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Category: News

Apparently, Moses was High

Published Mar 5, 2008

Moses and the Israelites were on drugs, says Benny Shanon, an Israeli professor of cognitive philosophy.

Writing in the British Journal Time and Mind, he claims Moses was probably on psychedelic drugs when he received the Ten Commandments from God.

The assertions give a whole new meaning to Moses being “high” on Mount Sinai.

According to Shanon, a professor at Hebrew University, two naturally existing plants in the Sinai Peninsula have the same psychoactive components as ones found in the Amazon jungle and are well-known for their mind-altering capabilities. The drugs are usually combined in a drink called ayahuasca.

“As far as Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effects of narcotics,” he told Israel Radio in an interview Tuesday.

The description in The Book of Exodus of thunder, lightening and a blaring trumpet, according to Shanon, are the classic imaginings of people under the influence of drugs.

As for the vision of the burning bush, well obviously that too was a drug-fueled hallucination, according to Shanon.

“In advanced forms of ayahuasca inebriation,” he wrote, “the seeing of light is accompanied by profound religious and spiritual feelings.”

Shanon admits he took some of these drugs while in the Amazon in 1991. “I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations,” he said.

The initial reaction to this controversial theory from Israel’s religiously orthodox community and the powerful rabbis who lead it was less than enthusiastic.

Orthodox rabbi Yuval Sherlow, quoted by Reuters speaking on Israel radio, said: “The Bible is trying to convey a very profound event. We have to fear not for the fate of the biblical Moses, but for the fate of science.”

Source

Okay. This is definitely the most interesting article I have read all day. There are two things I try not to really talk about too much: politics, and faith. Those conversations just never seem to go well. But I couldn’t resist posting this.

Now, allow me to preface these next few paragraphs by saying this: I was born and raised Protestant. I have my ups and downs with religion as we know it. Sometimes I’m not sure if I even really believe in God as he was taught to me. I am very confused about my own personal faith. So, I think a lot about possible alternatives.

One of my favorites, that ties in with this story, is this: Why do science and religion have to argue? Why does one have to be absolutely right? What if they’re both right? I think it makes more sense to believe that they’re both right. For instance!

Let’s say Moses was high. Ok… they like to say that the Lord moves in mysterious ways. Maybe God chose to come to Moses while he was high, so that science could explain this vision, but the people that have faith would be able to exercise that faith by believing that God really did make himself and his will known to Moses. Science and Religion are both right.

What about The Big Bang theory? What if… maybe it’s crazy… but what if, when God created the Heavens and the Earth, he didn’t just will it into existence, but rather, was the cause of the Big Bang? Again, Science and Religion can both be right.

Maybe God uses science to his advantage. Maybe it’s his way of doing things so that us mere mortals can somewhat understand it. Maybe he wants us to be able to relate to him just a little bit. Maybe it was never meant to be Science verses Religion, and the two are supposed to work hand in hand to explain Existence.

… just a thought.

(now, before people start commenting, let me remind you of the comment policy, particularly rules 5 and 6. I mean it; I don’t tolerate immature fighting on my blog.)

7 Comments

L.A. Tap Water “Nation’s Tastiest”

Published Feb 25, 2008

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. —  Their air might bring pollution complaints, but residents of Los Angeles drink the nation’s tastiest tap water, according to the judges of an international competition.

More than 120 water sources competed in the 18th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, held Saturday.

A panel of 10 journalists and food critics sampled sparkling, tap and bottled water from 19 states and other countries, including New Zealand, Romania, Macedonia and the Philippines.

The title of best municipal water was shared by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which serves Los Angeles, and the town of Clearbrook, British Columbia.

Los Angeles won a gold medal in 1998 and has been in the top five in four other competitions since then, according to the competition organizers.

“It means they give special care and attention to their water and how it is processed,” said event producer Jill Klein Rone.

source

Am I reading this right? Los Angeles has the best tap water in the nation? Are these people crazy?! Take it from me… I spent 21 years in L.A. and the tap water is NOT tasty. In any way, shape, or form. It tastes metallic. Bottled water companies made a killing on me and my family.

The tap water here in Portland is significantly better. I don’t buy bottled water anymore because the tap water here is actually drinkable. Those tasters…. have no taste. Durp. What other places have good tap water?

8 Comments

Fireball

Published Feb 20, 2008

So, apparently there was this huge fireball over Portland very early Tuesday morning. I missed it because I was still asleep. Who the heck is awake at 5:30am anyway?? But yeah. They aren’t positive if it hit the ground, but they think it did. I wish I had been awake to see it… there is a video of it though, a hospital security cam caught it. It looks like it was spectacular!

