I posted this somewhere eles

I don't usually post the same thing in others places that I post here; but, I like my answer. Someone asked how their could be free will if God was all knowing, omniscient. I like the question.

MY ANSWER TO HIS QUESTION

I am answering your question with my understanding. I am limited same as everyone else, I don't have all knowledge. We understand that we exist, that we have sentience, that means that sentience in the universe exists. That is a good definition of God, the sentience of the universe. I mean it must start with knowing something. I make decisions, choices between right and wrong, that is free will I think.

If I have a child, I can usually figure out what choices they will make, if I know my child will eat all the cookies if I leave them out and I put them where the child cannot get to them, I have denied them certain choices; but, not free will. Free will does not mean getting your way, it means getting to chose amongst the options available. Getting to decide which you prefer even if you cannot necessarily obtain what you desire. Isn't that why we have created a virtual world, so we can be or get whatever we want?

What I have said is that we know two things. We have free will (the right to decide our own preferences) and there is sentience in the universe. As we grow, we learn more and our preferences can change. We know that we can grow. Some, not I, claim that we can become God and know all (gnostics and other new age groups).

You asked a lot so I am chewing on the pieces slowly and hopefully fully. Have to place the building blocks first.

The only question left is whether or not God is all knowing. I want to approach this in two ways. One it requires that we assume there is a God, if there is no God in your assumption than I can answer if he is all knowing. It is like asking someone who has never touched their wife, "Do you still beat your wife?". I am assuming that you are not going to use the question to have me prove there is a God, that would be a different question. Apparently many the assumption that your question is if there is a God, they don't read well or don't to see true discussions on any spiritual issue or question, they are all knowing, the all knowing sentience of the world, I would call them little gods, the limited sentience of the universe. For if they are like me then they know that they don't have all the answers.

Now, there are two ways to answer you, the gnostic and non-gnostic (be it Christian, Muslim or Jew). The gnostic will tell you that you can create your own universe and achieve all knowledge, to them (genarlization) we are God, our combined knowledge is all knowledge that can be known and eventually we become one. There answer does work as a possibility in answering you. The combined sentience of the universe is God and you are part of it. There answer would not deny free will. I don't agree with it; but, it does answer your question.

My answer is different. It is a Christian perspective and not far from parts of how the gnostics believe. In the bible it says in the beginning was the word and the word was God and the word was with God. What was the word, what did he call himself, he called himself the great I AM. What do you figure that means? If you define sentience it gets interesting. Sentience is the awareness of emotions and sensations. That is how we all begin. That leads to a conclusion, I AM, I exist. In the beginning God discovered that he existed. That is why it is the beginning, he had a thought rather than just experience. At that moment he knew all knowledge that was or had ever been in the universe. He was omniscient. At that moment, knowing less of the universe was possible for anything he created.

I don't presume a God that is also not capable of growth. I believe he made us so he could grow as we grew. As each part of us grows, so does society, constantly grappling with more and more difficult choices.As we make different choices he gets to see new things also, he knows as we know so he always knows all that we can know. If we could hear him, it might get in the way of our free will and then he learns less.

You see, the area we disagree over is the definition of all knowing. Perfection is not a result, it is a process, same thing with knowledge. He may know that can be known at any given second while still learning more. Free will is necessary for greater knowledge for him and us. Eternity is a very long time and continual growth would be needed to make it tolerable and worthwhile.

A Book, a Burger a Compliment

Dear readers, I bought a book today, it is called "The Jane Austen Handbook (Proper Life Skills from Regency England)". The book sort of discusses what was expected of young ladies and gentlemen, the first chapter is "How to Become an Accomplished Lady" ans suggests that they study several languages, acquire a basic grasp of geography and history, become a proficient musician, draw or paint the picturesque, master the art of needlework and learn to dance gracefully. I should explain a little more, the author wrote the book so that people reading the lovely Jane would understand what the people that she wrote about lived like.

What would you recommend young ladies to learn today, not saying that the skills Jane recommended would not be useful today; but, certainly we would expect ladies today to have a different set of skills. Clearly a good understanding of language and math, an ability to cook and basic mechanical skills (should be able to take care of oneself). An ability with some art (music, painting, sculpture...) because we should all know the joy of art, it frees us to be more expressive. When I was younger I wrote music (just lyrics had to keep the rhythm in my head), drew quite extensively and of course I liked to write. Knowledge of basic geography and history is essential to understanding the world, it is even more useful now because the internet links us with people in other countries in real time and we should have some understanding of them and their history.

