Time to face facts and legalize!
Over 6000 kilograms of drugs seized in Rotterdam. https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnos.nl%2Fartikel%2F2486131-grootste-drugsvangst-ooit-in-nederland-douane-vindt-8000-kilo-coke-in-rotterdam%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1rzu227B1OPd7W4XTiiG_r5MTVqyy3qEYTvybiVnrzSq_GelNcNRe8W3Q&h=AT2SgA6mMQBszIZsriTivTgarysmSh5SVa3rqkrw4OYj5lBfzLco4f1Q3QApLReuNyYCXz76IPfWW2_E-qcd_sc-qR5xH9osO_Yj57O35vSvxk6mNUf8jS4qv3-QmRv4CA&__tn__=-UK*F&c[0]=AT2_iHTQk78zFXyh3-PH3arfh1qOpWdPy_CSBDR8Z4VTrc_VNvqtjbLAPblulNeGoe5xjPIyVy7KeSyovlFS-22T0uuqRaCeSaHeiMNNqdf75u-ovtZnpwHxdkhqHqvpXN1abUcEDafGSQa2IBe8LaU5Fag
The proof that the current drug policy does not work. And then not at all, not even a little bit. In fact, it looks like drug crime is driven by the ban and enforcement of it, the cause of the success and existence of drug crime!
The only reason that the profits from drug trade are so large is that criminals want to dominate that trade. Criminals are more assertive and pragmatic when it comes to competition. When the competition is dead, it will quickly stop competing, and its market share will be divided among the still living competitors, who will then make more profit on their products.
Police and government responsible for deaths from drugs-crime!
So here’s a call to police and justice: Every fine, arrest and prosecution of criminals involved in drug trafficking contributes to the nuisance caused by drug crime and the huge profits made by those involved. Every handcuff that is put on the wrists of a drug criminal is stained with the blood of a victim of drug crime. It is the government, police and justice who are responsible for the deaths, injuries and material damage related to drug crime.
Don't blame the user!
It is not the partying citizen who occasionally takes a line or pill or the smoking student who lights up a joint so he can fall asleep on the couch where he has to sleep because there is no housing available.
Criminals won the War on drugs.
And it’s not as if the current drug policy (the ban on it) is successful. On the contrary, the use of and trade in drugs is only increasing. The lack of regulation and criminalization is the cause of nuisance and addiction problems in our society.
Internationally it is even worse!
Since the Mexican government intensified its fight against drug cartels four and a half years ago, more than 34 thousand people have died as a result of drug violence and this drama continues.
Also in the Netherlands, production and use of drugs are prohibited and this costs Dutch society astronomical amounts - according to a conservative estimate more than 17 billion euros annually. The Netherlands - albeit to a lesser extent than the United States - also contributes to instability in countries such as Mexico through its policy.
The Dutch approach, though better than 0 tolerance, isn't working either.
All costs and negative side effects notwithstanding, also in the Netherlands, desired results are not achieved. Drugs are widely available, use does not decrease and the number of new types of drugs continues to increase. It was calculated that legalization of soft drugs in the Netherlands would result in savings of 366 million in nuisance costs. The costs of enforcing drug policy (tracking down, arresting, prosecuting and punishing “criminals”) are not included. The proceeds from any tax levied on cannabis would also be added.
The health and well-being of casual users
In addition, users are now left to the ethical norms and values of criminals for the quality and safety of the drugs they sell. Does a pill contain only MDMA or is there also junk in it like fentanyl? How much of a gram of cocaine is really cocaine and not Rohypnol? That depends only on what the criminal thinks he can get away with without losing customers.
It's nothing new, facts known for decades!
It has been known for years that the benefits are overwhelmingly greater than the disadvantages. Time to save lives and reduce crime nuisance.
The only thing a dealer fears....
The only thing a drug criminal fears is legalization. No better argument to legalize right?
Thank you for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamunu
From Plato and Socrates hanging at the bar in Sparta to NATO's Parliamentary Assembly.
`I know that the nail to readcash's urn was the OpenAI's chatgpt, and it's capability to write almost like a human writer would/could. So an article here about that nail might not be exactly what everyone's waiting for right now.`
`That does not diminish the achievement OpenAI has made or how frigging awesome ChatGPT is. I just shot off some requests at it today and i must say, I am very impressed right now. The choices the AI makes and the direction it takes a story is fascinating. I started out wanting to see if old Plato and Socrates were part of his training.`
I won't spoil it for you but it is frikking absobleetin's legendary entertainment!!
`I didn't want to keep the absolutely awesome intellectual masterpiece that spawned from the joining of Human and AI's furtile womb. That would have been criminally evil and an act against mankind! Enjoy!`
TITLE:
From Plato and Socrates hanging at the bar in Sparta to NATO's Parlaimentary Assembly in the very near future. (next week or something??)
HUMAN (ME):
*In the style of Plato and Socrates write a conversation between the two in which they discus the nature of good and evil, the definition of good and humanity's ultimate purpose, in 3003 words.*
OPENAI'S OPEN INTELLIGENCE OF ARTIFICIAL ORIGINS:
Socrates: Greetings, my dear friend Plato. It is always a pleasure to engage in discourse with you.
Plato: The pleasure is mine, Socrates. What is on your mind today?
Socrates: I have been contemplating the nature of good and evil. What do you believe constitutes the definition of good?
Plato: I believe that good is the highest form of excellence. It is that which is perfect and complete, lacking nothing. It is the ultimate goal to which all things strive.
Socrates: And what of evil? Is it the opposite of good, or does it have its own definition?
Plato: Evil is that which is lacking, that which falls short of good. It is the absence of perfection, the incomplete.
Socrates: And what of humanity's ultimate purpose? Is it to attain good and avoid evil?
Plato: Yes, I believe that is the ultimate purpose of humanity. To attain virtue and wisdom, to live a just and moral life, and to strive for the highest good.
Socrates: But how do we determine what is good and what is evil? Is it subjective, or is there an objective standard?
Plato: I believe that there is an objective standard of good and evil, but it is not always easy to discern. It requires a deep understanding of the nature of things, and the ability to reason and think critically.
Socrates: And what of the role of the state in determining good and evil? Should the state dictate what is right and wrong, or should individuals have the freedom to determine their own morality?
Plato: The state has a crucial role in determining good and evil, for it is responsible for maintaining order and justice. But it should not dictate morality to individuals. Rather, individuals must be educated and guided towards the highest good, so that they may make virtuous choices.
Socrates: And what of the relationship between the individual and the state? Should the individual always obey the state, or are there times when the individual must disobey in order to do what is right?
Plato: The individual must always strive to do what is right, but the state also has a duty to do what is right. There may be times when the individual must disobey the state in order to do what is right, but this should be a rare and extreme circumstance.
Socrates: And what of the relationship between good and evil in the natural world? Is good always triumphant over evil, or is there a balance between the two?
Plato: I believe that there is a balance between good and evil in the natural world, but that good ultimately prevails. It is the natural tendency of things to strive for perfection and completeness.
Socrates: And what of the afterlife? Is there a place for good and evil in the afterlife?
Plato: I believe that there is an afterlife, and that good and evil are still present there. The souls of the virtuous are rewarded with eternal happiness, while the souls of the wicked are punished.
Socrates: And what of the gods? Do they play a role in determining good and evil?
Plato: The gods are the source of all that is good and beautiful in the world. They are the ultimate standard of excellence and the ultimate goal towards which all things strive. They are the source of morality and justice, and they guide and direct us towards the highest good.
Socrates: And what of the ultimate goal of humanity? What is the ultimate purpose of human life?
Plato: The ultimate goal of humanity is to achieve the highest good, to attain virtue and wisdom
`I don't care who or what you are but you're a dumb stupid idiot if you don't agree that i am right, regardless of who's right! Over Time this could easily be mistaken for actual work from Plato... i guess..`
vansilfhout@online.nl
HUMAN(ME):
*Now please write the conversation that would take place between King Richart of Lionheart and Saladin as they secretly meet one on one the eve before the final battle, and they find the transcription of the conversation between Plato and Socrates on the table in the tent. They discuss Plato's and Socrates's statements and try to apply the philosophers philosophies to their own war and how to end it.*
OPENAI'S OPEN INTELLIGENCE OF ARTIFICIAL ORIGINS:
King Richart: Greetings, Saladin. It is an honor to meet with you in person.
Saladin: The honor is mine, King Richart. I have heard much of your reputation as a wise and just ruler.
King Richart: And I have heard much of your reputation as a fair and honorable leader. I understand that we are on the eve of a final battle between our armies.
Saladin: Yes, we are. And I must say, I am troubled by the thought of so much bloodshed.
King Richart: As am I. That is why I have requested this meeting. I believe that there must be a way for us to end this conflict without resorting to violence.
Saladin: I agree. And I see that you have brought a text with you. What is it?
King Richart: It is a transcription of a conversation between two philosophers, Plato and Socrates. They discuss the nature of good and evil, and the ultimate purpose of human life.
Saladin: I am familiar with their works. I have always found them to be wise and insightful.
King Richart: Indeed. And I believe that their philosophies can help us to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
Saladin: I am willing to listen.
King Richart: They discuss the importance of attaining virtue and wisdom, and the ultimate goal of humanity to achieve the highest good. I believe that this is what we must strive for in our own actions.
Saladin: I agree. We must always strive to do what is right, even if it is difficult.
King Richart: And they also discuss the balance between good and evil in the natural world, and the role of the state in determining good and evil. I believe that we must strive for balance in our actions, and that the state must always act in the interest of the people.
Saladin: Yes, we must always strive for balance and justice.
King Richart: And they discuss the importance of the individual in relation to the state. I believe that we must respect the rights and freedoms of the individual, while also ensuring the safety and security of the state.
Saladin: We must always strive to find a balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of the state.
King Richart: And finally, they discuss the afterlife and the role of the gods. I believe that we must always strive to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing our own happiness for the greater good.
Saladin: I agree. We must always strive to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing our own happiness for the greater good.
King Richart: Then we are in agreement. I propose that we work together to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
Saladin: I am willing to work with you, King Richart. Together, I believe that we can find a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
King Richart: Together, I believe that we can achieve the highest good, and bring an end to this war.
Saladin: together we can end this war peacefully.
King Richart: Then let us work together towards this goal.
Saladin: Agreed. Let us work towards a peaceful resolution to this conflict and end this war.
King Richart: And may the gods guide us in our quest for virtue and wisdom.
Saladin: And may the gods guide us in our quest for virtue and wisdom.
The conversation ends with both King Richart and Saladin shaking hands, both of them committed to finding a peaceful resolution to their war
`If you disregard the fact that Richard and Saladin didn't speak the same language and that Saladin probably couldn't be om one enclosed space with Richard without vomitting as he smelled the Christian, and forget they spoke different languages, I could buy this being their conversation right?`
HUMAN(ME):
*Please do the same, only this time have the debate use the transcription of the conversation between Lionheart and Saladin, and the participants in the debate be the NATO parliamentary council meeting which is assembled to discuss NATO's response to the destruction of a Leopard 2 tank battalion and an M1A2 Abrams tank battalion the day before near Mariopol.*
February 14th 2023, Bruxxelles, NATO Hearquarters.
Moderator: Good morning, and welcome to today's NATO parliamentary council meeting. Today we will be discussing NATO's response to the destruction of a Leopard 2 tank battalion and an M1A2 Abrams tank battalion near Mariopol. We will begin with opening statements, and then we will proceed to a debate and Q&A session.
Representative 1: I believe that we must respond with force to this attack. We cannot allow our enemies to destroy our military assets without consequences.
Representative 2: I disagree. I believe that we must seek a peaceful resolution to this conflict. We cannot afford to escalate the situation further.
Moderator: I see that you both bring valid points to the discussion. May I remind you that we have a transcript of a conversation between King Richart of Lionheart and Saladin on the table in front of us. It is a conversation that took place the night before the final battle between their armies, in which they discuss the nature of good and evil, and the ultimate goal of human life.
Representative 1: I understand that, but we must remember that we are dealing with an enemy that is not willing to seek a peaceful resolution.
Representative 2: I agree that the enemy is not willing to seek a peaceful resolution, but that does not mean that we should not try. King Richart and Saladin, in their conversation, agreed that they must always strive to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing their own happiness for the greater good.
Representative 3: And they also discussed the importance of attaining virtue and wisdom, and the ultimate goal of humanity to achieve the highest good. We must strive for this in our actions, and not let emotions cloud our judgment.
Representative 4: They also discussed the balance between good and evil in the natural world and the role of the state in determining good and evil. We must strive for balance in our actions and ensure that we are acting in the interest of the people.
Representative 5: And they discussed the importance of the individual in relation to the state. We must respect the rights and freedoms of the individual while also ensuring the safety and security of the state.
Representative 6: And finally, they discussed the afterlife and the role of the gods. We must always strive to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing our own happiness for the greater good.
Moderator: I believe that it is clear that King Richart and Saladin's conversation has much to teach us. I propose that we take their wisdom into consideration as we proceed with this discussion and make our decision on how to respond to the destruction of the tank battalions.
Representative 1: I agree. We must consider their wisdom as we make our decision.
Representative 2: Yes, let us strive to make a decision that is just and moral.
The debate continues, with the council members referencing the conversation between King Richart and Saladin as they discuss and deliberate on the appropriate course of action for NATO to take. Ultimately, they reach a decision that reflects the principles of attaining virtue and wisdom, balance and justice, and the ultimate goal of achieving the highest good.
Angry about and the solution for Star Wars.
Let me start with stating:
I know I'm weird about Star Wars, and I sometimes go off on tangents that people think are nonsense. But I'm getting more and more angry about the news about the Star Wars franchise. I'm worried that my heart valve will stop working if I get too angry. The only way I know to deal with my anger is to write about it.
`Oh, and you really should check out these awesome sponsors!`
<$>
I have to take off some pressure from my anger.
After I write about my anger, I feel better. I can step back and see the big picture. I can see how to make the Star Wars franchise better for everyone.
Kennedy is pushing a woke agenda.
I'm worried that Kathleen Kennedy is trying to push her woke feminism into the Star Wars universe. She's said things like "Star Wars has to change. Women will make a huge difference in the stories we are trying to tell." And she's been pounding on the supposed misogyny in Star Wars. And i've kept quiet a long time now but i've got to get it out, before i explode.
Kathleen Kennedy Nearly Destroyed Star Wars
Before you freak out, hear me out! (yes, i noticed you toxic explosive types, gasping as you reached for your keyboards!! Shoo! Shoo! Down! Down!!)
Consider this:
When Kathleen Kennedy took over as president of Lucasfilm in 2012, she was tasked with revitalizing the Star Wars franchise. However, her decision to allow Rian Johnson to have full creative freedom to do what he wanted with Star Wars Episode VIII nearly destroyed the franchise.
Johnson's film, The Last Jedi, was a divisive one, to say the least. It broke from the established continuity of the Star Wars universe, and it featured a number of controversial plot points, such as the death of Luke Skywalker and the revelation that Rey's parents were nobodies.
Devided Fandom:
Many fans were disappointed with The Last Jedi, and they felt that it betrayed the spirit of Star Wars. They accused Johnson of disrespecting the franchise's history, and they argued that his film was a cynical attempt to subvert expectations.
We can all agree that:
Kennedy's decision to give Johnson so much creative freedom was a major mistake. She should have reined him in and ensured that his film was more faithful to the Star Wars universe. As a result of her decision, The Last Jedi alienated a large number of fans, and it damaged the franchise's reputation.
And here is the clarity i've told you i'd have after writing it off!
Dave Filoni Would Be a Better Fit
In contrast to Johnson, Dave Filoni is a lifelong fan of Star Wars. He has a deep understanding of the franchise's history and lore, and he is passionate about creating stories that are true to the spirit of Star Wars.
https://youtu.be/xX-752-WTUo
Filoni has already proven himself to be a capable storyteller. He has created some of the best Star Wars television shows ever made, including The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. His work has been praised by fans and critics alike, and it has helped to revitalize the Star Wars franchise.
If Kennedy were to step down as president of Lucasfilm, Filoni would be a natural choice to replace her, at least as far as the Star Wars Legacy and future is concerned. He has the experience, the passion, and the understanding of the Star Wars universe that it takes to lead the franchise into the future, but maybe not Lucasfilm. His experience might be on the light side for running Lucasfilm completely, and might be better off concentrating on Star Wars.
Summarizing the above:
Kathleen Kennedy's decision to allow Rian Johnson to have full creative freedom nearly destroyed Star Wars. Dave Filoni would be a better fit to lead the franchise into the future. He is a lifelong fan of Star Wars, he has a deep understanding of the franchise's history and lore, and he is passionate about creating stories that are true to the spirit of Star Wars.
On a personal level.
I know that Kathleen Kennedy has been in the industry for 4 decades, and she's been responsible for classic and legendary movies like E.T. and Back to the Future. But I'll never forgive her for Episode VIII, and for forcing Vice Admiral Holdo on us.
I'm worried about the future of Star Wars. I want to see a franchise that's for everyone, not just for a certain group of people. I want to see a franchise that's true to its roots.
Recently there were rumors that she had been fired by Disney, but those rumors seem to have been false.
So if we're not going to get rid of her just yet...
I hope that Kathleen Kennedy will listen to the fans and change her direction for Star Wars. I hope that she'll stop pushing her woke feminism and start making movies that everyone can enjoy.
But i think that there are few that would disagree with my ultimate solution for fixing both Lucasfilm and Star Wars, and ensuring a bright and successfull future for the Star Wars Franchise.
The Final Solution:
Dave Filoni and John Favreau: The Perfect Duo to Lead Star Wars
Dave Filoni and John Favreau are two of the most important figures in the Star Wars universe today. Filoni is a lifelong fan of the franchise who has worked on some of its most beloved animated shows, including The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Favreau is a successful filmmaker who brought The Mandalorian to life, one of the most critically acclaimed and popular Star Wars projects in recent memory.
Both Filoni and Favreau have a deep understanding of the Star Wars universe and its fans. They are also both passionate about creating stories that are true to the spirit of Star Wars. However, they have different strengths and weaknesses that would make them ideal for different roles within Lucasfilm.
Filoni is a master storyteller with a gift for creating memorable characters and worlds. He is also a skilled animator and director. However, he is not as experienced in running a large organization like Lucasfilm.
Favreau is a talented producer and director with a knack for bringing together talented teams and making great movies. He is also experienced in running a large organization, having served as the president of Marvel Studios for several years. However, he is not as familiar with the Star Wars universe as Filoni is. https://www.boredbutton.com/
The ideal situation would be for Filoni to be in charge of the creative direction of Star Wars, while Favreau handles the overall leadership of Lucasfilm. This would allow Filoni to focus on creating great stories, while Favreau would ensure that those stories are produced and marketed effectively.
Together, Filoni and Favreau would be the perfect team to lead Star Wars into the future. They have the skills, experience, and passion to create stories that will excite and entertain fans for years to come.
Ergo Conclusio infigo Disputatio
Dave Filoni and John Favreau are two of the most talented people working in the Star Wars universe today. They have the skills, experience, and passion to create great stories that will excite and entertain fans for years to come. The ideal situation would be for Filoni to be in charge of the creative direction of Star Wars, while Favreau handles the overall leadership of Lucasfilm. This would allow Filoni to focus on creating great stories, while Favreau would ensure that those stories are produced and marketed effectively. Together, Filoni and Favreau would be the perfect team to lead Star Wars into the future. https://www.pointerpointer.com/
*Help us Favreau and Feloni, you're our only hope!*
I am a realist, and i know that this rant or anything else i say write or do will have no effect on anything mentioned in this article. I know that I'm just one person, but I hope that my voice will be heard. I just know that if enough voices keep saying the same thing even the likes of Chapek (or whatever the chief of Mouse Incorperated's name is) have to hear and listen.
Thank you for reading this!
Stay safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamun
Voor mijn zoon's geschiedenis lessen!
Duitsland begint bij Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) – “IJzeren Kanselier” van Duitsland
Architect van het Duitse keizerrijk
Auteur: Enne Koops https://historiek.net/author/enne-koops/
15 september 2022
Biografieën/Duitsland/Politieke geschiedenis https://historiek.net/c/biografieen/ https://historiek.net/c/landen/duitsland/ https://historiek.net/c/politieke-geschiedenis/
5 minuten leestijd
Otto von Bismarck (Franz von Lenbach, 1890)
**De Duitse staatsman Otto von Bismarck vervulde een centrale rol bij de totstandkoming van het Duitse Keizerrijk in 1871. Van 1862 tot 1890 was hij minister-president van** **Pruisen** **en voerde hij een realistische buitenlandse** **politiek****, gericht op een Europees machtsevenwicht. Dit duurde tot Bismarck in 1890 door keizer Wilhelm II ontslagen werd. Daarna voer** **Duitsland** **een** **imperialistische** **koers, die bekend is komen te staan als** ***Weltpolitik*****.** https://historiek.net/geschiedenis-oude-pruisen-teutoonse-orde/154397/ https://historiek.net/c/politieke-geschiedenis/ https://historiek.net/geschiedenis-van-duitsland-2/ https://historiek.net/imperialisme-betekenis-voorbeelden/84931/
Jeugd, opleiding en privéleven van Bismarck (1815-1847)
Bismarck in 1836
Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck werd op 1 april 1815 geboren in een familie van aristocratische afkomst. Hij kwam ter wereld in Schönhausen, een plaats ten westen van Berlijn. Hij was de vierde zoon van de landeigenaar Ferdinand von Bismarck (1771-1845) en diens vrouw Wilhelmine Mencken (1789-1839). https://historiek.net/aristocratie-kenmerken-betekenis/80073/
Bismarck volgde onderwijs op een prestigieuze school in Berlijn en vervolgde zijn opleiding in 1832 met een studie rechten aan de Universiteit van Göttingen, waar hij één jaar onderwijs volgde. Daarna vervolgde hij zijn studie aan de Universiteit van Berlijn. Bismarck diende daarna korte tijd in het Pruisische leger, waar hij zich opwerkte tot officier. Rond zijn vijfentwintigste keerde hij terug naar zijn familie om daar te assisteren na het overlijden van zijn moeder.
