Reflections From a Murky Pond

This is a great spring and summer salad that can also be used as relish with summer meat and fish dishes.

Fresh Corn Salad (Serves 4 - 6)

Ingredients

6 - 8 ears of sweet corn
4 - 6 mild to medium chilies (Anaheim, red, orange or yellow bells, banana peppers, etc…)
1 bunch of scallions
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 small basket of grape or cherry tomatoes
Fresh herbs to taste (sage, oregano, cilantro, dill, thyme, etc…)

Directions

Shuck the corn and cut the kernels from the cob
In a large bowl (glass, ceramic or stainless steel preferred) combine all the ingredients except the tomatoes.
Allow salad to sit for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.
Adjust seasoning to taste
Serve sprinkled with the tomatoes

Variations & Additions

Add crumbled feta cheese and sliced roasted beets

Add grated sharp cheddar and diced Granny Smith green apples

Add 1/2 cup diced jicama and substitute diced tomatillo (husk tomato) for half the grape or cherry tomatoes

Substitute rice wine vinegar for cider vinegar. Add 1/2 cup grated daikon (Japanese giant white radish) and 2 tablespoons ponzu (Japanese citrus sauce)

Dice and drain the tomatoes and fold them into the salad. Use as relish or condiment for summer dishes.

This salad goes very well with seafood dishes - especially shrimp, octopus and scallops - and with cold meat salads such as chicken salad, ham salad or tuna salad. As a relish it adds a nice component to fish tacos, quesadillas and - believe it or not - hot dogs.

I hope you enjoy!

In truth we are all delusional. Our God(s) are made in the image of Man.

From Wikipedia:

The God Delusion is a 2006 book by British biologist Richard Dawkins, holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford.

In The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that belief in a god qualifies as a delusion, which he defines as a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence. He is sympathetic to Robert Pirsig’s observation in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance that “when one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion.”

Now I don’t subscribe to Dawkins’ philosophy. None of his evidence addresses the root cause of Life. It only provides a basis for a scientifically understandable methodology for the progression of life. A lack of evidence is not reason for dismissal, only flatly contradictory evidence would be so.

I will say though that all of our Gods are delusions. They are solely the constructs of Man.

Now please don’t get me wrong, I do not deny the existence of a god-head. I deny Man’s understanding of it. I believe that Man cannot - not in any meaningful way - understand the divine. We see the God(s) through the lenses of our own inadequacy.

All of our holy books and oral histories have been passed down through so many translations and edits that they no longer carry the unabridged Word. Worse, all of these strictures have been interpreted and reinterpreted in the light of Man’s understanding and conceit.

There are 6 billion of us, each with our God(s) created in our minds to help us strive towards understanding some fraction of the God(s)’ true nature and mind. I find this a delusion that is worth perpetuating.

I have my faith, but I accept that I know only the most infinitesimal fraction of the nature of my Gods. I know only what they chose to reveal and that only through the lens of my own imperfect understanding.

The Truth will not set you free. Truth is a tyrant that will enslave you and cast you into a bondage more absolute than any falsehood or ignorance could.

– jonolan

The old adage, “the Truth will set you free” is sadly wrong. No freedom is bestowed by knowledge of the Truth. Knowledge of any Truth removes the possibility of error or judgment, and thereby eliminates one’s freedom.

The enslavement by falsehood or ignorance can be replaced by another falsehood or error that provides for more freedom than the original lie or error did. However, no such alternative exists for the Truth. That is an absolute and does not brook dissembling or evasion.

While the truth is unknown one has the freedom to take various actions, many of which will be based on false premises. These opportunities represent a freedom that falsehood or ignorance provides. A person, innocent of Truth, can do many things; one’s choices may well be near boundless.

Once one knows a truth one can no longer dissemble or evade the consequences of that knowledge. It is a thing that is. The choices one has are now chained by that Truth. To act differently is to act in willful error.