the-ultimate-feminist-statement-jack-the-lad/comment-page-1/#comment-115
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Here’s a You Tube clip with Sean Carroll I think you’ll like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlWBsYx0Pag
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That’s great!
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Came home from work to a what the fuck moment and I need to vent, so – tag, you’re it. 🙂 Left a comment on this post,https://sepultura13.me/2016/07/08/still-speechless/#comment-6571 ( mine is the only comment, the next 5 entries are responses from the blog author to my comment. America is bat shit (even if this Canadian was 3 glasses of wine deep when she wrote it ) If the link doesn’t work, let me know and I’ll cut/paste.
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Speak to your white fellows, then, you racist sack of shit.
What the f….? That person went off the rails pretty damn quickly 🙂
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You should be able to get to my blog. Don’t know why you’re not able to.
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Same thing happened earlier on another blog. Let me try and restart the puter
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I sent WP an email on this. My guess is, it may be an issue they’re having. You can access my blog via the WP reader, and by googling it directly. I hate not to get comments now that I’m “Poe’s Lawing” all this Trump stuff. The guy is a meal that simply does not not feeding me. 🙂
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Weird, just tried again and got this message:
The previous page is sending you to an invalid url (http://variouspontifications.wordpress.comgoogle-site-verification:google9ce3f8b2afb4e25a.html).
But like I said, same thing happened with another blog just earlier. Problem must be on my end. Russia might be hacking my computer. I better move those 33,000 emails Aunty H sent me for safe keeping.
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WP is working on it.
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This week, several of Ark’s posts have given me, “Well, This Is Embarassing!” and informed me that that webpage can’t be found. But only on some of his, the rest, no problem.
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There you go… there be ghosts in the material!
How are you, Arch. You been MIA for a while. Everything OK?
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Still waiting for WP to get back to me after they said they’re checking on it. I pay them hundreds of thousands every year for my blog. You’d think things like this wouldn’t happen.
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Yep, just tried again and same result. How odd,. Can’t get to it through email notification, or through your avatar here. You are working in the nude, aren’t you? You know WP doesn’t work properly unless you’re naked.
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Others don’t have that issue. They can get to it through my avatar but not the variouspontifications.com address from the comment section. Very odd. Still waiting on WP. Can you get to my site from your reader or from a Google search? Oh, I’m always naked and sitting in a bath of warm scented oil when I blog. 🙂
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Copy and paste variouspontifications.com into your browser and click on it. Let me know if that works. DAMN! The oil I’m soaking in has gotten to cold. Gotta add more coal to the fire under it.
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Ah now, that worked!
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Url issue’s been fixed. All new comments I leave will have a valid one. Praise Jeebus.
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Thank Jeebus!
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Still leaping into the air and clicking my heels together!
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John- I am now following your blog. Thanks. How did you learn all this stuff? I looked for a biography or something but could not find it using my small, broken and hard to see notebook. I find myself asking myself if I am just slow at learning and remembering things or is everyone else just better at it than me? HaHa.
Very good blog. I would like to know more about you personally if that is OK. -MD
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Hi MD. You’re talking about the stuff here? Product of simple curiosity and a deep love for the Lord Veles: the god of mischief, musicians, and magic… But I can’t play an instrument, or even do a card trick 😉
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Hi John. Yes the stuff you wright. The Lord Veles eh. I will have to look that up on your blog. Any kind of biography? Is that even you in the picture or are you being mischievous? I think I need a new computer and a faster connection. -MD
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Yeah, that’s me, MD. My biography, though, has nothing to do with the content here.
Just scanning through your blog, and I’m sorry to hear about your son. I’d never heard of YL until now, but they sound a little like the Good News Club, which I have written a post or two on. In fact, it’s because of organisations just like that why I started blogging.
I have a great blogging buddy here, Neuronotes, Victoria, who has experienced something along the lines you have. I hope your paths meet.