Op 28 juli 1847 trouwde Bismarck met Johanna von Puttkamer. Samen kregen ze drie kinderen: Marie (1848-1926), Herbert (1849–1904) en Wilhelm (1852-1901). https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_von_Bismarck https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_von_Bismarck
Begin politieke carrière (1847-1862)
Vanaf 1847 was Bismarck lid van de Pruisische *Landtag*, een Pruisisch parlement. Bismarcks politieke denken werd bepaald door het Pruisisch nationalisme en conservatisme. Bismarck was een royalist, die geloofde in de monarchie. Hij had een afkeer van politieke stromingen als het liberalisme, de democratie en het socialisme. https://historiek.net/nationalisme-patriottisme-chauvinisme/80568/ https://historiek.net/monarchie-betekenis-en-kenmerken/138616/ https://historiek.net/democratie-betekenis-kenmerken/82679/
In 1851 werd Otto von Bismarck Pruisisch ambassadeur in Sint-Petersburg en Parijs, en gaf zijn positie in de *Landtag* op. In 1861 werd Wilhelm I koning van Pruisen en een jaar later werd Bismarck benoemd tot minister-president en minister van Buitenlandse Zaken. In deze posities gaf de ‘IJzeren Kanselier’ blijk van uitstekende diplomatieke vaardigheden.
*Blut und Eisen*-speech (1862) van Bismarck
Op 30 september 1862 hield Otto von Bismarck, die toen net minister-president van Pruisen was, een beroemd geworden speech. Deze toespraak is bekend geworden als de *‘Blut und Eisen’* (Bloed en IJzer)-speech. Bismarck zei in zijn speech onder meer:
“Preußen muß seine Kraft zusammenfassen und zusammenhalten auf den günstigen Augenblick, der schon einige Male verpaßt ist; Preußens Grenzen nach den Wiener Verträgen sind zu einem gesunden Staatsleben nicht günstig; nicht durch Reden oder Majoritätsbeschlüsse werden die großen Fragen der Zeit entschieden – das ist der große Fehler von 1848 und 1849 gewesen – sondern durch Eisen und Blut.”
Bismarck als de IJzeren Kanselier, met een Pickelhaube op het hoofd (1880)
De woorden *Blut und Eisen* werden een beroemde metafoor om de politiek van Bismarck mee aan te duiden. Eenheid moest niet bereikt worden door onderling overleg, meende hij, maar door geweld en dwang van de sterkste. Bismarck was conservatief en een overtuigde nationalist. Eenwording moest niet via een revolutie bereikt worden, maar van ‘bovenaf’ opgelegd worden. Bismarck maakte zich dan ook sterk om de Duitsers zo nationalistisch mogelijk te maken en zo de eenwording te bewerkstelligen. Zo liet hij onder meer veel standbeelden neerzetten van historische Germaanse helden en creëerde hij gezamenlijke vijanden.
Bismarcks oorlogen en de Duitse eenwording
Vanaf 1864 begon Bismarck enkele oorlogen om de Pruisische macht uit te breiden. Hij viel Denemarken aan om de Duitssprekende gebieden van Sleeswijk-Holstein in handen te krijgen. In juni en juli 1866 was Pruisen in oorlog met Oostenrijk. De oorlog werd gewonnen door Pruisen. In 1870-1871 volgde de Frans-Duitse Oorlog, die eveneens door Pruisen werd gewonnen. Frankrijk capituleerde op 28 januari 1871, waarna Frankrijk Elzas-Lotharingen verloor en flinke herstelbetalingen aan Duitsland moest voldoen. https://historiek.net/c/landen/denemarken/ https://historiek.net/c/landen/frankrijk-geschiedenis/
De overwinning op Frankrijk maakte in de Duitse gebieden veel nationalistische gevoelens los, terwijl de Duitse vorsten eensgezind waren vanwege de gezamenlijk strijd tegen Frankrijk.
Proclamatie van keizer Wilhelm I (Oprichting van het Duitse Rijk) op 18 januari 1871 met Bismarck als centraal figuur in een wit uniform in de Spiegelzaal van Versailles. – Anton von Werner
Met de overwinning op Frankrijk in zicht, werd koning Wilhelm I van Pruisen op 18 januari 1871 in de Spiegelzaal in Versailles uitgeroepen tot Duitse keizer. Bismarck werd Rijkskanselier van Duitsland en had intern veel macht. De buitenlandse politiek die Bismarck in de twee daaropvolgende decennia zou voeren was voorzichtig. Als Realpolitiker kende hij de krachten van landen als Rusland, Frankrijk en Engeland, en daarom weigerde Bismarck een koloniale politiek te voeren. https://historiek.net/c/landen/rusland-geschiedenis/
Gedurende de jaren 1870 richtte Bismarcks zich op het versterken van het Duits nationalisme. Via de *Kulturkampf* (1872-1879) bestreed hij de machtige Rooms-Katholieke Kerk (met name in Pruisen). Zo schafte hij het rooms-katholieke trouwen voor de kerk af en gooide hij weerspannige priesters en bisschoppen in de gevangenis of zette hen het land uit. In juli 1872 verbande hij de jezuïeten uit Pruisen en daarna liet Bismarck bijvoorbeeld ook alle kloosterorden verbieden. In de jaren 1880 streefde Bismarck naar de opbouw van een Duitse welvaartsstaat. Hij verbeterde de nationale gezondheidszorg en zette een systeem van verzekeringen en pensioenen op.
Ontslag en laatste levensjaren
In 1888 overleed keizer Wilhelm I, die opgevolgd werd door keizer Wilhelm II. Deze keizer was liet zich, anders dan zijn voorganger, niet door Bismarck de wet voorschrijven. Op 18 maart 1890 trad Bismarck onder druk van Wilhelm II af als Reichskanzler, op 75-jarige leeftijd. https://historiek.net/waarom-otto-von-bismarck-werd-ontslagen/46666/
Naarmate hij ouder werd, zo schrijft biograaf Jonathan Steinberg in de biografie *Bismarck: A Life*, takelde de hypochondrische Bismarck verder en verder af, zowel lichamelijk als psychisch.
Otto von Bismarck overleed op 30 juli 1898, in Friedrichsruh.
**Lees ook:** Hoe Bismarck zijn positie als rijkskanselier kwijtraakte https://historiek.net/waarom-otto-von-bismarck-werd-ontslagen/46666/
**Lees ook:** Het Duitse Driekeizerjaar (1888) https://historiek.net/het-duitse-driekeizerjaar-1888/54233/
**Boek:** Bismarck – Grondlegger van het verenigd Duitsland https://geschiedenis-winkel.nl/p/bismarck/
Enkele citaten van Otto von Bismarck
“Ich suche die preußische Ehre darin, daß Preußen vor allem sich von jeder schmachvollen Verbindung mit der Demokratie entfernt halte.”
– Ik zoek de Pruisische eer hierin, dat Pruisen zich vóór alles verre houdt van elke smadelijke verbinding met de democratie (uitgesproken op 3 december 1850)
“Setzen wir Deutschland, so zu sagen, in den Sattel. Reiten wird es schon können.”
– Laten we Duitsland, om zo te zeggen, in het zadel helpen. Rijden kan het al wel (uitgesproken op 11 maart 1867)
“Die Liebe der Türken und Deutschen zueinander ist so alt, daß sie niemals zerbrechen wird.”
– De liefde tussen de Turken en Duitsers is zo oud, dat deze nooit verbroken zal worden (uitgesproken in augustus 1871) https://historiek.net/c/landen/turkije-geschiedenis/
“Seien Sie außer Sorge, nach Kanossa gehen wir nicht, weder körperlich noch geistig”
– Weest u maar niet bezorgd. Naar Canossa gaan we niet, noch lichamelijk, noch geestelijk (uitgesproken 14 mei 1872) https://historiek.net/naar-canossa-gaan/22450/
“Es wird bei uns Deutschen mit wenig so viel Zeit todtgeschlagen wie mit dem Biertrinken.”
– Wij Duitsers doden met weinig anders zoveel tijd, dan met bierdrinken (uitgesproken op 28 maart 1881)
“So lange ich Reichskanzler bin, treiben wir keine Kolonialpolitik”
– Zolang ik Rijkskanzelier ben, voeren we geen koloniale politiek – uitgesproken in 1881
En meteen daarna gebeurde natuurlijk.. ;-)
Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918)
Duitsland, Amerika en de onbeperkte duikbotentoorlog https://historiek.net/duitsland-amerika-en-de-onbeperkte-duikbotentoorlog/45719/
Het verdrag van Versailles en de Duitse herstelbetalingen https://historiek.net/het-verdrag-van-versailles-en-de-duitse-herstelbetalingen/44977/
De Britse rol bij het ontstaan van de Eerste Wereldoorlog https://historiek.net/de-britse-rol-bij-het-ontstaan-van-de-eerste-wereldoorlog/47195/
Zimmermanntelegram (16 januari 1917) https://historiek.net/zimmermanntelegram-eerste-wereldoorlog/76645/
Ondertekening wapenstilstand Eerste Wereldoorlog (1918) https://historiek.net/ondertekening-wapenstilstand-eerste-wereldoorlog-1918/38466/
Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937) – Duitse generaal en politicus https://historiek.net/erich-ludendorff-1865-1937/69385/
De eerste gifgasaanval van de Eerste Wereldoorlog https://historiek.net/de-eerste-gifgasaanval-tijdens-de-eerste-wereldoorlog/47776/
Duitsland maakte Russische revolutie mede mogelijk https://historiek.net/duitsland-maakte-russische-revolutie-mede-mogelijk/69365/
De ondergang van de Duitse vloot te Scapa Flow https://historiek.net/de-ondergang-van-de-duitse-vloot-te-scapa-flow/46826/
→ **Algemene pagina over de Eerste Wereldoorlog** https://historiek.net/c/eerste-wereldoorlog/
Weimarrepubliek (1919-1933)
De Weimarrepubliek is de benaming voor de periode vanaf 1919, na het einde van het Duitse Keizerrijk (1817-1919). Tijdens de Weimarrepubliek was Duitsland voor het eerst een volwaardige, maar instabiele democratie. Met name de hyperinflatie in de jaren 1920 en de crisis van de jaren 1930 brachten de Weimarrepubliek aan het wankelen en uiteindelijk ten val.
De Weimarrepubliek (1918-1933) – Een mislukt democratisch experiment https://historiek.net/weimarrepubliek-samenvatting/71653/
Rijksdagbrandverordening & Machtigingswet (1933) https://historiek.net/machtigingswet-rijksdagbrandverordening-1933-hitler/79551/
Dolkstootlegende – een militaire complottheorie https://historiek.net/dolkstootlegende-duitsland-woi/76699/
De Spartakusopstand (1919) https://historiek.net/spartakusopstand-1919-duitsland/71535/
Kapp-Putsch (13-17 maart 1920) https://historiek.net/kapp-putsch-luttwitz-erhardt-1920/76742/
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) – Duitse schrijver https://historiek.net/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/68985/
De Lebensraum-theorie van de Duitse koloniale beweging https://historiek.net/de-lebensraum-van-de-duitse-koloniale-beweging/68494/
Und jezt kommen die Kamelen! Oftewel Adolf uit de bocht.
Nazi-Duitsland (1933-1945)
Nazi-Duitsland, ook wel het Derde Rijk genoemd, werd geregeerd door een nationaalsocialistische regime onder leiding van dictator Adolf Hitler. Kenmerkend voor deze periode in de Duitse geschiedenis waren politieke onderdrukking en racistische vervolging van met name Joden. De buitenlandse politiek was gericht op de annexatie van aangrenzende gebieden (Anschluss van Oostenrijk, Sudetenland). De Duitse aanval op Polen (1939) vormde de directe aanleiding voor het uitbreken van de Tweede Wereldoorlog.
Hakenkruis-vlag
Marinus van der Lubbe (1909-1934) en de Rijksdagbrand https://historiek.net/marinus-van-der-lubbe-1909-1934/389/
Nacht van de Lange Messen (de Röhm-Putsch) https://historiek.net/nacht-van-de-lange-messen-rohm-putsch/72689/
Rijksdagbrandverordening & Machtigingswet (1933) https://historiek.net/machtigingswet-rijksdagbrandverordening-1933-hitler/79551/
Reichskristallnacht (1938) https://vandaagindegeschiedenis.nl/9-november/
De Anschluss (1938) https://vandaagindegeschiedenis.nl/12-maart/
1936: De Olympische Spelen van Adolf Hitler https://historiek.net/1936-olympische-spelen-adolf-hitler-berlijn/61090/
Jodenvervolging tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog https://historiek.net/c/tweede-wereldoorlog/jodenvervolging/
Concentratiekamp Auschwitz https://historiek.net/thema/auschwitz/
De 43 hondenlevens van Adolf Hitler https://historiek.net/de-43-hondenlevens-van-adolf-hitler/38770/
De Waffen-SS – Het Europese leger van de nazi’s https://historiek.net/de-waffen-ss-tweede-wereldoorlog/65310/
Propaganda van de nazi’s tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog https://historiek.net/nationaal-socialistische-propaganda/49085/
Duitsers als daders en slachtoffers https://historiek.net/duitsers-als-daders-en-slachtoffers/58521/
Zo zien Ariërs eruit (1943) https://historiek.net/zo-zien-ariers-eruit-1943/68314/
Het duivelspact tussen Hitler en Stalin https://historiek.net/het-duivelspact-tussen-hitler-en-stalin/60893/
Mein Kampf – Het verboden boek van Adolf Hitler https://historiek.net/mein-kampf-adolf-hitler/60601/
Het Ardennenoffensief, de slag om de Ardennen (1944-1945)
https://historiek.net/het-ardennenoffensief/47080/
Proces van Neurenberg – De berechting van nazileiders https://historiek.net/thema/proces-van-neurenberg/
Hoe verging het de kinderen van bekende nazi-leiders? https://historiek.net/hoe-verging-het-de-kinderen-van-bekende-nazi.../53614/
→ **Algemene pagina over de Tweede Wereldoorlog** https://historiek.net/c/tweede-wereldoorlog/
Kopstukken
Adolf Hitler – Joseph Goebbels – Heinrich Himmler – Reinhard Heydrich – Hermann Göring – Eva Braun – Houston Stewart Chamberlain – Arthur Seyss-Inquart – Rudolf Hess – Josef Mengele – Albert Konrad Gemmeker – Alfred Rosenberg https://historiek.net/adolf-hitler-fuhrer-derde-rijk/60303/ https://historiek.net/joseph-goebbels-minister-propaganda/3057/ https://historiek.net/heinrich-himmler-leider-ss-nazi/65663/ https://historiek.net/zo-kwam-de-slager-van-praag-aan-zijn-eind/44718/ https://historiek.net/hermann-goring-nazi-oorlogsmisdadiger/65997/ https://historiek.net/eva-braun-1912-1945/5511/ https://historiek.net/houston-stewart-chamberlain-1855-1927/65740/ https://historiek.net/arthur-seyss-inquart-1892-1946/66184/ https://historiek.net/rudolf-hess-nsdap-plaatsvervanger-hitler/68835/ https://historiek.net/josef-mengele-der-todesengel/49643/ https://historiek.net/das-kind-muss-doch-sterben/21071/ https://historiek.net/alfred-rosenberg-ideoloog-nazis/68708/
→ **Meer biografieën van kopstukken uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog** https://historiek.net/c/biografieen/woii-bios/
Tsja, whatever happened to Duitsland eigenlijk?
Na-oorlogs Duitsland (1945-heden)
Na de Tweede Wereldoorlog werd Duitsland opgedeeld in vier bezettingszones. Uiteindelijk ontstonden twee ‘Duitslanden’: de Bondsrepubliek Duitsland (BRD) en de Duitse Democratische Republiek (DDR). Na de Val van de Berlijnse Muur in 1989 was de hereniging van de twee Duitslanden al snel een feit.
Angela Merkel
Beelden van een verwoeste stad | Berlijn, juli 1945 https://historiek.net/beelden-van-een-verwoeste-stad-berlijn-juli-1945/59168/
D-Mark & Ostmark https://historiek.net/d-mark-duitse-mark-ostmark-ddm/76088/
“Wir haben es nicht gewusst” – De Duitsers en de Holocaust https://historiek.net/wir-haben-es-nicht-gewusst-de-duitsers-en-de-holocaust/63703/
Operatie Black Tulip – “Weg met de moffen!” https://historiek.net/operatie-black-tulip-weg-met-de-moffen/63636/
Het Wirtschaftswunder – Het economische wonder van West-Duitsland https://historiek.net/wirtschaftswunder-economisch-wonder-west-duitsland/74570/
Het wonder van naoorlogs Duitsland https://historiek.net/het-wonder-van-naoorlogs-duitsland/57261/
23 april 1949 – Nederland annexeert delen van Duitsland https://vandaagindegeschiedenis.nl/23-april/
De Stalin-nota van 1952 – Een vroege kans op een Duitse hereniging? https://historiek.net/stalinnota-maart-1952-duitsland/147900/
Konrad Adenauer – Eerste bondskanselier van West-Duitsland https://historiek.net/konrad-adenauer-1876-1967/1839/
De Staatssicherheitsdienst (Stasi) van de DDR https://historiek.net/staatsicherheitsdienst-stasi/6032/
De annexatie van Duits grondgebied, 1945-1949 https://historiek.net/annexatie-van-duits-grondgebied/64424/
Berlijnse Muur (1961-1989) https://historiek.net/berlijnse-muur/1849/
Het tienpuntenplan van Helmut Kohl voor de Duitse hereniging https://historiek.net/tienpuntenplan-helmut-kohl-duitse-hereniging-1989/106782/
(Neue) Ostpolitik – Brandts ontspanningspolitiek https://historiek.net/ostpolitik-neue-willy-brandt-1970/76285/
Conrad Schumann, de Duitse soldaat die naar de vrijheid sprong (1961) https://historiek.net/conrad-schumann-de-duitse-soldaat-die-naar-de-vrijheid-sprong/72191/
3 oktober 1990 – De twee Duitslanden worden herenigd https://vandaagindegeschiedenis.nl/3-oktober/
Brandenburger Tor, symbool voor herenigd Duitsland https://historiek.net/brandenburger-tor-berlijn-2/60790/
Angela Merkel, de ‘ongekroonde leider van Europa’ https://historiek.net/angela-merkel-politieke-biografie/70621/
Und die Zukunft? Den werden sie alle mit schreiben!!!!
This is goodbye. *crying now*
https://youtu.be/x26RZetMdek?t=40
This will be, most probably, the last post I will put up on this site.
It pains me to say it, but the motivation for writing here, for me, is gone. And it's not the money, even though a majority of you will think so.
Why then?
I have a lot of articles on this site, and, thanks to the generosity of Mr. Marc DeMesel, received enough rewards to be life changing. Literally. I went from so deep in debt that even with the government debt help program it was assumed I'd not be able to be debt free before i died.
SAVED ME AND MY SON!
Now, not 2 years later, i am 2 months from being debt free and 5 months from having the debt restrictions rescinded and being free to make my own decisions financially like any other person. And without a doubt 90% of that miracle turnaround wouldn't have been possible without read.cash, Randy and @MarcDeMesel@MarcDeMesel
But neither Mr DeMesel or Randy were the reasons why i liked, no loved, posting on this site. It was YOU, and the community here on readcash.
The community was/is unique!
I mean, I've had discussions here in the comments about religion even, which were pretty heated, but still remained civil and respectful. At least in my perception.
I've thought a lot the past few weeks/months about what it was that made the community what it was. I have yet to come up with an answer that makes sense.
Not Perfect though
One of the less fortunate traits of posting articles here was that the articles in which you had put hours of research and editing and you thought were some of the best writing you'd ever done could just simply bomb, getting under 10 view, no comments and no reward. Then you put up something that you threw together in an hour with no effort at all, and you'd get hundreds of views, comments and A visit from Randy. And everyone that said they had figured out Randy's algo lies!
ChatGPT came just a couple of months too late... or something.
I Still think it's a shame about the timing for the demise and what will eventually be the shutdown of readcash. I think that it would not be an especially hard thing to figure out how to let an AI like ChatGPT3 or 4 take on the task of weeding out the scam, spam and copy paste articles, turning the AI from one of the causes for the site's doom into the salvation of the site and original content.
Matters no more
I guess it doesn't matter anymore at this point. The site's dead, or dying, and there's only a shadow of the community left stubbornly refusing to give up. Most have found other sites which pay (however laughably little that may be compared to read.cash) for their articles and they're not coming back unless they know they can get better returns on their efforts than they are getting now.
I personally have more or less stopped writing and I'm certainly not posting anything anywhere. I have yet to come across anything even resembling readcash in ease of use and/or community that feels inviting and fun to be part of.
So for now, this is goodbye. I want, for one last time, express my humongous huge gratitude to the creator of readcash, @MarcDeMesel, Randy, my ex-sponsors, all the people that read my articles and or commented on them. My life and that of my Son would have been much more miserable and with far less bright futures without you!!!!
Stay safe and stay happy!
@anonsunamun
I still think it's a shame about the timing for the demise and what will eventually be the shutdown of readcash. I think that it would not be an esoescially hard thing to figure out how to let an AI like ChatGPT3 or 4 take on the task of weeding out the scam, spam and copy paste articles, turning the AI from one of the causes for the site's doom into the salvation of the site and original content.
I guess it doesn't matter anymore at this point. The site's dead, or dying, and there's only a shadow of the community left stubbornly refusing to give up. Most have found other sites which pay (howver laughably little that may be compared to read.cash) for their articles and they're not coming back unless they know they can get better returns on their efforts than they are getting now.
I personally have more or less stopped writing amd i'm certainly not posting anything anywhere. I have yet to come across anything even resembling readcash in ease of use and/or community that feels inviting and fun to be part of.
