개나리

빨간색 선글라스를 낀 사람이 개나리를 빨간색이라고 우깁니다. 파란색 선글라스를 낀 사람이 개나리를 파란색이라고 우깁니다. 내가 옳다 니가 틀려 두 사람이 멱살을 잡고 싸웁니다. 하지만 개나리는 노란색 꽃입니다. 봅이 되면 제일 먼저 피어나는 꽃 햇볕을 닮은 눈부신 꽃입니다. 여보세요 여보세요 제 말 들리시나요. 이 사람들 아직도 선글라스를 끼고 있네. 저러니 세상을 아직도 더듬고 있지. 저러니 꿈 같은 마음으로 살 수가 없지. -이외수

단순하면서도 가난하되, 절제된 아름다움을 지닌 삶, 그것이 내가 스님의 처소에서 받은 첫 느낌이다. 그리고 그것은 많은 물건 더미와 장식물을 자랑하는 '풍요로운 감옥'들에 대한 서늘한 깨우침이 아닐 수 없다. 그분은 가난한 삶을 역설한다. 가난한 삶이라니! 모두가 경제 회복과 물질의 풍요를 되찾자고 외치는 이 시대에! 그러나 나는 아무리 해도 그 말씀에 공감하지 않을 수 없다. 세상의 소음과 어지러운 말들에 지칠 때면 나는 십 년 전 처음 찾아갔던 그 불일암의 뜰과, 그곳에서 느낀 단순함과 침묵의 풍요가 더 없이 그립다. 다시 그곳에 가서 홀로 가만히 앉아 있고 싶어진다. 그래서 내 안을 들여다보고, 그 안에서 고구마를 캐듯이 침묵을 캐내고 싶어진다. -류시화, 법정 스님 <산에는 꽃이 피네>에서

God and the State - Mikhail Bakunin

"The idea of God implies the abdication of human reason and justice; it is the most decisive negation of human liberty, and necessarily ends in the enslavement of mankind, in theory and practice." "If God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish Him." - Mikhail Bakunin, Russian anarchist, anti-theist, and writer who participated in the revolutionary movement of 1848-49

Malleus Maleficarum

The pope appointed Kramer and Sprenger to write a comprehensive analysis, using the full academic armory of the late fifteenth century. With exhaustive citations of Scripture and of ancient and modern scholars, they produced the Malleus Maleficarum, the "Hammer of Witches"-aptly described as one of the most terrifying documents in human history. Thomas Ady, in A Candle in the Dark, condemned it as "villainous Doctrines & Inventions," "horrible lyes and impossibilities," serving to hide "their unparalleled cruelty from the ears of the world." What the Malleus comes down to, pretty much, is that if you're accused of witchcraft, you're a witch. Torture is an unfailing means to demonstrate the validity of the accusation. There are no rights of the defendant. There is no opportunity to confront the accusers. Little attention is given to the possibility that accusations might be made for impious purposes-jealousy, say, or revenge, or greed of the inquisitors who routinely confiscated for their own private benefit the property of the accused. This technical manual for torturers also includes methods of punishment tailored to release demons from the victim's body before the process kills her. The Malleus in hand, the Pope's encouragement guaranteed, inquisitors began springing up all over Europe. It quickly became an expense account scam. All costs of investigation, trial, and execution were borne by the accused or her relatives-down to per diems for the private detectives hired to spy on her, wine for her guards, banquets for her judges, the travel expenses of a messenger sent to fetch a more experienced torturer from another city, and the faggots, tar and hangman's rope. Then there was a bonus to the members of the tribunal for each witch burned. The convicted witch's remaining property, if any, was divided between Church and State. As this legally and morally sanctioned mass murder and theft became institutionalized, as a vast bureaucracy arose to serve it, attention was turned from poor hags and crones to the middle class and well-to-do of both sexes. In the witch trials, mitigating evidence or defense witnesses were inadmissible. In any case, it was nearly impossible to provide compelling alibis for accused witches: The rules of evidence had a special character. For example, in more than one case a husband attested that his wife was asleep in his arms at the very moment she was accused of frolicking with the devil at a witch's Sabbath; but the archbishop patiently explained that a demon had taken the place of the wife. The husbands were not to imagine that their powers of perception could exceed Satan's powers of deception. The beautiful young women were perforce consigned the flames. There were strong erotic and misogynistic elements-as might be expected in a sexually repressed, male-dominated society with inquisitors drawn from the class of nominally celibate priests. The trials paid close attention to the quality and quantity of orgasm in the supposed copulations of defendants with demons or the Devil (although Augustine had been certain "we cannot call the Devil a fornicator"), and to the nature of the Devil's "member" (cold, by all reports). "Devil's marks" were found "generally on the breasts or private parts" according to Ludovico Sinistrari's 1700 book. As a result pubic hair was shaved, and the genitalia were carefully inspected by the exclusively male inquisitors. In the immolation of the 20-year-old Joan of Arc, after her dress had caught fire the Hangman of Rouen slaked the flames so onlookers could view "all the secrets which can or should be in a woman." -Carl Sagan, from The Demon-Haunted World

