Embarking on a new.... Something

It's been awhile, and frankly non of you, if you is an actual person even care about my ramblings any longer; I promise I won't trouble you with much nonsense.

Over a year has passed and I find myself hunkered down in some Starbucks near Milpitas, Ca. My beverage of choice is ice water and skinny Carmel thingy packaged in a small size. The boy who took my order is sporting a mustache that would only make the goddess of irony happy... That big and curly.

Things haven't changed much, well, that isn't entirely true. My unhealthy hatred for people has grown to new levels, and I am now attending the University of San Francisco pursuing a Masters degree in fixed gear bikes and skinny jeans.

The woman in front of my is reading the local rag (I can't stand local papers, I finally acted like an adult and got an iPad subscription to the New York Times), she is double clutching the obituaries section reading about "heroes that were taking peacefully in the night". What is it with Americans obsession with death? The best that I can come up with is since it is such a great fear for most (or maybe just me) death naturally draws people in. Will they remember me? I'm not ready to die yet. Oh poor family. And many others are undoubtedly fill her mind as she scrolls the death laden paragraphs filled with the last bragging accomplishments of WWII navel servicemen or Local 442 Labor Union Presidents.

Okay my caramel yum drink has run dry and I need to move on with the day, so until next time.

If a Cave Troll is defined by his or her adversion to light, then so let me be judged.

Fin

My family has always been one for theatrical goodbyes— On this day 234 years ago, my great (etc.) grandfather calmly walked into his cabin and shot his wife of ten years dead, not bothering to dispose of the body before eating the dinner she had prepared only minutes before.

As you probably guessed that story was a complete fiction, grounded in nothing resembling fact or legitimate research.

But since you have reads this far—It is time for me to go. The autumn moon lights my way. And now I smell the rain, and with it pain. And it's headed my way. Ah, sometimes I grow so tired. But I know I've got one thing I got to do: Ramble on.

San Francisco's only large full scale music festival has released it's dates, Aug 14-15 in Golden Gate Park. Tickets are on sale now. So the good people of Outside Lands have decided to cryptically release clues of who is playing via their Twitter page.
Here is what I have figured out to be there so far:

Al Green - What the random?
Bassnectar - Please let this be true
Chromeo
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros -meh
Gogol Bordello -top five best live act in music right now
Kings of Leon - wish they never came out with new album... it is full of suck, but love the oldies.
Levon Helm
My Morning Jacket - Face melting pleasure
Phoenix - meh
Rodrigo y Gabriela -meh
Social Distortion - fun the first 2000 times Ive seen them
The Temper Trap -Awesome, look them up
Tinariwen -yeah
Tokyo Police Club - on a suck scale of 1 to 10.. they are a 13

My Wish List:
My Bloody Valentine
Arcade Fire
Why?
Interpol
NOFX
Devo

All of those bands are touring or will be touring, and have a whole in their schedule during the time of the festival. Just give me one of my wish list please!

Maybe We Should Try To Make Her Go Back To Rehab?

Publish Post

Please Stop

Preface:
Here I sit. I am lost. Lost much like a Cuban refugee, only far less newsworthy. I am well into my twenties and can honestly say I am in no position to grow up. I lack every necessary skill one needs to tackle the “real world”. Sure I have a job, but at that job I do nothing but undress women with my eyes, and giggle at drunken people… real mature. Problem is I don’t even put forward a deceptive façade, anyone who knows me can tell you that I have very little redeemable qualities. Harsh? I don’t think so, I once had high expectations, but just like my attention span, they too have dwindled to virtually nothing.

Problem:
I attend class everyday and listen to students wax academic about meaningless drivel about literal nothings. I think to myself how lucky I am that I have come to this conclusion and I am no longer stuck inside this shell of expectation, and self-fulfillments. If by any chance one of you is reading this, I hope you get the memo soon. Chances are none of you will so I will climb on top of my soapbox and preach a little truth to you. Just because you know how to use the Google, and stumble through a Wikipedia article, doesn’t give you the right to talk. I know we have all come from the school of there are no dumb questions, or we are all special in our own way… I get that, that’s cool. Think that way if you like…but I don’t, so therefore I think all of your questions are stupid, and chances are I feel the same way about you. Whatever, if you read the first paragraph you know I am in no position to tell anyone anything, but at least I recognize that. You on the other hand continue to talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk.