So for now, this is goodbye. I want, for one last time, express my humongously huge gratitude to the creator of readcash, @MarcDeMesel, Randy, my ex-sponsors, all the people that read my articles and or commented on them. My life and that of my Son would have been much more miserable and with far less bright futures without you!!!!
Stay safe and stay happy!
@anonsunamun
ChatGPT just got even better!! Gobsmacked I am!
`I know that the nail to readcash's urn was the OpenAI's chatgpt, and it's capability to write almost like a human writer would/could. So an article here about that nail might not be exactly what everyone's waiting for right now.`
`That does not diminish the achievement OpenAI has made or how frigging awesome ChatGPT is. I just shot off some requests at it today and i must say, I am very impressed right now. The choices the AI makes and the direction it takes a story is fascinating. I started out wanting to see if old Plato and Socrates were part of his training.`
I won't spoil it for you but it is frikking absobleetin's legendary entertainment!!
`I didn't want to keep the absolutely awesome intellectual masterpiece that spawned from the joining of Human and AI's furtile womb. That would have been criminally evil and an act against mankind! Enjoy!`
TITLE:
From Plato and Socrates hanging at the bar in Sparta to NATO's Parliamentary Assembly soon. (next week or something??)
HUMAN (ME):
*In the style of Plato and Socrates write a conversation between the two in which they discus the nature of good and evil, the definition of good and humanity's ultimate purpose, in 3003 words.*
OPENAI'S OPEN INTELLIGENCE OF ARTIFICIAL ORIGINS:
Socrates: Greetings, my dear friend Plato. It is always a pleasure to engage in discourse with you.
Plato: The pleasure is mine, Socrates. What is on your mind today?
Socrates: I have been contemplating the nature of good and evil. What do you believe constitutes the definition of good?
Plato: I believe that good is the highest form of excellence. It is that which is perfect and complete, lacking nothing. It is the ultimate goal to which all things strive.
Socrates: And what of evil? Is it the opposite of good, or does it have its own definition?
Plato: Evil is that which is lacking, that which falls short of good. It is the absence of perfection, the incomplete.
Socrates: And what of humanity's ultimate purpose? Is it to attain good and avoid evil?
Plato: Yes, I believe that is the ultimate purpose of humanity. To attain virtue and wisdom, to live a just and moral life, and to strive for the highest good.
Socrates: But how do we determine what is good and what is evil? Is it subjective, or is there an objective standard?
Plato: I believe that there is an objective standard of good and evil, but it is not always easy to discern. It requires a deep understanding of the nature of things, and the ability to reason and think critically.
Socrates: And what of the role of the state in determining good and evil? Should the state dictate what is right and wrong, or should individuals have the freedom to determine their own morality?
Plato: The state has a crucial role in determining good and evil, for it is responsible for maintaining order and justice. But it should not dictate morality to individuals. Rather, individuals must be educated and guided towards the highest good, so that they may make virtuous choices.
Socrates: And what of the relationship between the individual and the state? Should the individual always obey the state, or are there times when the individual must disobey in order to do what is right?
Plato: The individual must always strive to do what is right, but the state also has a duty to do what is right. There may be times when the individual must disobey the state in order to do what is right, but this should be a rare and extreme circumstance.
Socrates: And what of the relationship between good and evil in the natural world? Is good always triumphant over evil, or is there a balance between the two?
Plato: I believe that there is a balance between good and evil in the natural world, but that good ultimately prevails. It is the natural tendency of things to strive for perfection and completeness.
Socrates: And what of the afterlife? Is there a place for good and evil in the afterlife?
Plato: I believe that there is an afterlife, and that good and evil are still present there. The souls of the virtuous are rewarded with eternal happiness, while the souls of the wicked are punished.
Socrates: And what of the gods? Do they play a role in determining good and evil?
Plato: The gods are the source of all that is good and beautiful in the world. They are the ultimate standard of excellence and the ultimate goal towards which all things strive. They are the source of morality and justice, and they guide and direct us towards the highest good.
Socrates: And what of the ultimate goal of humanity? What is the ultimate purpose of human life?
Plato: The ultimate goal of humanity is to achieve the highest good, to attain virtue and wisdom
`I don't care who or what you are but you're a dumb stupid idiot if you don't agree that i am right, regardless of who's right! Over Time this could easily be mistaken for actual work from Plato... i guess..`
vansilfhout@online.nl
HUMAN(ME):
*Now please write the conversation that would take place between King Richart of Lionheart and Saladin as they secretly meet one on one the eve before the final battle, and they find the transcription of the conversation between Plato and Socrates on the table in the tent. They discuss Plato's and Socrates's statements and try to apply the philosophers philosophies to their own war and how to end it.*
OPENAI'S OPEN INTELLIGENCE OF ARTIFICIAL ORIGINS:
King Richart: Greetings, Saladin. It is an honor to meet with you in person.
Saladin: The honor is mine, King Richart. I have heard much of your reputation as a wise and just ruler.
King Richart: And I have heard much of your reputation as a fair and honorable leader. I understand that we are on the eve of a final battle between our armies.
Saladin: Yes, we are. And I must say, I am troubled by the thought of so much bloodshed.
King Richart: As am I. That is why I have requested this meeting. I believe that there must be a way for us to end this conflict without resorting to violence.
Saladin: I agree. And I see that you have brought a text with you. What is it?
King Richart: It is a transcription of a conversation between two philosophers, Plato and Socrates. They discuss the nature of good and evil, and the ultimate purpose of human life.
Saladin: I am familiar with their works. I have always found them to be wise and insightful.
King Richart: Indeed. And I believe that their philosophies can help us to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
Saladin: I am willing to listen.
King Richart: They discuss the importance of attaining virtue and wisdom, and the ultimate goal of humanity to achieve the highest good. I believe that this is what we must strive for in our own actions.
Saladin: I agree. We must always strive to do what is right, even if it is difficult.
King Richart: And they also discuss the balance between good and evil in the natural world, and the role of the state in determining good and evil. I believe that we must strive for balance in our actions, and that the state must always act in the interest of the people.
Saladin: Yes, we must always strive for balance and justice.
King Richart: And they discuss the importance of the individual in relation to the state. I believe that we must respect the rights and freedoms of the individual, while also ensuring the safety and security of the state.
Saladin: We must always strive to find a balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of the state.
King Richart: And finally, they discuss the afterlife and the role of the gods. I believe that we must always strive to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing our own happiness for the greater good.
Saladin: I agree. We must always strive to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing our own happiness for the greater good.
King Richart: Then we are in agreement. I propose that we work together to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
Saladin: I am willing to work with you, King Richart. Together, I believe that we can find a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
King Richart: Together, I believe that we can achieve the highest good, and bring an end to this war.
Saladin: together we can end this war peacefully.
King Richart: Then let us work together towards this goal.
Saladin: Agreed. Let us work towards a peaceful resolution to this conflict and end this war.
King Richart: And may the gods guide us in our quest for virtue and wisdom.
Saladin: And may the gods guide us in our quest for virtue and wisdom.
The conversation ends with both King Richart and Saladin shaking hands, both of them committed to finding a peaceful resolution to their war
`If you disregard the fact that Richard and Saladin didn't speak the same language and that Saladin probably couldn't be om one enclosed space with Richard without vomitting as he smelled the Christian, and forget they spoke different languages, I could buy this being their conversation right?`
HUMAN(ME):
*Please do the same, only this time have the debate use the transcription of the conversation between Lionheart and Saladin, and the participants in the debate be the NATO parliamentary council meeting which is assembled to discuss NATO's response to the destruction of a Leopard 2 tank battalion and an M1A2 Abrams tank battalion the day before near Mariopol.*
OPENAI'S OPEN INTELLIGENCE OF ARTIFICIAL ORIGINS:
February 14th 2023, Bruxxelles, NATO Hearquarters.
Moderator: Good morning, and welcome to today's NATO parliamentary council meeting. Today we will be discussing NATO's response to the destruction of a Leopard 2 tank battalion and an M1A2 Abrams tank battalion near Mariopol. We will begin with opening statements, and then we will proceed to a debate and Q&A session.
Representative 1: I believe that we must respond with force to this attack. We cannot allow our enemies to destroy our military assets without consequences.
Representative 2: I disagree. I believe that we must seek a peaceful resolution to this conflict. We cannot afford to escalate the situation further.
Moderator: I see that you both bring valid points to the discussion. May I remind you that we have a transcript of a conversation between King Richart of Lionheart and Saladin on the table in front of us. It is a conversation that took place the night before the final battle between their armies, in which they discuss the nature of good and evil, and the ultimate goal of human life.
Representative 1: I understand that, but we must remember that we are dealing with an enemy that is not willing to seek a peaceful resolution.
Representative 2: I agree that the enemy is not willing to seek a peaceful resolution, but that does not mean that we should not try. King Richart and Saladin, in their conversation, agreed that they must always strive to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing their own happiness for the greater good.
Representative 3: And they also discussed the importance of attaining virtue and wisdom, and the ultimate goal of humanity to achieve the highest good. We must strive for this in our actions, and not let emotions cloud our judgment.
Representative 4: They also discussed the balance between good and evil in the natural world and the role of the state in determining good and evil. We must strive for balance in our actions and ensure that we are acting in the interest of the people.
Representative 5: And they discussed the importance of the individual in relation to the state. We must respect the rights and freedoms of the individual while also ensuring the safety and security of the state.
Representative 6: And finally, they discussed the afterlife and the role of the gods. We must always strive to do what is right, even if it means sacrificing our own happiness for the greater good.
Moderator: I believe that it is clear that King Richart and Saladin's conversation has much to teach us. I propose that we take their wisdom into consideration as we proceed with this discussion and make our decision on how to respond to the destruction of the tank battalions.
Representative 1: I agree. We must consider their wisdom as we make our decision.
Representative 2: Yes, let us strive to make a decision that is just and moral.
The debate continues, with the council members referencing the conversation between King Richart and Saladin as they discuss and deliberate on the appropriate course of action for NATO to take. Ultimately, they reach a decision that reflects the principles of attaining virtue and wisdom, balance and justice, and the ultimate goal of achieving the highest good.
HUMAN (ME):
Write the account of Ciri about the 6 months she spent in the world of Cyberpunk 2077 when she was fleeing from the Wild Hunt.
(this one's just to see what comes out when you give very little details, just general request.... i am gobsmacked)
OPENAI'S OPEN INTELLIGENCE OF ARTIFICIAL ORIGINS:
Ciri had always been a skilled warrior and capable of taking care of herself, but she was not prepared for what she encountered when she found herself in the world of Cyberpunk 2077. She had been fleeing from the relentless pursuit of the Wild Hunt and had stumbled into this strange and dangerous world.
At first, Ciri was overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the city, with its towering skyscrapers and endless crowds of people. She was used to living in the open spaces of her own world, and she found it difficult to navigate this concrete jungle. Despite the danger, she was fascinated by the technology and the advanced society she encountered.
Over the next few weeks, Ciri learned to adapt to this new world. She made allies with some of the local street gangs, who helped her survive in exchange for her help in their conflicts. She quickly became known for her exceptional combat skills, and her reputation as a warrior spread throughout the city.
However, the Wild Hunt was still on her trail, and she knew that she had to be careful. She learned about the underground networks of cyberspace, and began to use them to hide from her pursuers. She also discovered that the corporations that ruled this world were just as dangerous as the Wild Hunt, and she had to be careful not to attract their attention.
Despite these dangers, Ciri remained determined to find a way back to her own world. She had heard rumors of a mysterious person known as Johnny Silverhand, who had the power to help her return home. She set out on a journey to find him, facing countless dangers and overcoming impossible odds along the way.
Eventually, Ciri found Johnny Silverhand, and with his help, she was able to return to her own world. The six months she spent in Cyberpunk 2077 had changed her forever, and she would never forget the friends she made and the lessons she learned in this strange and dangerous world. She returned to her own world a stronger and wiser person, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
I decided to extend the sponsorships i now sponsor so they're paid up until at least 2024. If there are sponsored by me i have not payed my sponsoring to last until 2024, let me know.
I'll fix that!
@Anonsunamun
The prompt in Riffa's article.
https://read.cash/@Ruffa/it-is-readcash-f7092065
The article is in response to another's prompt. Nice article, and it was as if i was prompted to respond. (badoom, tssshhj_
What are your favorite things about being on this platform?
When i got onto readcash I was going through a tough time (like i've been for the past fracking two decades.) and i was doing a lot of escapism into the fanfiction i wrote.
But soon i found myself writing pieces intended for the readcash folks and enjoying the community. The writing worked therapeudicly and actually managed to pull up the crashing mind with millimeters to spare. (Imagine "w00p woop, PULL UP! PULL UP! TERRAIN woop woop" sound blaring in the back ground.)
A few weeks or months into my becoming part of this community (i don't know if i was, i felt i was) my inbox exploded and it was all about @MarcDeMesel! I had looked him up and knew a little about him due to the messaging i got about him before i found out everyone was messaging me because i had received some rewards from him, with the biggest rewards for my "My miserable life, a cautionary tale" three parter. Man, i describe in some articles after that how much of an impact that had on me, my life and my son's life. I still sit back in disbelief about that sequence of events.
As far as i know the Attention got caught with this article: https://read.cash/@AnonSunamun/bch-and-read-cash-helps-my-kid-smile-once-in-a-while-657c9ef8
This enabled Marc to spot these:
https://read.cash/@AnonSunamun/my-miserable-life-a-cautionary-story-part-13-365450a2 https://read.cash/@AnonSunamun/my-miserable-life-a-cautionary-story-part-23-b00c5ea5 and https://read.cash/@AnonSunamun/my-miserable-life-a-cautionary-story-part-33-the-finale-b432a91a
The articles i wrote with my mind still spinning and showing the smile on my son's face this was all sparked by:
https://read.cash/@AnonSunamun/what-a-ride-i-am-so-happy-and-greatful-right-now-7c07b900
https://read.cash/@AnonSunamun/my-son-chose-a-day-of-shameless-abundance-and-lazyness-eb23e2f1
In the Comments on that last one i do mention that i was almost caught up in the wake of the rewards, but as soon as i noticed, it was out of my system.
Since then i just wrote adhering to a strict"might as well post it, written it anyway!" posting schedule ever since. And i have enjoyed myself writing and being read.
But if an alternative, with same ease of posting and tipping and earning, comes up i'll be switching too.
This is ofcourse all only when my heart keeps going for a while..
*Is there anything you wish you could do more here?*
and
*Are there anything you would like to see your fellow authors do more of here?*
i'm going to skipp for another time.
*What are somethings your proud of that you have done here?*
In great part thanks to read.cash i have had luxuries and the ability to make my child happy every once in a while. I also got into trading, got my ass smacked in trading, learned from that ass whooping, and got some footing doing trading. All cumulated i might be debt free this year, couple of months from now. I don't know who is responsible for what piece of that but i am proud i was part of readcash which made it possible! And greatful, thanks readcash!
Thanks for reading this!
Stay safe and stay happy!
Damn article stuck in draft!! Shoot...
I cannot imagine there being much people left here that know about my past. Beautiful moment to read my previous stuff, most notibly THIS ONE and it's 2 sequel articles (my most rewarded articles in my "career" on readcash.) But for this little piece the most important take away would be the awful and horrifying bad luck I've been having the past 2 decades. https://read.cash/@AnonSunamun/my-miserable-life-a-cautionary-story-part-13-365450a2
Why?
Because my bad luck has been taken up a notch! I just received notice that the last issues preventing me from receiving and enjoying my compensation for the injustice done to me by the government (30k€) are almost resolved meaning i'd be able to be debt free, and no longer under curation, by this summer!!!
I received that notice 2 days before i almost (and i mean real close) died from heart failure, later to be found the result of heart valve failure.
*In the old days we had sponsors. They were highlighted in blocks like these:*
*But that ended when the fund ran out.*
Anywho? Who? Ani!
Yeah every time i start to think about it, it baffles me how much this seems to go beyond bad luck and into the realm of malice. Which most people would label being Karma. In my case it'd work opposite of Karma as we know superstitious folks know it works. I get more misery poured on my life the more i seem to care share and help....
New Life then?
Seems to be the only option. I've been told to watch fluids intake (as in no more than 1,5 liter per day. That's nothing! Seriously, try to tally your drink intake in a day and than add 1 liter for the moisture you take in through your food..)
I need to exercise, change every single bit of anything close to my food habits...
All i ask is one more summer, so i can spend it making memories for my son. He's 13 now, these memories will stick for the rest of his life. Whatever, I want him to have good lasting memories of me.
Thanks for reading this
Stay safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamun
Feels like a loved one died. Resolve in Processes Rusty!
Saw it coming but still got blindsided by this news.
Phew... that one I felt right here, right in the feels. We knew it was coming from the moment we crossed our paths, sometimes denying it to ourselves, but it still hit me like a tonn of bricks when I read Rusty's last article..
`Please extend some of your love to my sponsors. They deserve it as much as anyone!`
A lot stirring inside me now, let's let it all out.
But ofcourse not before the thankyou bit!
First of all i think it would be inappropriate for me to start with anything else than the gratitude I feel for having been allowed to be part of, and have a better life because of, read.cash. I am greatfull to the dev who stuck it out even though he'd known it wasn't going to work pretty early on. Thank you to all the readers here, thank you to the genuine authors that found their passion here and became better, if not outright good writers.
Thank you!
I want to thank those who've read my articles, those who commented and those who tipped me. I want to thank all the authors whom i've read pieces from. But most of all i want to thank the man that changed the lives of me and my son for the better soo much, the man that touched so many lives of people on this platform and made their lives better, the man that put his money where other's mouths were to become the largest funder of this platform:
Thank you @MarcDeMesel
Thank you @MarcDeMesel for taking a chance on this platform and investing so much of your own capital in the idea with which the site was built. Without you there'd been no Rusty, not having had time to develop, evolve perhaps, from the starting points system that got sucked dry from the hustlers, hacks, lamers and leeches.
Thank you for the fund.
The fund you created from which the randomrewarder drew its budget was both the death knell of read.cash as well as it's caregiver keeping it alive as long as it lasted. So thank you for taking that chance.
Most greatfull i am for:
But above all i have to personally thank you for the reward you awarded me on my three-piece article "my miserable life, a cautionary tale". That reward made all the difference at the right moments and quite frankly... You saved my life.
Some of you thought i've had written and posted about publicly, every sinlge thing i had done with that reward Marc gave me.
I know how to keep secrets though!
Ofcourse maybe you've read somethings about what happened to that money, and feel somewhat dissapointed in it and me for not turning it into a steady 2nd line of income or better.
Some chided me in pm's for my openness but i think i can at least reveal there were some things that i kept off the record, and invesments i made that i felt no bodies business. And if all i've done was written about and posted here i would agree. But ofcourse there were some things i didn't write about.
We all know that if they want to the government, police and military can read every single keystroke you make online or offline. So there have been some things i did that didn't get written down. And some of those things, my little secret projects, turned out to be not entirely unsuccessfull. Don't get me wrong, i'm not in the market for my lambo yet!
During the ATH times/
At ATH read.cash enabled me to spend 60€ per moths on the time he was allowed to finsih.
In fact at the ATH point here on read.cash i'd average about 60€ for a month's worth of posting from my tips and sponsors. ie. i received 60€ each month i would not have had if i didn't post on read.cash.
[Software failure guru meditation $c004f_Ef90sanp;ikavndf-afpaf;]
At his moment there is a semi-automated AI kind of thing that is does some stuff when the right situation trigger is pulled, which then launches it and it s communiy but is guided at difficult times to prevent it from getting stuck in loops or caught up in a stack overfow. We can do this, togethger, come on gwadderin and generating an average of 100€ per month. I really can't say more. i've said to much already.
It's so sad i cannot expand upon it beyond this because if i did i'd risk exposing some people and practices that woul exposes someone else's shit dont du risk to loose more than just their income.
But i wouldn't have been able to accept that invite or become part of this... group if it hadn't been for Marc DeMesel's generous tips, and my life wouldn't have been this mixing roller-coaster it was now but a straight nose dive of 90 degrees toward the surface and a crash through that surface almost atom by atom. I was near self implosion at that time.
Marc gave me energy and will to fight on a little longer.
The generocity Marc showed me, and my son, have anabled me to aquire a scooter, a new computer (1st gen ryzen and radeon 400 series), new kitchen appliances like the fridge, the microwave/combi, the coffee maker and the DJ-Controller console and tikets to some of the most awesome parties/festivals i've ever experienced. It gave me back a social life through the scooter and i am mostly 91,835% more happy than i would have been without @MarcDeMesel !!!
So yes, i celebrate the life of read.cash with more passion than i will mourn its passing. And yes, if i am being honest i do not see the site stay alive more than a month after Randy stops smoking for good. https://cineuropa.org/en/video/193899/
The exodus of the read.cash already begun.
The stats already show the abandoning ship has started already. Pretty soon from the 444 daily users there will be only a 100 left (that's optimistic!) who all know each other and soon enough will start to flutter to other platforms that catch their fancy. At some point the site's hosting and domain registration need to be payed to its providers and then the site will go down eventually.
Honor the read.cash times, and the people we were.
Sad but no less then the reality we live in. The best way we can honor read.cash, it's life and our time here together is respect it, remember it, and apply the things we've learned here together somewhere else.
Try to take the best of read.cash and its remarkably wonderfull community with you, make it part of you and try to infuse it into everything you do, and everywhere you go.
Thank you all soo much!
For me personally, i'm not sure yet. I'm feeling "let'survive this depressing happy season, try and celebrate new-years by partying like it's 1999 and then take an inventory on January 2nd to see where we're going from there." is the most probable scenario i can see unfolding.
Alone for CHRISTmas and the last days of the year, free from friends or family to destract me from my depressing thoughts and to make sure i drink enough to keep them depressing.
Then out of nowhere some one some how shall pop up out of the quantum foam to create a partycle out of nothing, we'll party all night and when come morning the partycle shall dissapear and become nothing again, and never have existed at all.
