Zeus fries my internet

Hello folks. Haven’t been able to post for nearly two weeks because during my short trip down to the coast, the lightning gods decided to have some fun with my ADSL connection.

I got back to a dead modem but didn’t realise the true damage until after I had a huge row with my internet service provider. While they insisted that they had repaired the damage to the cable and replaced my modem, I could still not connect. It was only after a few tests I discovered that the network card on my Notebook had also been fried. Thanks Zeus, you mother-frier you.

Anyway, to cut a frustrating story short, I purchased a network adapter which plugs into a USB port and am joyfully back on the air.

I missed some of the posts by bloggers I follow regularly and am still catching up. I also missed following the latest news from around the world. Unsurprisingly nothing’s changed – the world is still as fucked up as it was two weeks ago.

The one good thing to come out of all this, was that it gave me the opportunity to upgrade my connection speed and I’m now surfing faster than before. Still, it perturbs that hell out of me that that sonofabitch Zeus will always be faster…

Mothers Day – A history

Tomorrow, the 13th of May will usher in the celebration of Mothers Day in many countries around the world. But how many of us know the history behind this cherished day?

The YouTube video further below provides a latter-day history of the origins of Mothers Day as conceptualized by the American Julia Ward Howe. However the celebration of motherhood has a long history rooted in antiquity.

Early man worshipped Goddesses and deities as symbols of motherhood. The ancient Egyptians worshipped Isis who they regarded as the Mother of the Pharaohs. The early Romans worshipped the Phrygian goddess Cybele, who derived from the Greek goddess Rhea, Mother of the Greek deity Zeus. Other societies honoured Gaia the Earth Goddess.

Early Christians honoured the Church by referring to it as Mother Church. Later, Europeans celebrated Mothering Day during Lent. Mothers Day as we know it, started with Julia Ward Howe around 1870. This video provides a brief history of her and many other magnificent women since. [Follow this link for more history]

I cannot be with my mother this year; she’s many miles away, but my thoughts will be with her as always. I hope you enjoyed that little blast from the past. Now, please have a happy Mothers Day, hopefully close to your mother.

Proof that UFO’s do exist

The internet was abuzz last week over a video captured of the sky above Moscow, evidently showing a UFO.

Clearly, Unbelievably Freakish Occurrences (UFO’s) do exist, and Unbelievably Fantastic Opportunities (UFO’s) to capture them on film abound. Unfortunately, Amazingly Stupid Sense (ASS) is later made of it by uncritical, perhaps superstitiously inclined people.

Remember the hands of god email that is probably still circulating, which I wrote about in Another Religious Lie That Came Through My EMail? Well, before a screen-shot of this video does the email rounds (cleverly touched up) as either the eye of god, the rectum of Zeus, a Venusian mothership disguised as a cloud, or something equally ridiculous, I’d like to suggest that it’s nothing more than a meteorological phenomena; albeit a visually fantastic one.

Like so many things in life, which elicits awe and demands answers, the tendency to proffer a supernatural solution, creates even more complicated questions. It’s always best to treat everything we don’t understand that well, with skepticism and doubt.

Seasons Greetings to all Pagans

Since re-affirming my secularism (previously atheism), I have fallen out of the habit of acknowledging religious festive occasions, like the one that is almost upon us. It somehow makes me feels like I’m encouraging people to indulge in institutionalized frivolity. Well, I’ve given it a re-think and realized that I was maybe being unkind to all those that still follow pagan beliefs. You see, I’ve rationalized that since those who have pagan beliefs are ostracized and excluded from the established religious community, they are thus, logically in opposition to said community. And though their beliefs are as strange and irrational as those of the establishment, it is in a sense more pure; innocent even.

Without doubt, these pagans with their simple desire to understand the world, laid the foundations for modern religious thinking, which has unfortunately evolved into an ugly monster, unrecognizable from its humble beginnings. So with the onset of the winter solstice, it is time to pay homage to any and all pagans still left in the world. You know who you are; followers of Dionysus, Mithra,  Horus,  Adonis, Attis, Hercules, Krishna, even Zeus.

With the culmination of the winter solstice on the 24Th of December, the Sun will be born again on 25Th December, as it will every year, until it eventually burns out.  Once again, happy Solstice, Natalis Invicti, Saturnalia, Nollagh, Noel, and Baal-fire feast. Enjoy…