arend

Kudos to the neighbors who cared and took action....

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

I regard all those as BS as well.

And so here we are.... reality simply as it is vs reality as how we think it should be... a classic Buddhist description of the dilemma of suffering... and we all struggle with it in different ways... thanks for staying with the conversation and not bailing out....

Got it.... I wouldn't worry about it though.. not any different from magical creams to make you young again,  magical foods to make you lose weight or pills to enlarge your penis... it's worldwide...

5 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Nonetheless, the magical drawings do not bring about magical powers.

 

No matter how they make you feel, they have no special powers and it is ridiculous to claim this ritual is required to recharge them.

Agreed but now we are talking about the maturity level of the participants.. Many of the uneducated believe that the powers are in the tatoos but the more mature recognize that the power is in the mind which of course has limits in the "real" world....

1 hour ago, Bluespunk said:

Not believing in magical body art isn't being contemptuous or superior.

 

It's just knowing what is real and what isn't.

 

Harry Potter is fiction and so are magical drawings.

I know that I respond at my own peril... but... yes if you only react literally to the phenomena, you miss the underlying psychology, the needs and purposes being addressed and fulfilled... you may feel superior to the Christian who expresses his faith in rituals and activities but I would assert that there are many ways to access the hidden and deeper states and powers of the mind. What is a rock concert, a full moon pagan ceremony but ways to experience what is beyond ordinary states of mind...pretty basic, of course. The point is that what is considered reason and rational is only one mental state available to us and yes, it should be home base but not a prison... I would simply point you to the extraordinary phenomena manifested through hypnosis for example...Also, I would point out that many of the participants are deeply inspired to live a good life by feeling that their tatoos have connected them to a higher power and code...

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Belief in magical tattoos always deserves ridicule, in any faith.

Don't underestimate the power of the mind or the inventive ways people have of accessing it.... Contempt is not a power as much as you may superstitiously believe it is... it's just a strategy of the cowardly to feel superior that's been around a long time....

Again.... so why did you marry her?

Advice.... move on... if you are in the revenge stage this will only get worse esp if you are the violent type...

On 12/25/2016 at 2:03 PM, TSF said:

I'm surprised it been available OTC in LOS for so long. I don't care what others say here, it is an addictive opiate. I know because I was addicted to the shit for close on 10 years and did 2 detoxes to get off it. My withdrawals were no different at all to the withdrawals I witnessed close friends who were shooting smack back in the 1970s go through....leg spasms, insomnia, nausea, bone aches, chills & shivers. All the same. Someone just mentioned Mr. Burroughs. Well, as Mr Burroughs once said about opiates - it doesn't matter if you snort it, shoot it, digest it. Junk is junk, and the end result (addiction) is all the same.

Way over the top... not doubting your experience but it is not the general experience. I've taken it for over 5 years for chronic pain. Some days if the pain is low I have forgotten to take it at all. Periodically I'll  go for a week without taking it. If I am physically active awareness of pain is pushed into the background.  Any addiction for Tramadol for me is simply habit ie psychological and mild at that. Such an extreme case of physical withdrawal like your's is rare....

Becoming a monk does not mean that you are instantly transformed into a saint even though the system demands that you behave as one...kind of a fake it until you make strategy. It takes a long time of practice and study to mature into the wise and enlightened being you have set off on the path to attain. But we know most monks are not there because they have aspired to this. Many if not most are there for the educational and vocational opportunity unavailable to poor families. Some are there for the status, some to hide out for awhile etc etc...So, our expectations need to be adjusted to not being taken in by appearances but by the reality. Most monks are simply not that mature or evolved as they are required to appear. The upside is that they are for the most part in a system that trains them to be... I'm a bit optimistic and have seen this actually work. Most have returned to 'civilian' life more compassionate, more in control their emotions and attitudes etc, etc. My point is simply that we need to judge or criticize on a case by case basis and not  make grandiose assertions... 

48 minutes ago, mcfish said:

That's about the dumbest post of the evening so far. You really think a Thai boxer I's trained to fend off to crazy females with a sword? bahahaha

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk
 

Indeed I do... dodge, parry, step inside, grab, disarm, run like hell....

A good fighter is always prepared for the unexpected.... but in his defence, he was probably taken by surprise but if they were talking, he was certainly aware of her sword...

Hahaha... I'm sorry but a highly trained world class fighter couldn't fend off 2 ladies (no disrespect intended) ? I know, armed with a sword, but he's trained to deal with this.. definitely loss of face for him... I guess the lesson is never come between a woman and her dog...

I was an Aikido student. Aikido is not an aggressive martial art designed to hurt an opponent but only neutralize. Steven Seagal took it to a dark place... Friendship with Putin, a ruthless dictator, sends the wrong message... an implied endorsement by a Hollywood celebrity..