Thank you for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy (have an awesome time during Christmas and i wish 2023 to be the best year it could ever be and on top of that bring to all of us the things we're still due from 2019, 2021 and 2022!
@AnonSunamun
Apologies for the role in the atlantic slave trade (again).
I have always said, and haven't heard any argument to change my mind, that if and when i encounter slavery I shall do what i can to end it and to see the perpetrators punished for it. I shall always, when asked mostly, maintain that slavery in any way shape or form is a horrible crime against humanity. I shall also always repeat that I believe all involved with slavery should be held accountable and be punished.
Why was todays apology needed?
The Dutch government has apologized for its role in the transatlantic slave trade on several occasions. In 2002, then-Prime Minister Wim Kok expressed regret for the suffering and injustices inflicted on enslaved people during the Dutch colonial period. In 2010, Queen Beatrix also offered a formal apology for the Dutch role in the slave trade during a visit to the Caribbean island of Curacao.
Today the Prime Minister of the Dutch government did it again.
Reparations in the future?
Many descendants of slaves see these apologies as the first step on the path to reparations, and the debate about that topic will be exploding onto the public debate as soon as the controverse surrounding the apologies quiet down.
Despite these apologies, it is unlikely that the Dutch government will make reparation payments to the descendants of slaves. Reparations for historical injustices, such as the transatlantic slave trade, are often controversial and can be difficult to implement. https://www.kwf.nl https://www.wnf.com
There are many factors to consider, including the amount of time that has passed since the injustices occurred, the difficulty of identifying and locating descendants of slaves, and the potential financial and political consequences of making reparation payments.
Apologizing is not accepting accountability!
Additionally, it is important to note that apologies and reparations are two distinct forms of redress for historical injustices. Apologies are a way for governments or organizations to acknowledge their past wrongdoings and express remorse for the harm they caused.
Reparations, on the other hand, are financial or other forms of compensation that are intended to repair the damage caused by the injustices. While apologies may be an important step towards reconciliation and healing, they do not necessarily equate to reparation payments.
Discussions take many forms and handle many questions.
Unfortunately the discussions surrounding the reparation payments seem to ignore the most fundamental question: Is it ethically and morally just to punish someone for crimes committed by their ancestor(s)
Preface:
Before discussing that question I'd like to state my views so there's no ambiguity about my position in this debate:
`I believe we should all be held accountable for our own actions and words. I also even more vehemently believe that I should not be held accountable for actions or words that were not mine.`
The question seems such a simple one.
Is it fair, just or right for me to be punished for crimes, no matter how horrible, inhumane, evil and unjust they might have been, that were committed by our ancestors?
Sounds a bit lofty and philosophical right?
How about this:
read the following question out loud:
Should you, or I, be arrested and held in prison for 6 months because some one you have never met, or knew existed, stole a loaf of bread from the bakery in Tsjietsjerkstradeel in January 1933?
Sounds like a Silly question?
Well, indulge me just a little bit more now, and please do the following:
Now Change "stealing a loaf of bread" for "capturing and enslaving Mbuto Mkweetnie"
Change "the bakery in TsjieTsjerkStradeel" into "somewhere along the coast of Africa
Then lastly change "In January 1933" into "the 16th or 17th century".
Same question, only now many have a hard time dismissing it as silly in the same way.
It is something that can pi$$ me 0ff(fafaah) immensely!
Moral Justice?
It is **not** morally just to demand that descendants pay for the transgressions of their ancestors. Here are five reasons why:
Collective punishment: It is not fair to punish a group of people, such as the descendants of slaves, for the actions of their ancestors. Collective punishment is a form of retaliation that targets a group of people as a whole, rather than the individual perpetrators of a crime. This type of punishment is generally considered to be unjust and has been condemned by international human rights law.
Lack of individual responsibility: Demanding reparations from descendants of slaves would hold them responsible for crimes they did not commit. It is not fair to hold someone responsible for the actions of their ancestors, especially when those actions occurred long before the person was born.
Intergenerational injustice: Demanding reparations from descendants of slaves could perpetuate the cycle of intergenerational injustice. If descendants are held responsible for the crimes of their ancestors, it could create a burden that is passed down from one generation to the next. This would perpetuate the cycle of injustice, rather than seeking to repair the harm caused by the original wrongdoing.
Difficulty of identifying and locating descendants: It can be difficult to identify and locate the descendants of slaves, especially when the records of the transatlantic slave trade were often poorly kept or have been lost. This makes it challenging to determine who is eligible to receive reparations and to ensure that the reparations are distributed fairly.
The potential for financial and political consequences: Demanding reparations for the transatlantic slave trade could have significant financial and political consequences. It is not clear how much reparations would cost, or who would be responsible for paying them. There could also be political tensions and disputes over how the reparations would be distributed and used. These types of consequences could potentially further harm and divide societies, rather than bringing about healing and reconciliation.
In summary, demanding reparations from descendants of slavers for the transgressions of their ancestors is not morally just. Collective punishment, lack of individual responsibility, intergenerational injustice, difficulty of identifying and locating descendants, and the potential for financial and political consequences are all reasons why demanding reparations may not be the most fair or effective way to address historical injustices. Instead, it may be more appropriate to focus on addressing the ongoing effects of these injustices, such as through policies and initiatives that promote equality and justice for marginalized communities.
The problem with this topic is that discussion or debate is near impossible these days. Any suggestion of opposition to either the apologies OR reparations will guaranteed lead the suggester to be branded a racist and burned to the ground by the lefts and the woke army. Today though i felt an article from my point of view was appropriate.
Thank you for reading this!
Stay Safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamun
Thinking about BCH and its future.
Hi there folks. I got thinking about BCH after my last article and because of an article here i cannot find anymore. It mentioned BCH was performing badly compared to other coins. Here are my thoughts:
Why is BitcoinCash performing so badly compared to other crypto coins?
It's difficult to say exactly why a particular cryptocurrency is performing poorly compared to others. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and their prices can be influenced by a wide range of factors, including market demand, investor sentiment, regulatory developments, and global economic conditions.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency that was created in 2017 as a result of a hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. It was designed to address some of the scalability issues that were facing the original Bitcoin network by increasing the block size limit and enabling faster transaction processing times.
What could be the holdup?
There are several factors that could potentially be contributing to the poor performance of Bitcoin Cash compared to other cryptocurrencies. For example, it may be experiencing weaker demand from investors or a lack of support from exchanges and other market participants. Additionally, it may be facing increased competition from other cryptocurrencies that offer similar features or have stronger developer support.
Everything can change overnight, right?
It's worth noting that the performance of a particular cryptocurrency can change rapidly, and what may be a poor performer today could potentially become a top performer tomorrow. As with any investment, it's important to do your own research and carefully consider the risks and potential rewards before making any investment decisions.
What can we do?
There are several things that the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) community could potentially do to try to improve the performance of the cryptocurrency and potentially get it back into the top 10 list of cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Some potential strategies could include:
Increasing adoption and usage: One way to potentially boost the value of Bitcoin Cash would be to increase the number of people using it as a currency. This could involve promoting the use of Bitcoin Cash as a payment method at businesses, encouraging individuals to use it for everyday transactions, and building partnerships with merchants and other organizations to accept BCH.
Improving the technology: Another way to potentially improve the performance of Bitcoin Cash would be to make technological improvements to the cryptocurrency. This could involve implementing new features or improvements to the network to make it more attractive to users and developers.
Building a strong community: Building a strong, supportive community around Bitcoin Cash can help to create a positive reputation for the cryptocurrency and encourage others to get involved. This could involve organizing meetups, participating in online forums and social media groups, and collaborating with other organizations and individuals to promote the use of BCH.
Engaging with regulators: It may also be helpful for the BCH community to work with regulators and policymakers to address any regulatory concerns or issues that may be hindering the adoption and use of Bitcoin Cash.
As always, be careful!
It's worth noting that improving the performance of a cryptocurrency can be a challenging task, and there are no guarantees that any particular strategy will be successful. It's important for the BCH community to carefully consider the risks and potential rewards of any actions they take.
The community is on the right track!
There are many examples of good deeds and charitable efforts undertaken by members of the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) community. Some examples include:
Donating to charities: Many BCH community members have used their cryptocurrency holdings to make charitable donations to organizations working to address a wide range of issues, including poverty, homelessness, education, and the environment.
Funding development projects: Some BCH community members have used their cryptocurrency to fund development projects in disadvantaged communities, such as building schools, clinics, and other infrastructure.
Providing emergency assistance: In times of crisis, such as natural disasters or humanitarian emergencies, some BCH community members have used their cryptocurrency to provide emergency assistance to those in need, such as by donating to relief efforts or directly providing aid to affected individuals.
Organizing community events: Some BCH community members have organized events, such as hackathons, meetups, and conferences, to promote the use and development of the cryptocurrency and to build a strong, supportive community around it.
Promoting financial inclusion: Some BCH community members have worked to promote financial inclusion by educating people about cryptocurrency and helping them to get involved in the BCH ecosystem. This can be particularly important for individuals in developing countries who may not have access to traditional financial services.
So yeah, statistically BCH isn't as much of a climber than other coins are. But that's not a bad thing perse. I think that if we just keep doing what we're doing, or do a bit more of that, we can prove slow and steady does win races!
Thanks for reading this!
Stay safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamun
Still feel BCH's best is yet to come.
Bitcoin Cash, often referred to as BCH, is a cryptocurrency that was created in 2017 as a result of a hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. It was designed to offer a faster and more scalable alternative to Bitcoin, with lower transaction fees and larger block sizes.
Success, but unsuccessfully.
Over the years, Bitcoin Cash has faced significant competition from other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum and Litecoin, and has fallen out of the top ten list of most valuable cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Come back?
However, in 2023, Bitcoin Cash is expected to make a comeback and regain its position in the top ten list. This is because the BCH community has been working on implementing several key upgrades to the network, such as increasing the block size to 32MB and implementing the Schnorr signature algorithm. These upgrades are expected to significantly improve the scalability and performance of the BCH network, making it more attractive to users and investors.
Trend
Additionally, Bitcoin Cash is expected to benefit from the growing trend of businesses and institutions adopting cryptocurrencies. As more and more companies begin to accept BCH as a form of payment, it is likely to increase in value and adoption, helping it to take the place of BTC on the top ten list.
BitcoinCash (BCH) is a popular cryptocurrency that was created in 2017 as a fork of the original Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain. BCH was designed to offer faster and cheaper transactions than BTC, which has become increasingly slow and expensive due to its limited block size and high fees.
BCH is better but it's not doing as well.
Despite its potential advantages, BCH has struggled to regain its position in the top ten crypto currency list, falling behind other popular cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Litecoin, and Binance Coin. However, in 2023, BCH is expected to make a comeback and reclaim its place as one of the top cryptocurrencies.
The upgrade is coming but its adoption BCH needs
One of the main reasons for BCH's expected resurgence is the upcoming upgrade to its network. In May 2023, BCH will undergo a major protocol upgrade that will increase its block size to 32MB, allowing for faster and more efficient transactions. This upgrade will also introduce new features such as smart contracts and atomic swaps, making BCH more versatile and competitive with other cryptocurrencies.
Additionally, BCH is expected to benefit from the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies by mainstream institutions and businesses. As more and more companies begin to accept BCH as a payment option, demand for the cryptocurrency will likely increase, leading to a rise in its value and popularity.
So the target is the top 10, and we'll hit that target, i know it.
In summary, with its upcoming network upgrade and increasing adoption, BCH is expected to regain its position in the top ten crypto currency list and potentially even take the place of BTC as the dominant cryptocurrency in 2023.
Thank you for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamun
Don't read this! Don't click here!
`Because then i'd have to ask you to please have a look at my sponsors! They're awesome!`
I've been absent from readcash lately.
It has been a while since I've posted anything here. I apologize for that. Even though my conscious mind knows I have no obligation to any of you to post or not my subconscious always manages to make me feel like i am letting you down. I am truly sorry for not posting here this long.
For those who are worried my absence has something to do with the site, the platform or the community i can assure you it has not. The reason i didn't write is because i didn't feel like writing most of the time and the few times i did i ran out of steam so t0 say before i had an article close enough to being finished to publish. I never pay attention to the state of the site or the community before writing an posting anything, and usually only read and stroll around the site after having posted my articles.
What took away you're drive for writing?
Like some of you maybe right now i wondered what was different, why i didn't feel like posting? A simple enough question you'd think right? Well turns out that when i went digging into that particular rabbit hole you might be surprised at what comes up out of the ground. I know i was.
First off I concluded that some of the downtime was due to the world-scene today. The war in Ukraine is still escalating, with both sides stepping up the intensity, quantity and damage of their remote strikes, by whatever means they can, be it by drone, disassembled 1980's nuclear ballistic missiles or by HIMARS. The tenacity with which Putin seems to have renewed his commitment to the fight is worrying on one side but also hopefully on another.
One of two things https://schietecat.nl
Taking everything i know about the war, Putin's history and the state of the conflict or its participants there are only 2 possible or probable, outcomes for this conflict in the near future. One of them is rather optimistic but none the less the much more likely, and the other option is, i hope, a scenario that can only happen when we do nothing to present Putin with a way out of this mess while saving the man's face, job and future. I very much believe that Putin is moving events to that latter option. There have even been statements from Russian officials hinting that Putin would agree to something along the lines of a free independent Ukraine with guarantees concerning its security and independence in exchange for giving up the Krimea for good. The Russian intensified artillery bombardments seem to want to keep up the appearance of a strong Russian military until the negotiations take place near Christmas. On the flipside of this we've seen several locations that the Russians have chosen to defend being fortified and trenches being dug. Looks like preparing to strengthen the idea that the cost of re-conquering those parts cost more than it would benefit the Ukraine to sign a treaty seceding those parts to Russia.
Hope this is not going to be what happens.
In this theory, which i suspect most probable, Putin is moving to a treaty signed around Christmas, seceding Krimea to Russia as well as some not mentioned parts in which Russians have dug in.
Now with the successes of the Ukraine forces lately it is not unthinkable for the Ukrainians to refuse such a treaty and stick to their demand to have all Ukrainian territory to be returned to them, including the Krimea. They know that, for the foreseeable future, their supply of weapons and ammo coming from the European and American sides is pretty much guaranteed. They also know that the majority of the world's people are behind them in their struggle.
Much motivation to keep going
Zelynski would have to be stupid not to consider this when deciding to accept any treaty they're offered. Deciding to keep going until they're no longer gaining ground before returning to the negotiation tables must be tempting to them, even if that choice means the loss of life and goods will continue for a while longer.
Then there is the recent struggle I've had dealing with institutionalized assistance gone mad.
Cleaning aid
For a couple of years now I've had assistance in the household management. Due to my deteriorating back there's been a couple of things I'm unable to do myself like mopping floors, clean the toilet and keeping the cabinets clean or the spiderwebs off the web. I've been getting an aid for that, 2,5 hours a week, on and off for the past 2 years. Right near the end of the pandemic measures my aid got sick with non-covid something, then got Covid.
At one point you'd be able to see that things got messier than usual.
Next she had 3 weeks off for vacation and ultimately informed me she'd quit her job. As replacements were few and far between and i am uncomfortable having new strangers come into my home and having to regail them with my story the end result was that for over 2,5 months no cleaning aid had been around to help me.
Mouse invasion.
At the same time the corporation that owns the building had determined we had a mouse problem, and sent over rentokill to get rid of the mouse problem. My house being from 1928 there are a few nooks and crannies more than the average house has and ofcourse that exacerbated the mouse problem.
The guy from rentokill had expressed concerns about the cleanliness of my house to the corpo dude in a mail, who then communicated that with the folks in the municipality that were responsible for the WMO under which the household aid was funded.
Excalated quickly!
Within a week things had escalated into a self sustaining entity that rolled over me before i knew what was happening, let alone think about stopping it. All i was told was that on Wednesday my house would be cleaned thoroughly by a team of professionals after which the mouse problem would be swiftly dealt with and the regular aid would be restarted so we'd all have a fresh start going into the new year.
Well it turns out that somewhere in the interdisciplinary communications the word 'neglect' had snuck in which triggered others into focusing on that word excluding all else, the cleaning became clearing and by the end of that Wednesday my house was almost empty and i experienced despair for the first time in my life. When i realized what had happened my knees buckled and i crumpled to the floor, crying, and didn't move for over two hours.
The had put a container Infront of my house and proceeded to throw away almost everything in it. Bald furniture, empty cabinets and closets and not even a stove to bake an egg on or a pan to do it in.
My one month old microwave combi, gone.
My three month old refrigurator, gone.
My one month old 2 way coffee machine, gone.
My 4 pit gass stove, 6 months old but almost unused, gone.
Most of my clothes, gone.
Most of my bedwear and bathroom stuff, gone.
My airfryer, one month old, gone.
So many other things from the cabinets and tables, airlooms (worthless baubles, but from my dead mother and grandfolks), speakers and contents of drawers....
It was all gone. taken in one container straight to the garbage plant where it'll be recycled or burnt.
It was one of the lowest points in my life, and i've had some really low lowpoints you know...
That was more than a month ago and i am still trembling with anger when i think about it, and months and months off from getting anything, if at all, back. I had to spend all the money i could gather, including the BCH i got from read.cash and some of what i was saving up for my son to replace the stuff i can't do without.
The refrigerator, the microwave/combi, the airfryer and coffeemaker were my priority either by choice or by budget, and I've been finally able to get those things now. But as for clothes and the other things they threw away, it will take a while before i can replace them. I have 2 sweaters, one shirt, three jogging pants and 2 towels. That's it, my complete wardrobe.
I have one pair of shoes that fit, and they're way beyond their expected lifetime, way past the time to replace them. But then i order a pair of shoes from Otto, and then nothing. I have paid, ordered and according to the delivery company received my shoes, except i never did receive any shoes. #fuckmylife right?
My health is beginning to... something.
Last but not least I've been feeling like my body is deteriorating at a greater pace lately. I've got wounds on my legs that wont heal, i have had attacks of shortness of breath, and my stamina has evaporated to non-existence. Though going and making an appointment with my doctor is almost impossible. There is always something coming in the way that takes precedent at that moment.
The hardest thing about that is not thinking about my father who'd had the same thing for a couple months and then when he did get to the doctor got told he was too late and would die before the end of the year. (he made it to January 6th, with a middle finger at the universe)
Still making steps forward... right?
Tonight, in about an hour, the mechanic is coming to my house to fix my scooter. Shouldn't cost me more than 50 he said, so i agreed. If that is done i can go to the glasses shop, pearle, to confirm the order for my new glasses, and hopefully won't have to wear sunglasses during the day anymore (my spare glasses are sunglasses... i know, I'm a numbnuts...)
But the way things are going, I'll prolly get a call saying the mechanic is busy or whatever.
So about that writing and posting here.
Sooo, with the above happening the past few weeks the motivation and energy to write just weren't there. And unlike most here i am the kind that writes, edits and approves first, because i want to. Only then i consider posting anything. I'm not one to impose deadlines and quotas on myself to maintain the self delusion of being a pays author. When i want to write i will, If not... well... guess what... i won't.
Hope
Hopefully my muze will comeback to me soon and you'll be annoyed by how much of me you see on the site again.
Thanks for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamun
Am I racist or is woke broken?
All right, it seems that one way or another the topic of this article is going to have to be addressed by me. The sheer increase of "noise" about it is getting so ridiculous that just flicking through channels to see what's on confronted me with 5 channels where the topic was in either a talk show, documentary, or panel discussion.
`Do yourself a favor! Check out these sponsors of mine! They've got great content that i'm almost certain you'll enjoy!!!`
Artificial Intelligence under woke control.
Even the AI writing assistant algorithms cannot come up with anything less woke than:
The Dutch prime minister is set to apologize for the country's involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. However, not everyone is happy about this gesture. Some feel that it is long overdue, while others believe that it does not go far enough in atoning for the Netherlands' role in the horrific practice. Regardless of the mixed reactions, it is clear that the Dutch government is taking responsibility for its history – and that is to be commended.
Written with ParagraphAI.
That's not going to help to remain a critical subjective journalist!
The thing with the topic is that one little moment of lapse in the scrutiny of every little word you utter can brand you a right-wing nazi fascistic racist. That's because of the woke army that pounces on every little bit of (often perceived) offense with a vengeance employing shock and awe tactics. And yeah, if out of nowhere one of your social media accounts get's raided by about 70 to 80 woke-army soldiers who are all out to shut you down and get you to flee the social media I can say that it is a form of shock, and awe.
Raided by woke-warriors actually got the channel to become a Youtube partner!
It's very scary, though on the other hand very exciting as your channel's stats do get a booster! In the case in which I was involved it really launched the channel, the woke-army strike resulting in such an uplift in views and watched minutes that Youtube's algorithm decided to feature the channel... Boom they were off.
In hindsight...
N0w 7 months later the channel broke the 500k mark in subs!! But still, at the time, I remember turning off all location information I could find and still found myself looking out the window just to make sure there weren't any left-wing terrorists out there.
But that is not what I need to discuss today. What I need to discuss, because apparently, I'm the only one in this country that hasn't yet, is the announcement by our government that they're going to apologize officially for the slave trade the Dutch were involved in. This goes straight into the face of one of my most fundamental principles in life.
***I feel everyone is accountable for their actions, and face the consequences of their actions. One can only be held accountable for their own actions.***
One cannot be held responsible for the acts of others, including family.
So in my view, all I can do, all I can be expected to do, is acknowledge that the slave trade was horrible and one of the darkest pages in the history of our nation. If I ever happen to meet anyone that was part of that slave trade I will certainly confront them with their crimes and make sure I do everything in my power to see those responsible for the crimes that were committed are punished by the fullest extent of the law.
And me?
I've never enslaved another human being, bought or sold a human being nor forced another human being to do work they didn't want to do.
I've never had anything to do with the slave trade or organized (or unorganized) forms of slavery. I am therefore not accountable for any damages the slave trade may have caused, and therefore I have nothing to apologize for. No one alive today can truly be held responsible for any activity that an ancestor three four or five generations separated from us. No one alive today was alive then.