Conclusion:
I have no answers for you, mostly broken dreams, and failed promises, and in all honesty I didn’t think that far ahead. I just felt that I needed to address your pointless, and failed attempts at sounding relevant in class, and moreover life in general. All I ask is that tomorrow when you wake up, look in the mirror and ask yourself “ What have done to deserve this inflated sense of self worth?” I’ll answer for you. Absolutely nothing! This is where I drop the microphone and walk away…

Enjoy

Damn These Late Night Religion Posts

So I am an Atheist... yep, that's about it.

Atheism is the lack of belief
Atheism is the lack of belief in the existence of gods. It is not a belief system or a religion but the denial that supernatural beings exist. There are atheists with all sorts of philosophies and beliefs.

You’re already an atheist
Even if you believe in a god, you probably don’t believe in other gods – Zeus, Osiris, Jupiter, Thor, Allah or Jesus. It’s hypocritical to be skeptical in the holy book, revealed prophets, miracle stories, or holy men of all religions but yours. You are an atheist when it comes to everyone else’s gods, so why give your god a free pass?

The burden of proof is on the theist
Can you prove that an invisible pink elephant is not floating above your head? How does one prove a negative in the absence of evidence? Theists make the exceptional claim that there is a god. That claim requires exceptional proof. The burden of proof is on the theist to prove God exists. By using reason and science, humans have been expanding our knowledge of the world. Yet religionists (not a real word, but I am tired so I am leaving it there)continue to claim that there exists a supernatural realm immune to reason. Where is their proof? If a god is needed to create the universe, what created God? Rather than offer proof, mystics have often tried to silence and discredit those who reveal the complexity and majesty of the universe
What keeps flowers from turning into rocks, or rocks from floating in the sky? It’s not the will of a supernatural deity, but the fact that flowers are not rocks, and gravity keeps things on the ground. The universe operates according to causal principles, without the need for any supernatural power to keep things from getting chaotic.

There are natural explanations for the universe
Religious texts can offer moral guidance, but they are not the source of moral principles. Humans discovered long ago that following certain rules makes life more productive, peaceful, and pleasurable. Morality derives from human nature, not divine guidance. If one wishes to live a virtuous life, it is better to do so because of the earthly rewards of being virtuous than the fear of eternal punishment. Unlike a theist, an atheist knows that one life is all he has, and will try to live each day to the fullest.

Now let's look at some peoples proof for a god:

The cosmological argument

Some religious individuals argue that whatever begins to exist has a cause and since nothing causes itself, there has to be a First Cause, namely God. There are several objections to this argument, some of them being as following;

• What caused the First Cause? By making use of the cosmological argument one presupposes that an un-caused effect exists, enabling it to cause a chain of effects without being caused itself. Seeing that the argument is reliant upon the premise that all effects have a cause it is in consequence invalid.
• The First Cause is by no means equal to a deity. Even though the origin of the universe remains scientifically unexplained, it doesn’t justify supernatural religious claims.

The Teleological argument aka Intelligent Design

This argument states that some phenomena are too complex, or too apparently purposeful, to have occurred randomly. Therefore, these phenomena must have been designed by an intelligent or purposeful being (God).

- Who designed the designer? If an intelligent designer only is able to design irreducibly complex units, then an even more intelligent designer is necessary to design the original designer. This entails an infinite chain of designers. To counter this counter-argument some individuals make use of the cosmological argument. However, as explained above, this argument fails because it omits why a designer can be undersigned while the universe cannot.

The omnipotence paradox

Most, if not all, monotheistic religions claim the existence of an omnipotent God. This argument leaves the concept of omnipotence as a mere paradox unable to exist in a logical universe. If a deity is in fact omnipotent, then he/she is able to create a rock he himself cannot lift. Since he/she cannot lift the rock he just created he/she is not omnipotent.

Argument from free will

All monotheistic religions claim their god to be omniscient, and at the same time claim to have been given free will by the very same god. These two concepts are incompatible. Here is why: An omniscient being knows everything, including the future will of his supposed free willed- designees. Since the will is already known, it cannot be free at the same time.

Other arguments state that a complete being (God) must also be dead or non-existing in order to be fully complete. Furthermore, some conclude that since most theistic religions eventually were regarded as untrue, all theistic religions are most likely to be untrue.

A Few Podcasts That Help Me Shape These Thoughts:

• The Paracast
• Mysterious Universe
  
• Skeptics Guide to the Universe (Kind of Garbage)
• Paratopia (One guy is cool, the other sucks)