The concept of free will is not properly understood. The correct use of free will is to choose actions that are positive and not negative i.e. to follow the ethical teachings of Jesus or the precepts of the Buddha: to choose love over hate, forgiveness over anger, humility over arrogance, and selflessness over greed.
It is not about thoughts or thought crimes. It is not about choosing to believe or not to believe. It's much harder to consistently do good and not evil. It's relatively simple to believe something if you choose to believe it, whether Christianity, Islam or Atheism.
Food For Thought.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
The enemy of my enemy is my friend?
As rain falls in Austin ~ which we desperately need I noticed via CNN that Syria has launched attacks in Iraq. Does not appear ISIS was the target, but I have wondered why Syria hasn't stepped up attacks on ISIS.
No doubt the Syrian government is despicable but wouldn't a northern front against ISIS affect their drive towards Baghdad? I'm reminded of Russia's role in defeating Hitler.
No doubt the Syrian government is despicable but wouldn't a northern front against ISIS affect their drive towards Baghdad? I'm reminded of Russia's role in defeating Hitler.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
After a few discussions, I have reversed my uncharacteristically hawkish disposition towards the situation in Iraq with ISIS. No doubt I want to see them turned back. Sharia Law and cold-blooded executions are abominations not matter who your God or gods are ~
Let Shiite Iraq and Shiite Iran partner together to deal with this. I am no more afraid of a nuclear Iran than I am of nuclear Pakistan. Any nation using a nuke, especially a small one with a limited arsenal is committing national suicide.
It's a sad story all around given how poorly women are treated in this part of the world. These people live as though it was still 1000 A.D. Let them decide their own borders and governments. War is horrible no doubt but the U.S. involving itself in a war by going to war seems to be failing when not justified.
Interestingly enough, we bailed on Vietnam. What happened to the domino effect. Vietnam is now a capitalist country. Go figure.
Let Shiite Iraq and Shiite Iran partner together to deal with this. I am no more afraid of a nuclear Iran than I am of nuclear Pakistan. Any nation using a nuke, especially a small one with a limited arsenal is committing national suicide.
It's a sad story all around given how poorly women are treated in this part of the world. These people live as though it was still 1000 A.D. Let them decide their own borders and governments. War is horrible no doubt but the U.S. involving itself in a war by going to war seems to be failing when not justified.
Interestingly enough, we bailed on Vietnam. What happened to the domino effect. Vietnam is now a capitalist country. Go figure.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Monday, June 02, 2014
Friday, May 30, 2014
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Don’t Tell Me This Town Aint Got No
Heart!
Grateful Dead Tribute Band Deadeye Shakes up Downtown Austin
Grateful Dead Tribute Band Deadeye Shakes up Downtown Austin
By Joe Rossi
D
|
owntown Sixth Street, to many the heart of
Austin’s legendary music scene, is considered over-rated by many others,
because in recent years it’s become more about style and bar-hopping than about
good music. So as I strolled out of the Flamingo Cantina on Saturday on June 2,
having caught a show by Deadeye, a relatively new Grateful Dead tribute band
from South Austin, a line from the Grateful Dead song “Shakedown Street,” which
they opened their second set with, popped into my head.
Nothin shakin on Shakedown Street. Used to be the heart of
town.
Don’t tell me this town aint got no heart you just gotta poke around!
Don’t tell me this town aint got no heart you just gotta poke around!
Deadeye brought an ample amount
of the Dead’s legendary heart and soul to Sixth Street, while at the same time evoking a sense of originality and uniqueness,
which is what I want from tribute bands.
It evoked in me memories of legendary Southern California tribute band
Cubensis, headed by my old friend guitarist Craig Marshall. To this day,
Cubensis has always managed to imbue
their tribute with originality.I remember seeing Dark Star Orchestra, one of the country’s most recognized
Dead tribute bands when they visited Austin awhile back. And I remember walking
away with the sense that while it was good to hear the music and the band were
very professional and tight, it just did not come across as “genuine” as I
wanted, as there was in my view too much emphasis of being “just like the
Grateful Dead” as opposed to emulating the quintessential jam’s style and
bringing their songs to life with innovation and creativity.
Such was the case with Deadeye. The music felt real and not simply imitated
but rather emulated while staying true to the songs and the arrangements. I met and chatted with several members of the
band on the upstairs patio. Most of the members were too young to have seem the
band, so I shared my own experiences and memories. It was refreshing, to say the least, to see
such passion for a band from young people seeing how many young people have no
awareness of the band or its historical impact on music as the quintessential
flagship jam band. The band has been
together for about one and ½ years. They said that they a repertoire of 120
songs and are working on more. So embracing the legacy of both the originals
and covers that the Dead performed for 30 years shows how DEADicated Deadeye is
keeping the music alive.