So a formal apology will be made by Mark Rutte?
#notmyapology #nothingtobesorryfor
And what's my response to those seeking not only apologies but compensation for damages?
In other words but saying the same:
Ah hell NO! "Nein nein nein nein nein nein nein!!!"
Dig up my great great great grandfather, and ask him about it, I think he had a maritime career during those days.
Me?
I can go weeks of interaction with other people, including a broad range of "the opposite of caucasian races", and not once have any thoughts that were in any way inappropriate, let alone fascist or racist! In fact, I've gone through months of my life during which I not even once had any thought relating to skin color.
No one brought it up in conversation with me, nor did I, and I am sure no one got discriminated against nor did anyone discriminate against anyone else. I think it is clear that I have nothing to apologize for and I take responsibility for MY actions and face their consequences.
Problem is that the prime minister will be making that apology in the name of our nation, our country. I.E. in the name of all the Dutch people. That includes me, and that's why I am so very much against a government apologizing for things that transpired long before anyone alive was born.
There is also another aspect to the whole discussion now storming up the internet and social media and that is the lack of historical awareness and context when it comes to who exactly is the group of victims we should consider owed an apology and compensation.
If the victims of the Atlantic Slave trade are compensated, I wasn't compensated too!!
Because if the eligibility requirements are defined as "any descendant of a victim of slavery in the late middle ages through to the late 19th century" I guess it is time for me to rise and join the cause.
I descend from a former slave too, and whiteys don't get no whiter than me!
I am a direct descendant of a so-called "Christian Slave". The majority of those captured in raids and sold at the north-African slave auctions were captured and enslaved by the Ottoman Empire during one of their many many raids on coastal settlements, villages, and towns or (and) the pirating of European ships that came through the Mediterranean sea.
Part of the loot from ships was its crew!
My ancestor was captured aboard an escort vessel that was protecting a couple of cargo ships on their way to Alexandria. He was made a Galley slave, arguably the worst fate that any slave, of any of the slave-trade organizations, can be damned too.
The worst fate of any slave anywhere:
A Galley slave was chained to the bench he sat on and the ore he was assigned to. There the slave would eat, live, work and recreate his or the ship's entire life. And yes, they relieved themselves there as well. They had little choice.
It's not like we're talking about hundreds or thousands here either!
The best estimates say that almost 1,5 million caucasian humans have been made slaves and sold during that era, which was contemporary to the Atlantic slave trade. But does anyone ever mention them, and not be placed under siege by the woke army lately? No, no one ever does, because they know that if they do they're spending a lot of time defending themselves against stupid dumb fucks lobbing accusations, innuendo, and pure slander vomited from the woke artillery.
And sure, the 1,5 million is a small number compared to the Atlantic trade numbers. But their fate was no different from that of African slaves transported to and sold to the colonies in the Americas. Their destination was a dry, hot and uncomfortable desert, instead of the warm, tropical, pleasant Caribbean area.
Both were robbed of their freedom, their family, their possessions, and their free will. Both were unfairly and inhumanly by their enemies after which they learned their own Grand Admiral had betrayed them all for the sole purpose of self-enrichment.
Okay, I think this has already outgrown which is the best practice for an article or post to be. That means that tomorrow or the day after that you will find here PART II of this article. That will be the one in which I will take some statements and give my opinion on them and in which I explain how they differ from those which woke's army brands "the only civilized..."
But this article will have given you the means to guess the bulk of my views already, so a huge cliffhanger will not be for you. The trick is gonna be if you view my opinions and views as racist or not. Personally i'd be fine even without a second part. There is not a racist word in this article... except for maybe the word racist... ok...
Thank you for reading this!
Stay safe and stay happy!
Dear @PrudenceLouise1,
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Dear PrudentLouise1,
I am really genuinely happy you’re not angry and are willing to “talk” to me. You even went through the effort of writing some clarifications and/or responses for me. I’d like to give it the attention and thought your effort deserves and I think i’ll break it down and respond to the points in your reply one by one. The *Italic* text is the quote from your last article/reply. The normal text is my reaction.
I will try to keep the responses I give as close to the first things that enter my mind as I can, trying not to think my thoughts through to much so you get the “emotional instinctive” response, not the answer that’s nuanced and edited to fit facts. As such there might be errors in the replies and maybe reveal misconceptions I may have as I will not research every factoid and word, nor edit the spelling and grammar. These responses are the rough uncut raw registration of my reaction.
Here is the first quote I reacted to:
“*I’m not angry. It’s true I was maybe a little blunt about the rational weakness of your arguments, but that isn’t condescending, that’s just stating facts.”*
So I understand that when what is said is fact it is not condescending. I’ll keep that in mind. I was thinking about the tone of voice myself .
*If you want to see what condescending looks like, here’s what you said about all religious people in your article -*
Always willing to learn. I’ve been wrong before. I wonder what you felt was condascending from my side. It was not intended as such, I assure you.
*"Religious people have a demonstrated disregard for rational reasoning, logical thinking, and inflexibility to change their views and opinions in the face of irrefutable evidence. "*
o.O that is condascending?
If that is not fact, then I think we should have a talk with Galileo Galilee, and ask him about the heliocentric universe, which he had observed through the telescope built after hearing about a Dutch eyeglass maker inventing it. Ask him about the reaction of the religious people, like the catholic church. Or ask him about the nature of comets. He’ll be bound to mention some disregard for rational reasoning, logical thinking and inflexibility to change their view regarding the geocentric solar system and the Heliocentric view Galileo had gained from his observations, irrefutable evidence available to any and all clergymen, priests or whatever wanted to verify the observations of Galileo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNjwdeVuN9w
But… If Italian isn’t your forte, I know its not mine, then maybe we should ask Charles Darwin what his experience has been regarding the disregard for rational reasoning and logical thinking, or if the religious people were flexible and willing to accept irrefutable evidence, now favoring Evolution instead of creationism?
"*History has also shown us that religious people are willing to kill, torture, abuse, and oppress entire populations in order to eradicate any dissenting views or knowledge.*
*"Now that’s condescending."*
Are you saying that is not fact? Have you followed the news a bit over the years? Never heard of IS?
Or maybe, if we’re uncomfortable with recent events after I mention one more thing we can always return to the neighborhood-friendly Inquisition. I’d like to know what you call what was done to the Cathars, and the motivation behind it.
Point i had to make because... well.... reasons.;...
But I did want to specifically mention that TODAY religious oppression in the forms of abuse, oppression and killing of an entire group religious group of people is written into LAW in 13 countries. In those countries, being an Atheist is punishable by death BY LAW! In 2022.
Or how about we simply take another period that changed history and talk about Jan Hus? Wasn’t he Tortured, abused, Killed, and his followers oppressed because of their dissenting views and knowledge? Jan Hus was eventually burnt at the stake for what he preached. Savonarola was hanged **and** burnt for refusing to obey the leaders of the church. We all know how that worked out, but feel free to protest. (pun definitely intended)
Our history is drowning in the blood of people that were killed by religious people for stupid religious reasons. I think that’s because even the Christian, Jew and Muslim god wasn’t above a genocide or two. Of course he took it next level with godlike massive genocidal body counts that extinction was more likely than the 8 Billion of us that are killing the planet today. Noah witnessed god killing ALL LIFE ON EARTH except for that in Noah’s boat.
Noah’s story is another example of religious people disregarding rational reasoning and logical thinking and inflexibility to change view in the face of irrefutable evidence. Creationists are very religious people in my book, and they believe the flood story and Noah was a historical description of events. So they must believe that a Koala pair traveled all the way to the boat, carrying their food (they can only eat eucalyptus leaves). Then they survived on a boat with all their known and unknown predator enemies for 40 days and 40 nights only to be stranded on top of a mountain in the middle east from which they then walked back to the Australian outback and planted the next generation of eucalyptus forests. That is what they actually believe.
‘I understood that you’re not Christian, and so maybe this is all too christian focused, but all over the world right now religious people are killing torturing and oppressing other people, religious and non religious, to irradiate the dissenting views they have.
You perceiving those bits as condescending though makes me convinced, and sad, that we will not come any closer to one another’s standpoints. We will probably get farther apart the more we discuss/debate/argue i’m afraid.
“*You admitted you not only thought differently about someone once you found out they were religious, you treated them differently. That’s not only condescending, that’s prejudice.”*
From the Oxfort dictionary: (darned, you got me to do research I didn’t want to do…. Are you a Jedi?)
Prejudice (pre.u.dice – prejədəs)
preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
I am afraid I have to disagree that what I wrote and do is hardly Prejudice. It is very much based on reason and actual experience. It is a fact that religious people believe in something that to me and to an increasing number of scholars across almost all fields of science is so far removed from the world, and universe, that we observe, experience and learned so much about in the past few centuries that it is something we cannot help but take into consideration when valuing and evaluating the person who believes it and the context in which we must evaluate the person. This is nothing unfamiliar to any religious person I think. A religious person wouldn’t consider an atheist for a missionary post in the amazon forest right?
`[WARNING, ATTEMTED JOKE FOLLOWS!]`
`No one would consider a believer in lizard people controlling our planet that can only be defeated by a dark knight Vladimir Putin for a job in the government, or for a seat in the… oh… wait… I forgot about Thierry Boudet. .. never mind`
`[/ATTEMPTED JOKE ENDED]`
And back to serious: Everything you know about another person contributes to what you think of that person, and that determines how you treat that person. You made it sound as If I meant to say that religious people should be rounded up and forgotten about or something. Hardly. But just as someone who’s Acrophobia will unlikely get called upon to become a window cleaner on a high rise, and it would be unwise to have an Anarchist join the police force or department of Justice, there are some things and positions I don’t consider religious people for. I will not take them serious when subjects like archaeology or ethics come up. If that’s prejudice, so be it.
*But unlike you, I don’t think atheists are less intelligent, or irrational, or immoral, or delusional. I think they’re just people who hold a different opinion from me on one particular topic. And it would nice if people stopped judging and denigrating others just because they have different beliefs.*
http://www.atheism.org
Well, when it comes to religion, and through that a lot of other subjects one of us must be delusional, irrational or both. We can’t both be right. And we’re humans, social creatures living in a society. We go through our days judging others, deciding on our interactions with other humans based upon what we see and what we (think we) know about someone. Anyone who says they don’t either don’t know they do, or are outright lying.
When a you walk down the street, look up ahead and you see someone yelling and waving their hands wearing a hijab your reaction and actions toward that person will be different that when you see a woman head faced down to the ground obviously crying because her head and torso shake and shudder because of her sobbing.
And that is not wrong. That is what has kept us alive. The difference between jumping into a bush when it rustles and throwing a stone into the bush before jumping into it just in case the rustling is caused by a predator instead of your neighbors cat again.
And when the beliefs that we’re not supposed to judge (which is denigrating…. Why?) people on include the belief that the Inuit race is superior to all other human races, and maybe should be the rulers over all others? Am I still not supposed to judge someone for it?
I know its taken to extreme with that example but what goes for the extreme example goes for any example. A belief is a belief, no matter how tame or extreme it is, and beliefs are things that people live their lives by. Someone who believes that the surface of the earth is made of cardboard, you’ll never see them in spiked shoes or walking over wet surfaces.
*So if, as you say, you want to “live life without religion playing any part in it”, I suggest you don’t write articles responding to a religious topic, or don’t ping me when you do and I won’t know what you’re up to.*
You know, I wouldn’t have, if I hadn’t been faced with the question posed in the title of an article that came up in my recommended feed. It came up at the same time as a news item concerning the way a priest was being transferred from parish to parsh for over a decade and then made Bis chop eventually and that turned out to be related to the children and young men that were abused by the man threatening to expose him. Instead of letting him face judgment they kept moving him to places where nobody knew him.
Two instances where I was confronted with religion without wanting to be. Simultaneously. That’s when I got the idea to write something around that title from an atheist viewpoint. Inspiration works in mysterious ways doesn’t it?
“*But don’t expect me to stay silent when you notify me to tell me I have a demonstrated disregard for logic, that I don’t change my views when presented with evidence and I’m willing to kill, torture and abuse people to silence dissenting opinions.”*
I would never expect that from anyone, ever, in any situation. I’m actually quite annoyingly consistent about that. I’ll stop people trying to silence someone because they don’t like what he/she/it/they/Volkswagenlogo is saying. That goes for singing too, and is regardless of the time of day.
I was raised by my granparents and one quote my pa always hammered home to me was “I may be disgusted, offended and furiously angry because of what that [((@#&&] is saying and will say. I may even think what he sais is wrong, evil and dangerous. But I will give my life in defence of his(andsoon) right to say it, think it and believe it.
Because I do believe in that. Even while treating that person differently from someone else, judging them on those beliefs and making fun and jokes about those beliefs …
I will fight and die for everyones right to believe it.
“*Because I’ll defend myself against what I think are outrageous and slanderous accusations. I also won’t mince words or worry about bruising your ego when I do it.”*
Ofcourse. I never said I expected you to go “Ok sir, I will change my beliefs and stay quiet so I won’t disturb you any more”. I never said I expected you to think I am an upstanding, just and good example of the Human Species in its ultimate form.
*Notice that I didn’t make any slurs against your character, I attacked your arguments. That’s what rationality consists of, it focuses on the reasons, not the person or their beliefs. It’s irrelevant who delivers an argument, only the reasons and evidence in support of the conclusion are important. To refer to characteristics of the person as a reason to reject an argument is the logical fallacy called ad hominem (to the man).*
That’s not true in my opinion.
I know, shocker! I don’t agree with you on something…. Right?
No you didn’t slur or said anything about my character. But that doesn’t mean you haven’t got an opinion on it. That doesn’t mean your judgment of my personality and character aren’t at least influenced by what you think of my beliefs as you perceive to know them.
Lets be honest. You’re never going to like me, because of what I believe. If I invite you to get together to have a nice drink on a terrace some sunny afternoon you’re not going to accept and have a splendid afternoon in each others company. You think I’m a bigoted, stupid, infidel pig and you would consider humanity better without me in the gene-pool.
And that’s all right. I’m not going to nominating you for a Nobel prize anytime soon either. And you think that it’s probably better for anyone if I don’t get elected into municipal or regional governing bodies gaining political influence and power, because of my beliefs.
Which is also fine. That is all part of the thing we call society and civilization even. Being able to hate another person, what that person feels, thinks, does and want, but still acknowledge that person’s right to believe what he believes. To acknowledge and accept that we disagree and hate what the other believes, does and says but that we’re also going to have to find a way to live and exist in the same society together cause if we don’t it’s going to end up in death, violence, oppression, sorrow and suffering.
That is where the word Tolerance comes in. Tolerating something is accepting and allowing some one to do or think something you feel is wrong, bad or dangerous. In modern society we do a lot of tolerating.
“*There’s no need to apologize, I wasn’t offended and I wasn’t angry. But it was nice that you did and I appreciate it, so I also apologize for upsetting you with my blunt rebuttal. There are no hard feelings my end.”*
First: thank you for recognizing that my apologies were sincere. I was truly sorry because I know I sometimes intend to convey one thing but end up gonking it up so bad it comes across totally opposite of the way I intended. I’ve been told I've difficulty with communicating without the benefit of body language and infliction in voice and tone, and seeing some of the incidents in my past I don’t dispute that. It does catch me with my pants down every time it happens, and I never see it coming. So I assumed I gonked it up again, and I do take responsibility for my actions, words and existence. And everything I break I fix or pay for if at all possible. Regardless if it is physical or not.
No need for you to apologize either, and I recognize, acknowledge and appreciate the thought.
*If you really want to understand the rational case for theism you need to investigate the topic of philosophy of religion, not read every religious scripture. If the case for theism fails, most of the religions are wrong so you don’t need to read those scriptures unless you’re interested in the subject.*
I read the scriptures because from the age of reasoning I’ve been flabbergasted at the things people believe because it is their religion that tells them it is true. At the same time I had to concede that roughly calculated from insighfull estimates times x, devided by Z and then the quare root……..
A really huge shitload of people on the planet (who live now and who’ve ever lived before) were religious. They believed in one or more gods and not only believed in the gods but worshipped them, submitting to their wil and bidding unquestioningly. Billions to this very day zelously believe in one or more gods and worship them, love them and live their lives to the rules dictated to them by their gods (they believe)
I’ve always been tought that if everybody says is convinced of A, and you’re convinced of B, you’d better have unquestionable, indeniable and absolute solid evidence for B, or ask yourself whether it could be that you’re wrong.
That’s why I tasked myself with reading the scriptures (at first all of them… How naive, and quaint) so that if there was something in any of them that reveiled the truth and opened my eyes to what I didn’t see then I would… I don’t know…. Saved maybe?
But thinking back to the little annoying S*** that I was back then it might also have been that I wanted to be able to explain why I didn’t believe in something (why I didn’t convert) and what I actually did think about it. That’s why scripture quoting enthusiasts hate my guts after trying to quote scripture in support of an argument they make. I often manage to outquote them using their own scripture.
(okay, I admit this works for Bible and Qur’an quoters. I have nothing when it comes to Hindu, Buddhist or Scientology scripture quiting debaters. Never needed to have anything either so far, which i’m fine with. :D
“*But that’s the question that was the topic of my original article. Does the rational case for theism fail? I know the atheist propaganda says it does, but that's what I made a case against in my article. I argued it wasn't true there was no good evidence God exists, and I gave a long list of evidence supporting my claim.”*
And Its the question that I intended to respond to from an atheist, or at least from my point of view. I guess that you might even kick me from the Atheist club into the Anti-theist group. Which, come to think of it, might also be of influence on the way I express myself in this topic. I not only not believe in a god but I also see that religions, or religious, are responsible for, or at least partially liable, for a lot of suffering, misery and are a bottleneck in many fields of development towards progress. If the effort and resources that humanity has put into religion were instead put to the evolution, development or solving the problems that humanity faced in the physical tactile and harsh reality we exist in…
Well, better not dwell on thoughts like those. They’re not of much use until we’ve invented time machines that can go both ways.
*If you want to know the truth about the explanatory strengths of theism, you first have to know what that rational case is. Researching that involves a lot of work. It’s philosophy, not science or religion. The popular idea that atheism vs theism is a contest between science vs religion or reason vs faith, is wrong. They are both false dichotomies and irrelevant to the case for theism.*
Nah, thanks, I’m fine thank you. Like I said, I’ve done my own searching, reading, learning and contemplating for a couple of decades, in the days that meant more than sitting down, entering a phrase into duckYahoogle.com and then wading through billions of texts by the flick of your middle finger. Back when it meant going to a location physically and finding a certain book or document that had the information you needed. (or not). I don’t think there much that can be taught to me that would counter all that I’ve learned, experienced and so on.
And I don’t feel that I don’t know the truth about much about theism. I don’t feel I need to get very much more education about philosophy either. I know you believe every single letter in that last paragraph, and I don’t agree. And I hate it that someone could read one of your articles and come to the conclusion that god is actually real and exists. But you’ve got the right to write what you want and you’re going to have to live it, just as much as I have on the opposite side of this topic. As long as my life isn’t negatively influenced by yours, I certainly will not even think about your life. Literally.
And that’s the best we can expect, as part of the human race. We won’t know who will win it or even who’s in the lead right now!
Thanks for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!
@anonsunamun
in reply to a reply to an article inspired by @prudencelouise1's article asking if god exist's.
I experienced the article HERE from @PrudenceLouise1 to feel an Angry and condescending towards at least myself. That somehow pissed me off at first. https://read.cash/@PrudenceLouise1/a-response-to-at-anonsunamun-71b9e1e3
At first, I wanted to knee-jerk an answer that systematically addressed and disassembled every single argument or point she tried to make in her angry and condescending reaction to my article.
But even that wouldn't have taken me such a long time. I in fact spent most of the intervening time on NOT responding, Knowing that if I had responded sooner, it might have led to one blocking another and/or vice versa after the drama had ensued and a fittie had blossomed. It worked, I could eventually breathe through my nose again and looked at the three articles in another light (because of the RGB-led lighting here).
And after some thinking and philosophizing (oh w8, I wasn't very good at that right? Sorry, I will try not to do it too much) this is what I have to say on the issue:
`My sponsors make content that's nothing like mine. They actually make quality proffessional grade articles and other content that nobody would be worse of with.`
But that's not the only thing I have to say about the whole damned holy shitstorm-ish situation.
This is:
It has taken me an uncharacteristically long time to come up with this article, which, this time, IS a reply to the reaction to the report that was inspired by @PrudenceLouise1. https://read.cash/@PrudenceLouise1
Originally...
The original article asked in its title if there was evidence for the existence of god. In it we were provided some rather… let’s be nice and say “unscientific” reasoning which referred to links to other articles by the author which was claimed to have the verbose and scientific why, for the author at least, evidence for the existence of god was everywhere. The links would then reveal previous articles, by the author, that indeed hold a lot of information. Information referring to and quoting from works of less unknown authors than us, with actual printed books published.
Besides not what I want to spend any time on, I think that the articles here are only to generate more medium traffic for her articles there. I wasn't very happy with the thought I was writing something that'd eventually earn her money.....
Because the reply of @PrudenceLouise1 came across as aggressive and condescending I hunkered down to take on each point in the referenced articles and address them one by one using the huge volume of text and videos and debates that are available on the net in the category: “How to answer apologetics”.
But as I was working through the second article, the one in her reply article, I suddenly realized that in this linked article there were two more links to articles, by the author. And each article she linked to had, at least, one link to another article. Twenty minutes later I wanted my time back. I am the one who wants to live without any god, so i shouldn't have to put in so much effort to get to know religion in general and the debated ones specifically.
It is futile anyway!
Me, you, no one including Jezus, the holy spirit, or YHWH will ever change a single thought even when the holy trinity showed up together and proved they had nothing to do with the creation of the universe, the earth, or anything upon it. The way she writes gives me the feeling that she’s on a crusade to prevent theists from getting caught by the claws of the always-prowling evil monsters that call themselves Atheists. Monsters that exist only for the moment they find a believer they can maul, mutilate and shred away from religion into the dark pits of debauchery, evil, and decadency that is Atheism.
