tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post8824735786246690091..comments2023-06-15T09:13:45.467-04:00Comments on Liberty's Torch: On Games And Knowing YourselfFrancis W. Porrettohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05862584203772592282noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-7018027368715916882015-01-24T01:17:50.455-05:002015-01-24T01:17:50.455-05:00Priorities are indeed significant when choosing wh...Priorities are indeed significant when choosing what actions to take. When suffering, years ago, from two cranial nerve neuralgias that caused excruciating pain, _not_ putting my wife through the pain and difficulties that would have attended self-termination was a higher priority than ending my pain, which wasn't responding to anything various doctors had tried (until the problems were finally, correctly diagnosed).<br /><br />Conversely, I have often thought that I would gladly give my life to successfully remove one or more of the individuals causing so much damage to America, our Republic and the rule of law, if I had even a 50-50 chance of success. Alas, I know I possess neither the skill nor the resources, but that doesn't cheapen my willingness to place a higher priority on the _true_ state of our Union than upon my love for my wife (and less for love for my own life.<br /><br />I, too, am a heathen, and have no thought of "going to a better world" when my life is ended, so I don't have that to fall back upon, to reduce the fear of dying. Nonetheless, _my_ priorities are such that living, while desirable and still mostly enjoyable, is not at the top of the list. <br /><br />Giving my life for a loved one, for an innocent child or woman in harm's way, or for a significant attempt to return us to a country that values the rights of the individual, are all at or near the top of my list.Reg Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14099612693763932005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-43257252590537254752015-01-23T04:32:53.612-05:002015-01-23T04:32:53.612-05:00Colonel, I am anonymous, and thank you for the res...Colonel, I am anonymous, and thank you for the response. I'm certainly not here to further atheism, as I said, I don't think it helps our common cause, and I'm not offended by religion. But I will say, I can not seek God out, because I do not believe a higher power exists. I do believe underlying forces are at work, things we don't understand, but I definitely don't believe these are God or God-like. Space, time, particles, photons, forces, that's about it for me. I believe the answer to "where did these things come from" would be "God" from a believer, and "as yet unknown, but not likely a 'higher power' as such" from a disbeliever.<br /><br />To give you a little more insight into where I'm coming from, and I don't mean any disrespect to your very nice response, but I did read the passages at the link you sent, and here are some of my thoughts. When I read: "Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them", the only thing I can think, vehemently, is: "I don't believe anyone has 'prepared a city' for me, and if on the off chance that God exists and HAS, I want nothing to do with that city, I'll make my own way". I wouldn't say I'm "angry with God", but when presented with the concept of a God who would do things on my behalf, it's frankly infuriating. I don't ask for anything, I don't expect or want anything, I just want to do my own thing, and success or failure, let the chips fall where they may. And if someone presumes to "go to bat" for me, without actively consulting with me about it, then I reject them outright. If my choices are Heaven or Hell, and I have to accept someone's sacrifices on my behalf in order to go to Heaven, then I truly deserve to go to Hell. And I don't believe I deserve to go to Hell, so that whole thing falls apart for me.<br /><br />Anyway, again I thank you for directing part of your response to me, and I don't aim to be Anonymous the Atheist. I don't believe, but this is a personal conviction for me. I don't think it's the right viewpoint to hold, I hope others can avoid it, I'm just stuck with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-36828146227891146732015-01-22T20:46:32.805-05:002015-01-22T20:46:32.805-05:00Nooooo-not acey-duecy.
Lost on A-K,then later the ...Nooooo-not acey-duecy.<br />Lost on A-K,then later the same night,lost on A-2.<br />Cost me a weeks pay-that hurt,it also should have never happened twice in a couple hour period of time.<br />What's the odds of losing those two in the same night??GamegetterIIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963151027331481180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-45831297269065627772015-01-21T22:24:33.272-05:002015-01-21T22:24:33.272-05:00Enjoyed your article Fran and the two comments...I...Enjoyed your article Fran and the two comments...I am passionate about decision making and the military decision making process (MDMP). One of the things that drives our choice (what we decide to do), aside from known facts, is assumptions (about the future, our adversary, our capabilities, weather, market conditions, etc, etc.).<br /><br />Understanding/writing our assumptions down can be useful in helping to see if we're being realistic. You alluded to a bunch of them...one of the assumptions I've been unable to shake is the eventual collapse of the dollar.(I'll just leave that there.)<br /><br />To Anonymous: I would respectfully submit that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).<br /><br />The New Testament book of Hebrews describes faith this way:<br /><br />11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.<br />3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.<br /><br />Please consider reading the rest of it. I promise you it is not beyond your grasp, but you do have to reach out for Him. (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2011%20&version=NKJV)<br /><br />Bless you all!https://thecoloneloftruth.blogspot.com/https://www.blogger.com/profile/01969548976779294557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-22663864386788814422015-01-21T22:22:01.105-05:002015-01-21T22:22:01.105-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.https://thecoloneloftruth.blogspot.com/https://www.blogger.com/profile/01969548976779294557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-55059912344941550322015-01-21T13:00:54.531-05:002015-01-21T13:00:54.531-05:00Good food for thought. I'll throw a couple of...Good food for thought. I'll throw a couple of my own ideas in. I find myself somewhat of a risk-taker. I do try to minimize my losses in personal endeavors as basic as driving a car, but when it comes to important things, such as, say, preparing to defend myself and perhaps others in public from some sort of potential attack, I think my mindset is distinctly weighted to take the risk. Not the stupid, careless risk, but simply the risk that doing "something" is more important than doing "nothing", but also inherently riskier.<br /><br />I will also throw in that, for believers in a higher power, it may seem like a choice, to believe or to not believe. Perhaps you have your days of doubt, intermixed with your underlying belief. I am a non-believer, and unfortunately it is not a choice for me. At a very basic level, I simply can not believe. There's never a day where I think, hmm...maybe there IS a God. It's not a happy proposition. I'm not PROUD of it. It just is what it is. I recognize that there are very few downsides to believing, and that the upside is great. But my mind won't believe, can't believe. I don't let it bother me too much though, and I am aware of Noahic law. Thankfully, I've lived a life that mostly adheres to this code, and then some. So hopefully my downside risk is more limited. And in that way, perhaps I HAVE considered, "what if?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-35244221751503302482015-01-21T10:59:44.900-05:002015-01-21T10:59:44.900-05:00Yesterday, heading back to work from lunch at a Te...Yesterday, heading back to work from lunch at a Tex-Mex chain, a friend of mine expressed incredulity at the notion that people still fly little single-engined Cessnas around. The things have a terrible safety record. Two of them crashed around here in the last few months.<br /><br />I responded that the Wright Brothers took their leap into powered flight on a haphazardly constructed, untested airframe constructed from used bicycle parts.<br /><br />Risk, today, has become a dirty word, a thing to be avoided at all cost. Nearly 50% of people in America are on some form of government assistance, because they cannot dream of standing on their own. They cannot imagine life without a safety net. It's too risky. They might not make it on their own. The plane could crash down.<br /><br />But all that dead weight is, itself, a risk. It is a much greater risk than that of mere individual failure. <br /><br />If you haven't already, give Nassiim Nicholas Taleb's book, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, a try. I found it remarkably insightful about matters of risk.Manuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13082153758868357687noreply@blogger.com