Saturday, January 31, 2015

Islam clipings

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/hamza-chaoui-s-islamic-community-centre-won-t-get-permit-1.2939069

The anti-terrorism bill unveiled Friday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper includes a section that gives his government the power "to order the removal of terrorist propaganda" from the internet.

"There are non-Muslims who come to our home and tell us, ‘Really, you cut off heads, you cut off hands?' But that’s religion. It’s our religion in our own country. We decide how we implement it," he said in a YouTube video which has since been made private.
'The teachings, if you will, of this imam, they are totally unacceptable in a free and democratic society." - Kathleen Weil, Quebec Immigration Minister
"Philippe Couillard needs to affirm that teachings of that nature are not compatible with our values, and we won’t tolerate them," said Nathalie Roy.

Mayor Denis Coderre says the refusal is not a matter of religious freedom, but rather one of public safety and order.
"It has nothing to do with freedom of speech," Coderre said at a news conference Saturday morning. He described Chauoi as "an agent of radicalization and instigator of social tensions," adding that the imam has "his own agenda" for the site.
Real Menard, mayor of the borough Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, said he will not allow Chauoi to set up in his jurisdiction.
"I'm not going to have any move that will give a place to this imam," Menard said at the same news conference.
Chaoui has made inflammatory and sexist comments in the past. He has also declared Islam and democracy "completely" incompatible.

Mr. Chaoui argues that Islam and democracy are “parallel lines that never intersect” because democracy allows for the election of “an infidel or a homosexual or an atheist who denies the existence of Allah.”

And so it begins in Canada. Islam is not logical. Note: Islam and democracy "completely" incompatible.

Islam has a wider definition of what religion is, what the purview of religion includes that Christianity or most other mainline religions. It includes punishment and laws. Islam was all there was when Mohamed (a general sort of person) was riding his camel across the sands.

Religion should be about doing the right things for the right reasons and knowing the reasons. It should be about developing good character, teaching how to identify character, and what is important for what reason. It should lay out the reasons and allow individuals to pick freely or reject freely, but always with reason. It should be logical and within reason for all. The greatest human characteristic is reason, and we should be using it to make judgements for ourselves, not following the dictates of some long dead.        

Monday, January 26, 2015

Weasels

http://suzanneloomscreativity.blogspot.ca/2015/01/lloyds-bank-quaker-founders-turning-in.html

So the bankers are a bunch of weasels. Reminds me of one of my old bosses. To "raise capital" he sold leased cars to a leasing company and leased them back. AKA. fraud. But by paying two leases....

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Old Power

How many of you are old enough to remember the sound of a hit and miss elevator engine? They have a unique sound. When they are over speed, there governor holds the exhaust valve open. It sounds like this. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5OII6h504

In the background, in this tune, I can hear one. 

Hit and miss engine

Tetris effect?

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Triune Brain, Triune Memory?

Humans have a triune brain which we can also term as primal, unconscious, and conscious. Our recall memory seems to be connected mainly to the conscious. It is my contention that our beliefs are mainly connected to our unconscious brain. The primal should also have a memory portion, and that may be even deeper burred than our beliefs. We can examine ourselves and find what we believe. There are things like the purpose of life test to discover some of them. I have read enough philosophy to answer some of those very differently that I would have, but yet I have no current mission in my life. As I am more of a process person than goal oriented, a mission fit better than a purpose. Until now, my mission has been to get through to retirement, by doing what looks to be the next right thing. So now that I have reached retirement, I am still trying to understand myself, other people and world around me.

So, getting back to mind, memory pairs, we should have a third memory/ storage which stores reflexes and other trained in actions. Is this where the tendency to overeat is stored?  The primitive usually translate the intake of the senses into something meaningful. Vibrating air becomes sound, light reflections become images, molecule vibration becomes heat or cold, smells are identified, as are tastes. The primitive mind translates this to the unconscious/conscious into something we can interpreter, and our beliefs and reason can make use of these adequate impressions or not. It is amazing that this can happen, and mean something to the conscious and rational mind.

We know that a concept can enter the conscious mind either via visual or sound input. It it has foundation, clarity, importance, and is repeated, it can remain in the conscious mind, actively and then into recallable portions. If it is used enough, it can progress into the automatic belief portion of the mind, to the point it is automatic. Beliefs are usually learned over time by social learning, seeing others do, and say, by actions repeated ad infinitum; to infinity. So is primitive brain accessed in similar fashion, or is the information stored chemically, in diverse locations at the source of the signal. What does it matter if the system is broke; there is a problem, if there is no mission.