MONSTERS!!!!! ATHEISTS, AAAAH THE HORROR!!!!!
Well, that monster is not me. Most Atheists are nothing like the Atheists that most believers think are the standard for “the Atheist”
Some Atheists go out on youtube and podcasts and became viral super hits for a while. And I suspect that those are The Atheists she’s so angry with (for some reason). But folks like Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Lawrence Krauss, Matt Dillahunty, Seth Andrews, or AronRa are very few and far between.
Ok, ok, I must take the time and effort to give Bart Ehrman a shoutout in this list too, even though he teaches the gospels and early Christianity at a baptist university (If I’m not mistaken).
Funny enough, at least to me, is that the best of them (Atheists who publicity and vocally speak against Religion, and try to deconvert theists) who has studied at University on the subject and can be called a scholar in this subject matter never mentioned by the others.
The others are the ones that publish and produce videos, podcasts, and books. Richard Carrier is possibly one of the most qualified persons to refer to or quote. Somehow he never is. Which, knowing a few details about America and its educational system in relation to professors getting jobs teaching or researching, is a disgrace all scholars in the field should be ashamed of. I think even Bert Ehrmann is not speaking completely free, considering where he works.
Not think of, having to consider, having it influence in any way, or being forced to tolerate anything even close to a god-like somehting.
But if you get down to what Atheism means, and what it means to the average Atheist you’d realize that they’re nothing like the “True” Atheists. For the everyday person, yes we’re the norm these days in many countries (In mine a little under 35% of the population identifies as Atheists), Atheism isn’t something that is consciously thought about.
We never consider or think "what would god think about this?" Or "what would god/jezus do?"
An Atheist does not consider or think about religion or the lack of it at all in the course of his(her/it/them/whatever) normal life. Only when confronted with religion, or religious, causes the Atheist to alter their intended course through the day by religion or religion. That is the only time religion, god, and whatever has something to do with that enters the mind of an atheist, irritates the atheist, and causes the atheist to do whatever needs to be done to get that religious irritation out of his path.
To reply to a huge ass article, written angrily and with a snobbish, condescending (patronizing even at some point) by writing article after seeking empirical evidence and more to counter every single point made, and hours in Grammarly's grip to get the grammar right, staring at the computer's screen vomiting the letters that my hurting fingers keep ramming on despite the pain... Ah hell no! I am the atheist, you go and do shit to dig up information and insight and knowledge about religion, its origin, and the horrible consequences it had. (genocide, death murder, rape, slavery, more death, destruction, racism (god was the first racist, and only the Jews got the chosen people package. Others (Moabites and so on and on and on) got the "extinction if you're lucky" package,
No, don't worry, we like to debate religion (with people that actually can stand hearing other people's opinions and not knee-jerk because they decided to take offense! We love the back-and-forth bouncing off each other. Knowing that worst-case scenario, we'd come to the concluding agreement that we disagreed.
Really
The last thing an Atheist wants to do is go through tens of articles by a very prolific and determined lady, then type his fingers blue on an article refuting or at least replying to every single argument she makes for god’s existence knowing full well it is futile, and the lady will never concede a single word even if unrefutable proof would be right in her hands. It is the opposite of what an Atheist wants. An Atheist wants to be able to live life without religion playing any part in it. An Atheist wants to be free from religion.
Right everyone enjoys it except for... *drumroll* Atheists!
But the highly valued pillar of our modern democracies “Religious Freedom” apparently only applies to religious people. Because for an Atheist it is still not possible to live our lives without being confronted by religion in our daily lives. Religions still get tax exemptions, have laws that protect their “god-given” rights, and generally enjoy a position other organizations cannot.
Ah Hell no!
After realizing all that I quit writing the article I had started (7000 words in, so you better believe that it’s going to get edited and published at some point!!) and decided that its better to just explain what is important to an Atheist and what an Atheist wants, and explain that the article I wrote was in no way, shape or form meant as an attack on @PrudenceLouise1 or her article.
Reply to, or Inspired by?
Significant difference.,
It was, as the title said, inspired by her article. I wanted to write an article with my beliefs, opinions, and views on the question if there was evidence that god exists. I admit I referred to her article here and there and at some points seems like a direct response to her article but that wasn’t the intent. That is not the level I think is worth my time, effort, or attention anymore. I’ve done the listening, learning, reading, researching, compiling, analyzing, and, most importantly, drawing my conclusions decades ago.
@PrudenceLouise1 seemed to think I had little knowledge and should go and learn before I spoke. That really chafed... no, let me be honest:
that pissed me the fuck off!
I think that I’ve gone beyond the call of duty or reason by spending the time and effort reading, actually reading and understanding what I read, the scriptures of the major religions of the world today, and one that, while ridiculous and too stupid to take seriously, does show that when something is packaged as a religion and perceived as being taken seriously there is nothing you can make up that will not be acceptable by “believers”, even if it’s a creation of a science fiction novel writer).
I should have wound this down 3 paragraphs ago.
Just to be clear, here’s the scripture journey I took. Please keep in mind that most of this journey was during the late 80s and throughout the early 90s. So no internet, only the churches, synagogues, Mosques, and other sources for scripture I had access to. Yes, I am talking about a LIBRARY! (jump scared you?)
Not the LBRY one but that building filled with actual paper books
Anywaytjes...
Who?
Ani!
These are the scriptures I consumed on my journey and in the following order:
The Bible (The English translation of the greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Tarah so just the first 5 books they attribute to Moses)
Paul’s letters.
The four gospels John Mark Luke and… them…. That fourth one I keep forgetting the name of… I have no energy for google or duckduckgo right now so I am going to go with….. James! (?)
Then I continued with
The English translation of the Qur’an. (in the original order, not the logical order)
I read a shitload of Hadith
I followed this up with (i didn't know alright! If it helps, i was part of Chanology later okay!!!!)
Taking a wrong turn and I read Ron L Hubbard (Laughing all the way) before I thought something like “I’ll do three more and if they turn out to be duds I’m not gonna waste my time anymore”
Hinduism is..... a lot!!!!
and complicated!
just before I hit the brick wall that Hinduism turned out to have for me. I wanted to read the core scriptures and enthusiastically went looking for the “Veda and Upanishads” I had been referred to thinking they’d be something like the old and new testaments together, in volume and extent.
Demotivation in pure uncut form.
Well, you can imagine the disparaging feeling I had when I found out that the “Veda and Upanishad” were 24 books and not even close to being the only “core scriptures” that Hinduism had in their reading list. There were the Ithishaasa, the Agama, the Dharmashastra, the Shamita, and the Purana. (don’t you dare think that word you’re thinking now!).
Sigh, i knew it!
HOLD IT!!! Noooo, no no no no no…. You’re jumping the gun again!!! Yelling and screaming and getting all pissed off prematurely!
And you ain't even Hindus, what's it to you?
I knew a couple of you’d be shouting at me at this point!
But I wasn’t going to forget mentioning the Purañas the Satras! You know I’m trying to make a point here without obviously trying to make the point! Because not making a point of making the point is the only way to make the point doesn’t seem like you’re trying to be an irritating know-it-all that wants to show he knows… it all……
Wut? Huh?
Nothing.
Move along, Move along....
So just give me a chance here!
If you do you will notice that I will make mention the fact that besides those top-tier and second-tier scriptures there are also scriptures that are considered supplementary (the Bhakti Sãstra), poetry (Kãlidãsa being the most prolific with 6 titles) and (finally) the lowest tier being the social sciences scriptures (which counts the Kama-Sutra among its members) on topics Erotics, Politics and Economics, Astrology, Moral/Ethical philosophy, Tales of the Buddha, moral guidance and good counsel.
(ssssht... don't tell Christians about that hidden link!!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GYI0WZCquc&ab_channel=MattDillahunty
So instead of pushing myself through the Samhita, I called Hinduism quits when I was only halfway through Samaveda. Partially inspired by finding the Tales of the Buddha in the holy scripture list of Hinduism. I was going to save Buddhism for last but when the tales of the Buddha are part of the holy scripture of another religion, the oldest one no less (so it claims), then those tales must have been at least very impressive.
And off into Buddhism, I went. It was, in my experience the most friendly and welcoming experience out of all the religious tastes and brands I looked into.
But it too wasn’t convincing enough for me to consider shaping my life to its “wisdom” soon after I had started looking into it. By that point, I’d spent so many hours devouring scriptures (which at the best of times aren’t too immersive or captivating to a twenty-something-year-old kid.) I didn’t even want to keep the goal I’d set and ditch the last on my “to check out” list and just move on to the fascination that came out of the disappointments that religion(s) turned out to be (The origins and evolution of religion and early Christianity (the latter one leading eventually to the fascinations of the Abrahamic phenomenon))
But I wanted to have the broadness of having done my due diligence and beyond on all the most influential religions (or life views or whatever you’d call them if you’d not consider them religions.) and I could hardly do that without having at least an overview look into Confucianism. It is taught at pre- and elementary schools throughout China to this very day, as well as has had a great influence on China and the Chinese ever since Confucious himself was around.
Maybe i should have started with that old Chinese dude!!
And I had to conclude that of all the mind-numbingly long and boring texts I ground through, Confuscious made the best impression and the most sense of all of them. I see him as a person that looked around him and saw the things that prevented people from being happy or that brought people sorrow. He saw causes and tried to come up with solutions. Did he try to simply answer the question: How to make life better?
I haz smart grey squishy stuff too!!
He was smart enough to have an answer to an impressive amount of the questions he and others put before him.
For me Confucianism isn’t a religion at all, not even close, but merely an independently developed ancient school of philosophy.
So back to the 800 BCE's i guess....sigh... some more eeh... reading.....
When I’d drawn that conclusion I decided to broaden my philosophy foundation and went off on a tangent that I guess is still going today and read works of people like
Aristotle,
Socrates,
Plato,
Theodorus (the atheist),
Epicures,
Archimedes,
Cicero,
Seneca the younger,
Marcus Aurelius (Remarkably applicable to life today I think),
Sexts (no, not SMS messages about sex)
Proclus,
John of Damascus,
John the Scot (I know, I’ve read way too much Plato and/or Neoplatonists),
Al Ghazali,
Francis of Assisi,
Fibonacci (Getting rediscovered these days, incomprehensible to me for the most part),
Roger Bacon (because there is nothing in life that isn’t better with bacon!!),
Ockham (famous for the razor),
Erasmus (my boy! Hardcore Dutch Represent!),
Machiavelli,
Copernicus,
Galileo Galilei,
Descartes,
Montesquieu,
skipped Voltaire on purpose,
then skipped almost all modern philosophers because quite frankly I’d found things to occupy myself with other than reading and computing, like Gabber and Multiplayer Gaming Local Area Network events.
I shall deny forever that it has anything to do with German Philosophers!
German philosophers cannot exist. Law of quantum physics!
I’ll be the first to admit that there was a lot that, at the time, went over my head and that I didn’t understand or didn’t understand correctly. That’s why you can still catch me revisiting the classics from time to time. I’m rereading the republic as we speak, after having read through the apology. (I know. Some say that’s the wrong order to read them in. Shut up.)
So no. thank you. I will not be spending my precious time on any topic related to religion. It forces me to interact with people i, in the end, will not take seriously. If that is bad??? Then I am proud to be bad and will endeavor to get worse.
Because if I enter a debate, I want it to be open, civilized, respectfully, and between people that aren't easily fooled.
Final words on this:
But I do know that my interest in science, (Astro)physics be it theoretical or practical, and Technology fueled by my tendency to let my brain off the leash on difficult topics and combined with my love for forum form discussions taught me that having an opinion other than that of “main-stream” (what has come to be called scientific consensus) means you either get good at typing or stop giving shits about what others write about your writing or you personally. It’s gonna get nasty at some point, and more points than you’d want!
Moving this article to its conclusion I guess I should mention that I’d rather engage a theoretical quantum physicist than a Theist apologist. The former is at least willing to consider the evidence and adjust their thinking accordingly, even though they’re as of yet still very stubborn about how their whole wave potential, virtual particles, and double-slit nonsense is the height of arrogance and hubris in thinking.
Just because we have not found a method of observation and/or measuring that does not affect the observed or measured doesn’t mean that there isn’t a way and that therefore particles exist at all possible places at the same time until it’s measured. And don’t even get me started on that damned Cat Shrödinger came up with! Aaah…. That can piß me off to no end, but its not nearly as grating as hours and hours and hours of debate and presenting facts, scientific evidence, and common sense and throwing in the whole compendium of Atheist videos or Atheist-Theist debates for good measure while the theist puts their fingers in their ears when they hear things they’ve got no answer readily available for.
So again I want to apologize to @PrudenceLouoise1 if I gave her the impression that I wanted to attack her or anyone/thing with my article. I was inspired by your article, and particularly the title, to provide another point of view and the corresponding other opinion and views on the matter.
The reason I have unusually long articles is most of the time because I’m afraid that what I wrote will be perceived differently than I had intended. That makes me over-describe and explain things most of the time I write in English (not my native tongue). When I do that I sometimes achieve the opposite and I am truly sorry for that every time it happens. Specifically in this case, for which I again apologize to @Prudentlouise1!
Thank you for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!
@anonsunamun
Note:
1. I still intend to finish that point-by-point rebuttal at some point, be prepared…. (he said ominously trying but failing not to laugh out loud)
2. I’m sorry Arend but there was no way I could put this into a talk between me and you kind of format. The next one is going to be one though! I promise.
And you know when dad says the word promise out loud…. He’s going to keep it or die trying!
Inspired by an article by @PrudenceLouise1. Does god exist?
Before reading this article, please read `this`. It is the article that inspired me to write this article.
`Please send some love to my sponsors. They deserve it!`
Soooo.... @PrudenceLouise1 asks us about the evidence that god does not exist.
I must admit that most of the articles or responses I've posted over the years never did make me any friends. Why then you might wonder do I keep writing these and keep reacting to religious posts? Well, I guess it's a topic close to my heart.
In fact, knowing someone is religious inevitably changes the way I think about them and sometimes even changes the way I treat them.
What do I believe then?
That alone could be a 100-page dissertation if I went into detail, so I guess a summary will have to suffice.
My, summarized position on the existence of god is formed considering that we are currently able to explain the universe around us from a billionth of a second after the big bang until the last black hole fades away billions and billions of years from now, and we have no need for a god or godlike sentience to create any of it. Add to that the body of "Truths" that have existed throughout humanity's existence that have been abandoned due to evidence, time, or the rise and fall of civilizations (99,9% of all religions that ever existed no longer exist.) and I find the likelihood that any of the religious movements now in existence is the one true demands from omnipotent sentience that created us all, watches us every second we live and then judges us when we die.
Further thoughts
Add to that the fact that it is not the truth, revelation, or experience that determines 90% of the religious people's religious beliefs but the geographical location and the religion one's parents adhere to. If you're born in Iraq you're likely to be Muslim. The same baby born in Alabama is likely to be a Christian. Same baby, born in Tibet.... Buddhist. But they all claim to be the one true religion with the one true truth. That cannot be true, so at least two of those religions must be wrong.
When I read discussions like these, concerning religion, the first thing I always think of is the quote attributed to Epicures:
"Is he (god) willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent? Is he able, but not willing? then is he malevolent? Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil?"
What is God in this context?
The discussion that @PrudenceLouise1 starts also lacks a clear definition of "God". What is God? Or what it often comes down to is the question "Which" God? That is an important question to answer when discussing God, as there are a number of them still being worshipped these days. The Abrahamic club course keeps it simple with a single god. Okay, reading the scriptures closely will cast some doubt on the uniqueness of YHWH but that's a topic for another article. But if you take a look at Hinduism you'll realize that there are a lot of choices there. (even though they're all "aspects" of Brama (if I'm remembering correctly, haven't the time to check this))
I think it's safe to assume though that @PrudenceLouise1 is a follower of one of the Christian flavors of religions. Now for the purpose of retaining her interest at least, which would be polite as we are responding to her article, we'll limit the latter part of this article to the Christian religion and present some thoughts to consider which are also challenges for her to comment on.
Free willy!
No, not that Will!
No, not that one either...
Another different consideration is the existence of free will. If everything that happens is part of God's plan, then we have no say in it. At best we are created to want what we are supposed to want according to his divine plan. We think we chose something out of our own free will but that is delusion, for if we had free will we could choose things that would interrupt, delay or change God's divine plan. If his plans could be changed by mere mortals, he's not omnipotent.
Another thought that deserves thinking about
Another consideration that is especially relevant to Christians is the inconsistency and contradictions in each of the scriptures, but also between the scriptures. There are so many contradictions in the old testament itself it's ridiculous, and the same goes for the new testament. The contradictions between the old and new testament though are also quite staggering!
THIS INTERACTIVE CHART gives insight into the contradictions in the bible as well as highlights the evil, racism, fascism, misogynist, and pure evil cruelty God inflicts upon the Earth and its inhabitants perpetrating acts ranging from rape to genocide and all evil that lies between. http://www.lyingforjesus.org/Bible-Contradictions/
I could go on for a couple of hours more on Christianity alone, but that would be superfluous to answering the original article's question.
Is there evidence God does not exist?
The body of evidence is frankly so large that I wonder if people who still believe in God after consciously and seriously learning all the evidence against the existence of God shouldn't be excluded from certain types of activity. Before you shoot me, draw and quarter me and then cancel my ass, please let me explain.
The qualities we demand of our leaders and governments.
We want our elected government representatives to be intelligent, ethical, integer, wise people. We want them to be able to observe, analyze and solve any situation that might arise before them.
The most important quality IMHO is the ability to consider new information and if need be change it to fit the data.
This is not something religious people are known to excel at. Those people have in fact a reputation for their inability to accept new truths and adapt their views to new knowledge.
Let me be blunt here.
Religious people have a demonstrated disregard for rational reasoning, logical thinking, and inflexibility to change their views and opinions in the face of irrefutable evidence. They also demonstrated a willingness and zealousness for believing extraordinary claims for which no extraordinary (or ordinary) evidence is provided.
History has also shown us that religious people are willing to kill, torture, abuse, and oppress entire populations in order to eradicate any dissenting views or knowledge. `To those frothing at the mouth and yelling at their screens right now with indignation, feeling deeply offended I would like you to remember the inquisition, the conqistadors, and Galileo and then reconsider your knee-jerk reaction!`
Considering that, I ask again: Should we consider if we want those people to be in government? Do we want people like that to be responsible for our defense forces? Do we want religious people in charge of our money?
I am not saying they shouldn't be, nor am I saying they should, all I want is for the discussion of this and similar matters to become possible. Now it's impossible to have this discussion without being labeled a racist or fascist or anti-something. But one day this discussion will be held publicly and one day the answer to those questions will be NO. http://www.lyingforjesus.org/Bible-Contradictions/
Final remarks:
In this article, I've limited my focus to the Christian faith but I could have just as easily picked Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, or 99,9% of all religions that have ever existed without having to change much in the article. If the interest is there I'm perfectly willing to expand on this topic or on any other religion. I'd love an open and respectful discussion/debate on any religion-related topic and I welcome all comments.
Thank you for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamun
The shocking reason you shouldn't read this!
Well hello there!
Long time no see! And that is why I shall start today's article with an apology.
To those who might have been following me, my apologies for the continuously slipping frequency of my postings. Over the past few weeks, I've been in a negative mood and I decided y'all didn't need another whining voice of negativity in your lives and "if you ain't got nothing nice to say, you might wanna consider shutting up".
`Hey before i forget: Please take a look at the sponsors. Content worthy of you by people worth your time!`
That last line gave me shivers down my back and I'm sure that if an afterlife would have existed my ma would be laughing her ass off right now. One of the more vivid memories of our many many discussions is the one where i assured her that i would never quote anything she said to anyone ever. I was convinced nothing she said had any value to anyone. Here I am quoting her before potential millions of readers. Funny twists this thing we call life can turn us through.
And next, i want to apologize to all y'all. The title is pure clickbait. There are as few reasons to read this as there are not to. If that is shocking, then at least part of the title makes sense.
lol.
Soo... how i am? Well, pretty much back to earth and back to having to fight everything and everybody for every millimeter of progress in my life so far, and keeping the momentum going into the future. Attempts at circumventing laws to get at my compensation, the company owning my house sneaking in new rules to catch me in violation so they can kick me out (and raise the rent 300% for the next Tennant), and well-intended social workers that nearly cost me the visits from my son all haven't made for a period I look back on fondly.
As far as I can tell I've pre-empted most of it and reacted on the bits I didn't see coming, and it seems it has all remained without consequences so far.
But I'm really getting tired of fighting every little thing I try to do to get out of the hole and see the sky again. I don't want to even think about building up something once I'm on the surface though. If that's as much a fight as I'm having now... I've got trouble channeling my inner Bob the Builder, to be honest.
Observed.
The last revelation that showed government agencies can be sick confusing motherfuckers came last week when, through sheer coincidence (which for concerns that will be obvious in this paragraph will not be discussed), i found out that CPS was actively following my internet activity. At least on my social media and probably here as well, everything i post can be recorded and archived entirely out of context to be used at its most damaging potential. I found out when some words were quoted verbatim to me from an article i had posted here and somewhere else. Which words don't matter but suffice to say that at this point every word i put up online makes me check three times if there's anything that could be used against me.
This course doesn't boost my motivation to write and post which results in a lower posting frequency. https://www.weetikveel.nl
I went on a FAYA AWOL
Last two weeks I've actually behaved like a college freshman pledging for a fraternity, and (shhht... don't tell anyone) I think I enjoyed it way more than I should have. An old friend, whom I thought to be dead, showed up at my door suddenly out of nowhere. It turned out he'd been abroad and got his foot in with a company servicing pipelines in the middle east. He was here to make up for leaving without a word and make up for a lost time. Well, I can report that he did just that and then some. With the previous paragraphs in mind, I will refrain from going into details but I can reveal that hardcore festivals and, at least for me, a woman were involved.
