religion...again

 how powerful would you be if you could promise everlasting...whatever...at a date undetermined, in a place unknown, forever, for everyone...provided your "believers" made a small contribution today - towards, of course, a guarantee of...whatever.  that's religion in a nutshell.  [and just to make sure one made that little contribution, you could promise trials beyond belief...forever... if one didn't make it.]  it's the purest form of bribery with the added kicker that everyone's scared to death of dying and wants to be assured he or she will be comfortable when gone.

and don't give me that crap about "loving thy fellow man."  more poor souls have been killed in the name of one religion or the other than all the world wars put together...and will continue to be until the world ends.

too bad the discovery of the higgs boson didn't produce the creation of a black hole into which the earth disappeared - as some predicted.  of course, that discovery - that of the so-called "god particle" - puts additional credence to  the preeminence of science over religion.  you can look it up.  believe me, you can look it up.  try looking up the reality of heaven or hell.

i can promise you more when i get further worked up about those hypocritical sons of bitches who run institutions like the roman church and try to cover up the next fucking scandal [nuns, perhaps] and i mean that literally.  the very idea that you could convert a basic human condition - sex drive - through celibacy is enough to make one puke and flies in the face of logic, never mind walking on water, loaves and fishes, etc.  bah...it's stupid.

[wait 'til i get started on the creationists and the scientologists with their dinosaurs and frozen people.]

two thoughts on the fourth of july

     ...loved the individual - hated the tribe.


     "karioki" in swahili[?] means "restored to life".

gambling

     "women try their luck;  men risk theirs."





oscar wilde

the belmont stakes - 2012

there's something fishy - and stinking - about this year's belmont....I'LL HAVE ANOTHER scratched when about to win the triple crown, with a bowed tendon that wasn't quite bowed, which many - including veterenarians - said wouldn't have precluded his running...?  retired?  perhaps...but my suspicion is that the NYRA [if that is the governing body] coralled his owner and trainer and said scratch him.  they had, after all, for the first time insisted on a stakes "detention" barn wherein all entries were to reside for the week prior to the race so as to obviate cheating.  his trainer was under suspension [pending] in california for "milkshaking", and the game of thoroughbred racing couldn't afford another scandal.  plus, the press has been totally silent on  the issue.  all very suspicious.  the complete conspiracy theorist would suggest everyone was paid off - i doubt that - but the fact  that the horse was scratched in the face of  a huge[r] breeding payday makes me ponder the question.

atheism

     the trouble with being an atheist is that you don't have anyone to talk to when you're coming.





anon.

horse racing

     "never doubt the honesty of a jockey's room tip...."




e. hemingway

roulette

let's get one thing straight right away - one cannot beat roulette [or any other casino game] in the long run.  no matter what your system - be it one of the various martingales, ascot, labouchere, whatever - you are just putting off the inevitable, i.e. the loss of all your money.

however, roulette can be beaten regularly if you are patient - and until you are thrown out of the casino - because it depends upon mechanics, the wheel, and mechanics are subject to failure.

in order for the ball to drop in truly random fashion the wheel must be perfectly balanced.  if out of balance a bias can be discovered and plays can be made which take advantage of that bias.  all one needs to do is chart 25 or so spins, recording them as they fall in the order the numbers are slotted on the wheel and if a bias appears play the block of numbers - say five - with a progressive series of bets - say five [1,2,3,5,8?] - going up with each loss and going back to the start with each win.

i know this will work - i have used the "system" several times at various casinos.  interestingly, the americans are less likely to challenge one with a pad and paper [confidence in their maintenance?] while the argentinians threatened me with jail the minute i started to write.