I never thought I'd see sports gambling advertised on sporting events. Even more astonishing are the "live reads" during the pregame show where -- I still find it hard to fathom -- the game's studio host recommends certain parlay bets on that specific game as "safe."
How is this legal?
And is anybody surprised that athletes and team employees are now getting caught gambling on their games?
I don't know if reincarnation happens or not, just as I don't know if any of the other theories about life after death are true. There's evidence to suggest that they are, and much of it seems convincing, but no one can actually know. What I don't get is why some folks are so certain that they CAN'T be true. That seems like saying, "I don't understand how this works, or what the explanation is, therefore it can't possibly be true". That kind of certainty seems like arrogance to me. It wasn't that long ago that humans didn't understand what a virus was and how diseases were sometimes transmitted.
Proving a negative is virtually impossible in cases like reincarnation/afterlife/etc, but it doesn’t mean that it makes the hypothesis even remotely likely. Could anyone then make up a theory that you have to at least partially consider plausible?
Online gambling is really one giant psychop. It's clearly aimed at addiction, much like the tobacco industry's manipulation of the nicotine level in cigarettes and just as hypocritical, with its mouthings about personal responsibility and faux concern for public health. Big Food is now what Big Tobacco once was. Big Bet is already well on its way to adding to the list of national addictions, and especially for the most vulnerable ? One insidious way it's done is to turn a loss into a perceived win, e.g. setting off celebratory effects, say when a $100 bet returns $25. Research tells us our sympathetic nervous system (our “fight-or-flight” response apparatus) responds to losses celebrated as wins the same way it responds to actual wins. The street corner shell game or three-card monte con done up in modern dress and moved to cyberspace.
I read Old Souls many years ago and thought it was fascinating. In fact, I think I remember it being discussed in one of the chats and it ended up on my TBR list. I'm glad I did. Tom did an excellent job on the book.
Regarding Gibson's article, I don't believe that our current existence is the only one we have ever known, or will know. The universe does not like to create "one-offs." If there can be one star, there can be trillions. If there can be one species of insects, there can be trillions. What about the infants who die? Is their few hours of existence the only existence they will ever know?
Also, I believe that in Gene's previous life, he was a proctologist, and his obsession with poop jokes is his subconscious way to reconnect with his previous self.
If one would examine some of the Indian cultures of the Far East, they would encounter many stories involving re-incarnation. Interesting stuff. To them, on a par with stories of the Virgin Mary appearing to Catholic humans.
Reincarnation? It's a maybe, at best. And, if it exists, is it date/time specific? That is, could the deceased come back as someone, born during the life time of their former self? And, if he/she met their former self, what then? Would they recognize him/her? And if they did, what then? The possibilities are endless, and scary. What say you?
I am married > 40 years, kids, grandkids, successful career. 30 years ago encountered academic 20yrs older than me, only met face to face once so new each other via e-mail. He was married, kids and grandkids. We "finished" each other's e-mails and had sense we were siblings in a past life. No, I don't believe in re-incarnation, but some days I wonder.
What has to rank near the top of cynical hypocrisy is how customer service seems to be handled by an increasing number of companies these days --- the goal being to provide you with none. This is perhaps best exemplified by the Escher loop-like phone trees, and especially those using obviously first-gen voice recognition. Next, but a very close second, would be locating customer service call centers in areas of the world where not only limited English is spoken, but there are only about 10 people that speak the native tongue. On top of which, whatever the language is at the other end when you manage to connect, it is routed through some sort of infernal system that adds noise to the line instead of removing it. Apparently the usually earnest, if unintelligible, customer service agents earn bonuses based on how many callers finally hang up in frustration.
Well, The Weekly World News had a headline years ago, “Life After Death Guaranteed! Experts Prove That Everyone Will Be Reincarnated.” If that’s not definitive, I don’t know what is.
Of course I believe in reincarnation. I remember waiting to be born. But I expect he details will surprise most if not all. We live in a "picture" and what is outside the frame may shock us.
A good question and I am not sure that it does, but it moved me closer to the idea that I did have something going on before I was born. But not any memories I can point to and say I was another person. I came away with the notion that all previous memories were erased at birth. But a second idea was that I "encoded my memories into a visual memory." But now that is meaningless to me. Say what? Perhaps our brains give us a lot of dreams before we are born. Now that has some reality to it.
Those numbers to call if you have a gambling problem are phonies. I once called asking if I should split eights and they hung up on me.
I never thought I'd see sports gambling advertised on sporting events. Even more astonishing are the "live reads" during the pregame show where -- I still find it hard to fathom -- the game's studio host recommends certain parlay bets on that specific game as "safe."
How is this legal?
