User:Kazuba

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If your broom fits ride it. BEWARE! You have been warned. Read the following with caution. I am like no other. (You too are unique.) Welcome. Books are one of my hobbies. I love to research things that have caught my fancy. I have genuine curiosity. I play no favorites, except relentless critical inquiry outside of the common boundaries that come from skimming over material too quickly to get a happy answer and create a conviction. I am fascinated by the obscure, the unknown, minute details, and deception, especially self-deception. I have a gift for pushing the buttons of others by supplying skipped or unknown information. I am not insensitive to others. The only explanation I can offer is that these topics, sometimes excitable, honestly intriqued me. Because I am extremely curious it is very difficult for me to relate to the boundaries of others. Why not seek a reasonable mundane answer that best fits the clues from the evidence already available? My innocent inquiries were frequently distorted into attacks and threats. My statements, that I thought were quite calm, honest and hopefully sensible, became irrational rantings and axe grinding, my sincerity mistaken for sarcasm because I am no master of words. A wise Enchantress (You think there are no such persons? You have much to learn.) told me it was probably an encountered with insecurity. I was totally naive and stupid. I was deeply hurt and felt and still feel remorse for being so ignorant. But I desired to know more, to carefully examine the pieces, to work the puzzles. I make lots of mistakes, but I do try to correct them, and learn from them. I do NOT define myself as a skeptic, but rather a genuinely curious, amateur historian and observer of social psychology. I am a husband, father, grandpa and conjuror. It was Milbourne Christopher, one of the world's great magicians, who taught me to always read a book with a pencil nearby and encouraged me to write. My materials on "Ancient Magicians are they Conjurors?" were shared with Robert Lund and are somewhere in The American Museum of Magic. My mentor was Martin Gardner, the dean of American puzzlers. It floats on the ocean is my favorite riddle. I am a member of the Order of Merlin and a member of the Association of Ancient Historians. (I am not a professional magician or historian , but I listen closely to the pros). I'm just a grunt and certainly no genius. I am most definitly a philogynist and a misandronist! I ain't no computer whiz.

Since it is a product of the poor and forlorn, the blues is the truth; and "C'mon over, baby. There's a whole lotta shakin goin on!" is poetry. Like Martin Gardner, James Randi, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein I do not believe in a supernatural God or anything else supernatural. How can I break it to you gently? The supernatural is a popular delusion. Perhaps a result of those in places of authority with Schizotypal personality disorder and an underestimating of social forces or apophenia? Yet, I wouldn't be surprised if there was something else we cannot even imagine at work. Something entirely OTHER, natural laws that create natural laws, a spooky non-logical universe?! (Quick satisfying answers are preferred over I don't know). Those who argue there is "proof" of God, or intelligent design, use selective material. They are very mischievous! Review the surviving written records about the victims of the plague and other epidemics, count the tombstones in the children's graveyards. Eight million people die each year because they are too poor to stay alive. Their's is a desperate attempt to convince themselves and others the "authority of science" proves the existence of God. There is a lack of faith and reason. The cruelty of natural selection is a fact, Jack.

When someone we love dies there is a desire for something good to come out of this tragedy, to soothe the heartache. What could be better than to be with that deceased loved one forever in paradise? We desire a reason for things, divine justice. I do not believe in an after life, but again I wouldn't be surprised if there was one. When a conjuror creates the illusion of magic he or she uses natural law and secret somethings. I am not so sure that existence and all this stuff around us is an illusion of magic. I have a suspicion during, or after, our life is over we never find out. How can a person become unconscious? It adds to the mystery. I think all extremists should have lights shining out of their butts and fart nasty green clouds that come out of their ears when they get excited. They should also be followed, and unable to escape hordes of angry flying monkeys who throw shit at them. Love the Simpsons!

I know there are real monsters and heroes. I think all babies are born innocent and people are made. I know children should be loved and cared for. The world is not fair. What goes around does NOT come around. There are innocent victims. Dire circumstances and abuse are often beyond one's own control. Their affects can be life long and devastating.