So once again we come to the same conclusion. Just as long as one is busy doing something, everything will be ok, until it is not, and then it does not matter anyway. The Last Marigold Hotel. Everything will be all right in the end, and it it is not all right, it is not yet the end. When we are returned to where we came from, it will not matter either. In the mean time, positive emotions on.

http://www.buffalostate.edu/orgs/bcp/brainbasics/triune.html

So what happens when the memory goes? Does it just become inactive, or does it go the way of the alzheimer's, a shortage of fat, too much carbohydrate problem? Do we learn to relate to vegetables better?

Saturday, January 17, 2015

PERMA - Fuey

DIY psychology warning

Positive Psychology has a lot to say about a positive emotion state, engagement in life, relationships, meaning, and achievement, acronym PERMA. It takes a positive emotional state as the starting point in the sequence leading to a satisfying life. That is their downfall, they start in the middle, not at the beginning. There is the Losada effect, how flourishing any relationship or situation is as defined by the ration of positive to negatives. When you are starting with a bunch of negatives, it is difficult to see the positives. There are those people which could change any positive into a negative, also to contend with. Some of us are dependent on some of these people; we call them clients or parents.

We need some positive character to take on those negative people we live and work with, to become positive. After a bit, we do not want to be around the negative people. As Harold said, they could suck all the energy out of us at 100 yards. Now what if all we can see is negatives? Now we need to stop seeing the negatives and start seeing the positives, or emphasis the positives, minimize the negatives. In a dangerous situation, we need to identify all the negatives, but to isolate them from us somehow. There is only a simple count in the Losada ratio, nothing about the size of the "charge", but the size should have an impact as well.

How does one generate a positive emotional state?  Positive Psychology does not tell us. Only Stoic philosophy provides the necessary and sufficient direction to achieve mental enjoyment. Epictetus Enchiridion is the place to start. Soon we learn to let go of negative desires, and even positive desires if they are the problem. We learn to separate ourselves from the world, and see the logic basis of all. We learn to understand the adequate impression, the beliefs, the knowledge, the automatic and primal processes separate from the rational processor facility. We see emotions as our automatic reaction to our beliefs, delusions, expectations, frustrations, and learn that we can modify our beliefs, our values, our thinking processes, and a hosts of other things to create a positive mind state, a positive emotional state. This is necessary and sufficient to control our character, and with meaning and engagement is enough to create achievement where fate permits. This is the key to mental joy and satisfaction, which results in a positive emotion. Positive Psychology falls on it's face in the difficult places without the previous understandings. It help successful people to be more so; the bereft and downtrodden are left out.

In the words of Psychology Today,  "Positive psychology is the study of happiness. Psychology traditionally focused on dysfunction: people with mental illness or other psychological problems and how to treat them. Positive psychology, in contrast, is a relatively new field that examines how ordinary people can become happier and more fulfilled." 

Psychology previously was limited to trying to help the people who could not get on with life, usually with limited success. Positive psychology has a much bigger client base, essentially healthy people. It reminds me of the old pharmacy executive who wanted to sell expensive drugs to healthy people to make money. Cholesterol medications were there answer to profits.   

Oh well, life goes on. 

Friday, January 16, 2015

French stiring the shit

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/rallies-against-charlie-hebdo-turn-violent-in-pakistan-jordan-algeria-1.2192008

Now we have Pakistan Islams rioting in protest to the French satire cartoons.  The French sure love to stir the shit. Why did they let the Islams in if they want to beat on their religion? All religion is just idiotic, but why stir it? Ban all religions. Teach reasoning, Stoic philosophy, or any philosophy. Get a good grip on reality and carry on.

The new world order will be reason. anything else is just a story anyway.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

What kind of society are we?

Ultimately, we need to answer for ourselves what kind of a society are we trying to become, before we can judge what is right and wrong in our behavior as a nation. Trudeau tried to promote a "just" society, and multicultural society. That is something that has not happen in a historical sense, but we could try. We must become able to tolerate frustration, and become very resilient to accomplish that lofty goal of a just society. Human nature will control long term. 