He's now moved on and visiting his parents before he'll go back to work. This leaves me with a funny feeling. I don't really want to stop partying and living it up like it's the 90s. I also know that come tomorrow morning I've got to pick up the unsatisfying trainwreck that is my life. And I will. It's just hard not to feel sad and stupid knowing that if I'd not fallen in love with my ex back in 2008 the past two weeks would be what my whole life would be like.
Ah well, I better quit before this becomes an article as the one I wanted to prevent myself from posting. Hope anyone finds this article of any interest or use. I hope to find fuel for my writing inspiration and motivation soon.
Thanks for reading this.
Stay safe and Stay happy!
@anonsunamun
The talks, season 1 episode 5(?)
19-09-2022, 03:00am
Hi there Son,
`Son, i want you to check out my sponsors. It will be good for you to do so, as their content is awesome!`
Anywho (who? Ani!),
I want you to read the following article, and think about what you feel about the topic before we go on to talk about it.
Does 'success' mean just making money? https://read.cash/@Mhc/does-success-mean-just-making-money-f379705b
It was written by @Mhc and I thought it would be good for us to talk about it.
I agree with the author, and what to me is the bottom line, is that being happy is being successful. However, there's much in that article I... let's just say I have comments on.
Yeah yeah, I know, I should explain, or at least mention, that I realize my life and my experiences are rather rare if not unique. I've explained before about my life before I met your mother, and how I got to be able to live that wonderful life. What I didn't tell you then is that I consider my life up to that point to be a huge success. Having said that, I want you to keep that in mind while I tell you what I think in relation to the article I showed you a moment ago.
disclaimer:
My views and opinions being based on my life and experiences might therefore be rare, or unique, as consequence. This doesn't make my views inapplicable to anyone else's lives though.
On the contrary, I think if my views are put into practice by anyone they'll have the best lives they could possibly have in this reality. You can understand why I feel it's important that I talk to you about this and you at least have this knowledge and understanding going forward in your life. This topic is no different from any other "Life-lessons" I try to pass on to you.
This is my reason for voicing my opinions mostly but certainly in this particular instance. In no way is this reply meant to attack, offend, or be condescending towards the article or its author! Like I taught you before, you can disagree with something while respecting and appreciating the view of the writer and the writer's skill and knowledge.
Soo, that article huh?
It's a wonderful article with an interesting title. I agree with its main premise:
**Success is be**i**ng happy.**
However...
One minor issue I've got with your article is that it assumes a premise that is almost guaranteed to end in disappointments and grief throughout your life in the second-best case scenarios. There is a lot to be said about this, but as I am trying not to have this reply "big bang" itself into particle size I'll restrain myself and keep it shallow:
Your life can be successful without getting rich or achieving fame as a result of doing great deeds. https://deuzige-shirts.myspreadshop.nl/
In the article, the author states on one hand that becoming famous and/or rich does not equate to success. He/She then proceeds to measure or explain certain things measured up to examples of famous and or rich people and their quotes. This is kind of contradictory, not to mention a wrong attitude when considering the statistical reality.
I assure you the most successful person ever to exist is someone we've never met, heard about, or would recognize. That individual would be embarrassed, in denial, and most of all they'd no longer be the most successful anymore.
The writer also suggests that becoming successful is only possible by relentlessly working and struggling to become better at what you do. Only the drive needed to achieve success can enable you to have the motivation to do what must be done to become the best.
I beg to differ.
Ask most Olympic gold medal winners 10 years after they've retired how they feel about that. Most of them will tell you they are failures. They might have once been the best on the planet in their fields and basked in the glory of their gold medal-winning achieving of the goal they'd set for themselves years before that moment. They were the happiest persons alive as they stood on the dais, seeing their flag rise to the top and hearing their national anthems play.
But ten years after their retirement from sports no one remembers nor does anyone recognize them. They hardly ever have any use whatsoever in their lives for either their achievements in their sport or the gold medals they've won throughout their careers. A disproportionately large group is even suffering from depression or other mental problems, become homeless and some even end up committing suicide, not wanting to live the rest of their lives knowing their greatest moments are in their past.
Fact time:
Setting a goal and devoting your life to achieving that goal is, statistically, logically, and scientifically, the worst thing one can do to their life. It practically ensures your life will be miserable and ends with your mind full of regret, disappointment, and sadness.
The fact that only one or two percent of humans will be successful in reaching the top of their fields not only serves to inflate the awe and respect for their achievements. No one ever cares about or has attention to the other 98 percent who do not achieve the success they have set to be their goals. No one thinks about or cares about the effect it can have on someone's life to have struggled, sacrificed, and suffered to become the best and reach that 2 percent only to fail and face what the future has in store for them without the fortune and fame they expected to enjoy at that point.
But there is more... http://kapot.ga
Another statement in that article, actually the one that triggered me into having this talk with you, as a father to his son, is completely untrue in my opinion. The writer of the article states:
"We all have a purpose in life."
That isn't true!!!
In fact, the opposite is probably true. We have no purpose in life, besides the one we decide to give it. There is no reason for our existence, no goal we are meant to achieve. We should count ourselves very fortunate to be the first species we know of that can understand the concept of purpose and is capable of setting goals and working to achieve those goals.
That last bit does come with a sidenote remark though:
The fact that we are capable of doing something does not mean we have to. In the same vane, we could assert also that to be successful does not inherently mean we need to succeed to be successful. This is a concept that is difficult for many to grasp though. I will be very blunt though and spare some of the readers a lot of anxiety and frustration:
If you don't understand the concept at this point you never will, and it will be pointless to try.
Having said that
In my own life, I have failed partially in achieving success, or at least in achieving lasting success. I have let tradition, expectations, and ignorance cloud my judgment and blind me from recognizing that I was successful already, and prevent me from being happy.
When you were born, everything changed. Not just me, but it felt like I had been transported into another universe altogether, and nothing was the same as it had been.
I convinced myself that I had to set higher goals for myself and then devote my life towards achieving those higher goals, for you to be able to respect me and learn how to be successful in your life.
It wasn't until very recently that I realized I was dead wrong about that.
I did set higher goals and worked relentlessly to achieve them after I became a father. I even came very close to achieving some of them, but close is not close enough. One day before the end of my trial period in my new job as manager of IT-Support for a major shipbuilding company the company's board of executives decided to put the reorganization and improvement of the IT service and support departments in the fridge, removing the need for the position of IT-Support Manager leaving me unemployed.
As I had quit my previous job (as opposed to being fired) I did not have the right to the same unemployment benefits that most unemployed had. This meant among other things I did not have the right to unemployment payment of 80% of the last salary I had worked for. Instead, I went straight to welfare which was more along the lines of 30-40% of my salary. Even if the other factors that affected my life at that point (becoming a single father, my wife leaving me for another, irs branding me as criminal fraud, etc, etc, etc) it would have been very hard for me to recover from that setback in my career (a setback which is feeling more and more like an ending than a setback lately but that's not for this article)
Hindsight being 20-20
Until that point, that moment I became unemployed, I can truly say (with significant pride) I was happy and successful! I had been for almost a decade and could have remained successful for decades more if it hadn't been for my "ambition" to become more than I was then.
What came after that was a period of downward spiraling decay and destruction of almost every aspect of my life that made me happy... of what made me successful. Misery, grief, sorrow, despair, and misfortune replaced pride, joy, contentedness, and happiness.
I had an epiphany of sorts very recently, realizing and accepting that part of the source of my unhappiness was my expectation to be able to find a job in IT-Services, prove my skills and knowledge, and then continue on the path that my career was on when I became unemployed. Every time I applied for a job opening I expected nothing less but to be hired, and given the opportunity to claw back up the corporate ladder to the same rung I had been on before.
It took me almost a decade to realize that, but now that I do realize that I've begun to re-quantify what I have, what I can, and what I need.
Long story short:
I am happy.
And as being happy is being successful, regardless of how rich or poor I am. Sure I'd be able to ceremoniously celebrate the achievement of said success more appropriately if I'd have more money. Sure I would prefer to have a full-time job and the income that goes with such things so I could give more to my son than I'm able to now. But I'm finally able to see, understand and accept that for the foreseeable future more income is not going to be possible. This frees me from the sadness and sorrow that came from not achieving the goal of getting the income i "wanted".
Without that sadness and sorrow, I realized I was actually not doing all that bad.
I have never felt real hunger or thirst, I have a wonderful, if old and deteriorating, home to live in. I have a great computer and a server with which I can indulge in my favorite activities. I also have the time and opportunity to do so, I have a wonderful, wise, happy, and carefree Son who loves me almost as much as I love him. I have no pain or sickness (so far), live in (one of) the best countries in the world, and with a little luck have another one or two decades left to live in my life.
Comparing my life with that of many many others on this planet at this time I have every reason to be grateful and content (if not happy) with my life. And this realization does make me feel happy, and therefore successful.
But enough seriousness for today. Let's go play some games, shall we?
Author's note:
I shall expand more on this topic in another article, should anyone turn out to be interested, and let me know through the comments.
For now, thank you for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamun
So, @wakeupkitty, I have something i need to say.
So @wakeupkitty wrote an article HERE to which I had a reply in which I felt I had to address an issue that might potentially be going on with her animal, concerning refusing to end the animals life humanely and end useless suffering of a living being. https://read.cash/@wakeupkitty/do-you-have-a-plan-5f2cf2cd
to go to that reply. The reply was:
I hope that you realize this yourself or that people close to you mentioned this to you but in the off chance this is not the case, I'll be the senseless insensitive asshole that makes you feel even worse than you already do.
If your dog is in pain, incurable and can no longer be active... I'm sorry but then it is time to let him be put down. End the pain, no matter how difficult it is to do.
Sorry but with my own dog, Spock, I needed someone to tell me before I realized it. I wish you all the strength in the world and that you'll soon be able to switch from mourning the dog's passing to celebrating the life you shared.
Which prompted her to reply defensively. CLICK Here is what she typed: https://read.cash/@wakeupkitty/do-you-have-a-plan-c1cd664d#comment-ea0a8922
My "dog" died with me and his pack. He is not an ordinary dog but a wolf that's why I took him from the breeder. He didn't fit the standards for a pet. Scared of the world outside and people, the vet is scared of him as well. He can't get into a car and hides plus said goodbye on his way which is fine. You may call this selfish and I'm fine with that. Btw there's nothing wrong with mourning and saying goodbye to a great animal no one wanted to give a home and brightened my life. 🍀♥️
Now this made me suspect she misinterpreted my intentions with my reply, which I, went to comment on. During the writing of that comment, I realized this would be another one of "my, way too long for slow chat in the comment section", replies. I decided to go with putting it in an article.
First I had thought to tell "the tale of Spock... and his... tail..."
But in Spock's case I was addressed by a friend warning me about what happened with the first dog I've ever owned, which I got a couple months before I met my, ex-wife. Because of that I was able to take the right decisions at the right time for Spock.
That made me feel that Telling you (the readcash community) all about Rhu, the Irish Setter-retired breeder stud that spent his retirement with me and my ex would be appropriate. It's something that still hurts to remember, and I've never talked about it to anyone.
So here is "the story of the end of Rhu"
`It is right after my sponsors. My sponsors are the awesomestest in the universe. Check em out!`
To reply to the reply to my reply to your article: https://read.cash/@wakeupkitty/do-you-have-a-plan-5f2cf2cd
Here is my response:
Sure there's nothing wrong with mourning and saying goodbye. But I'd like to mention that often (mourning and saying goodbye) are used as a self-delusional justification for postponing having the Dog put down and extending its suffering. That sort of thing usually comes with all manners of reasons why the Dog's life still has meaning or purpose which often doesn't hold up to scrutiny that well.
Your reply is kind of a classic example of that or would have been if that was what was happening in your case. I'm going to deny I know if this applies to your situation.
However, these rationalizations, justifications, are in that one single reply to my reply: (taken from your reply)
"He is not an ordinary dog, he's a wolf.:
(invoking the notion that Wolves are stronger and tougher and therefore have higher thresholds than domesticated dogs.)
"Scared of the World and people."
(invoking the notion the would be no one that could have helped to prevent discomfort for the dog just before he died)
"The vet was scared of him"
(emphasizing the notion that no one could've helped.)
"Couldn't get into the car and hides."
(suggesting the notion transporting wasn't an option and therefore nothing could be done)
Classic things people tell themselves in situations like that. You then write a bold statement in an attempt at convincing (yourself?) the reader that you did nothing wrong and enabled it (the dog) to say goodbye the "My Way" way.
I'm really not an asshole!
So please don't think I am out to attack you or anything you did. On the contrary in fact.
The reply I posted was meant to be confronting for anyone that, at that moment or any time later in their lives, was rationalizing the postponing of the end for the dog in denial.
And I didn't do this to make them feel bad, or because I saw the potential for starting a drama fittie that left the other party defenseless for internet or clicks or something.
I have been there.
The only reason I posted that reply is that I know exactly how it feels, how someone in this situation sounds, how someone acts and how much it hurts me to think about how I failed Rhu and myself in my task of giving him a worthy end to his remarkable life.
Maybe I should explain some more at this point.
I have experience with this:
Our first dog, Rhu, an Irish Setter we got from the pound was 12 years old when we got him. He had been owned by a professional breeder and he had reached his retirement. It was specifically mentioned in the introduction that hung on his cage "Rhu is looking for an owner that can give Rhu a good retirement for the years he still has in his life." I don't feel I did that, looking back.
We had Rhu as part of our lives for... I don't know exactly but somewhere around 2 years. The tumor was found before there were symptoms and we knew nothing could be done anymore. But as the tumor slowly started shutting things down Rhu didn't have any obvious pain but it came to the point he couldn't do anything he wanted to do anymore, and that was causing him much stress and, yes I'll say it: Emotional pain.
`Random dog to calm senses and tention:`
Rhu was a good dog!
For example, you could see that when we came home. Be it one of us or us together, Rhu would always bounce/jump from the couch in the living room and race to be at the door before we could really open it enough to go through.
But when he was sick, he wanted so badly to bound from the living room to the hallway to greet us, but by the time he got up and moved towards the hallway, we'd be in the living room already. He'd still come to us, but in his eyes was no joy. His eyes were sad, frustrated even.
It was a friend of mine that brute-forced me to open my eyes and realize our self-delusion and rationalizations for keeping him with us, so we could say goodbye properly and prepare. You can't. You can't be prepared for something like that. At least, I can't.
When I realized that pain is not the only way in which an animal can suffer and that Rhu was indeed suffering even though he had no pain, I called the vet's office and made an appointment for him to put Rhu to sleep. That was on Saturday, and the appointment was for Monday morning.
We said goodbye those last two days and pampered him as much as we could, and then I took him to the vet. I will never forget the change in his eyes from fear/pained/tiredness to... relief perhaps? Gratitude? I'm not exactly sure to this day, as he realized (somehow) why we were in that little room (waiting for the doc to come in)
And I swear that he smiled at me at that short moment. I put my arms around his neck and hugged him, and I felt the tension and anxiety flow from him and how his breathing went from fast short breaths to almost tranquil by the time the doc came in.
Then, after the injection was given I was left alone with Rhu who, 20 minutes later, stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. I sat there with him in my arms for I don't know how long, silent and without thought, before leaving the room. I nodded at the staff and went home.
Oof!
It is one of the biggest regrets of my life and it is still so raw that I've been writing this through tears running down my face. Looking back I don't understand how I could have not deduced for myself what we were doing. I'm smarter than that! But it happened, and I did believe the delusions I told myself, which I wouldn't have taken seriously when I'd have heard them coming from anyone else.
So there it is. That is why I replied how I did, hoping to prevent unnecessary suffering if there was any to prevent or end.
If I've hurt, offended, angered, or otherwise caused discomfort for @wakeupkitty with my reply I sincerely apologize. It was not my intention by any means. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing
But if she decides to take offense still then nothing I will say or type can change that which, however unfortunate and how sorry I am to be the cause of it, is something I think can live with.
Sooo....
I am curious about what the readcash community thinks about this subject, so don't be shy and tell us about it in the comments!
Thank you for reading this
Stay safe and stay happy.
Just got myself an account on Noise.app! I used a different user id though: n0bb1ngn00b. There's a reason for that, which I will explain at some time other than now.
For those looking to get into the Noise.App too, here is an invite link:
https://noise.app/invite/jfpezd4s
Stay safe and stay happy!
Why @BCH_LOVER is wrong!
First, let me assure you that I enjoyed the article @BCH_LOVER wrote and that you should read CLICKTHISNOW! before reading this article which is a direct reply to that article. https://read.cash/@BCH_LOVER/reasons-why-i-dont-want-my-kids-to-hold-phones-518541f8
Below you will find all about my views on kids and phones. This is a response to an article from BCH_LOVER, linked here: CLICKTHISNOW! https://read.cash/@BCH_LOVER/reasons-why-i-dont-want-my-kids-to-hold-phones-518541f8
Dear @BCH_LOVER,
I can understand your motivation for your opinion in your article: CLICKTHISNOW! https://read.cash/@BCH_LOVER/reasons-why-i-dont-want-my-kids-to-hold-phones-518541f8
"There. I would like to offer some nuances, and considerations you might not have considered before."
Realize your experience with smartphones is not comparable to that of your kid!
First, the mobile phone is no longer the same one you had available when you were that age. The phone you might have had or could have had back then fits inside a low-end telephone these days. The possibilities the phones have now make it an entirely different device than the phones even just 5 years ago, let alone 10 or more. The notion that the same ethics morals and discipline you've been held to at that age can be expected from the kids today is delusional. It could be far more harmful in the long run to keep your kids from acquainting themselves with the concept, practical operation, and responsibility of using smartphones today.
How then?
I'll elaborate on that for clarity. The mobile phone of today is more than just a means to communicate. Sure making phone calls, texting, and whatsapping with social circles is still a much-used feature. Games these days for mobile phones are getting close to the quality, complexity, and detail of triple desktop games less than 5 years ago. Those are all arguments that can be used by both sides of this debate, but not the most important issue to consider as a parent.
That would be the features that, perhaps barely noticeable, change the way children will experience the concept of knowledge and information. I am talking about the access the smartphones of today provide to ALL of the knowledge and history that MANKIND has accumulated and recorded.
Took a while.
For a long time (this access to all knowledge has been available since the early 1990s) the way parents and their children interacted with one another concerning the transfer of knowledge changed very little. Kids would ask a question and the parent would either give the kid the information they asked for or admit they did not know the answer to the child's question. In the latter case, the child would then take the question to the other parent or grandparents and on rarer occasions to their teacher in school.
change is happening.
These days this is changing, influenced by the coming of age of a generation that has never known a world in which the internet did not exist or had not yet developed enough to be useful in daily information acquisition or dissemination. Ie. the young parents of today have always had the internet available for finding information and answers to questions. That generation has a more instinctive understanding that the smart-phone, connected to the internet, will only become a greater and more important part of our daily lives and that being intuitively adept at using the phone and internet is going to be a very important requirement to being able to function in our civilization.
New/Fresh/Young generation of parents.
They're also far more aware (i hope) that the internet can also be a source of danger, to adult internet users and children alike and that being able to identify and avoid those dangers intuitively from a young age provides a layer of protection that might be essential for their safety later on in life.
That category of parents is likely to understand that the society of today, but even more so in that of the future, requires them to add monitoring, teaching, and protecting their children on and about the internet to the basic minimum responsibilities of parenting. This includes teaching the proper way to perceive the function of and make proper use of, the smartphone, which of course is a source of information and knowledge that is also capable to provide entertainment. Not an entertainment device that is also capable of communication and accessing information.
Bad-parenting!
If a child, especially as young as 5 or 6 years old, can develop an addiction to smartphones and/or the games they're able to play on them, the PARENT has failed to provide proper guidance and surveillance. One example you mentioned is symptomatic though of how easy it is for parents to develop bad-parenting habits relating to their children's use of smartphones. When you give a baby or toddler a phone to play a video or a game to keep them busy, occupied, and quiet, there is no one else responsible for the child to develop an addiction than the parents themselves. https://weetikhet.nl
Let me be clear:
Sadly I am not just implying @BCHLover might be somewhat to blame for the things she/he complains about in the article "Reasons Why I Don't Want My Kids To Hold Phones".
I am unequivocally outright stating that @BCHLovcer is solely culpable for any undesirable behavior regarding phones their children might develop.
This includes addiction, being the victim of malicious actions or codes, exposure to sexual predators, and, social underdevelopment.
Using the phone or tablet to keep a baby or toddler quiet with a video or a game shows a lack of understanding, or ignorance, of both children and smartphones, and a tendency for neglecting the needs of their children.
If you need the child to stay quiet for a while sometimes, teach it to be quiet for a while when Mom or Dad tells them to!
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The kid must learn to be quiet if that is what the parents need from it. It should not be manipulated into compliance through distraction from games or vids.
At the moment the child was given a phone to keep it busy and quiet the right thing to do, however annoying, inconvenient, or tiring that might become, teach the child that there are some times that mommy or daddy cannot give the kid the attention it wants, and that being quiet for a while is the quickest way to get the parent to give them attention after they're done with whatever it was that prevents them from giving it immediately. Teach it that if the child quietly lets the parent do what must be done the parent is finished quickest with what they must do.
More effort now, more benefits later.
This costs more energy, effort, and pedagogical skills at first, but in the long run, this will pre-empt a lot of irritation, drama, and stress in the household. Children should not be allowed to operate a smartphone unsupervised or without specific authorization from the parent PERIOD. This is more important the younger the child in question is. Before it gets to use a phone, regardless of what it uses it for, clear rules should be established and understood by both parent and child. During and after the child has used the phone the parent should check the phone's installed apps and browser history to confirm the child has adhered to the rules (no installing apps without the parent's awareness and permission, no browsing of the internet except for the pre-determined allowed websites and no messaging or social media until the age of 11 or 12.
The reverse of what these (fictional) bad parents wanted!