I do not think psychic abilities, if they exist, I am very doubtful, can be controlled or ever proved. My wife and I have experienced Folie a deux and shared 2 visual hallucinations. It knocked us for a loop. Things like that aren't supposed to occur. Big surprise! Possibly a transference of thought, here a visual hallucination, a delusion, as a result of severe depression and emotional ties between two close persons. James Randi and other skeptics prefer to skip Folie a deux. It doesn't look like you can MAKE IT happen, except perhaps with the incapacitating agent BZ, Ayahuasca, etc. It's no big deal! I don't think, even if it is telepathy carried by emotional contagion that it has much value. I know there are lots of phonies and spook crooks. Close-up magic is very powerful, few people can recognize it when they see it. I know the occult and believing in the supernatural, psychic phenomena and trying to talk to the dead can make one's reason deteriorate. Objectively and cautiously read this stuff when they are primary materials from the past generations, if you have to. It's scary. Where are their heads at? They never would have recognized Queen Mab if they had tripped over her.

For about 45 years I have followed the past history and minimal progress of Parapsychology. Parapsychology is not like other sciences. Only it has a history involving the unusual benefical consul, advice and criticisms from the experts of deception, master magicians. A few examples are Project Alpha, Eusapia Palladino, Uri Geller, Mina Crandon and Ted Serios. At this moment I can think of no other science, especially including psychology and psychiatry, that stresses the need for belief and dismisses the possibility of delusion. The catchy buzz phrase of denied failure, the absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence, is very popular in parapsycholgy findings. (Noah's ark lies buried beneath my garage!). A lack of positive evidence in parapsychology means nothing and is shrugged off. It is doubtful this would work in a legal trial, except perhaps when trying witches. Dean Radin is a four times past president of the Parapsychological Association. Check out his unusual writing style, experiments and behavior. Get the picture? Parapsychology was, and is, I suspect, an attempt to give a "scientific authority" (today quantum, during the time when X-rays and radio were popular it was waves) to psychic powers and after life. Again, it may be due to a lack of faith and reason. It seems unlikely that humans possess the magic mental powers they have always desired and imagined. In the celebrated Ganzfeld and Stargate Project Remote viewing experiments it was claimed gifted subjects scored 5% to 15% OVER chance. In some government experiments, rarely and vaguely mentioned, this dropped to only 2% OVER chance. These percentages are often only called significant and not clearly written in figures that are easily understood. With no telepathy, chance is one out of four, 25%. 15% OVER chance is more often presented, by parapsychologists that strongly support psi, as being correct 40% of the time; excluding any mention of chance, at all. Thus, 2% OVER chance becomes being correct 27% of the time. This is a wee bit deceptive. One does not communicate with the dead. There are delusions of grandeur, fear of the unknown, separation and mortality. Stories and rumors grow in a minute, a lot, even in print. I have personally questioned on the spot crime reporters, and detectives.

Prophecy and predicting the future has always been, and is, bunk. Fascinating games are played with selective words and meanings, phrases are pulled out of context; not before, but after events have occurred. They are written about as prophecies. These are impressive hooks in the Bible, Nostradamus, etc. This arcane art continues and is popular till this day. The naive public, always wanting to believe in the mysterious drivle of oracles and strange powers, happily gobbles them up, basically without question or inquiry into their construction. It is amazing! The Latin phrase vaticinium ex eventu is the professional Biblical scholar's term for [Literally: Foretelling after the event]. How does one gently explain this to the uninformed? Professional Biblical scholars are taught it is wrong to endanger a person's faith. A religious faith is precious to many people. I have seen university students cursing their teacher in religious studies classes and stomping out the door because they were shocked, unprepared, and refused to critically learn the ways and customs of ancient writers. Biblical literature must magically, Divinely foretell the future or it is fraudulent. It does not and it is not. This literature is a product of its time, when hexes, spells, magic, sorcerers, witches, divination and omens were everyday things. This can easily be observed by reading many ancient writers, not just the ones in the Bible, and a study of ancient history.

