The irony of this Christmas.

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

I am not entirely sure what you mean by irony in your thread topic.

 

.

What I was meaning , concerning "Irony" was

 

" The Angel was wishing peace on earth to men of Good Will " ,

 

Yet here we are ' pulling the living day lights out of a town in Seria , not a thousand miles away from the original

MEGGIDO , the battlefields of a few thousand years ago , on the mountain of maggido where soldiers tore each other apart in some crazy self distructive rage . Now here we are pulling each other's country or couple of cities, ( at least at the moment , only in Seria ) .

Seems Ironic to me that this is supposed to be the time of the second comming with all that that entails !

 

Pictures on today's news :-

 

 

Mike

Edited December 12, 2016 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[TheBeardedDude]

What I was meaning , concerning "Irony" was

 

" The Angel was wishing peace on earth to men of Good Will " ,

 

Yet here we are ' pulling the living day lights out of a town in Seria , not a thousand miles away from the original

MEGGIDO , the battlefields of a few thousand years ago , on the mountain of maggido where soldiers tore each other apart in some crazy self distructive rage . Now here we are pulling each other's country or couple of cities, ( at least at the moment , only in Seria ) .

Seems Ironic to me that this is supposed to be the time of the second comming m with all that that entails !

 

Mike

 

 

What is ironic about this Christmas then considering that I can't think of a single Christmas in my own lifetime where the Earth was at peace?

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

What is ironic about this Christmas then considering that I can't think of a single Christmas in my own lifetime where the Earth was at peace?

.

How much worse does it have to get ? For it not to be a sign of

 

. " something amazing and wonderfull , is about to happen "

 

 

To quote David Bowman in the two Films :- 2001 , and 2010 A space odesy. by Arthur C Clarke

 

As Jupiter was surrounded by a billion black Obalisks and Jupiter became a Second Sun in the Solar System

 

Mike

Edited December 12, 2016 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[TheBeardedDude]

.

How much worse does it have to get ? For it not to be a sign of

 

. " something amazing and wonderfull , is about to happen "

 

 

To quote David Bowman in the two Films :- 2001 , and 2010 A space odesy. by Arthur C Clarke

 

As Jupiter was surrounded by a billion black Obalisks and Jupiter became a Second Sun in the Solar System

 

Mike

 

 

Well, it was worse during WWII. Why do you think today is worse than any other point in human history?

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

Well, it was worse during WWII. Why do you think today is worse than any other point in human history?

.

Well I think it is more a culmination of events . Rather than a single event , say today , or tomorrow .

 

This twentieth century has been a ' Centuary of Centuaries' . In the grand scheme of things , perhaps a 100 years is not a large length of time .

 

So I am only proposing " Ours is to be the Centuary of Change "

 

From desolation to replanting Paradise . Starting soon !

 

FROM :-

 

 

TO :-

 

 

Mike

 

Ps . I have been playing around in my painting with how the early travelers had " Optimism " . To cross an Ocean and descover a new land .

 

We are on the Edge of Space right now . Surely a similar feeling of Optimism . You can feel it in the 'air ' .

 

.

Edited December 12, 2016 by Mike Smith Cosmos

[DrP]

Mike - Aren't we supposed to be in a period with less war and less starvation and hurt than ever before in the history of the civilized world? Yes, there are wars... but not as many as there have been.... what I find ironic is that all this trouble in the middle east is pretty much directly caused BY religion in the first place, yet the religious blame secularism.

 

We are improving - and Christian and Islamic mythology doesn't like it because it proves their respective BS books wrong. Maybe that's why the Yanks have voted in a right wing nutter to go crusading in the Middle East to stir up a massive world war III so we can all have our promised Armagedeon. Wankers!

 

 

So to sum it up - the world is a better place today (for humans) than it has ever been. Will it spiral into world war? Maybe, if the religious nutters continue their idiocy. Time to put Islam and Christianity onto the pile with all the other mythologies like the Roman, Greek, Hindu and Pagan gods myths.

[imatfaal]

 

That disturbs my delicate economy/effort/satisfaction ratios. 2-3 times the cost and effort. Can you guarantee me 4-6 times the satisfaction? That seems like the sort of thing that has a rapidly declining astonishment level for the amount of presents I wrap. I could be wrong, of course, but my observation is that the gift is the fruit, and the wrapping makes it unknown/forbidden, which makes the fruit taste sweeter. Can you maintain enthusiasm for origami-wrap? Do your friends and family still tear the paper, or do they carefully take it apart since you haven't ruined it with sticky tape?

 

Oddly, I have a relative who uses an obnoxious amount of tape when wrapping gifts, yet also insists on carefully unwrapping her own gifts without tearing. I've always found the behaviors at odds with each other. It's impossible to unwrap her gifts without a pair of scissors or the Jaws of Life.

 

Can you guarantee me 4-6 times the satisfaction?

 

Yes - in that gift-wrapping stops being a chore which preludes the fun of giving and becomes a pleasure in and of itself.

 

Can you maintain enthusiasm for origami-wrap?

 

I think so - the obvious effort that has been expended is always appreciated. And if I stop now...

 

Do your friends and family still tear the paper, or do they carefully take it apart since you haven't ruined it with sticky tape?

