*If we ever experienced a problem anywhere, it came about, in some degree, due to certain wrong assumptions, either co-present with, or just prior to the given problem's actually taking place.
TENETS
* Unless you believe in God, the One, and or the infinite, every assumption is contingent.
* PROCESS (or if you prefer spirit, or activity) PRECEDES IMAGE. Image may, to some extent, (and sometimes almost perfectly) represent process. But process is always superior to and always more real than image. If process precedes image this might suggest also that mind precedes matter and energy.
* Everything we believe, or say we know, is based on a factual or value judgment. Both kinds of judgment always entail the other to some extent, and nothing can be known or exists for us without them.
* No fact or purported fact is true or false without someone to assert and believe it to be such. If an assertion or claim is deemed true or false then, and we are thorough, we should ask who is it that says so (or has said so), and what criteria are (were) they using? There is no such thing as "faceless" truth or reality -- at least none we are capable of knowing.
* You can't escape reason. If you aren't rational yourself, someone else will be rational for you; nor do their intentions toward you need to be friendly or benevolent.
* Every point of view and opinion has its truth to it -- even the most abhorrent and unacceptable to us. This said, we are naturally inclined to assume that some opinions have much greater truth to them than others. Even so, what little truth there is in any point of view must, at least at some juncture, and certainly with respect to issues of heated controversy, be justly and reasonably respected. Why? Because we would not be honest (and therefore not truthful) if we didn't.
*Ultimately, and when all is said and done, thought without heart is nothing.
* Most, if not all, of society's very worst problems arise from (certain) spirit people and those who listen to them -- whether the former comes in the shape of "God," angel, devil or what have you. It is these people who are most the source and cause of real unhappiness. If then you chance to have contact with such, while having (one assumes) overcome their lures, deceptions, and pretenses of benevolence and higher knowledge, I recommend that this (i.e. "unhappiness" or "unhappiness itself") is what you call them. Blame and curse them for (most) everything wrong; for it is it is they who have been and are the ruin of everyone and everything (that is, if anyone is or could be said to be so.)
The story of that encounter is the basis of the Patrick O'Brien's The Far Side of the World (later made into the film "Master and Commander" [2003]), and which, telling the story from the British viewpoint, has the Essex as a French ship. Porter's own gripping narrative of his otherwise successful voyage that culminated in that defeat (and which account also includes the Phoebe/Cherub action itself) is recounted in his Journal of a Cruise made to the Pacific Ocean by Captain David Porter, in the United States Frigate Essex, in the Years 1812, 1813, and 1814. It was originally slotted as one of my since discontinued "Recommendations of the Week;" for which reason, I thought I would at least use this occasion to make passing note of that "worth reading" book here; that, although history, reads much in many parts not unlike one of Nordoff and Hall's nautical adventure novels.
A Sea Fight to Remember
From Philadelphia and the son of a banker, Captain Nicholas Biddle has been described as one the finest sea captains the fledgling U.S. Navy produced: perhaps matched only by John Paul Jones for both wits and extreme daring. Prior to the Revolutionary War, he actually served in the Royal Navy as a midshipman alongside Horatio Nelson. When troubles began brewing to a heated pitch with the Mother country, however, Biddle resigned his commission, and later went on to officer ships of first the Pennsylvania, and then Continental Navy. (For more of his personal and professional story otherwise, you can find the rest on the net by easy search.) On the moonlit night of March 7, 1778, his 36 gun frigate Randolph (mostly 18 pounders, plus a flotilla of four smaller S.C. Navy ships not engaged) encountered the H.M.S. Yarmouth of 64 guns (mostly 32 and some 42 pounders) east off Barbadoes. Writes James Fenimore Cooper in his History of the Navy of the United States of America (1839) that despite the marked superiority of his British foe: "we find it difficult, under the circumstances, to suppose that this gallant seaman [Biddle] did not actually contemplate carrying his powerful antagonist, most probably by boarding" (pp. 66-67, 1856 ed.)
Captain William Hall of the South Carolina sloop Notre Dame, 16 guns, who was a witness reported that the Randolph beat up on the Yarmouth "so roughly for 12 or 15 minutes [out of some 20 minutes in all after contact] that the British ship must
shortly have struck, having lost her bowsprit and topmasts and being otherwise greatly
shattered, while the Randolph had suffered very little; but in this moment of glory, as the
Randolph was wearing to get on her quarter, she unfortunately blew up."
~ Independent Chronicle, August 13, 1778.