A just society would require justice for all, not a select majority culture. Being heard is not sufficient, but the minorities must not be harassed in any form, else they will strike back. There is the problem, Islam, and most religions want to assimilate others; that cannot happen or be allowed in a just society, else the balance of power may be endangered. The dominate society must remain dominate, else there will be unrest. It is not human nature to allow a dominate position to erode. To prevent that, birth control and population growth, by either immigration or conversion must be controlled. That will not be popular, as control is something that few will summit to. A just society, although a loft concept, is not a static condition without control and acceptance by most all.

Satire and other forms of abuse of minorities cannot be permitted to occur, nor can conversion of others. This can fuel decent and other issues.

How tolerant is our society? More tolerant than the French society, perhaps. Everybody must have the right to become a full citizen, with all the rights of citizenship and taxes, but the taxes collected must not be abused else revolt will occur. Betraying the public faith should be a higher level crime, as should fraud, and the like.

Blogs are the only public outlet we have now. These have no impact unless they go viral, and even then, the impact is short lived. Apathy is the common reaction to most things we do not agree with, we just go away. Oh well, we are just doing life anyway.  

Thursday, January 8, 2015

When does satire become abuse?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/08/france-shooting-newspapers-idUSL3N0UN34B20150108

Ultimately, the moors felt abused by the cartoons, and with nothing else to do, lashed back with guns. There was wrong on both sides. How much abuse, bullying, satire, should any religion need to take? Is it the only possible response to lash out at the bullies?

I think all religions are not rational, but rather ways of thinking that are less stressful but wrong; when applied to the difficulties of life, these create a delusion. Life is difficult and contains suffering for most, more suffering for some. Regardless, we should be dealing with reality, not living in some deluded fictional mental state.

That is ultimately the first question to answer is one of what way do you want to live: in a deluded state or dealing with reality? If you do not accept that religion produces a deluded state, well then you are living in a deluded state and blissfully unaware. Go away and be happy in your deluded and unaware state. If you have seen the light, and become aware, perhaps you can answer the question, how much picking should a non-conformist need to endure? If we truly live in a free and open society, can we tolerate any abuse, satire, bullying?

If we are making some feel unwelcome, the first thing that will happen is cultural self-isolation. The culture will isolate itself for there own protection. Is that what you want, a country made up of a bunch of sub-cultures, each separate from the whole? No cross mixing, no trust between the groups, no cooperation between the groups? That is what Canada is becoming. 

We need to take a stance against bullying, including satire, if we want to become a free and open society. Freedom of speech is fine as a principal, but when it starts to damage the society we wish to build, it must be checked, or the society plan needs to be changed. Pick one, both are mutually exclusive.

If you want a homogenous society, that anyone who does not believe the party line is free game for abuse. Is that what you want? Be aware of eccentrics. They hold much of the knowledge of life, and are often not predictable.

So each nation must eventually choose. Free and open, planned one religion, or something in between.
And then we need to limit the children, aka population growth. The one child policy is about right, voluntarily or by force, or taxed or state raised children. 

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Muslims

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/charlie-hebdo-paris-shooting-12-dead-after-gunmen-storm-newspaper-s-hq-1.2892151
Muslin Muslims, all religions. Wake up people. There is no god, at best it is just a concept, based on a dream, a delusion, of what you think life should be like. We are just opportunistic organic animal matter living on a big rock as it whirls about in space. Death is final and real, and there is nothing after death, just like before birth or conception. It does not exist, beyond "as a concept". That is fact. Get used to it.

If we are to get along, we must apply the prime directive and stay out of other peoples space. You can believe whatever shit you want, even if it is wrong. But when you go striking and killing the people that piss you off and harass you, you have gone to far. The harassers also need to give it a rest. All religions bear responsibility for promotion of the right to believe in a god concept.

It is time to get a grip of reality, and give you head a good shake. If anyone pokes fun at the religious, expect a backlash. It is an emotional response to a person who is living in a state of delusion, likely learned delusion. They should be permitted, but not encouraged to continue living in a state of delusion. We need to education them to the reality: we all are just opportunistic animals and must learn to get along if we are going to live in peace.

In Canada, we claim to tolerate any religion, so if that is the case, we could not tolerate the ongoing harassment of any religion. That is what satire really is. So if we were to allow harassment, we would not be tolerating idiot religions very well.

I guess what I am trying to say is there is wrong on both sides here.