A rocking first set opened with “Here Comes Sunshine,” followed by a
cover of Dylan’s “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again.” Other
Dead originals included “Row Jimmy “ and “Ramble on Rose.” Keeping up with his
job as Bob Weir’s vocals, drummer Shadd Scott did a great job with “Looks Like
Rain.” They closed the first set with a
blistering Help On The Way - > Slip Knot -> Franklin’s Tower. In addition
to “Shakedown Street,” the second set featured “Estimated Prophet,” “Truckin’”
and they closed the show with Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”
Deadeye is comprised of Joe Faulhaber on guitar and vocals, Trevor Nealon on keyboards and vocals, Shadd
Scott on drums and vocals, Lee Braverman on bass and vocals Keith Sennikoff on
guitar.
Upcoming shows include Stubbs on June 28th
The Texas Music Theater in San
Marcos on June 16th , The Rattle Inn on July 14th and Antones
on August 2nd.
For Booking: P.J. Harrington 513-518-4980
Saturday, September 05, 2009
morning lament
ok well just leave me here
it just might make it easier
& just as the leaves turn to Fall
it's high time I slipped into gone.
into that fragrant place
that time forgets
where all is empty
& all our lives are spent.
remembering nothing
& holding it all
in the cup of our palm
like a bead of smooth balm
rubbed into our thin
excuse for skin
which will peel away
but refuse to fall.
night dies all around us
as the sun grows a new day
still it's as dark as the shadows
that remain in our way.
it just might make it easier
& just as the leaves turn to Fall
it's high time I slipped into gone.
into that fragrant place
that time forgets
where all is empty
& all our lives are spent.
remembering nothing
& holding it all
in the cup of our palm
like a bead of smooth balm
rubbed into our thin
excuse for skin
which will peel away
but refuse to fall.
night dies all around us
as the sun grows a new day
still it's as dark as the shadows
that remain in our way.
foreshadowing
into a dark heart night
& little room to move
finding myself like a wandering wolf
howling at a midnight moon
the cat my friend
as he nudges me for food
reminds of the childhood I wanted
for my children too.
these halls,
where my daughters played
these rooms
to remain here,
and I promise you, this place
becomes my tomb.
& little room to move
finding myself like a wandering wolf
howling at a midnight moon
the cat my friend
as he nudges me for food
reminds of the childhood I wanted
for my children too.
these halls,
where my daughters played
these rooms
to remain here,
and I promise you, this place
becomes my tomb.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Islamic Terrorism, Sexuality & Evolution
Islamic terrorism? It is patently clear that the problem with Islamic terrorism isn't Islam as some might erroneously surmise, and for proof I need not go farther than our own shores.
America is home to thousands if not millions of Islamic Americans. If Islam were the root of terrorism, then we would have to ask ourselves how it is that none of our fellow Islamic American citizens and residents are blowing themselves and each other up. Is it not obvious that the are not suffering from what I call the misery factor. These Americans like most Americans live in relative comfort and security, have jobs to go, homes to live in, mosques to worship in and need not fear that their some suicide bomber might blow themselves and their family up. It simply does not happen here and for good reason. By and large people in this nation, regardless of their religion enjoy a lifestyle unknown in some of the darker regions of the Mideast.
And you'll note that for the most part, we don't hear about suicide bombings in the stabler parts of the Mideast. Not in U.A.E. or Jordan, or Saudi Arabia, but in places where turmoil and misery reigns, such as Israel, where the Palestinians are miserable, or Iraq, still struggling to rise from the ashes of George Bush's ill conceived war. Poor impoverished Afghanistan and neighbor hing Pakistan where tribal and economic conditions drive many young Muslims to the point of desperation.
Because if you ask yourself a simple question you will arrive at a very simple and correct conclusion. What would drive anyone to kill themselves along with anyone with the misfortune of being in their vicinity, with no regard or concern for the suffering such an act unleashes, other than the fact they are completely and utterly miserable. Perhaps they have no job and their family has been killed in the war, or by suicide bombers. They are hungry, lonely, emotionally battered and without hope. They live in countries with battered infrastructures where electricity and clean water are luxuries, where jobs and good meals are scarce and where pleasures are few.
I will add however, that Islam insomuch as it is a religion, much like Christianity, does exacerbate matters in that in creates especially in males an irrational hostility towards one's own human sexuality. It perhaps in many cases becomes a straw that breaks many a camel's back, as lonely souls bereft of love and the comfort of a woman's touch, seek respite in martyrdom and the promise of virgins in heaven. It's a cruel and mean joke to play on these poor souls in so many ways. some but the problem isn't exclusive to Islam. This war on the flesh creates self hatred as one's own natural and innate desires are view as vehicles to damnation. It is I believe at the heart of the child molestation problem in the Catholic priesthood. Denying a human males normal needs for sex, can result in sexual feelings finding expression in unnatural ways.