I know people want to be with their loved ones forever. I know my teachers are right; faith is caused by a leap, and only kept by determination. It takes power to maintain optimism and happiness. Prayer, even if it is just self-talk and wishful thinking can give you hope and strength. Martin thinks people who have faith are happier than those without. I have a suspicion this may be true. According to the popular historian Will Durant, "There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion."

Don't confuse faith with the blind obedience of the true believer. Having faith is no excuse for being gullible and stupid. Don't be a chump. Question authority. Be skeptical. Don't be in a rush to create convictions. Be cautious. Examine the fine details. Do not accept the judgement of the crowd. Be ready to evaluate new evidence as fair and as well as the old. Strive for objectivity, not for what you prefer. Keep the ability for changing your mind. Let the foolish big talkers show their bravery and throw their own meaningless lives away. If they are not at the front, in harm's way, (and they rarely are) they are cowards. They value their own lives more than the lives of others. Just think how many innocent lives could have been saved if in the beginning Osama bin Laden had the faith and courage to martyr himself by surrendering to U.S. authorities, instead of asking others to to hide him and kill for him. I'll bet you bin Laden doesn't wear a bomb.

It is easy to see in the month of August, 2006 Hassan Nasrallah is an egomanic who is incapable of admitting he makes serious blunders that result in the deaths of innocent people. Out of kindness, he should be stopped and examined by psychiatrists before he does any more harm.

It was interesting to see big time terrorist Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi's propaganda video. He could not properly fire his weapon without assistance. It is said the coward disguised himself as a woman and bravely traveled surrounded by innocent women and children. I wonder if any of these innocents were blown to pieces while saying their prayers in a holy mosque because of his paranoid insanity. Fanaticism and prejudice are learned behaviors. There are wiser and more benefical things to learn in your life time than hate. Terrorists talk loudly about their love of Allah and the Prophet. They are liars. Their actions show they worship weapons, violence, and death. To them life has lost its beauty and value. They are wrong. Happiness may be achieved in this life. Nope. It ain't easy. There are no guaranties. Life is a struggle and there is a good chance this is a one time deal, regardless of what you have been told. Think.

I know history, the surviving records of things said and done, especially ancient history, is a mess, and the best you can do is try to be objective. I know this is impossible but worth the effort. Reading good ancient history, Ramsay MacMullen is my favorite historian, is like eating candy. The historical Jesus (what really happened) is lost and is unlikely to be found in this ancient world where miracle is taken for granted. Not to believe in them makes you seem simply irrational. Wondrous stories are stretched to the boundaries of incredulity. Records of events are naively mistaken for the events themselves. What a waste of time! The best you can do is see him in an early oral tradition as a magician, wonder-worker, a Divine man, or hero and an itinerant teacher using riddles or parables before he becomes the Messiah in the Gospel of Mark. It takes a while, hundreds of years, before this son of God becomes the one "begotten" and only God of Christianity. The rest is endless conjecture. I'll call it like I see it: "mental masturbation", and the inability to accept the dead ends of the remote, ill-documented past. Rudolf Bultmann was correct. E.P. Sanders has said John Dominic Crossan's books about the "historical" Jesus contain nice pictures. (Titus Livy's History of Rome is contained in 142 books; only 35 still survive.)

(Hang on, Sloopy! This is pretty much the stand of the sharpest professional Biblical scholars, which few people read because they have a chip on their shoulder. Hmmm they did copy all that ancient secular science and religious literature by hand for centuries or else it wouldn't be here. Burned some too! Why did their old school save any of the secular? Easy reader, not all people are alike, kiddo! Watch out for those distorted generalizations! Check out Joseph Fitzmyer's accounts about the historical Jesus defined at Vatican 2) J.C. is not the only Divine hero whose body disappears and is supposed to return. (See Resurrection: Bodily disappearances). Don't hold your breath. How can a grown rational adult buy the weirdness of the "rapture"? A kid is smarter than that. The early Christians expected the end of the world in their lifetime. (Sound familiar?) They friggin blew it! Never liked St. Paul; what an extremist corn ball; blah, blah, blah. Some broad should have kicked his ass.