 

It is not that easy to get apart without ripping. But you can judge the closeness in genetic heritage by the amount of care taken. I use cheap paper so there is no point in being careful to reuse. For wedding presents I use Elephant Hide type paper which once the obvious bits are tugged will open up almost automatically - this takes a lot of effort but is worth it. I re-wrapped one wedding present box with all the cards and greetings for the Bride and Groom inside - they sent me a photo of them in tears rereading these on their fifth wedding anniversary; it has since been re-re-wrapped

 

 

 

Oddly, I have a relative who uses an obnoxious amount of tape when wrapping gifts, yet also insists on carefully unwrapping her own gifts without tearing. I've always found the behaviors at odds with each other. It's impossible to unwrap her gifts without a pair of scissors or the Jaws of Life.

 

I did once use glue when a nephew swore that he had learnt the process and was going to unwrap completely and then re-wrap. But the idea of covering a present with expensive paper and then covering said expensive paper with sellotape is anathema. I think the whole tapeless thang comes from my parents' reluctance to rip any paper - their formative years were during the rationing accompanying the second world war and waste was just impossible then

[DrP]

I once used aluminium foil to wrap some parcels. I thought they looked awesome - like big blocks of silver!.... my father on the other hand went with the lecture about how much of a cheap skate I was for not purchasing proper gift paper... which is actually cheaper than foil and doesn't look as good. Typical though - I once spent a whole day hand carving him a walking stick. It had a little mouse on top exactly the same shape/appearance of a mouse toy we once had - I was quite proud of my work (I'm not much of an artist). I gave it to him on his birthday. He took one look at it and went "huh! - it's just a stick!" and tossed it a side... Because I had not paid for it in cash the present meant nothing to him, despite the hand blistering work that went into the carving. lol.

[dimreepr]

what I find ironic is that all this trouble in the middle east is pretty much directly caused BY religion in the first place, yet the religious blame secularism.

 

We are improving - and Christian and Islamic mythology doesn't like it because it proves their respective BS books wrong. Maybe that's why the Yanks have voted in a right wing nutter to go crusading in the Middle East to stir up a massive world war III so we can all have our promised Armagedeon. Wankers!

 

 

So to sum it up - the world is a better place today (for humans) than it has ever been. Will it spiral into world war? Maybe, if the religious nutters continue their idiocy. Time to put Islam and Christianity onto the pile with all the other mythologies like the Roman, Greek, Hindu and Pagan gods myths.

 

Whatever your opinion of religion, it wasn't their books that are killing people, maybe it's a convenient clarion call for those that are but lets not be naive about it, just following orders is little different; books don't kill people, people kill people and for a myriad of reasons.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35806229

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Terror

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks

 

 

In Osama Bin Laden's November 2002 "Letter to America",[5][6] he explicitly stated that al-Qaeda's motives for their attacks include: Western support for attacking Muslims in Somalia, supporting Russian atrocities against Muslims in Chechnya, supporting the Indian oppression against Muslims in Kashmir, the Jewish aggression against Muslims in Lebanon, the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia,[6][7][8] US support of Israel,[9][10] and sanctions against Iraq.[11]

 

 

 

Mike- Stop worrying about things you have, absolutely, no control over and enjoy what is after all a celebration, not to toast the birthday boy, just an excuse to toast each other.

Edited December 13, 2016 by dimreepr

[Phi for All]

So to sum it up - the world is a better place today (for humans) than it has ever been. Will it spiral into world war? Maybe, if the religious nutters continue their idiocy. Time to put Islam and Christianity onto the pile with all the other mythologies like the Roman, Greek, Hindu and Pagan gods myths.

 

Very well put. This is why I call myself a Humanist. We tend to do pretty well when we focus on the best in ourselves, and only fall to war over gods. I leave God on high to do His thing if He's really there, and preach peace on earth and goodwill towards humankind.

 

Yes - in that gift-wrapping stops being a chore which preludes the fun of giving and becomes a pleasure in and of itself.

I have that now though. When I stopped griping about the commerciality of Christmas and recognized that it was all about the wrapping and unwrapping, it stopped being a chore. I take great pleasure in it now. I'm going to try your method though, and if I can justify the extra paper cost over the reduced tape cost, I could probably feel pretty jolly about it.

[DrKrettin]

.....and only fall to war over gods.

 

Do you mean the series of confrontations between the UK and Iceland about fishing rights?

[geordief]

 

Do you mean the series of confrontations between the UK and Iceland about fishing rights?

That is all behind us now (bar a second coming)

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/fish-and-chips-squid-cod-haddock-global-warming-warmer-seawater-chip-shops-a7469836.html

[Mike Smith Cosmos]

 

Well, I am trying to bring a bit of ' Sobriety ' if that is a word , and a stretch of philosophical meaning , what to some poor families in Alepo , is utter family obliteration .

 

Perhaps the thought , that one day soon there will be a reorganisation from some higher Authority , which will change the warring world , into a gem of tranquility , returning loved ones to life again .

 

Such has been the promise of most religions. Let's hope it proves to be true . If human life itself appears to be as near as dam it a miracle, why should not ' renewed life ' , be an equal miracle.

 

An Example of this was performed with ' Lasarus ' . It dumbfounded onlookers then . Perhaps we will be dumbfounded , soon .

It cannot be that impossible to beleive . A News Item Two days ago , concerned an individual who so believed , even in human science that life could be restored , that she was pursuing the right to be frozen for a few years , and be thawed out for renewal , when medical science had caught up. So we are getting to the point , where even science , looks like it can perform ' resurrection ' . So if that is now credible by a few . Maybe soon , most people will be not so supprised when it happens?

 

Mike