Yet the most full account of what occurred comes from the letter of Captain Nicholas Vincent, of the Yarmouth, to his superior Admiral Young, written on March 17th:
"On the 7th instant at half past five P.M. discovered six sail in the S.W.
quarter, on a wind standing to the northward; two of them ships, three brigs and a schooner. We
were then 50 leagues due east of this island. We immediately bore down upon them and about nine
got close to the weather quarter of the largest and headmost ship. They had no colours hoisted
and as ours were then up, I hailed her to hoist hers or I would fire into her; on which she
hoisted American and immediately gave us her broadside, which we returned, and in about a
quarter of an hour she blew up.
"It was fortunate for us that we were to windward of her; as it
was, our ship was in a manner covered with parts of her. A great piece of a top timber, six
feet long, fell on our poop; another large piece of timber stuck in our fore top-gallant sail,
then upon the cap. An American ensign, rolled up, blown in upon the forecastle, not so much as
singed.
"Immediately on her blowing up, the other four dispersed different ways. We chased a
little while two that stood to the southward and afterwards another that bore away right before
the wind, but they were soon out of sight, our sails being torn all to pieces in a most
surprising manner. We had five men killed and twelve wounded.
"But what I am now going to
mention is something very remarkable. The 12th following, being then in chase of a ship
steering west, we discovered a piece of wreck with four men on it waving; we hauled up to it,
got a boat out, and brought them on board. They proved to be four men who had been in the ship
which blew up and who had nothing to subsist on from that time but by sucking the rain water
that fell on a piece of blanket which they luckily had picked up."
~ London Chronicle, May 26,1778; Almon, vi, 143; Brit. Adm. Rec., Captains' Logs, No. 1091 (log of the Yarmouth); Port Folio, October, 1809.
What must have been the thoughts, one wonders, of the four survivors (out of a 315 man crew) after going through such an event; and which was the greatest loss of life in a single U.S. Navy ship up until Pearl Harbor.
Folly and Madness That's Beyond Belief continued...
First let me say my criticism has nothing to do with Sarah Brightman, and who (of herself) looks and sounds beautiful as usual here; in this Panasonic sponsored song, "Shall Be Done," that was showcased at the recent Vancouver Winter Olympics. No, what is ridiculous is the suggestion, very Spielberg/Harry Potter-esque in tone and outlook, that new ideas and hopes of a new tomorrow will come from the witch of the wood. What does the witch of the wood have to do with world peace, new ideas, or innovation (ala Panasonic?) Nothing, of course, except that many of those in with the very big money these days are witchcraft people; and who would have you believe spirit people offer encouragement and progress; not humanities education, rationality, literacy, or honest science; the investment into which, by the monolithic media giants, is negligible compared to the vast fortunes poured into the promotion and celebration of fantasy, magic, sorcery, and the occult. (In the Middle Ages, you may recollect, they called it the Children's Crusade -- and what a riot the magician ended up having back then too you can just imagine.)
"I have seen
New times have come, to feel in touch
With what is real
The mission's calling each one of us
One blue sky
For us to share
For us to fly
"Ideas for a world to come
Shall be Done, done, done, done
ideas for a world to come
Shall be Done, done, done, done
Done, done, done
"You're a Star
You are the future that travels far
Touch and Bring
Millions of hearts to share and sing
Hopes are high
A new Beginning
For you and I
"And on and on we will go on
Until we master our desire
To make this world
A better place."
The photograph, I made mention of some while back, that Groucho signed and sent to my brother sometime in the early 70's.
Who and or what you think of as only one, two, or three things (as in "they are this" or "they are that") is really over a thousand things, and a good deal more. And if you actually took the trouble to think and do so, you could, say, (reasonably, justly, or scientifically) ascribe or attribute a thousand or more qualities, properties, relations, associations, or characteristics (of varying degrees of inherence, approximation, and nearness) to any given person, animal, or thing (including, among these qualities, this very trait of having a thousand and more aspects which a given person or thing has.) True, not all such qualities would be of equal significance or relevance. But it does go to show you how much more there is to someone than, offhand, you believe or assume you know. (And which awareness is no little benefit as a tool and creative help to artists, poets, and writers.)
"Oracles 2010" -- so far in .pdf format, zipped ~ (last updated 3/11/10) or Online .pdf version. (If using a dial up connection, right click then "Save As...")
"Oracles": 2009 (.pdf, zipped)
or .pdf
"Oracles": 2008 (.pdf, zipped)
or .pdf
"Oracles": 2007 (.pdf, zipped)
or .pdf
"Oracles": 2003-2006 (.pdf, zipped)
or .pdf
Note. Aside from the poems written by myself (i.e. those formally included in Poems by WTS), or material cited or presumably as being from others, there is no copyright on the contents contained in the "Oracles" and they may otherwise and therefore be freely copied, disseminated, or plagiarized as much as anyone cares to do these things.
