I used to consider myself an atheist. Now, when asked, I say I am agnostic. It is not that I have doubts but I don’t want to be bundled in with the atheist crowd.
In answering such a question, it is too difficult to explain the distinction between atheism and anti-religionism and to be honest, the lines are often blurred.
Is it any wonder?
This Easter we have been witness to baffling brawls over halal chocolate Easter eggs and squabbling over whether or not a footy match should be played on Good Friday. I adopt the laissez-faire approach in these matters but I find it troubling that those who advocate sombre reflection on religious holidays are cast as extremists.
Religion is often mocked by atheists. Mockery is fine in some instances but when people are painted as sub-human for holding supernatural beliefs, items of faith in all organised religions, it is clear there is an attempt to wantonly discriminate against people and limit their movements and their associations.
Full column here.
Now there’s a surprise: Been there, smoked that: Scott Ludlam’s days of haze
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/been-there-smoked-that-scott-ludlams-days-of-haze/news-story/fa3e1c68d1ab41998f6bb1860a884385
Greens co-deputy leader Scott Ludlam has smoked “a fair bit” of marijuana, used acid and tried every drug in between that appealed to him.
Probably made him a bit more human than the rest of them. But he shouldn’t have owned up to it!! Not PC as they say these days
You’d never catch me admitting to it in a public forum. There’s a morals clause in my contract, I think! 😉
that’s OK, as long as there was no tobacco involved.
HA! That’s about right, too!
Tops!
That’s the sad thing. If I fire up my hookah with actual tobacco, I’m evil.
PM Turnbull looking and sounding a tad more “marketable” of late, Mr Insider? He seems of late to be inspired by POTUS Trump in his leanings. Could be something in the water in Canberra?
shit… he’s up for sale again?
Only one owner. Low miles. Priced to move.
Hahahaha. Funny stuff smoke.
Says everything in one line.
Carl on the Coast.
BTW. I doubt Kimmie has the real power in North Korea in spite of appearances. He may just be convenient figurehead on a leash who could have an unfortunate accident at any time. Not that he would know it. Bit like Donald Trump I suppose.
Did he confide that with you during your last phone hook up me old mate?
What don’t you understand about the words “not that he would know it ?”
I got that from the Generals Kah Park, and Pah King Bay, two of Kimmies closest confidants who have become friends of mine.
They do like the kid, but he is naturally shy and retiring and they have to slip a few uppers into him to keep him revved up. They reckon they can mange quite well without him but they are keeping him on for now because he irritates the bejesus out of the capitalist running dogs.
Don’t spread it around. Kimmie is a delicate kid and nervous at the best of times.
Is that blancmange, or the real stuff?
I see you’re still having a giggle about the bloke and his regime who believes bombs are more important than bread JB.
I have to say your pious concern for the 3 million dead (see your1.41pm 20 Apr) did have a hollow ring about it.
No shadows for the jolly joker JB, eh me old mate.
You have absolutely no justification for taking yourself seriously Carl.
You know how it is Carl, if the US or Israel can’t be blamed the deaths didn’t happen.
Dwight? The US dropped those bombs. Try and keep up.
With PM Turnbull touting tougher Aussie Citizenship Tests, Mr Insider, here is a link to the current test. I did mine and it said “Henry, move to the USA” whoo yes, Donald here I come!
http://tinyurl.com/jzsvjgo
Did mine too Henry.
It said “Bella, find the nearest cave.” whoo yes, off the grid at last!
Do you understand how much damage Trump has caused so far? To be kind, your man is very clearly intellectually ‘diminished’.
Mate, if I were you, I’d re-take the test.
Bella
Not so fast, we have standards:
https://my.uscis.gov/en/prep/test/civics/view
I can’t believe that the 7pm ABC News did not lead with a trigger warning when reporting on the election in Jakarta. To me, language of the form, “…licking a goat’s arse.”, is highly distasteful.
Oh, you never know . . . you might like the taste.
Do it once. Do it right. Do it with fibre. The Liberals were ALWAYS against the NBN. Abbott said he would destroy it! Well his mob are well on the way…I now have the NBN…it is piss poor. Experts say it will all have to be torn up and re-done.
http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2017/04/10/the-experts-agree-turnbulls-nbn-is-a-national-tragedy/
Have to say I am fond of the new Skymuster satellite service. Puts every other ‘net connection I ever had to shame.
This is a BaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaD Guvmint BASSMAN and the NBN a very poor concept from Labor too imho, shame on the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd governments. Should have all been left to the Telco’s to provide better Broadband imho. Look at what Google is doing in the USA for example, speeds of 1 Terabyte and costs below our NBN!
https://fiber.google.com/about/
Why invest so much money in so,etching that is about to be superseded?
Supposed to read ‘something’
You talking about coal again razor.
Even electricity Bill says coal will be around for at least 50yrs. Will the NBN?
Razor, coal will be around. Humans wont be. Get your head out of your date mate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy0pli8E9ic
Bloody shame BASS. Fibre to the office wall here. I swear sometimes it happens before I hit the key!
