Category Archives: History

Too bad that Attila the Hun didn’t develop a sense of gratitude

Attila the Hun and gratitudeIt is well known that people who are more grateful experience higher levels of well-being. Grateful people are happier, less stressed, and more content with their lives and social relationships. People who maintain a sense of gratitude also have higher levels of control in their lives, as well as sustained personal growth, and acceptance of their self. They have positive methods of coping with the challenges that arise, being more likely to accept support from others, able to re-frame situations and grow from the difficulty, and give more time to planning how to deal with it. Grateful people are also less prone to using negative coping strategies, including avoidance and denial, self blame, or using substances. Grateful people sleep well, and this is because they are less inclined to think in negative terms. They will experience more positivity in their thoughts in the moments before going to sleep.

Healthy emotions and character traits are important to wellness, although it is probable that gratitude may be of unique importance. Studies show that people who have more gratitude cope better with life transitions. People who are more grateful are less stressed, less depressed, and more satisfied with their relationships. Gratitude may have a unique relationship with well-being, and can explain aspects of well-being that other personality traits cannot.

It is probable that had Stalin, Hitler or other historical goons had a sense of gratitude there would be less suffering in this sorry world.

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Women’s Empowerment Series: Flatulence is a Human Right

Governor General Michaëlle Jean on a Woman’s Intrinsic Right to Pass Gas

governor general michaelle jeanFor Governor General Michaëlle Jean, denying more than half of the world’s population the most basic human right to flatulence is one of the worst scandals of our time. This is what has inspired her determination to break down the wall of indifference and give a voice to women.

She believes that flatulence—at home, in our neighbourhoods, in our communities—is one of the basic rights that are all too often abused where women are concerned, even in our so-called progressive societies. That is why she has made flatulence for women a priority in her mandate. It is also a commitment that stems from her years spent working with women and children who had suffered through many forms of flatulence suppression, which led her to help establish a network of shelters for them.

In her view, the struggle for flatulence equality is not just a woman’s struggle; it is the struggle of every person who demands respect, justice and dignity. She strongly believes that we have everything to gain when we give women the means to expel gas. “Empower women,” Her Excellency states, “and you will see a decrease in poverty, illiteracy, illness and gas build up.”

Women’s Historical Struggle for the Right to Pass Gas

It has been well known for centuries that retaining flatus is bad for the health. Emperor Claudius even passed a law legalizing the passing of gas at banquets out of his compassionate concern for people’s health and his reliance and fear of the ruthless and flatulent women of the imperial family.

There are some conservative doctors (those who do not believe in global warming) that confidently state that there is no medical harm caused when a woman retains her flatus, either through a desire to avoid embarrassment or through patriarchal pressure. These politically motivated doctors state that holding your gases in will not poison women as they are a natural component of a woman’s intestinal contents.

These doctors, who listen to a lot of talk radio and did not vote for Obama, are not concerned if a woman develops a stomach ache due to the gas pressure. They care not that pathological distention of the bowel could result if a person holds in gas too much. They are indifferent to the fact that retaining flatus can cause hemorrhoids!

Flatulence is an Argument from Design

The level of flatulence in nature implies that there must be a creator God. We must explain how we think the gassy world in which we live came into existence. Naturalists (atheists, or materialists) would argue that since flatulence is able to enter our world it is possible for chance collisions of molecules to produce farts.

But such an explanation has many problems. For instance, although farts are free to enter the system of our world, what mechanism connects these gasses to the work of ordering chaotic molecules into the precise, complex order needed for a satisfying experience of passing gas? Organizing matter into meaningful structures and the relative proportions of these gases that emerge from our anal opening depend on several factors: what we ate, how much air we swallowed, what kinds of bacteria we have in our intestines, and how long we hold in the fart. Random arrangements accomplish nothing. And randomly assembled molecules cannot evolve into farts because they lack the ability to replicate themselves. The whole complex mechanism involved in DNA and protein synthesis would be required before natural selection could ever come into play. Theists argue that such complexity of flatulence could only arise as the direct result of intervention by someone with purpose and intelligence.

Suppose we put some dynamite under a flatulent person, and blew it up. The system contains sufficient fart energy and the correct building blocks to build the Taj-Mahal. But is it really likely that blowing the bricks up would have this result? The answer is obviously no but this is a distraction from the main theme of this article.

For more information on Women’s Rights, Flatulence and the Argument from Design check here, here, here, and here.

Women Empowered: No More Will We Retain Our Flatus!

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Suzy Poppins offers theatre of the brain – a head of her times

Most of you are already familiar with Suzy Poppins, famous for her work in repairing feather quill pens, teletype machines and princess phones. Poppins is a very busy girl and her company, Oblique Phalangeal Fractures, is growing at a pace congruent with the increased popularity of these three communication tools. Her dedication to the repair of these items is unquestioned among her peers in the industry.

Due to the extraordinary success of her organization, Poppins was recently honoured with an Outstanding Business Achievement Award from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. Poppins is also proud to have been nominated for a Canadian Award for Excellence.

