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Humanity Is Not Primarily Interested In Truth Or Factuality

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There are rare exceptions, of course. Humanity is not primarily interested in truth or factuality. How do I know this? The evidence is there for all to see. Most of us prefer to read fiction over non-fiction. It is the same for viewing video/film, with documentaries trailing far behind made up stuff in popularity. In truth, what we call biography/memoir is largely fiction as well. Escapism is what most of us seek from our reading and watching stuff on screens. Many would say to this, I live in the real world and don’t need to be inundated with it in my free time. I hear you. The global success of the Harry Potter books and movies are a testament to this fact. The Christian bible purports to be the biggest seller in the printed books category but, again, I can tell you, as someone who has studied it academically, it is mostly fictional in content. This is why it has been popular, with content including unsubstantiated miracles and historical exaggerations and inventions. Telling a good story was the most important factor for historians and those selling religion in ancient times.Continue Reading

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Christian Cults & The Liberal Party Of Australia

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More information is coming to hand about the influence of the Plymouth Brethren upon the Liberals downunder. Christian cults and the Liberal Party of Australia. Hardline conservatives willing to spend big to impose their antique vision on Australia have been at it via the Libs. The Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Coalition federal governments were infused with several strands of hardline Christianity wishing to have their way with the Australian people. Religion in politics is not popular downunder and, therefore, these things were largely hidden from easy viewing. The Plymouth Brethren have no female presence within their leadership and frown upon such anti-biblical positions when it comes to the role of women in society.Continue Reading

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man waving flag

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The fact that private property has been damaged and graffiti daubed on walls in a couple of Australian cities means these are law and order issues. Australia does not have an antisemitism problem on this basis. Talk about political manipulation and overreach. We have police forces capable of adequately dealing with these relative few instances of criminal damage. Most Australians know that there is a protest movement engaged in drawing attention to the genocide being committed by Israeli forces in Gaza, where more than 50, 000 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF. Passions are high among the Australian Arab population and younger Aussies more generally – this is understandable in light of what is going on.Continue Reading

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Time To Get Murdoch Press Out Of Australia

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It is time to rid our shores of the Murdoch controlled News Corp and their unbalanced political fiction factory. Do we want lies and disinformation in our media downunder? For too long Rupert Murdoch has held sway over our newspapers, radio networks and TV news. News Corp sets the agenda in Australian current affairs and yet is the most right wing biased news source in the country. Most recently, Australians rejected the Temu Trump led Coalition of Libs and Nats at the federal election. Australian cities voted in droves to reject the Donald Trump inspired politics of hate and divisiveness.Continue Reading

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Stoicism: above, suicide Seneca; middle

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I could begin with a brief history lesson about Stoicism but this is not the essence of it. Being Stoic: What is it? Doing stuff you don’t want to do but know that you have to do anyway. The expression ‘soldiering on,’ invariably comes to mind, as soldiers have to do a lot of shitty things they really would rather not. Duty is a big one for Stoics. Virtue, even, more so. WTF is virtue anyway? It is a word, which has not stood the test of time. It exists as an anachronism, a term draped in cobwebs and an echo from the ancient world. This is old stuff and does it truly having any bearing on our lives today?Continue Reading

Socrates and Xantippe

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Socrates was an old soldier, who fought for Athens well into his 40’s. Alcibiades was instrumental in his downfall, in many ways, as it was the impetuosity of this young man that ultimately poisoned the well of public opinion against Socrates. Much of what we think we know about Socrates comes from the writings of others – Plato and Xenophon in particular.  Interestingly, Xenophon was an Athenian who spent much of his life living in Sparta. Alcibiades, of course, fled to Sparta in an act of treasonous betrayal before returning when Athens was defeated by the Spartans. Democracy fell and the 30 Tyrants were installed to run Athens – Socrates is associated with these tyrants, as he served in an official capacity as a public servant during this oligarchic period. It was a time of great political upheaval, obviously, and Athenian citizens of standing would be hard pressed to avoid taking sides, I imagine.Continue Reading

eagle on a beach

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Freedom is a word with a lot of baggage in America. Think about free speech! The land of the free. The free market. Kris Kristofferson, who died this week, famously sang – “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Americans are inundated with this term and have been since the inception of their country. What is freedom? According to the Oxford Dictionary:

1. The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. “we do have some freedom of choice” Similar: right to entitlement to privilege prerogative due

2. the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. “the shark thrashed its way to freedom”Continue Reading

focused african american researcher conducting biochemical experiment in clinic

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I have been reading some interesting stuff about how the Black Death shaped humanity. Plague has been with humankind at least 5, 000 years and has been one of our most efficient killers.

“Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, a zoonotic bacteria, usually found in small mammals and their fleas. It is transmitted between animals through fleas.”

(https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague#:~:text=Plague%20is%20an%20infectious%20disease,transmitted%20between%20animals%20through%20fleas.)

Yersinia pestis is the official name of this malevolent bacteria, which has a predilection for human victims. It manifests in bubonic and pneumonic ways to spread death and disease. It has been found in ancient DNA by scientists and looks to have originated on the steppes of Eurasia.Continue Reading

The British Neptune riding Triumphant

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The conversation among my work crew is a fairly good reflection of the average discursive exchange happening around the nation at the moment, I reckon. Dressed as we are in high viz gear and steel capped boots ensconced in our work ute on the way to the site. Smoko ramps up with the news of the day and plenty of opinions. One of my erstwhile colleagues, a migrant from the old country, was voicing her support for those kicking up a stink in Britain. Blaming it on too many immigrants coming into the country and receiving special treatment to the detriment of those who really belong there. Blame it on the poor immigrant.Continue Reading

moving cars on the road near wangjing soho buildings

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We are in the midst of a hype driven mania for all things AI at this time. This is not entirely unusual, as humanity has done this before. There have been fevers for all sorts of things from tulips to Facebook over the years. In this instance, however, it involves handing over agency to something called Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI: Why do we give our power away? Human beings have a tendency to be inclined to pass over responsibility to something perceived as wiser than ourselves. We did it with God! For millennia, large sections of the human race have handballed autonomy to an invisible, apparently supernatural entity with a lot of oms. Omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. All powerful, all knowing and everywhere. Of course, the concept of God has proven to be scientifically unverifiable.Continue Reading