To Contact me you can write or call:
William Thomas Sherman
1604 NW 70th St.
Seattle, Washington 98117
206-784-1132
wts@gunjones.com
Secondary email addresses:
gunjones1@yahoo.com
gunjones@comcast.net
gunjones@lycos.com
* FaceBook * Scribd
ALL SERIOUS INQUIRIES ARE GUARANTEED A REPLY.
Unless you are sending spam, or a general advertisement, or a private subscription I personally signed onto, you are guaranteed an answer from me at any of the above e-mails.
*
Christ and Truth, second edition (.pdf zipped) ~ last updated 10/4/06 and in .pdf
* Peithology: The Nature and Origin of Belief, fourth edition (.pdf zipped) ~ last updated 9/2/06 and in .pdf
* A New Treatise on Hell, fourth edition (.pdf zipped) ~ last updated 9/10/06 and in .pdf
See also A Spirit People Primer,
Spirit People and Science Discussion Group/List, and, very importantly, my personal "Narrative" (.pdf zipped) ~ last updated: 3 Dec. 2009 and in .pdf -- and most recently "Appeal of 2008, and Re-Introduction to Sherman 'Narrative'"
* Calendar and Record of the Revolutionary War in the South: 1780-1781, SIXTH edition (.pdf, zipped)
~ last updated: 1/29/10 and in .pdf (use right click "Save As..." if you are using a dial up connection.)
* Poems by WTS, Revised Fourth edition (.pdf zipped)~ last updated 2/19/10 and in .pdf
Miscellaneous
"Single-handedly,
Fought both the League of Horror
And the Organization Against Freedom
For over a Decade,
AND beat them -- MANY times!"
This is my recommendation of things and people sundry which others may have missed. For some these will already be well known, but for others less so. It is for these last that the suggestion is proffered.
Since its inception, posting the "recommendation of the week," although much fun along the way, has also become a bit of an inconvenient chore requiring a regular schedule. Meanwhile, but more importantly, since I effectively (aside from the above mentioned exception) receive no feedback on them (or on this website generally), I can't think it warrants the personal investment any longer to keep it going. In addition to lack of feedback, I simply don't have the extra money (I feel) necessary to explore different music, movies, books etc. -- in turn necessary to maintain the span, color, and variety of the selections, taking the list as a whole. Consequently, unless and until I do ever finally get feedback and or "somehow" come
into some funds, the "recommendation of the week" at present (as of August 2009) has been discontinued.
Otherwise and as an expedient, what I intend to do in future in its place is post or mention music, movies, books etc. among my regular "Oracles;" as inspiration moves me or of unusually special interest comes up; something, of course, I already have, to some extent at least, been doing for some time.
Your Choice
* These and more great tunes can be found at
The Contemplator *
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Well, I would be certainly if I wasn't being black-balled, blacklisted, and my communications routinely tampered with. This is pitiful I know, and I have put off doing this literally for years. But now is the time for it to be known that if anyone will send me money I'll take it. And if truth be told, the more money I have the more of a wallop I can put to these Hell people (certainly they don't want me having any, and have and will gyp and short change me just about whenever they can.) So please consider giving to this website if you can at all possibly afford it. Proceeds also go to assist the Institute for Ben Turpin Studies. So far I have sold only one book at my "Bookshop;" so it is not at all impossible that even if you try what you might send won't be allowed to get through to me. If this happens -- oh well, thanks anyway! (Also, by the way, if you try to send money, whether by Pay Pal or otherwise, and for some reason I don't receive it or am prevented from doing so please report this to Social Security; because interference of my receiving such or other funds or donations goes clearly against Social Security's understandable wish that I no longer be a dependent on them if possible.)
Also, my e-mail for sending donations through Pay Pal is: wts@gunjones.com
* Monies received as of the present and latest date for either this website and or the Turpin Institute: $25.00
gunjones.com is an angelfire.com hosted website
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* List of previous Weekly Recommendations *
"Thank yoou, Mr. Feelix!"
IN CASE OF occult or divine EMERGENCIES (and best used in conjunction with the universal li principle):
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THIS GUN FOR HIRE
* E-mails received making comment on this website and or its contents (as of July 2009): 5
of freely speaking, writing, or publishing their
sentiments, but forthwith lost their liberty in
general and became slaves."
~ John Peter Zenger (1697-1746)
