Miscellaneous Musings on Cigars, Gambling, and Alcohol:
As it was today day eighteen years ago that this site was launched, I will delve a bit more into personal stuff about myself of the sort that has not been posted to this site in many years. The following was taken from some of what I posted in social media sources in the past couple of months. Without further ado...

Unless I am at a place like a cigar lounge, I always smoke cigars outside. Its one of my rules if you will. I have rules for a lot of things I do -to give three examples, playing blackjack, drinking beer, and smoking cigars.

With blackjack, I always went north to Tulalip or south to Emerald Queen near Puyallup and played at the Indian casinos and never played at any card house in town. Its not that I did not win, I did good for myself most of the time. But the travel made it an event. (I also refuse to play unless there is a human dealer; ergo, I have not played at the NY casinos in my time out here.) While far from my only rules, there are a few of the strictures I put in place for playing blackjack.

With alcohol, I have specific kinds of beer and wine I will drink (particularly beer) and if a place I go to does not have what I want, I drink water. Mixed drinks are for special occasions only, heck right now even alcohol is as I have weight to lose and until I again hit an acceptable place there, even occasional beer is off limits.

Likewise, with me cigars are an event. I even stopped smoking them in my cars back in 2012 -one of the few non-outside refuges I once allowed myself: not its only outside or places like a cigar lounge. That means it requires scheduling, etc and its far from a random thing.

I have structures I put in place for these things for various reasons let us just say.

Briefly on the Biblical Canon:

This exchange took place in social media yesterday. My words will be in regular font. Without further ado...

Catholism was founded on a political movement and has nothing to do with being a born again believer. Jesus said a man must be born again to enter heaven.  That has nothing to with good works or praying through Mary for Jesus to hear prayers.  That's why a nun can stand there. She would not know Jesus if he personally knocked on her door tonight.

...

no that's Catholic tradition and not Christian history. Peter was a Jew and the first believers were all Jews.  Paul, a Jew, preached to the pegans which caused a rift between Paul and Peter.  The first believers were still practicing Judaism but later changed under Paul's guidance and The Holy Spirit's conviction.  The Catholic faith was established later and attached to a political movement. 

Every Christian that professes Christ but does not live by the bible is as guilty as the nuns preaching the bible at a Biden rally

Theology has nothing to do with biblical truth.

The Catholic Church assembled the biblical canon based in no small part on its tradition. Furthermore, the biblical canon was not finally settled until nearly 400 years after the death of Jesus. You are in other words putting your faith in the Catholic Church getting the collection of books in your bible right. On what basis are you sure they got that right when you take issue with them in so many other areas?

Shawn there are books in the Catholic bible evangelicals  reject. I trust the Holy Spirit not a political organization.

That is a purely arbitrary position taken by evangelicals. How do you know if you cannot trust the Catholics on much of anything else --even on which books are in the OT-- that they got the 27 books of the NT right?

With all due respect "I trust the Holy Spirit" is a copout because you have wildly divergent views all claiming Holy Spirit guidance. Either the Holy Spirit is schizophrenic or most of those claiming Holy Spirit guidance are frauds.

Again, the source of the 27 book NT canon is the Catholic Church. Why should they be trusted there if you do not trust them on anything else?

Revisiting A Controversial Anniversary:
(And Reiterating A Recent Ethical Challenge)

I have written more on the subject pertaining to this anniversary in years past than I wish I had in retrospect. Rather than saying anything new at this time, I have decided to repost two threads previously written on this subject. One is a retrospective commemoration published three years ago.{1} The other is one that begin taking explicit shape{2} in my mind when the aforementioned commemoration material was being drafted.{3} See the footnotes below for details.

This is all I plan to say on the subject for the foreseeable future except I will expect anyone I see publicly{4} bloviating on these subjects during the season for it to take up the proposed ethical challenge I recently published{5} or quite frankly to shut the hell up about it. No more needs to be said on these matters at this time than that; ergo, that is all I will say.

Notes:

{1} Commemorating A Controversial Anniversary (circa August 17, 2017) 

{2} I say explicit shape because I had long had in mind at least implicitly addressing the subject in this sort of fashion if ever I was to involve myself in it again.

{3} On the 1945 Atomic Bomb Controversy and A Proposed Ethical Challenge (circa August 9, 2020) 

{4} Particularly various and sundry pundits, agenda provocateurs, and apologists.

{5} See footnote three.

Pope: Mary's Assumption huge step forward for humanity