And is anybody surprised that athletes and team employees are now getting caught gambling on their games?
Professional gamblers stay away from parlays.
I don't know if reincarnation happens or not, just as I don't know if any of the other theories about life after death are true. There's evidence to suggest that they are, and much of it seems convincing, but no one can actually know. What I don't get is why some folks are so certain that they CAN'T be true. That seems like saying, "I don't understand how this works, or what the explanation is, therefore it can't possibly be true". That kind of certainty seems like arrogance to me. It wasn't that long ago that humans didn't understand what a virus was and how diseases were sometimes transmitted.
Proving a negative is virtually impossible in cases like reincarnation/afterlife/etc, but it doesn’t mean that it makes the hypothesis even remotely likely. Could anyone then make up a theory that you have to at least partially consider plausible?
'What do you think of the possibility of reincarnation...'
Hey, I'll try anything once.
Not according to Buddhist doctrine. At least not until you hit Nirvana. Or at least Kurt Cobain.
That reminds me. I need to have my chakras rotated.
Online gambling is really one giant psychop. It's clearly aimed at addiction, much like the tobacco industry's manipulation of the nicotine level in cigarettes and just as hypocritical, with its mouthings about personal responsibility and faux concern for public health. Big Food is now what Big Tobacco once was. Big Bet is already well on its way to adding to the list of national addictions, and especially for the most vulnerable ? One insidious way it's done is to turn a loss into a perceived win, e.g. setting off celebratory effects, say when a $100 bet returns $25. Research tells us our sympathetic nervous system (our “fight-or-flight” response apparatus) responds to losses celebrated as wins the same way it responds to actual wins. The street corner shell game or three-card monte con done up in modern dress and moved to cyberspace.
I read Old Souls many years ago and thought it was fascinating. In fact, I think I remember it being discussed in one of the chats and it ended up on my TBR list. I'm glad I did. Tom did an excellent job on the book.
Regarding Gibson's article, I don't believe that our current existence is the only one we have ever known, or will know. The universe does not like to create "one-offs." If there can be one star, there can be trillions. If there can be one species of insects, there can be trillions. What about the infants who die? Is their few hours of existence the only existence they will ever know?
Also, I believe that in Gene's previous life, he was a proctologist, and his obsession with poop jokes is his subconscious way to reconnect with his previous self.
Enquiring minds want to know. What would Gene Weingarten come back as, if he had a choice ?
Scarlett Johansson's tennis coach, perhaps.
Thinking more along the lines of the danseur noble of one of the prestigious ballet companies. Or Rasputin.
If one would examine some of the Indian cultures of the Far East, they would encounter many stories involving re-incarnation. Interesting stuff. To them, on a par with stories of the Virgin Mary appearing to Catholic humans.
Reincarnation? It's a maybe, at best. And, if it exists, is it date/time specific? That is, could the deceased come back as someone, born during the life time of their former self? And, if he/she met their former self, what then? Would they recognize him/her? And if they did, what then? The possibilities are endless, and scary. What say you?
I am married > 40 years, kids, grandkids, successful career. 30 years ago encountered academic 20yrs older than me, only met face to face once so new each other via e-mail. He was married, kids and grandkids. We "finished" each other's e-mails and had sense we were siblings in a past life. No, I don't believe in re-incarnation, but some days I wonder.
What has to rank near the top of cynical hypocrisy is how customer service seems to be handled by an increasing number of companies these days --- the goal being to provide you with none. This is perhaps best exemplified by the Escher loop-like phone trees, and especially those using obviously first-gen voice recognition. Next, but a very close second, would be locating customer service call centers in areas of the world where not only limited English is spoken, but there are only about 10 people that speak the native tongue. On top of which, whatever the language is at the other end when you manage to connect, it is routed through some sort of infernal system that adds noise to the line instead of removing it. Apparently the usually earnest, if unintelligible, customer service agents earn bonuses based on how many callers finally hang up in frustration.
Well, The Weekly World News had a headline years ago, “Life After Death Guaranteed! Experts Prove That Everyone Will Be Reincarnated.” If that’s not definitive, I don’t know what is.
Of course I believe in reincarnation. I remember waiting to be born. But I expect he details will surprise most if not all. We live in a "picture" and what is outside the frame may shock us.
Not sure I follow, Gary. How does remembering waiting to be born suggest reincarnation?
A good question and I am not sure that it does, but it moved me closer to the idea that I did have something going on before I was born. But not any memories I can point to and say I was another person. I came away with the notion that all previous memories were erased at birth. But a second idea was that I "encoded my memories into a visual memory." But now that is meaningless to me. Say what? Perhaps our brains give us a lot of dreams before we are born. Now that has some reality to it.