Looking for ideas for upcoming challenges, chime in here please... Options

[Cleo_Serapis]

Hi all.          

We want to extend an invitation to put on your creative muse hat and offer ideas for upcoming challenges.

What would you like to see?

Let us know by REPLYING in this tile please...

Thank you for helping us build the Mosaic!
Mosaic Musings Staff              

[Guest_Jox_*]

Hi Butch - great to see you joing in this thread I seem to have subverted. (Sorry, Lori!)

I am sad to hear of your life's woes. I mean that; we live in the commercial/tv age of big white smiles and happy ever after. Too often we ignore the pain. I was reminded of this, this Christmas when a relative died and an on-line friend of mine lost her husband.

In frequent postings on MM I speak out against Christianity. However, this is only because I meet so much Christian writing or comment. In actual fact, I see Christianity as just one opporssor of society. I won't run through my individualistic theory in depth nor try to justify it here and now but (briefly) it runs something like this...

1. Societies need leaders. (Anarchy is useless).
2. Leaders emerge.
3. If >1 leader emerges, conflict ensues.
4. Top leaders emerges.

Now, throughout history different groups around leaders have built power-bases.

1. Magicians / Shamens / Witch Doctors. (all forms)
They were de-bunked by...
2. Priests. (all religions)
They were debunked by...
3. Scientists. (all sciences)

All have a tendancy toward white robes (at least in the West) and all understand the Universe and have (or are reaching) the ultimate answers.

Frankly, I believe none of them. Each may have some grains of truth for those who believe in such things - but, actually, I have no belief in ultmate truths either. (Think how many "truths" have been debunked).

And, yes, I do need to see electricity at work to know it works. All this talk about molcules and atoms - quarks, charms, ups and downs.. I suspect is as much bunkham as The Virgin Birth. I have no faith in either. Actually, in some ways, The Virgin Birth seems more plausable. (I am more suspicious of, and  dislike science more, than religion because it affects me more).

As regards believing my eyes - yes they can deceive. I am willing not to believe my eyes but I am not willing to believe anyone elses's unless I believe them and have some insight myself. I tell you, if man's progress in knowledge had been left to me, we would still be considering what fire was.

I simply have no faith in anything whatsoever - except a few friends and my faith is not really faith at all - it is experience. For example, I never worried about my partner walking in the woods with our two previous dogs. They would leave other humans totally alone - unless anyone attacked her, in which case they would try to kill them (and probably suceed). That is based upon watching them never bothing with people unless they did anything to us.

Oscar Wilde - The cynic is a person who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Makes sense - I am an economist.

Sorry, I know nothing about baseball (except the football (soccer in America) ground in my home city of derby was called "The Baseball Ground" because it was erected for baseball in the late 1800s but it never became popular so it was bought by Derby County Football Club instead. It is just being demolished as they have a new ground. (I also know virtually nothing about football (soccer), by the way). However! I am most impressed that you made a chess set yourself... is it a Staunton style or what else?