Think everyone should know there are 2 sets of ten commandments and that the last set (Exodus 34:17-26), not the popular one, is the set carried in the ark. Just follow the story sequence. Don't let these scaredy cats con you! There is good Biblical Scholarship, but most people are afraid of it. They're happy with what they've got. Why be uncomfortable with something new if it is unnecessary? I repeat, genuine curiosity is very rare. The curious and the incurious are worlds apart. Biblical archaeology is not archaeology for its own sake. It has been sadly corrupted by nationalism, religious and secular cliques, personal unscholarly agendas and profiteering. Controversy gets the money and sells. Too bad! (No forger could be that smart! Wanna bet? Just study the past. Give em' what they want and they'll fall for it every time. If they don't, make them want it. Be cautious!) The REAL house where THIS Biblical person lived is where the tourist bus stops and you can buy cold drinks, post cards, Bibles, souvenirs and take some pictures. If its ancient Joe Blow's, not in the Bible, village or house, few people give a damn. You cannot finance an archaeological dig using the name of Joe Blow. Charles Leonard Woolley's financing of the excavation of Ur, as the actual home city of the Biblical Abraham, was a slick hustle. Even mystery writer Agatha Christie was supposedly impressed when Woolley enthusiastically pointed out "Abraham's house!" (Goliath's home town is the latest big thing.) Some people require physical proof, miracles, mysticism or an emotional experience as a foundation for their faith. This can get you into trouble. Faith is a faint small whisper, only a maybe. It lives in your heart, revealed and kept by the charity and kindness of your deeds. Other people see it, not yourself.

The Bible is a very out dated museum piece and should be looked at as a past product of ancient pre-scientific people (objectivity is without value) in a very savage and superstitious time who taught their barbaric primitive religion (magic) in various forms. When reading the Bible you are seeing the ancient world through the eyes of its contemporary peoples. (Be careful of becoming confused and brain washed by their primitive thoughts and behaviors. Theirs is not yours, or the real world. There have been, and will be more, countless revisions and changes.) The ancient way of teaching theology in story form, using the language of myth, is used a lot; not what really happened. Its purpose is to modify human behavior. I do not agree with censoring Biblical literature. The "street language" of the text has its balls cut off to please and not offend the reader. To me this is out and out deception to make it look purer, " goody two shoes", than was originally intended. The changing of Cherubim: beasts, with human heads and wings by reinterpretation into the popular forms of angels without informing the reader of new knowledge concerning the ancient world, and the attempt to hide Adam's first wife, an ancient 9th century B.C. demon, Lilith, (Isaiah 34:14) is low and dishonest. It should come as no surprise that the authors of their own Biblical books see themselves as special. It is unlikely to be someone else; say the Hawaiians for example.

I know the abuse of history is too oftenly used for selfish reasons and propaganda and very, very, popular for the validity of movements. I know one studies history, or anything else, best if it is your passion. Not to prove you and your clique are right. It is said those who do not study history remain children. (It is wise to find out what critical history is and get professional help before you begin.) Social psychology should be included in that too! (Look around. You'll be able to find a cheap used text book). Certainly they are naive and are what conjurors know as "shut eyes". Though it is a bit dated and not the easiest book to read,The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant, 1968 is a fine brief summary of history and society.

I try to read at least one or two World Fantasy Award Winning novels a year. They can travel in any direction. It is difficult to pick a favorite. Like to share them with my friends. Imagination grabs me. Love a good thriller and action story. Always laugh when reading Carl Hiaasen, James Morrow, Mark Twain, (was surprised there is more than one version of Twain's Mysterious Stranger) and ancient satire. Robert E. Howard's Conan is my favorite hero because no matter what the odds he never gives up. Some would say he is just too stupid.