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. -Buddha

부처님이 말씀하셨다. 덜된 사람들은 착한 사람의 이름을 들으면 미워하고 질투하며, 나쁜 소문을 듣고는 도리어 기뻐한다. 그러나 착한 사람은 남의 결점은 숨기고 좋은 점을 드러내어 널리 알리며 , 나쁜 짓을 보면 그것이 번뇌에서 온 줄 알고 가엾이 여겨 용서해 준다.

Christians!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA "Will someone in the back get an ambulance, please?"

10 Tenets of Skepticism

by TurpisHaereticum http://www.youtube.com/user/TurpisHaereticum Mad respect for this brilliant man. 1) I do not need the opiate they call religion, for I shall hold nothing on faith alone. I will require evidence, reason and critical thought to arrive at conclusions. 2) Because I may know your holy book better than you does not mean I am repressing a hidden inner 'true' belief in your deity, it means that I care if what I believe is true. I will spend time and energy looking into claims to verify there is substantial reason to believe and when there is not I will abandon those beliefs. 3) I will not only research and investigate one side of an issue, I will try to inform myself of many facets of a topic. 4) I shall hold arguments from popularity as irrelevant. How many people believe a 'thing' does not necessitate 'truth'. 5) I shall dismiss arguments from ignorance. Because we do not know the true cause does not infer that a supernatural or pseudo-scientific explanation is the correct one. 6) I believe extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. 7) My systematic doubt is not a negative, it is an asset, along with continuous inquiry, for I value the truth. 8) 'We don't know' is a perfectly acceptable answer instead of a made-up one. I accept that there are limits to our knowledge at this time. 9) I shall exhibit a joy and wonder in learning about the world while trying to keep at bay emotion driven thinking. 10) I will question, question, question, question, question, question, question...

Eddie Would Go

In 1978, the Polynesian Voyaging Society was seeking volunteers for a 30-day, 2,500-mile (4,000 km) journey to follow the ancient route of the Polynesian migration between the Hawaiian and Tahitian island chains. At 31 years of age, Eddie Aikau joined the voyage as a crew member. The Hokule'a left the Hawaiian islands on March 16, 1978. The double-hulled voyaging canoe developed a leak in one of the hulls and later capsized about twelve miles (19 km) south of the island of Molokai. In an attempt to get help, Aikau paddled toward Lanai on his surfboard. Although the rest of the crew was later rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, Aikau was never seen again. The ensuing search for Aikau was the largest air-sea search in Hawaii history. Held in honor of Aikau, The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau gathers 24 of the most skillful and dynamic big-wave surfers from around the world as polled by a comprehensive panel consisting of influential watermen, members of the surf industry, and internationally recognized surfing Associations. The event takes place at the hallowed grounds of Waimea Bay, on the North Shore of Oahu, and requires one day with a minimum of 20-foot surf (this translates to a wave face height of over 30 feet) in order to run. The event does not allow the use of jet skis to tow surfers into the waves.