Bloody minded narcissistic idiocy at work.
I wondered what your problem was, JB!!
Try and keep up old chook. I was referring to Turnbull’s idiocy.
Bonjour. I thought I as one step ahead of you there JB. Try and keep up old thing –
Understandable mistake. You were on the wrong page.
Sad Cafe
Perhaps drinking more fluids and exercising daily would also help, Bassy?
Not good Bassy – what speeds are you getting.
Tye number of times I have heard that it takes two or three goes to get an installation working says to me that it might have something to do with the installation process and not the technology.
Conroy was warned at the time that Telstra was the only company tat had the expertise to design and install something as complex as the NBN .
By the way, who is your ISP?
iprimus paying for 25/5
getting 13/2 varies
Get onto Iprimus. Also have a crack at them through Whirlpool
nbn is a lemon hereabouts, and mobile is the trending tech anyhow
NBN wasted money on what was always going to be redundant technology. 5G will be the new world.
How do they stop the band-width getting over-crowded? It does with wireless, no matter how many G’s you get up to
It does with any network.
Somewhere down the link sitting in an exchange there is equipment (switches/routers) that have to sort everything out and re-rout it to your ISP which then re-rout to your URL etc.
They might only have an aggregate capacity of a gigabyte or 5 and can only handle x number of packets a second before stuff has to be resent…
It does not take too many 100 megabit or 25 megabit connections to slow it right down.
It might be handling a whole bunch of users on ISDN at 5 megabit quite happily but suddenly everybody wants 25 megabit and then down she goes.
One can see the same effect on my cable connection – do not be trying to do a big download at 3:30 when all the kids get home from school – the aggregate exceeds the limit.
They tend to be a trifle expensive.
There is a lot more to the NBN than just fibre – its called the ISP and their equipment..
JACK SPRAT:- the there is the cost…fone companies are always going on about how fast their wifi is. U can use up you whole month’s allowance downloading just one movie if you are into that. Wi Fi internet with an major fone company like Telstra or Optis is outrageously expensive.
5G is Not ready and is only good in built up areas. You seem to have abandoned the bush again. Reports this week of 5G being pushed back. To run the wireless you still need wires to the hotspot. the only thing redundant is what, at one time, must have been your grey matter. How long has copper lasted? Fibre will outdo copper. Qld – “this is how we always done it”
David Walsh (MONA) likes to be confrontational. But when does “art” become depravity – for our ”entertainment”.? When, as part of DARK MOFO this June, you plan to slaughter an ox in front of a depraved audience and then have blood everywhere, people crawling into the bloodied de-bowelled carcass – all in the name of art. Some foreign artist or exhibitionist or manic person’s work. In today’s Mercury. Jesus.
Despicable. The animal liberationists are up in arms. Don’t blame them. I’m happy to sign a petition on this one.
Before you pounce, JB, I should have written disembowelled. Apologies.
I’ll take a wild guess. Tasmanian?
Tasmanian – Walsh or the poor animal?
Walsh likes to make confrontational statements. That’s what MONA is all about. He put Tasmania on the global stage with MONA.
Okay he’s making a point, apparently, about abattoirs.
So, how can you make a point about the slaughter of animals for consumption by doing exactly the same thing – in an infinitely shocking, macabre way. Sorry, I don’t get it.
S’okay, you’d hardly be considered avant garde old gel, you’re not expected to get it. He might shock a few people who have never contemplated the process into reconsidering their diet.
Imagine if we were all required to inspect the aftermath of a battlefield, soldiers, civilians, children torn to pieces by bombs and bullets. Would we be so casual about our nation engaging in war?
Goodness JB. Maybe that’ll be his next ”stint” – a full on nuclear war down at Macquarie Point. Then his fans can get a first hand peek – as with the bull slaughter.
Do you have any idea of the wherewithal and logistics involved in creating a full on nuclear war in an urban environment? The planning permission, the environmental impact assessment, the public liability insurance costs?
I think you’re being ridiculous now Boady.
no BOYCOTT either
But will you be signing your name in blood or Bic Boadicea?
Online Carl! Have done so. They got 10,000 signatures in the first day. People here are not comfortable with it.
There are no limits to animal cruelty by the hand of man Boadicea.
I’m wondering what sick twisted weirdo would consider the gutting of a defenseless, living creature as some kind of artform.
Would a normal person ‘pay’to be covered in blood? No. Names list?
Please tell me that children are to be banned.
I’m going to share the shit out of this on social media & you should do the same. Word spreads fast & I hope MONA faces a backlash they never saw coming.
Thanks, Bella
Just found it Boadicea.
Highly disturbing viewing.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-19/controversy-over-hermann-nitsch-dark-mofo-bloody-art-show/8452202
Yes it is disturbing, Bella. He had a video clip going in the gallery of the same exhibition in another part of the world some time ago. I found it revolting to watch then – I find it extremely revolting that it is to happen in Hobart now.