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John- Doing my regular research on YL I saw that they are established somewhere in your part of the country and noticed that they are talking about expanding their influence there. Bigger and more more more seems to be their style. Neuronotes and I have met a little already. I really need to get a real computer that doesnt lock up and crash regularly. -MD
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My part of the country? I’m Australian, but living in Brazil, MD. Are they down here?
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YL is in both countries and expanding in both. I had noticed that they have a special site just for Brazil and expansion is all that they know. It operates like a pyramid scheme, always building up the bottom with energetic young people while the rich get richer and become “millionaire prophets” with ready made worshipers everywhere. -MD
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Religion is on the decline here, but the evangelical brand is booming, which is really worrying. I’ll look into YL and see what they[re up to.
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Merry Christmas, Jimbo! Writing to wish you a wonderful season, and many more.
https://oldschoolcontemporary.wordpress.com/2016/12/13/oscs-99-problems-with-pagan-parallels-round-one/
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Cheers Oldschool, and I hope Neptune blesses your Christmas season, too!
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Cheers GP, hope your 2017 is remarkable in all the very best ways.
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Thank you very much!
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What’s the deal John? No more new posts? Everything OK?
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All’s fine Roy, Bobby, whoever
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I really like the quote from the Lewis Carroll book. Reminds me of a nice song by George Harrison; “Any Road” If you don’t know where you’re going, any road can take you there.
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I like that, too!
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Morning, on whichever side of the world you are….
Going through your Blogs as I chanced upon a comment or three of yours on another Blog and thought I would come over and see what you are about. Well, such an interesting Blog. You are probably raising your eyebrows and saying ” patronising” but it is fascinating. I don’t subscribe to the Atheistic view (?) but I love the reading’ mental fencing I do in my mind with you and generally the lovely style of prose. I am a mere foot soldier with regards to your writing, but more importantly is that I love your point of view. Absolutely disagree with all of it ( I am a great believer in reincarnation) but its wonderful to get balanced views and opinions, so I shall read more and allow my mind to be opened – but never turned…. 🙂
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Hi Looney. Buddhists are atheists, and they believe in reincarnation, so there’s no problem there. A-theism is simply the absence of belief in the gods. You can be an atheist and also believe in panpsychism (Buddhism is a flavour of this), which could well be true. I’m certainly open to that idea, especially considering it’s what 13.8 billion years of cosmic evolution seems to point to. Long story short, no problem here 🙂
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Yo there back to you. Thanks for the reply and apologies for the delay in replying. I had to look up a lot of the words and means. Fascinating though. I like the idea of panpsychism and spent a hour or four reading this up today. I see you have great followers and so I fear my comments may be too bland, but I shall continue to read and follows. I love a bloke with passion! 🙂
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I really have to get back into posting. And I’m sure your comments are anything but bland.
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I have your Lewis Carroll quote on my screensaver now. It focuses me when I get all ethereal! its a great bit of text to focus the ( wandering) mind. I think you seem to be pretty prolific re posts but they are so complex I need to spend time on them. Makes a change though to read something other than Pussy Posts – oh well onward and upwards
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Pingback: Easter thoughts | unbuttoned or undone
Em! Hope all is well 🙂
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Saw the NZ Prime Minister on Stephen Colbert’s show last night. What a wonderful, human, nice, woman. Lordy be, what a contrast to the horror going on here in the U.S. of MAGA.
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For the love of all that’s holy, don’t let a Kiwi see this comment 😉
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She’s disliked there? could be. I’ve only a first impression.
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I’m Australian. We’re not allowed to speak positively (in public) of our Tasman cousins, the sheep fuckers 🙂
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Ah, right! Sorry, my friend. I got my Aussies confused with my Kiwis! A grievous sin! Please forgive me. 🙂
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Forgiven. But you’re right, she does seem pretty good… Considering the genetic pool she came from 🙂
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Yeah. Hobbits. Off topic, but check this out on possible warp drives. Pretty cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94ed4v_T6YM&index=33&list=WL
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Nice. Getting the energy is always going to be the sticking point. I like the idea of black hole drives. Isaac Arthur has a superb You Tube channel dealing with this stuff.