It is increasingly clear that the GOP has become the White Supremacist Nationalist Party with an agenda to secure and maintain White power. Forget an agenda to bring America forward or solve it's problems. I went to high school in the deep South and always knew that the Civil Rights movement only pushed the hatred and racism underground and now it has re-emerged with a vengence...but I am hopeful that sanity and a progressive agenda will find a way. Realistically, there will always be a dynamic tension between regressive and progressive forces simply because we live in a dualistic universe and must find a balanced path...

On 10/31/2016 at 2:37 PM, Briggsy said:

Why is it necessary to link this behaviour in one instance from this one individual to an entire race? The article says more about the mentality of the journalist than anything else.

Huh?  I don't see anything written here generalizing his behavior to a race... a bit thin skinned and defensive are we? I'm impressed with the guy... total focus and commitment under adversity... a positive quality and very hilarious... 

7 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Hopefully she will never be elected and the awkward coexistence will not be necessary. I am pretty sure that Trump will be forgiving under the circumstances. 

 

 

Delusional...  “Get even with people. If they screw you, screw them back 10 times as hard. I really believe that,”  Donald Trump  ( speech in Sydney in October 2011)

48 minutes ago, willyumiii said:

The fact that they were smoking pot is not the big issue.

Most people these days agree that smoking pot is pretty harmless.

 

The issue is that they are stupid and disrespectful enough to smoke pot in a country that still considers it a serious crime and can be pretty harsh about enforcing the laws.

 

You can not fix stupid, but you can lock it up and keep it off of the streets.

Well then, I guess rounding up everyone between 18-25 esp if they are backpackers should solve the problem...

Yes, and Hillary will raise the dead who will vote for her...it's rigged !... such idiocy but I guess Trump supporters believe it...

I'm American, father Dutch, mother Spanish-Indian. Lived in Netherlands with my cousin outside Amsterdam. Neighbor was one of these haters who harrassed us by tossing dog shit in our yard, giving us the finger when we went out etc. I grew up in the deep South in the waning days of segregation outside New Orleans. Neighbor was the Grand (whatever) of the KKK in the Parish I lived in. I pushed burning KKK crosses over as high school mischief. The hate was intense like a Trump rally which has brought back memories of those days. Some teachers tried to conduct class discussions of the issues but soon the class would erupt into total chaos. But, I was not personally targeted like in Netherlands probably because of father's blond looks and our Dutch last name. Even my father, a basic NeoColonialist who fought  as a Marine in Indonesia succumbed to the endemic racism. All that hate and rage I knew could not be legislated away or reasoned with. It would just go underground to surface again when it had a chance. Trump's White supremacy movement is just that chance as the corollary is the anti immigration movement in Europe. It is a fever and fall into insanity utterly beyond reason that is sweeping the planet. It's most nefarious forms can even be found right here on TV where commentors rail against stereotyped groups and calmly and rationally justify Duterte's genocidal murder of drug users without due process where just the accusation can get you killed. It reminds me of those Nazis who calmly explained the need for a "Final solution" that the gas chambers provided in a perfectly reasoned argument. I guess my point is simply that we are facing a great danger if we allow this fevered hatred to gain ground. Make no mistake, this is about white supremacy. Nipping it in the bud by taking to task the inciters is a start. Because Europeans know where this slippery slope leads, they are more invested in stopping it....

http://democraticreview.com/index.php/2016/09/24/breaking-cia-chief-just-un-endorsed-trump-its-unprecedented-he-blasted-trump-so-hard/

+ other place... google

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3 poisons that lead to suffering for those around you and yourself - Hatred/Anger,  Greed and ignorance... Perhaps you might want to reflect on that not as some moral prerogative but just as the source of pain in your life... OK, I know,  F*&k me...

Unrealistic expectations... when one ordains, one doesn't become an instant saint. It's a long process with many mistakes and failures along the way. Corrupt monks... it's a slice of humanity... monkhood is a good place to hide for some criminals. Most young monks come from impoverished families for whom this is the only avenue to an education and a vocation for their sons...

Good God, you republs have really gone off the deep end... Powell said it right, like making private phone calls... No classified info, no conspiracy, nothing but perhaps an unintentioned mistake... I've never seen so much hysteria over nothing... get over it already... 

You want respect? Focus on the issues and policies and make a compelling argument... this hysteria is really old...

Some people believe politics is war in which truth and reason are irrelevant ...

Political warcraft:  discredit... marginalize.... destroy....

No universal standards or consensus on what organic means or when it can be used to indicate specific state, condition or specifics about ingredients in a product. Ergo, you basically never know what you are getting and must totally rely on your trust of the company and store.

How trustworthy are businesses in it to maximize profit? ... a tricky question given all the "marketing" to influence and mislead public perception...

Forces us as consumers to be fully informed... a lot of work and time... Maybe we need a "Consumer Reports" type magazine just for food industry to protect us?