You can see the video and a story about it on Oregon Live.

I’m hoping the sky clears up a bit by tonight, I’d love to see and attempt to photograph the lunar eclipse. It was so gorgeous all weekend, and now it’s back to being gloomy.

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Dead Man to Become New Dad

Published Jan 23, 2007

In August 2002, 19-year-old Sergeant Kevin Cohen was guarding an Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip. At 7 a.m. he was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper. It was that bullet that killed Kevin and his dream, which he had related to his mother, Rachel Cohen, of one day fathering a child.

But this week, four years after his death, a dramatic ruling by an Israeli court means Kevin Cohen’s dream may very well come true.

A ‘biological will’
After her son’s death, Cohen approached a non-profit organization called “New Family” which is dedicated to advancing family rights.

The organization is trying to convince people to write a “biological will,” which in case of death would allow doctors to extract sperm from their bodies,” explained Irit Rosenblum, the founder of “New Family” and Cohen’s lawyer.

It was a mother’s instinct that led Cohen to request doctors to freeze her dead son’s sperm. Cohen said she had a dream one year after her son died.

“He appeared in my dream and asked me, mom what’s with my child? Please hurry,” said Cohen. “I woke up with a big sweat and decided to go ahead, all the way.”

Then came the legal battle, which was fought around the ruling permitting only the wife of a deceased man to extract his sperm and to become impregnated by it. The new ruling now recognizes the parent’s right over a dead child’s sperm.

Irit Rosenblum, left, founder of the Israeli non-profit organization “New Family,” and her client Rachel Cohen.

Battle won
Cohen’s cell phone rang with the good news just as she was laying flowers on her son’s grave. “I was too nervous and frustrated with the court battle, I decided the best place to be was near Kevin’s grave,” said Cohen.

Rosenblum called with the news that her dream of becoming a grandmother was going to come true. “The decision gave me great happiness but still the pain is so huge, I turned to the grave and told the good news to Kevin,” said Cohen.

“The ruling represents a light at the end of the tunnel both for a family mourning the loss of a child, and also for a single woman wanting to bring a new life into this world,” said Rosenblum.

An unusual appeal
During the course of the legal battle Cohen sent out an emotional appeal to the Israeli public for help. It was a strange request: Would a woman come forward and give birth to Cohen’s dead son’s child?

The process of finding a mother for Kevin Cohen’s child took more than two years. Two hundred women were interviewed, medical tests were conducted, meetings with psychologists took place and finally one was chosen. “She won my heart right away,” said Cohen.

The 35-year-old woman preferred not to be identified, but Cohen said, “There are a lot of women out there that really want to know the father’s identity, his background, to be able to tell the child who was his father.”

Now Cohen is waiting for another phone call, for more good news, that maybe nine months from now she will become a grandmother. At last she will be able to look at her son’s picture and tell him he has a child.

link

Is it just me that finds this slightly disturbing? I mean.. it’d be one thing if he had been married, and his wife was trying to have his baby (though even that it a little odd to me under these circumstances), but this just does not sit well with me at all. That poor baby.

2 Comments

People are Stupid & PHP Hates Me

Published Sep 12, 2006

BERLIN (Reuters) – A bungling German thief stole a pair of shoes in two different sizes and was caught when he went back to the shop to fix his mistake—decked out in the very clothes he had stolen, authorities said Friday.

Police in the western city of Bielefeld said the shop owner recognized the 20-year-old shoplifter because the white shoes and sports jacket he wore were available only in his shop, and had been stolen just two days earlier.

“You have to wonder why he went back into the shop in the stolen get-up,” said a spokeswoman for Bielefeld police. “It seems he may not have been the brightest of thieves.” The owner spotted the man as he attempted to switch of the wrong-sized shoe and alerted police, who arrested the thief.

article

ROFL. Classic. WHY would you DO that?!

In other news, the guys at pmachine helped me figure out why my auto-resize on KSF To-Go wasn’t working. Apparently my version of PHP doesn’t like the jpgs that my Nokia phone makes. WTF? I might have to go back to Motorolla in that case cause Py says upgrading the php would break more than it would fix. So according to John and PXLated, when I go shopping for my new cellphone, I should ask the sales person if the model he is selling me is compatible with my version of PHP, videotape his reaction, put it on youtube, get digged and be famous. Sounds good to me! :D Though I do wish it would just work with my phone!

3 Comments