You don't hear about other religions that allow the priests to marry etc. having the kinds of problems the Catholic Church has had. Not that all catholic priests are sexually repressed child moles tors, and are able to sublimate such primal passions in healthy ways, but I still do view such repressive sexuality as unhealthy and potentially dangerous, just as most Muslim males are happily married and have satisfying sex lives.
Still, don't go explaining how sex is God's gift to loving couples in monogamous marriage for the purpose of procreation. Don't go confusing God's purpose with our purpose. Sexuality is of and always will be of the jungle, even within the confines of social institutions. Now that is not to give one license of free reign to act on impulses, but rather to make a case for self-compassion towards one's own sexuality. Because any species whose males did not feel a compulsive and overwhelming urge to engage in sex, would be deselected in the evolutionary process.
But again let's not confuse life's purpose with our own. We seek sex because it's fun and pleasurable and makes us feel less alone in the world and intimately close with those whom we love the most. It's the bait and we lunge after it whole-heartedly. Just like life's purpose for hunger is for us to feed our bodies, nurture them and keep them warm, but we don't' eat for this reason. We eat because we are hungry and it feels good to eat. These qualities ensure we survive as the fittest for a species that did not eat or engage in sex often would slowly die off due to starvation and a lack of reproductive activity.
America is home to thousands if not millions of Islamic Americans. If Islam were the root of terrorism, then we would have to ask ourselves how it is that none of our fellow Islamic American citizens and residents are blowing themselves and each other up. Is it not obvious that the are not suffering from what I call the misery factor. These Americans like most Americans live in relative comfort and security, have jobs to go, homes to live in, mosques to worship in and need not fear that their some suicide bomber might blow themselves and their family up. It simply does not happen here and for good reason. By and large people in this nation, regardless of their religion enjoy a lifestyle unknown in some of the darker regions of the Mideast.
And you'll note that for the most part, we don't hear about suicide bombings in the stabler parts of the Mideast. Not in U.A.E. or Jordan, or Saudi Arabia, but in places where turmoil and misery reigns, such as Israel, where the Palestinians are miserable, or Iraq, still struggling to rise from the ashes of George Bush's ill conceived war. Poor impoverished Afghanistan and neighbor hing Pakistan where tribal and economic conditions drive many young Muslims to the point of desperation.
Because if you ask yourself a simple question you will arrive at a very simple and correct conclusion. What would drive anyone to kill themselves along with anyone with the misfortune of being in their vicinity, with no regard or concern for the suffering such an act unleashes, other than the fact they are completely and utterly miserable. Perhaps they have no job and their family has been killed in the war, or by suicide bombers. They are hungry, lonely, emotionally battered and without hope. They live in countries with battered infrastructures where electricity and clean water are luxuries, where jobs and good meals are scarce and where pleasures are few.
I will add however, that Islam insomuch as it is a religion, much like Christianity, does exacerbate matters in that in creates especially in males an irrational hostility towards one's own human sexuality. It perhaps in many cases becomes a straw that breaks many a camel's back, as lonely souls bereft of love and the comfort of a woman's touch, seek respite in martyrdom and the promise of virgins in heaven. It's a cruel and mean joke to play on these poor souls in so many ways. some but the problem isn't exclusive to Islam. This war on the flesh creates self hatred as one's own natural and innate desires are view as vehicles to damnation. It is I believe at the heart of the child molestation problem in the Catholic priesthood. Denying a human males normal needs for sex, can result in sexual feelings finding expression in unnatural ways.
You don't hear about other religions that allow the priests to marry etc. having the kinds of problems the Catholic Church has had. Not that all catholic priests are sexually repressed child moles tors, and are able to sublimate such primal passions in healthy ways, but I still do view such repressive sexuality as unhealthy and potentially dangerous, just as most Muslim males are happily married and have satisfying sex lives.
Still, don't go explaining how sex is God's gift to loving couples in monogamous marriage for the purpose of procreation. Don't go confusing God's purpose with our purpose. Sexuality is of and always will be of the jungle, even within the confines of social institutions. Now that is not to give one license of free reign to act on impulses, but rather to make a case for self-compassion towards one's own sexuality. Because any species whose males did not feel a compulsive and overwhelming urge to engage in sex, would be deselected in the evolutionary process.
But again let's not confuse life's purpose with our own. We seek sex because it's fun and pleasurable and makes us feel less alone in the world and intimately close with those whom we love the most. It's the bait and we lunge after it whole-heartedly. Just like life's purpose for hunger is for us to feed our bodies, nurture them and keep them warm, but we don't' eat for this reason. We eat because we are hungry and it feels good to eat. These qualities ensure we survive as the fittest for a species that did not eat or engage in sex often would slowly die off due to starvation and a lack of reproductive activity.
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