Note: the audio is a little garbled at the beginning.

A God who is “all-knowing” would realize he’s being sued even without being served notice of the lawsuit, former State Sen. Ernie Chambers says.

The suit Chambers filed was to seek an injunction against God for violent acts like earthquakes & tornadoes.

Tangentially related, but stuck in my head the last few days, so why not? Drive-By Truckers – Tornadoes [MP3]

• Previously
• Even more previously

Half of McCain voters believe Obama is or was Muslim, with 31.7% saying “He used to be Muslim and still has too many connections to Islam.”

(Source)

1. God is not present in Nebraska, nor expected there anytime soon.
2. God does not have a house in Nebraska.
3. God has never done anything in Nebraska.
4. No one in Nebraska is authorized to speak or act in God’s name, and all of the people who claim to do so are violating State rules of Civil Procedure.
and
5. God does not read any Nebraska newspapers.

{previously}

* I know this isn’t used corectly in this context, I just like the sound of it

¹ the mother of all caveats, I suspect.

Jonathan Segura, in support of his novel Occupational Hazards, blogs about Omaha at Powell’s, including a nod to the “miraculously” alive Dave Sink at The Antiquarium (which last I head was going out of business… guess not, just a new location)

Ernie Chambers, no longer in the legislature, is looking for his day in court versus God, seeking an injunction against the violent acts of tornadoes & earthquakes: “If there is a ruling against the existence of God, it will be by the court and not by me.”

The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton

When a self becomes lost in possibility…it is not merely because of a lack of energy…. What is missing is essentially the power to obey, to submit to the necessity in one’s life, to what may be called one’s limitations. Therefore, the tragedy is not that such a self did not amount to something in the world; no, the tragedy is that he did not become aware of himself, aware that the self he is a very definite something and thus the necessary…. The determinist, the fatalist, is in despair and as one in despair has lost his self, because for him everything has become necessary

Ok, so contrast the Internet with, I don’t know, the tribal shaman our ancestors of a few thousand years ago turned to when in doubt. Or the pre-Galilean Popes. Or our parents when we were five. Why does the sun rise in the East, where have I seen that actor before, what are some good recipes for our abundant crop of basil, and where can I get some good Belgian beer? Our ancestors may never have thought to ask such questions, and were left with little hope if they did. But even ten years ago, we lacked the wherewithal to have such ready access to whatever answers we might crave at any given second–a creative use of terms on google, imdb, or wikipedia, and, bam, instant dharma.

Bigger than the Beatles or Jesus in a very big sense. Why latch on to a seven-day theory that bound a few imaginative shamans, when you can reap the benefit of the collaborative efforts of the greatest thinkers in the history of humanity, just like that? And it’s not just the deep shit, immediate gratification is everywhere–I challenge you to put your iPod on random and find a song that does not have some tag somewhere on youtube.

If this is good or bad for civilization is not in my purview [seed for a thought tree: do they hate us because of their freedom to see our images and vice versa?], beyond some words on the thoughts of a generation to age knowing only this sense of possibility. Words like Complacency. Inertia. Resignation. Despair?

I propose it a joyous occasion rather than a frustration when, despite our best manipulations into the machine, we are left without an answer. It is this whack of emptiness, perhaps, that can awaken and enliven us. Yes, to pursue further, to fill in the blanks, but moreover to acknowledge that this even with our neat tools all our thoughts and theories are just theories, and this banana is bigger than we could ever dream to bite into.

I am pretty sure I’ll finish The Recognitions and Underworld. I’m still not sure about IJ. The next question for me to address is whether to start over or take off where I left off. After 5 seconds of thought, I’m going to go with take off where I left off.

What the heck: Mountain Goats – This Year [MP3]

²Interesting to see that the word “perseverance” has roots in Calvinistic doctrine.

Pope Benedict, who has labelled rock “the work of the Devil”, said: “I had reasons to be sceptical and still am. I doubted whether it was in good taste to allow such a performance in front of the Pope.”