I know love and sex are a wonderful combination that should not be missed in your life time. Norman Lindsay, John Kelly, Jeff Dunas, Jovelle, and Olivia De Berardinis know how to portray the beauty and sensuality of women. Andrew Blake is an erotic artist. Where does he shoot those films? Hedy Lamarr, Jeanne Crain, Diane Webber, Ali Landry, Cindy Crawford, Stacey Williams, Druuna, Paula Price, Racquel Darrian and Chrissy Moran are hot; but not as hot as my wife. Like to see em' all dancing naked under the moonlight. Love a good belly dancer; eastern and the new flamenco guitar. Wish they danced to jazzy blues as do strippers and exotic dancers. They are not to be confused! (What is the color of my darlin's hair?) Gene Elzy of WDET has a great taste in some of the best music in the country. Discovered B.B. King in 1957? and Maria Muldaur and Tad Robinson only recently. Independent record labels are still the best. I still get chills listening to Little Richard, early Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Bill Doggett. Can't forget Harry James, Ben Webster, Gene Harris, James Carter, Hank Crawford, "Fathead", Ronnie Earl, Howard Roberts, Wes Montgomery with Jimmy Smith, Louis Jordan and Satchmo.

I know that having fun, helping and just being with the ones you love makes life worth while. Like to watch TV on the sofa next to my wonderful wife. We watch lots of movies because she can no longer read for any length of time without getting a headache. She has terminal cancer and is very weak. Still can't figure out how she puts up with me and all my weird stuff; married 41 years. Still nuts about her. Glad we learned how to dance (Lady in Red, Blues Power, You Look Wonderful Tonight, Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground, What'd I Say) and share things. Sometimes we sit and cuddle in the dark and listen to Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles, country love songs, etc. I recently read Robert R. McCammon's Boy's Life to her. She didn't want me to stop. Don't miss it! What a wonderful book. It is filled with real magic!

I know time is precious and life whizzes by. (You begin to see it plainly after 50). I know there is only the now and you should invest in it. Be with the ones you love. I know the horror of the empty and the void of depression, moments when the dark chasm of your soul collapses into deeper darkness. The powers of hate and madness are very close and very real. Always be wary of getting excited and creating cognitive distortions. Watch out for that world of hype and SPIN. I am a true student of the Glamour, the power our own personal beliefs and convictions have over each one of us. What ever has made us happy we enthusiastically want to share with others; but not all people are the same, nor do they want to be. The native Americans were not happy to have their languages and religions banned.

Though test results suggest people rely on each other to define reality, people prefer to believe they think for themselves, and they do not like their freedom to think being threatened. It is difficult for people to change their minds especially if they have made a verbal or written commitment. People do not want to look foolish. This mentally and physically hurts. I like to pick things apart to see what makes them tick. We see the world through the science of the present, and a contemporary social cause or event has, and still does, affect the direction and progress of curiosity and science. This is unlikely to change in the future. Global warming is real. I know I'm scary. Hell, I'm a magician! It is my joy to awaken surprise and wonder and make you gasp! I desire to make life enjoyable for others and myself. How about you?

If you have enjoyed this bizarre, long winded, entertainment say hello. I am not selling books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, cassettes, t-shirts, caps or asking for financial support. By reading this, I have cast my spell and you have given me brief control over your mind. The most dangerous thing in the world is a new idea. Perhaps I have fostered one in your head. With knowledge comes responsibility. Try to be understanding and helpful. I grew up among the crippled and blind. Some people only know living hand to mouth. Many poor people still starve and are without medical aid. Cecy, my flying broom, is calling me. The daughters of the night are gonna party and get down on Bald Mountain. The Lady and the Bright Girl will be there. Shazam! Man, me and my darlin' are outta here.