This burdens the parent with a substantial and labor-intensive responsibility where the
parent probably hoped the phone would be a tool with which to reduce the burdens on the parent. This is something a parent should have been aware of being inevitable before the choice was made to become a parent, as it is now, and will become much more in the future, an inevitable part of living in our civilization and the 21st century.
Reasons to start at a young age.
But let me provide some motivational information on what getting this part of parenting right can mean for your kid's future. Loosely mentioned before of course is intuitive, maybe even instinctive, the ease with which the kid will be able to learn how to use a smartphone or the software on it now but also in the future. This perk for lack of a better description not only saves a lot of effort and time during the kid's life but also makes it less likely the child will develop an aversion to using computers/phones, the internet, or other kinds of new(ish) technology later on in life.
Beyond the computer- or phone screen.
This advantage holds in areas other than gaming, IT, or ITC(communication). This is because the computer/smartphone (which will someday be the same device) is becoming an inevitable part of every single job you could think of. This decides the relationship with computers/internet/phones for the rest of their lives. Is your child going to be the construction worker that happily and without thinking about it fills out his hours and expenses before sending them in through the net to the company's HR computer after which he orders his dinner from the Vietnamese restaurant located downtown and orders some groceries from the store down the street? Or is your child going to be the one that's always late sending in his hours and expenses because "That frikking computer is not doing what it should" and "Can't understand them fancy newfangled computer forms" only to go home two hours later deeply frustrated about that danged computer costing him precious time? The one that then finds out the store closed already so he can't get groceries and then finds out the food place he always went to for fast food closed down, and the nearest one is an hour's drive from his home, frustrating him even more because he never thinks of ordering from his home over the internet?
There's more though!
Another benefit of starting the kids early on devices like smartphones and PCs is that it will be easier to learn things like logic, reasoning, common sense, skepticism, and research. My son, having the benefit of having an IT professional with over 30 years of experience, has been taught from his 5th b-day that asking a knowledge question from his Father was only allowed after being unsuccessful in getting the answers from duckduckgo.com. It took only a couple of months before I noticed he hardly ever asked me questions about how things worked, science, topography, or history facts anymore. Closer observation revealed that he did enter any questions he had into duckduckgo before going to me or someone else to ask the questions.
Gaining useful Skills
A lot of the games played on mobiles these days cause players to develop and maintain better motor skills faster than someone who wasn't allowed to hold a smartphone, let alone use it for its entertainment features. Other abilities that are less difficult to gain because of this are problem-solving, research and development, and how recognizing fake news. I am also quite certain my kid is much more independent and self-sufficient than he would have been having he not been acquainted with tech (including smartphones) at the young age as he had been.
There is a lot more I could bring as arguments for my way of thinking but seeing that it is now 03:02 am on Monday I can't spend more time on this piece than I've already done with a good conscience. So I'll start to wrap things up from here...
In conclusion:
So no, I don't agree that kids should not be allowed to hold phones. I think that any parent has to assist their child in gaining knowledge and skills they will need for the rest of their lives. I agree though that giving a baby/toddler a phone to watch videos or play games just to keep them quiet and occupied for a while is reprehensible and irresponsible, and that the parent instead should make the time and put in the effort to set up a set of ground rules for using phone/internet, make sure the child is never using the phone/internet without supervision, learn that games are a secondary option on a phone instead of the sole purpose for the phone to existing.
TL;DR: Just giving a phone to a kid, and letting them just do what they want with it without direct supervision is bad parenting. The parents that do this should be closely monitored as phone addiction might well be one of the least of the families' problems as it could be a symptom of neglect.
Having a child use a phone under strict supervision and a pre-agreed set of rules however can help the child develop a natural-ish instinctive understanding and ability to use the phone/internet that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
I consider it a parent's moral obligation when raising a child just like a parent must make sure the child learns how to swim, or to make sure the child is potty trained as soon as possible.
Original article:
https://read.cash/@BCH_LOVER/reasons-why-i-dont-want-my-kids-to-hold-phones-518541f8 by @BCHLover
Make sure you have read that article
Make sure you liked it, and that you have subscribed to @BCH_LOVER!
https://read.cash/@BCH_LOVER/reasons-why-i-dont-want-my-kids-to-hold-phones-518541f8
Because of the length of this response to the article I've decided to make it an article in and of itself.
The next article will be the fourth episode in "The Talks" series, hopefully, published before Wednesday.
Thank you for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy.
@anonsunamun.
I'd like to thank @pantera for being my last sponsor standing. He was the first sponsor, all the way through the top times when I had 9 sponsors. Now I am back to just one: Pantera.
Thanks. you have no idea how much I appreciate it.
The Talks Season 1 Episode 3.
01-09-2022
A new year in school!
Been a while since our last talk. Sorry about that. And of course, this happens during the period in which you suddenly up and went to your mother, leaving me without you for 14 frikking days!!
But you're here now, so let's not ruin that with whatever bla bla past yadda yadda.
How's your vacation going? Should be your last week right?
I missed you so frikking much!
And are you looking forward to the second year of high school? No longer a brugpieper, nor are you an examclass. If all goes well the coming two years are going to feel like the most boring, useless, grinding, endless and soul-crushing years you ever experienced. But believe me, these are the years to build friendships, try new things, say goodbye to old things, and really figure out who you are, what you like, and who you'd want to be in adult life.
`Side joke for your friends:`
`Wat heb je vandaag op school geleerd, zoon?`
`Niet genoeg, pap. Ik moet morgen terug.`
that is of course if you don't struggle too much with the curriculum. A golden trick that worked for me (the last 5 months, after I'd finally figured it out) to make sure your free time doesn't get overcast in worry and anxiety is to get the homework and studying done as soon as you can. Got 10 minutes in class with nothing to do: Homework. Some time left during lunch: Homework. Most of the time I had my homework done by the time I got home. Studying is different. Read whatever you need to learn out loud twice. Do some practice tests to see if you got it. Regardless, make sure you read it out loud again the night before the test. I pretty much guarantee that you'll own the test. (this does not work with math/chemistry and such)
`Take a look at these folks, they're awesome. And not just because they're my sponsor`
Free time free.
The best thing about the trick is that when you have free time you can focus on having a good time instead of having in the back of your head a nagging "I still need to do homework/study" bringing you down.
In a group, say 4 rows deep, 5 people wide. When that group starts moving, in which spot do you want to be?
Never the first row. The first row is what everyone not in the group is going to identify with the group. The first row is also the first to get hit, is the first to be described by others as part of the group, have the slightest opportunity to identify and adapt to something coming towards the group. You always want to be nr. 2 and 3 in that group in the second row.
From there you can glance past the first row, and see what they see. You can guide those in the first row in verbal or other directions. You can base your response to anything coming to you on the responses and success (or lack of it) the first row achieved. If push comes to shove, you can suddenly sprint past row one to take the first spot if needed.
If you've got feelings for someone
If and don't know how they feel about you, use your mouth and ask them. Tell them how you feel, and ask them how they feel. At worst they hate your guts and make fun of you. That lasts 1 day, 2 days tops. But if you don't do it you could feel miserable, anxious, and insecure for weeks, months, or even years. (trust me on this one if on nothing else!)
If you come across a situation where you see classmates or even your friends doing something stupid/illegal or just plain wrong. DO NOT JOIN THEM!! If you can come across them doing it, someone else can do the same, and call the cops or your parents or whatever. Even if you only join them 60 seconds before the shit hit the fan, your face will be just as full of shit as the rest of them.
It's okay to choose not to do something even though everyone else does it. If you have good reasons not to do something, those reasons do not change because you're the only one thinking enough to know those reasons. I hope that doesn't sound too complicated. An example:
during a dropping, the group wants to take a shortcut crossing a small river that's frozen over. This will take the group across a military field no one is allowed to walk on. You read an article the day before that said the field is an EOD training field where trainees learn how to find and disarm landmines.
Now if you tell the group about the landmine thing and decide not to go with them, but you turn out to be the only one not joining them, those mines don't suddenly disappear because the whole group is going. No, you're going to be alone while you watch the whole group step on a cluster mine and get blown to smithereens! Do you get what i am trying to say?
The best role in a group is not the leader. The unranked person can get the majority of the group to want what you want while thinking it's their own idea. A leader is only a leader if he gets done what the majority of the group wants to be done. If he doesn't, he won't be the leader for long. The one quietly putting little suggestions and thoughts into the heads of the group that leads them to want something you want them to want, has no requirements to meet.....
If someone is trying to convince you of something
always be suspicious and DYOR. (Do your own research) Confirm their arguments through independent sources. Always ask yourself: Why does he want me to think or do that?
Just because something is written, doesn't make it true or trustworthy. https://alai-web.org/nl/terug-naar-school-grappen-voor-kinderen/
Well, I gotta go, I need to get some cat gear. Love you, and I'm proud of you!
(oh readcash, may I introduce you to: Leia.
The latest member of the family.
Thank you for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!
The Talks. (s01e01)
18-08-2002 22:57
Well, here it is! After many attempts in many forms, audio and visual even, here is the start of what I think we have to call "The talks" series. Install a program that will translate my words into text so I am actually talking to you right now
And what do I have to say
well, that's a good question. basically, I wanted to tell you all the things that you were too young for when I started making these articles. And I didn't think I would be there to see you turn 18, which is when I think you're old enough to get these. I do want to leave you with some wisdom from your father. Maybe there will be something useful someday in your life, buried in all of this. I feel that we've been cheated out of these kinds of father-son things.
I know all emotional mushi mushi, ackwaaaaaard, and all that. I know.
But somehow I think it's important. Or maybe not important but meaningful. Look it's just something your father feels he needs to do so you stuck with this. You don't have to read this, you're an adult-free man. If you decide to delete this, that's your choice. I'm probably dead so it's not as if I feel the disappointment and sadness I would feel if I'd been alive. But even then, it's your choice.
Back here, in 2022, I am going to imagine you're reading this or listening and if I get into it I might even imagine you're sitting right here and we're having an actual conversation. And if I do that you're going to realize that your old man is pretty good at predicting what your replies and comments would be if you'd be there. Always have been by the way. Something that's actually helped me in many ways, but everyone else would judge as crazy: Talking to myself, or with any person, i felt could be helpful at the moment, imagining the person is actually there, filling the answers in inside my head.
Well, anyway
That's not really what I wanted to talk about in this first chapter. To be honest I didn't even think about what I would be talking about in my first post to you. Right now you're on the last two days of your vacation. You're in Denmark right now, having spent two days in Legoland.
Oh shoot.. this is good chocolate!
They never should have given me a whole damn box of them "Krunchy Keto" chocolate bars damn it! I don't think they're gonna last more than 2 days. Wait, I got an idea. I'm gonna put them in the basement and hopefully forget all about em until you're here. So, remember that for me okay?
Wait that's not gonna work if you're reading this five years from now is it? Shucks. And they got a consume-by date of the 24th of August 2022. I don't know if it's a good idea to put them in the basement. They'd probably be there for a couple of years, knowing me.
Quotus interruptus kapottus http://kapot.ga
Aaand queue the "four hours later" meme! Really I went downstairs for a snack, ate a snack behind the computer, and proceeded to fall asleep.
Not that it matters much. This post was meant to explain a little bit and to have an official first post. Speak to you next time, my apprentice.
Love you,
Darth Papah
;-)
Thanks for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!
@anonsunamun
Time for Change.
It is time. The moment for me to change completely how I do things posting shit online.
`But before we go any further, please take a moment to look at my sponsors!`
Pseudo-Filosophy shizzle
What is it, what makes "now" THE time? I couldn't begin to explain, mostly because I haven't got a clue myself. But it is irrelevant in any case. I made the decision, irrevocable, and so it is useless to waste time on the why and how of the decision.
What isn't wasting time is to tell y'all what decision and what changes I'm babbling on about. So sit back, ensure you've got an ice-cold glass of d00msh1n3 and I will tell you all about it.
Some might have noticed, though I doubt it very much these days, that my articles have lately been all over the place content-wise and format-wise. I think that I've found the reason for the declining interest in the articles I post here on readcash. All articles so far have been spontaneously improvised on the spot, and almost all of them were written and edited in one sitting.
I had an itch to write, sat down to write, then wrote and then edited what was written until I was satisfied, and then posted it up on the site. http://wwwwwwwww.jodi.org/
Apparently, there is little interest
There is no overwhelming interest in the stuff I post in this way. At least, there isn't anymore if there ever was. So I am going to try and bring some semblance of order to my postings in an attempt to please more readers.
I really care little for the generous tips that our buddy Randy sends my way, and find the number of views much more important. The views, and certainly the comments, are what give me the shot of endorphins others get when they win something when gambling.
Despite not caring...
I have been thinking about the stats concerning views, followers and sponsors a lot the past week or two. And as far as I can tell most of the people generating views, subscribers, and such didn't come to my articles because they liked the content or the topics, nor did they particularly care about me or the people in my articles.
Even the comforting thought that maybe my writing in the fanfiction series I posted was of a higher quality than most and that it was that, which drew the few views I get to come to my articles was submitted to scrutiny. And found delusional.
the delusion.
The most views and subs that I got were with the articles I posted roughly a year ago. They shot up right after the reward I received from @MarcDeMesel for the article(s) "My miserable life, a cautionary tale".
The three parts that make up the article and an article I wrote in response to the reward Mr. deMesel gave me netted me well over 1200€ and I dare say it came at a time in which receiving an awesome sum of money like that was a life-changing experience.
Trouble is, or trouble... maybe inconvenience is the better word..., when you're recipient of a tip of that size or from @MarcDeMesel you show up in top lists and such. Back then mr.deMesel was rather active and generous, here amongst other places, and three-quarters of the "community" was frantically going collectively nuts to find ways to get noticed by Mr. deMesel and entice him to tip big.
A lot of those people reasoned that if they followed a tipped author and commented on their articles they'd somehow miraculously wound up in the attention of Mr. DeMesel.
As I was going through the stats of my activities here on readcash and came to this conclusion I was myself reluctant to accept it, afraid I might somehow have let a prejudiced notion guide me to a conclusion like that. Then I found however that when I was fortunate enough to receive another tip from mr. DeMesel (not as big but still very greatly received) the number of subs and views for my work here on readcash had jumped up again as well. Still doesn't rule out coïncidence but it does make it more sensible to assume a correlation unless other indications point to something else.
When I was thinking about this I came to the idea that I could kind of take two nagging issues and quantum entangle them in an attempt to
shit on two stones with one bird!
You see, lately, I've noticed the maturity in my son in the way we interact. I've always had the nagging annoyance that there was so much I wanted to tell my son about how my life really was and how to survive in this crazy thing we call humanity, but considering my son too young to be interested in or able to comprehend the things I wanted to talk to him about.
The result of this issue is that both my local computers and several locations and services on the net are littered with the beginnings of documents or sound files or whatever contains the start of something that could be given to my son at the right age after my death or something.
All interesting and all never getting past the starting stages. http://theoatmeal.com/
Well long story short, well, less long perhaps:
From the next article onwards I will write them from the POV of me telling something to my son. It will still probably have a broad variety of topics and article lengths but at least have some semblance of uniformity. To make this work I've committed myself to the following protocol:
* I shall always write the same way I would be saying it if I'd actually were talking to my Son. You read my articles, translate them into Dutch and you've got a conversation that could actually take place between my son and me.
* Complete honesty and openness. I will hide nothing, tweak nothing, and to hell with the consequences.
* I will try to manage a production quotum of three articles a week. I will fail in that and feel appropriately bad about that.
* When I do kick the bucket I would like to request someone make sure all my readcash posts reach my son.
Hopefully, I can pique the interest of more readers, Rusty, and leave something behind for my Son that is uniquely me, his father, outside of the 7 hours he comes to visit me.
Thank you for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamun
Don't read this. It's just me babbling about stuff.
`No i think you'd be better off reading something from my sponsors.`
Depressed as f*ck!
No one probably noticed, which hurts more than I thought it would and certainly more than it should, but I haven't posted an article in almost a week now. I am cruelly reminded of the fact that if I died tomorrow, it would probably take 7 days, and maybe much longer before anyone would notice.
And those who'd notice would be the homecare agency's girl because I wouldn't open the door for the weekly two hours of help in keeping my house clean and livable. (my back prevents me from being able to do that myself).
I have some hope that maybe, just maybe my son would be the one to raise the alarm about my absence and the strange smell at my front door, but on the other hand he might just ring the bell, app msg me, call me two-three times, and then turn around get back in the car and drive off angry i wasn't there.
Things like that, thoughts like that, can really get to me when I give them the opportunity. Which I won't, or wouldn't if I didn't have a keyboard sucking it all out of the tips of my fingers but what the hell,
Who wants to live forever right?
FUCK YOU! I DO!
I am soooo not done with life yet. Even though it sucks ass right now, mentally and physically deteriorating differently than anticipated, I wouldn't want to miss a thing by being inconveniently dead or something. So.... Shoo shoo death, ain't nobody got time for that! Piss off!
Just read breaking news about Salman Rushdy, being stabbed before a lecture he was about to give. Damn son, that whole thing with the Satanic Verses??? That was back in the frikking 80's man! He has lived in hiding, with full police protection, for over ten years because of that Fatwa old kuhmeiny slapped him with. Then he came up again, spent 30 years living working, and giving lectures, and then out of nowhere a Muslim Idiot runs up to him and tries to kill him.
But you know, that Muslim has it worse I think!!! He had one job.... he was willing to give his life to do it.... and then FAILED!!!!
Yup, that's the moment you realize..... I am a dumbass numbnuts, who are requested not to participate in the human gene poule.
I also read James "captain slow" May has crashed in Norway and is hospitalized.
Apparently nobody bothered to tell the three Top Gear hosts that their show has been canceled. They now do something called the Grand Tour which is basically Top Gear without all the boring bits.
Trump keeps figuring out ways to pop up in the headlines as well, I see. Apparently took some papers home which he shouldn't have.
Really?
Is that the level of the investigations into "the evilest president the US ever had" these days?
Let me tell you if it is, you've already lost, suck it up, write it off, and just walk away.
Have a little dignity will ya??
I think that we're having a super heat wave here in the Netherlands. Utility companies are warning that if we continue to buy swimming pools for our backyards and fill them with up to (and beyond) 4000 liters three times a month the drink water supply cannot be guaranteed anymore. Ie. it's so dry that we're running the risk of having no water come out of our faucets or showers!!! https://www.faqt.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/supernova.jpg
I've said it before and I'll explain it as many times as i have to to get it through to your thick heads:
THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF WATER!!!
What we have is the impolite and inconvenient refusal of the rain to fall at the location and time we want it to fall. There's more than enough water coming down over the course of a year for us to drink, swim, wash, play, and everything else we do with water.
It is just coming down at times when we have more than enough water for our needs already or its falling 20 kilometers from the place where the water is needed in a location no one lives, and the water just floods the local populace and then evaporates or washes out into the sea.
Come on people, this isn't rocket science. If we prevent that water in then wrong places and times from running off or evaporating, storing it in huge aquafers or something, we can pump it to the place we need water to be at the time we need it there and use as much as we need.
I know, mind blown right?
But the real problems, the actual suffering of human beings.... not a word or sound is whispered. Amnesty International should do a campaign raising awareness about this terror that is being inflicted upon... well....
Upon me!
Words are insufficient to convey the suffering, grief, and sorrow I have to go through.....
each time I run out of beer!!!!!
Terrible terrible, trust me, long story, doesn't end well.
Anywho.... who?
Ani. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anakin_Skywalker
And with that ladies and gentlemen, I bid you good night!
Thanks for reading this.
Stay safe and stay happy!!
Strategizing my doctor visit.
Good thing I'm writing this article. It made me remember that I cannot go to the doctor tomorrow. My garden is being done from 07:00 and from 13:00 my house is getting cleaned....
`Please check out these sponsors, they're awesome!`
It is once again one of those periods that seems to go out of its way to work against me.
If I'd really think about it, I'd realize (probably) that the feeling is unfounded but that doesn't help for some reason.
It is probably the urgent visit to the doctor I need to make, sooner rather than later. I am afraid that... or rather know that, one of the ailments and discomforts is going to turn out to be... the big one. The one where the doc's gonna go: "You've got three months." or something to that effect.
Possible candidates for such an endgame diagnosis?
My obesity. For the first time in my life, I feel I am too fat.
My lack of stamina/energy. I can't even walk up more than one or two flights of stairs before I am gasping for breath like a beached whale.
The leg wounds. For over three months there are wounds on my legs that will not close, and therefore will not heal. I'm scared it is going to be skin cancer.
Increasing and prolonged times in which simply breathing in causes a "tickle" cough that ends up in a full-blown coughing fit during which breathing in is nearly impossible. Had several moments at which I thought: "This is it. Damn, I'm going to die behind my computer from a coughing fit. Didn't see that coming."
Pain in the lower back (between discs 4 and 5) is getting worse by the day. Sometimes a can't stand upright for 5 minutes or walk 100 meters before having to sit down a minute to let the pain lower back down.
The bad things I have done to my body since 1992 (like drugs, no sleep, bad eating habits, and so on) must have had their detrimental effects on my body right?
The last time I went to my doctor it was to request a stomach reduction or a gastric bypass. Both were refused to me by the insurance companies. Back then I was only partially motivated but I was still pissed that they effectively get to decide about my body and my health. Because effectively by denying me the insurance paying for the operations and the medical bills they're deciding I'm not going to have a gastric bypass or stomach reduction, ie. stay fat. https://smashthewalls.com/
Well, tomorrow... Oh, no, on Tuesday when I'm with the doctor I am going to lay it all out and say "Hey. These are the issues I'm dealing with right now. They all appeared months after I was refused the help to lose weight, but I'm not saying that it was the cause of these problems. The only thing I know is that if nothing is done I'm going to die soon, and my son isn't ready for that. Neither am i. I need an intervention. Please.... intervene!"
And I'll see where the ship strands.
Thank you for reading this
stay safe and stay happy!
@AnonSunamun
So happy to see one of my sponsors whom i thought i had lost renew their sponsorship!! Thanks!
@AnonSunamun