손기정 孫基禎

Sohn Kee-chung ( August 29, 1912 - November 15, 2002) became the first medal-winning Korean Olympian, together with his teammate Nam Sung-yong when he won 1936 Berlin Olympics Marathon. As Korea was invaded by Japan and most of the country under Japanese de facto control at the time, Sohn Kee-chung competed for the Japanese team in the Olympics, and was forced by the Japanese to use the Japanese name Son Kitei. However, Sohn Kee-chung refused to sign his names in Japanese and signed only in his authentic name, and even sketched the shape of Korea beside his signatures. When interviewers asked him about his country, he would clarify that Korea is his mother country. When he received the award, so overcome with emotion that the flag rising was of Japan and not of Korea, he shed tears. One of Korea's local newspaper, Dong-a Ilbo (東亞日報) (East Asia Daily), purposefully got rid of Japanese flag in the photo of Sohn Kee-chung receiving the award. This act so enraged the Japanese regime that 8 newspaper personnels were imprisoned, and the East Asia Daily were forced to stop operation for 9 months.

Always on my mind

Download link: http://rapidshare.com/files/268859375/always_on_my_mind.mp3.html Maybe I didn't treat you Quite as good as I should have Maybe I didn't love you Quite as often as I could have Little things I should have said and done I just never took the time You were always on my mind You were always on my mind Maybe i didn't hold you All those lonely, lonely times And I guess I never told you I'm so happy that you're mine If I made you feel second best Girl, I'm so sorry I was blind You were always on my mind You were always on my mind Little things I should have said and done I just never took the time You were always on my mind

金大中

Dec. 3, 1925 - Aug. 18, 2009

The Hand That Feeds

You're keeping in step in the line Got your chin held high and you feel just fine 'Cause you do what you're told But inside your heart it is black and it's hollow and it's cold Just how deep do you believe? Will you bite the hand that feeds? Will you chew until it bleeds? Can you get up off your knees? Are you brave enough to see? Do you wanna change it? What if this whole crusade's a charade And behind it all there's a price to be paid For the blood which we dine Justified in the name of the Holy and the Divine Just how deep do you believe? Will you bite the hand that feeds? Will you chew until it bleeds? Can you get up off your knees? Are you brave enough to see? Do you wanna change it? So naive I keep holding on to what I wanna believe I can see But I keep holding on and on and on and on Will you bite the hand that feeds you? Will you stay down on your knees? -Nine Inch Nails

A man peers out from a loose blindfold as he sits with the others suspected to be Taliban militia members after being arrested by U.S. forces in Combat Main camp at the Pesh valley in Kunar Province August 14, 2009. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

우리의 인생은 일기예보

인생은 일기예보와 같다. 수십억의 인간들이 모여서 제 나름대로의 인생을 살고 있다지만 결국 기쁘고 슬프고, 행복하고 불행한 그 두 가지 감성의 교차에 지나지 않는다. 궂은 날이 있으면 맑은 날이 있듯이, 그 어떤 불행한 사람에게도 반드시 행복한 때가 다가오기 마련이다. 그러므로 오늘 날씨가 바람 불고 비가 온다고 해서 지 나치게 근심하거나 슬퍼할 필요도 없으며, 오늘 날씨가 쾌청하고 구름 한 점 없이 맑다고 해서 우산이나 비옷 을 없애서도 안 될 것이다. -최인호 수상록 <문장>에서

Excessive government spending has done more than just put us in debt. Charles Murray offers us a useful thought experiment that illustrates the welfare state's enervating effects on our communities and our character. Imagine that the programs that constituted the federal "safety net" were all of a sudden abolished, and for whatever reason could not be revived. And pretend also that the states chose not to replace them with programs of their own, which they almost certainly would. The questions Murray wants us to focus on are these: How would you respond? Would you be more or less likely to volunteer at a food bank? Would you be more or less likely to volunteer at a literacy center? If you were a lawyer or physician, would you be more or less likely to offer pro bono services? We would all answer yes to these questions, wouldn't we? But then we need to ask ourselves: why aren't we doing these things already? And the answer is that we have bought into the soul-killing logic of the welfare state: somebody else is doing it for me. I don't need to give of myself, since a few scribbles on a tax form fulfull my responsibility toward my fellow man. Do our responsibilities as human beings really extend no farther than this? - Ron Paul, from The Revolution: A Manifesto