What is the secret of her success? It is her rock steady focus on these three areas rather than branching out into other growth industries such as the Underwood typewriter or the overnight success atmospheric steam engine. If you are over 25 then you will remember the Twitter fad of of the early 21st century. Where is Twitter now, for goodness sake? We all know what the teenagers are into these days. Princess phones, feather quill pens and teletype machines.

Suzy Poppins loves to give back to the community by offering to immigrants of British and Irish descent food, shelter and the self esteem that comes with having a low-paying job repairing feather quill pens. The immigrants have to provide their own tools and pay for their room and board as well as the purchase and laundering of their company uniforms.

Suzy Poppins is a great lover of all sorts of cheeses and enjoys sending her employees on unpaid errands to pick up the lists of cheeses that she provides them with. “I know that they love to please their employer,” said Ms. Poppins, “and it is my pleasure, my honour really, to provide them with the opportunity to please me in the faint hope that their living conditions or work position would improve.”

“Although they are not able to earn very much, and the living conditions that I provide them with are rather rustic,” said Ms. Poppins cautiously, “I know that any one of them could one day become the President of Canada if they have enough gumption and political and financial support. Bloody unlikely, but possible nonetheless.”

A Brief History of Barber Poles

A barber’s pole is a kind of sign barbers use, traditionally a pole with a helix of colored stripes (usually red, white, and blue). Suzy Poppins is an avid collector of old barber poles.

The origin of the barber pole is associated with the practice of bloodletting. During medieval times, barbers performed surgery on customers as well as tooth extractions. The original pole had a brass basin at the top (representing the vessel in which leeches were kept) and bottom (representing the basin which received the blood). The pole itself represents the staff that the patient gripped during the procedure to encourage blood flow.

The Development of Toilet Paper

Suzy Poppins uses toilet paper herself when appropriate and is an advocate for the use of this paper for its intended function amongst the members of her industry. As part of her charitable work she has retained Ronn Torossian, head of 5WPR and Aish Spokesanimal, to help her promote the use of toilet paper in western culture.

Poppins notes that, in earlier times, wealthy people wiped themselves with wool, lace or hemp, while less wealthy people used their hand when defecating into rivers, or cleaned themselves with various materials such as rags, wood shavings, leaves, grass, hay, stone, sand, moss, water, snow, maize, ferns, may apple plant husks, fruit skins, or seashells, and corn cobs, depending upon the country and weather conditions or social customs. In Ancient Rome, a sponge on a stick was commonly used, and, after usage, placed back in a bucket of saltwater.

The 16th century French satirical writer François Rabelais, in Chapter XIII of Book 1 of his novel-sequence Gargantua and Pantagruel, has his character Gargantua investigate a great number of ways of cleansing oneself after defecating. Gargantua dismisses the use of paper as ineffective, rhyming that: “Who his foul tail with paper wipes, Shall at his ballocks leave some chips.” (Sir Thomas Urquhart’s 1653 English translation). He concludes that “the neck of a goose, that is well downed” provides an optimum cleansing medium.

Goldstein Auto, Goldstein Subaru

Much is known about beaver dams and blastomycosis but little is known about Goldstein Auto and Goldstein Subaru. Is this because little is known about the Intelligent Design of these dealerships? Or is it rather a political effort to silence those who would promote these dealerships? The only thing that is known for sure is that many sites with these keywords are being indexed by search engine giant Ogle.

We will show the link between Suzy Poppins and Goldstein Auto in a later post, at such a time when we are motivated to.

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It’s a wonderful world – Part 3

SS officers offering a flower to a cute kitten

Another argument from DESIGNsswithcutekitten

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It’s a wonderful world – Part 1

Another Argument from DESIGN

wonderful world

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The need for the guru

Sadhaka : What is the importance of a guru for an aspirant treading the spiritual path? Is it absolutely necessary to have a guru?

Gurudev : You need a burning candle to light a candle. Even so an illumined soul alone can enlighten another soul. A spiritual preceptor or guru is necessary for aspirants. When difficulty arises even in the case of finding the way in streets and roads what to speak of the difficulties in the razor-path of spirituality. When one walks alone with closed eyes! In the case of the spiritual path, it is difficult to find your way; the help of the teacher is necessary at every moment. The mind will mislead you often. The guru will be able to remove pitfalls and obstacles, and lead you along the right path. Association with the guru is an armor and fortress to guard you against all temptations and unfavourable forces of the material world. Every aspirant on the spiritual path must live under a guru for eradication of his evil qualities and defects.

The nature of egoism is such that you will not able to find out your own defects. It is only the guru who will find out your defects. He shows the right path. A guru is absolutely necessary for every aspirant in the spiritual path.

Grace of God takes the form of the guru. The guru is God himself manifesting in personal form to guide the aspirant. Man can learn from man only, and hence, God teaches through a human body. The guru is united with God. He has free and unhampered access into both the realms. The guru is verily a link between the individual and the Immortal. He purifies all. He tears your veil of ignorance.

sad guru

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