I was on a chat site and most of the people I interacted with were in foreign countries. It was nice to already have a basic understanding of their countries, it helped me to get a sense of them. Americans know too little about other countries and that is not going to help them as we interact more and more internationally.

I guess the question is why I bought the book. I bought it because of the burger. Really, the burger led to the book. I was driving home and decided to get a Umami Burger, they are exclusive to Southern California. I had read that they were supposed to be the best burger in Southern California, I decided to try one. Now, I do not promote any products and I paid for mine, I even had a friend come meet me and have one also. Two burgers, one beer, one wine and one Bubble up, fries and mushed potatoes later (between the two of us), including tip I spent about $60. Okay I didn't say it was cheap and I tip well.

I had the burger with truffle sauce, I like truffles. It was an excellent burger, top notch, the service was fantastic (had a very sweet waitress) and the atmosphere was young but calm. I would recommend it to others. Heck after eating half mine, that is when I decided to call my friend to come and try it. Just taking a little time to stop and smell the roses so to speak. Most days I just grab something easy.

Well, after having my burger I decided to stop in this little store that was nearby and had replicas of old stuff like games and jewelry and nick knacks. I saw the book, it was about Jane and I bought it.

Unrelated to all of this was something that happened today, a compliment. A very nice lady that works in my building told me that she loved one of my recent posts. She told me that when she read my stuff she could hear my voice in her head and that my writing was sort of addictive to her. That was of the kindest compliments I have ever heard and really made me feel good. I believe I write fairly clearly; but, when I read Jane, I know I can never write like she could.

You have to see this

Grand Rapids, Michigan. Many towns are taking a beating, Michigan has been particularly hard hit. A number of residents of Grand Rapids wanted to promote their town and let people know they still have a lot to give and haven't given up on themselves, a link to the article. I highly recommend you watch the whole video.

Happy Smiley Face

Regular readers know that I got divorced and ended up with most of the debt. Well, I got a substantial tax return and was able to pay off two credit cards and now will be cancelling them. I also am paying off my final bill to my lovely attorney. That makes this guy feel fantastic. I had no intention of filing bankruptcy.

I may be broke again at the moment; but, I will have my car and the last credit cards all paid off within a year and a half. I am also free of the house that the court left me with. It feels nice to have less problems to deal with. I feel as if I am finally getting some control over my life again. For the past few years it was always about other people's problems and trying to surf through mine.

Lets do a Pimpernel checkup. Health, much better. Finances, on track. Living situation, priceless. Mental health, still crazy after all these years and loving it. Relationship, taking a break and relaxing. Writing skills, you decide. Work, I get to retire in three years. Future, God always gives me what I need. I would say my life has vastly improved, not all at once; but, bit by bit to a point where I feel calm. Friends, the best in the world.

Now what fools thought I wouldn't get back up, that I had finally been done in, that prepared to celebrate my demise and destruction. They always underestimate the Pimpernel. They seek him here, they seek him there, that darned elusive Pimpernel. Still standing and still annoying and still calling it the way I see it. I am still me, they couldn't take that away.

Oh, still dangerous also. Some people would be well advised to stop lying to the press, Pimpernel might just speak up; but, I have been told there is no need, those who lie are already hanging themselves because someone else has proof and they told me so. Naughty, naughty, somebody is going to get spanked and then have to go away, no retirement for them I guess.

The Future of Marriage

Here is an article about seven celebrities who believe marriage is outdated. This type of justification is becoming more and more common, the belief that people are incapable of remaining faithful. It is garbage, I was never unfaithful. We are not animals, we are humans and history has proven that we can remain faithful, many choose not to; it is a conscious decision on their part.

People do lots of selfish things, they steal, they lie, they kill one another. Does that mean that we accept the justifications that they use after getting caught? People will say that marriage is outdated, I didn't know it came with an expiration date. They talk as if we have advanced past commitment, that fidelity is unrealistic. It is garbage, what they are really saying is that they don't want to be in a committed relationship, that they are too selfish to commit to another. Fine, just say that there is no need to justify their actions. It is like when criminals say they are just like any other businessmen, they are not.

Divorce is expensive, hurtful and takes an emotional toll. It is even worse when people have young children. There are times when we may be unevenly yolked; but, that doesn't justify adultery. We are telling people that their contracts, agreements are meaningless, not just marriage, debt also. We will not improve this country or world by making meaningless agreements, we will trust each other less.