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I’ll check it out. This type of thing always gets me thinking about advanced civilizations that might have solved this problem already and are using such things. Give us a few hundred years of not killing ourselves, and who knows, eh.
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Hey John, just read the (expected) bad news. Good luck. Maybe The Generals would be better than this bootlicker or the entire corrupt political class, though?
(I kid, I kid. I know how bad the dictatorship was in Brazil. 😦
http://thecurmudgeonly.blogspot.com/2018/10/order-and-progress.html
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Promising to be a wild ride 😦
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Ugh.
Philip seems to follow Brazilian politics like a car crash. This is just a horrific action. He may be worse than The Orange Menace?
http://thecurmudgeonly.blogspot.com/2018/11/at-last-someone-thinks-of-children.html
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Off to a super start, and he’s not even president yet. The Amazon is going to be decimated under this idiot.
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I really like how you say what you say.
Not trying to suck up—as kiss, but I just got your book; “The Owner of all Infernal Names” this week Wednesday and so far all I can say is bloody damn good book sir.
Oh, to go with the Alice quote on this page, check You Tube, George Harrison (yes the former, now dead Beatle) and his song “Any Road”. If you don’t know where you’re going any road will take you there. I really like that song among a great many more.
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Cheers kind sir. Being an apologist for a maximally wicked god is a lot of fun.
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For the fear of being called “gay” I rarely comment on male blogs. However, still, I loved this brief intro of yours in shape of an Alice cartoon. The ones who honestly admit that they don’t know anything are the best learners out there. You just inspired me to write something related to my own blog and I’m going to steal this awesome Alice cartoon image with a proper reference back to you, of course 🙂
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Alice is public property. She needs to be spread far and wide.
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Pingback: I Don’t Know Anything | Notes
The great John Zande pasted away this day of the Lord, March 16, 2021. May his soul rest in peace. He hated the idea of a Creator but in the end succumbed to what we all we do on our death beds…He asked God to forgive him of his foolishness and asked for forgiveness. Rest In Peace my friend.
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Roy, how very sad. Can you email me the details of John’s loss together with his wife’s name and email address. Please! To paulhandover@gmail.com
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Not nice, Roy.
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OMG!!!!! There is an afterlife!!!! Zande speaks from beyond the grave!!! Praise be Jesus!!!! Praise be his name!!!! 😀 I knew that speck of dried cow cum, Roy/Bobby/Peggy Sue was being a cunt. What A smoldering cunt she is!)
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Sorry. I lie. I was really drunk last night. I’m probably going to hell for it.
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That was a stupid action whether you were drunk or not. I had even written a blog post in memory of John. And why when you posted at 1.31 am this morning were you Roy and now you are Ronald? So is John Zande alright?
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I would tend to say he’s fine. I think the bloggers closest to him (and “Roy” or “Ronald” is not one of them) would most certainly know and notify others that follow him in the blog world.
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Very much alive, Nan. And thanks for the block! 🙂
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Thank you, Nan.
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A memory post! Wow, I’m honoured!
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I even gave myself another Nobel Prize in your memory.
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I should expect no less!
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When was John Zande ever alright? Damned cynic … so few of us left … (sniff)
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Hah! There is a God—and the Bugger’s interfering with my replies.
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So why doesn’t my avatar image come up? All I get is a dazzle pattern. Frankly I still blame God, from whom all blessings flow … you know, scorpions, poison ivy, politicians, door-to-door religion salesmen out for their quick buck from the gullib … oops …
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I think because you’re not posting under the original Argus, Dog.
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Thanks, John. I’ll see what I can do — I rather liked the original me.
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I think I’m finally all sorted, here permanently now in the wilds of darkest Norfolk (England). Still posting, still Argus … still wide-eyed and innocent.
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