People are saying that it is no different to what happens in an abattoir and the subsequent packaged meat you buy. However making a public, demoniacal spectacle of it for the public’s lurid curiosity is disgusting. To add insult to injury, I believe the plan is/was to then cook the meat and eat it!!!!!!! Barbaric – but that’s what walsh likes to do – shock and confront people. I’m sure there are more civilised ways to get the message across.
yeah shouldn’t be hard to do
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9z_t6LXkAAaONk.jpg
Aw, that’s cute, smoke. Much better. I don’t eat much meat myself really.
I do not know who is the most depraved – the organizers, the perpetrator or the clowns who want to watch it and revel in the blood and guts.
Slaughtering a beast for art is no different than the mentality behind big game hunting and we do not tolerate the latter.
The best defense against this rubbish is ridicule.
It’s certainly caused a hoo-ha down here. Which is probably the desired outcome whatever happens to the disgusting performance.
Trivalve
reply to yours earlier ‘…sects that got lucky…’
They would have got lucky if they’d followed a Jessica and a Monica instead of a Jesus and a Mohammed. The great failing I see in all religions are they are essentially men’s clubs. Men exclusively wrote the books, named the gods, laid out the edicts and prayers. and set the penalties for sins real and imagined. Religion has always needed a woman’s touch, but all faiths have steadfastly resisted all attempts to introduce women into their hierarchies. This is the great weakness of organised religion.
Worked for 1500 years 🙂
LOL! A durable bluff! 😉
I’ll join the first church that installs a Popess. Or Popette. Not sure of the term for a female Pope. (Pope) Joan was ‘undercover’, so she never got a proper title.
Maybe a young female pope is a pipette?
So has the pox. Doesn’t mean it’s optimum.
Nope – just proves resilience.
This guy has real tenacity. Good to see the club stick by him.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/after-five-knee-reconstructions-sydney-swans-alex-johnson-weeks-from-playing-20170418-gvnf3p.html
Dismayed,
Are you up for my deal on Adani? According to your posts over the last couple of years you are a sure fire winner! Last you ever here of dear old Razor. C’mon lad show some nuts. You were the Adani expert after all.
Don’t do it Dismayed! Blog wouldn’t be the same without Razor.
He’d just come back under another name thinking we wouldn’t notice!
We’re onto you Razor.
Only to read your prose JB. You gotta admit Inhad you over a barrel with Rupert.
On another note I work with a bloke whose sister was fairly high up in advertising. She told him how time was allotted to political advertising. Very interesting and actually goes to support one or two of your conspiracy theories. NOT THE BLOODY MOON THOUGH!
No deal either way. the adani scam is a waste of money and a disaster waiting to happen. Your “offer” just highlights how ridiculous you are. “Why invest so much money in something that is about to be superseded?” coal has already been superseded much like you.
Bit like the NBN when Conroy dd the back of the envelope stuff to Rudd on a plane o Brisbane.
No the NBN would have been the most important productivity enhancing, regions building infrastructure for this Nation this century if the coalition had not as usual ruined it purely for ideology. I have no doubt turnbull will go to work with a Telco that is over building the disgrace he has overseen within a few short years. 5G is not ready and not suited for outside of built up areas.
lots of fantastic ideas have been sketched out on a napkin or envelope.
Eddie is 5G like Adani?
http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/4049201/lightning-broadband-offers-australians-crazy-high-speed-internet-without-nbn/?cs=33
JB – a back of an envelope for a $50 billion spend is NOT the way to go.
“Lightning Broadband’s Rich says the economics would not stack up in some areas.” So areas that don’t get Fibre microwave is an option. The article states due to less Fibre being rolled out microwave becomes viable. did you think people would not read the link? You have decided to cherry pick and support what the company itself admits is an inferior product to FTTP. That is the problem with the cons it is always about ideology rather than the National interest.
Promising “fibre” like download speeds?
But you were adamant Eddie it wasn’t going to happen. Nobody would finance it remember. Were you wrong?
How much coal have Adani dug to date ? How many km’s of rail has been laid? How many jobs apart from lobbyists have created? Who apart from the coalition using taxpayer funds are funding it?
Has it happened?
Hence my offer to Dismayed JB. You may have noticed he has changed his language on this from ‘Will never happen’.
But, has it happened? Does Adani intend to mine or just tie up the resource?
Crikey Razor. My reply didn’t make it. So now I want to know, who did write the “Rupert Chronicles” for you?
Moon landings? Debate me. Anybody, anywhere, anytime.
The fabulous POTUS Trump setting a cracking pace in government, Mr Insider, as we read today and I quote: “Donald Trump signs ‘Buy American, Hire American’ executive order, announces major review of skilled work visas”. Interesting to note our own “beloved” PM Turnbull now doing similar here too and also note Bill Shorten came out in full support of POTUS Trumps stance on North Korea. The penny has dropped it seems as they start to realise this very different President is around to stay and is taking the fight to the “hun”. Advance Donald!
http://tinyurl.com/l4kz8kk