An Eye for a Free Pass

Its a cookie or a stick, which would you prefer. Wait, that cookies is just a smaller stick, it only looks like a cookie because you hit me with a bigger stick already.

An Eye opening article.


As you get groped and scanned this holiday weekend, flying wherever to celebrate the people who died for our freedoms, wait, you will have your freedom violated to celebrate those who died for our freedom, something seems wrong here. Nobody likes being groped and scanned; but, they have gone along with it mostly. Now they are telling you that there is an easier way; but, they won't use it because of privacy concerns, they want your eyes biometrics, eye scanners.

We won't grab your child's privates if you let us scan their eye and put it in a national database, um actually an international database. Will you trade the grope for the eye scan? Once implemented as a choice, it will eventually become mandatory. See they will bring the scanners here because people will prefer, frequent travelers will for sure.

Don't jump to how you feel about it, it doesn't matter and that is not good thinking. Think about the consequences of having eye scanners at airports. Think about how the database will be used for other things.

Now lets talk about Revelations. In the book of Revelations it says that one day a mark will be required of everyone to buy and sell. People assume that everything is fine up until that point, that is not logical. Before people would take a mark, they would have already given up their privacy. The mark just seals the deal (lol, get it, seals).

Biometrics (being identified by your unique physical characteristics) will be the "new nomal". It will mean that you don't need an rfid chip. You didn't really want the chip anyways and they knew that. Rattle up the sheep, let them think they found a way around it. Nope, the solution that was wanted in the first place.

A few of the readers of this blog know me in person, some are business associates. One, reads it and I didn't know they still did. I did post here about how Google was going into the utilities field and then they did. I do understand how things work and how to move people.

I got an e-mail from facebook today. I have an account with no information and I have never used it, one friend and I decline all other requests. The e-mail said that I had friends on facebook that I hadn't added. It had six of them, I did know one of them. I dated her two and a half years ago, we dated 13 times in one year, never even kissed, it was more someone to have a nice dinner with. I have not seen here in a year and a half and we never communicated on facebook. I don't know how many people are on facebook; but, I know it is a lot. How did they pick her? Makes me wonder. Wait, I met her on Match.com, actually she contacted me. Only person I ever met on Match, I quit it long ago. Actually right after I met her. Lovely and intelligent lady; but, I could never figure out what she was looking for and I don't think I knew what I was looking for, nice companion for dinner and that is all either of us were ready for, didn't know it at the time. I should mention that I never dated more than one person at a time.

Anyways, I have to conclude that facebook may have data mined Match.com and other sites. How would you like all the women you dated to have your facebook page? Maybe you don't care, as the head of facebook said, privacy is outdated and overrated.

Well, I guess the eyes have it and I think this post is about done. Sorry, I didn't sleep much last night, got up early and had to take my youngest to the airport. The flight was cancelled, oh well, maybe they can bring in the eye scanner and it will make it easier tomorrow. They rescheduled her flight. We went to breakfast at a famous local place. The waitress (about my age) was a very pleasant and cute Asian lady, she seemed to have taken a shine to me, kept trying to touch me and engage me in more conversation. Clearly she had forgotten her glasses at home and did not get the laser surgery to correct her vision. I would hate to be a single lady at my age.

There are plenty of beautiful, intelligent and well employed single young ladies out there that want a normal relationship with a stable and calm man. Stable is debatable; but, calm and quiet in person very much describes me. I have been told that the pickings are rather thin for women over 40, most never marry again. I think that is a shame, I only dated women over 40 because they have so much more to give, nice and experienced in life, holding their own opinions. Here is to women over 40, you go girl. LOL.

Someone Posted a Comment Tonight

It was their first time anywhere. I am so glad that they did, glad they said what they thought. I don't think I know the person, don't know if they know me (don't think so) and don't know how long they have been reading the blog; but, they spoke up.

I want to say something, I don't care if a comment is smart or dumb or proven or unproven, I have restrictions; but, this is not a spelling test. That is not what matters. I write a lot, very confident in my writing and style. I don't spell or grammar check, don't care that much. I will correct mistakes if I see them. Not everyone has written as much as me and I know that, this is not a English test, it is a blog and I don't want to think people cannot post if they are not great writers. Please don't put that on yourselves.

Was exchanging with a woman in Mexico on a chat site tonight (not a lover, a loved one). I understand her, her English is not perfect; but, it is really good and I know what she means. I was always shy; but, not about expressing my opinions. We shouldn't be shy about that. Be well.