ahhh doggone it.... spilled my coffee all over the floorboard of my car this morning... swerving off to the shoulder of the road trying to miss two raccoons crossing the road.
well i missed them at least. my wide-based coffee, sitting in on the floor, tipped over and i didn't realize it till i got all the way to work. 2 coons crossing and i suddenly come upon them... hitting the brakes at the same time and pulling over into the gravel shoulder of the road the first one decided not to continue and turned back. ironically i didn't spill my other cup of coffee i was holding in my hand... building up speed i drove off thinking, "wow... that was a good job. calm. smooth. still got my coffee."
i immediately started worrying about the raccoons and the next car or cars coming down the road.
American Kitchen: Dead Animal Survey
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
The Resurrection and the Postmodern Dilemma by N.T. Wright
I thought this was a great description of the present cultural and intellectual crossroads we find ourselves in today. Throw Christianity into the mix and you've got a real good story.
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The Resurrection and the Postmodern Dilemma by N.T. Wright: "Postmodernism. To oversimplify, this has focused on three areas."
First, knowledge and truth. Where modernism thought it could know things objectively about the world, postmodernism has reminded us that there is no such thing as neutral knowledge. Everybody has a point of view, and that point of view distorts. Everybody describes things the way that suits them. There is no such thing as objective truth. Likewise, there are no such things as objective values, only preferences. I heard somebody say at a meeting in 1996, “Today, attitudes are more important than facts—and we can document that!” That statement trembles on the brink between modernity and postmodernity. The cultural symbols that encapsulate this revolution are the personal stereo and the virtual-reality screen; everyone creates their own private world.
Second, the self. Modernity vaunted the great lonely individual, the all-powerful “I,” symbolised perfectly in Descartes’s cogito ergo sum and in the proud claim, “I am the master of my fate. . . the captain of my soul.”1 But postmodernity has deconstructed the self, the “I.” The “I” now may be just a floating signifier, a temporary and accidental meeting place of conflicting forces and impulses. Just as reality collapses inward upon the knower, the knower deconstructs itself.
Third, the story. Modernity implied a narrative about the way the world was. It was essentially an eschatological story. World history had been steadily moving toward, or at least eagerly awaiting, the point at which the industrial revolution and the philosophical enlightenment would burst upon the world bringing a new era of blessing for all. This huge overarching story—such overarching stories are known in this postmodernist world as metanarratives—now has been conclusively shown to be an oppressive, imperialist, and self-serving construct. It has brought untold misery to millions in the industrialized West, and to billions in the rest of the world, where cheap labor and raw materials have been ruthlessly exploited. It is a story that serves the interest of Western industrial capitalism. Modernity stands condemned of building a new tower of Babel. Postmodernity has gone on to claim, primarily with this great metanarrative as the example, that all metanarratives are suspect. They are all power games.
Collapsing reality, deconstructing selfhood, and the death of the metanarrative—these are the keys to understanding postmodernity. It is a ruthless application of the hermeneutic of suspicion to everything that the post-Enlightenment Western world has held dear. It corresponds exactly with the microchip revolution, which has generated and sustained a world m which creating new apparent realities, living in one’s own private world, and telling one’s own story, even though it does not cohere with anybody rise’s story, becomes easier and easier. This, on one level, is what the Internet is about. We live in a cultural, economic, moral, and even religious smorgasbord. “Pick-n-mix” is the order of the day.
*******************************************
The Resurrection and the Postmodern Dilemma by N.T. Wright: "Postmodernism. To oversimplify, this has focused on three areas."
First, knowledge and truth. Where modernism thought it could know things objectively about the world, postmodernism has reminded us that there is no such thing as neutral knowledge. Everybody has a point of view, and that point of view distorts. Everybody describes things the way that suits them. There is no such thing as objective truth. Likewise, there are no such things as objective values, only preferences. I heard somebody say at a meeting in 1996, “Today, attitudes are more important than facts—and we can document that!” That statement trembles on the brink between modernity and postmodernity. The cultural symbols that encapsulate this revolution are the personal stereo and the virtual-reality screen; everyone creates their own private world.
Second, the self. Modernity vaunted the great lonely individual, the all-powerful “I,” symbolised perfectly in Descartes’s cogito ergo sum and in the proud claim, “I am the master of my fate. . . the captain of my soul.”1 But postmodernity has deconstructed the self, the “I.” The “I” now may be just a floating signifier, a temporary and accidental meeting place of conflicting forces and impulses. Just as reality collapses inward upon the knower, the knower deconstructs itself.
Third, the story. Modernity implied a narrative about the way the world was. It was essentially an eschatological story. World history had been steadily moving toward, or at least eagerly awaiting, the point at which the industrial revolution and the philosophical enlightenment would burst upon the world bringing a new era of blessing for all. This huge overarching story—such overarching stories are known in this postmodernist world as metanarratives—now has been conclusively shown to be an oppressive, imperialist, and self-serving construct. It has brought untold misery to millions in the industrialized West, and to billions in the rest of the world, where cheap labor and raw materials have been ruthlessly exploited. It is a story that serves the interest of Western industrial capitalism. Modernity stands condemned of building a new tower of Babel. Postmodernity has gone on to claim, primarily with this great metanarrative as the example, that all metanarratives are suspect. They are all power games.
Collapsing reality, deconstructing selfhood, and the death of the metanarrative—these are the keys to understanding postmodernity. It is a ruthless application of the hermeneutic of suspicion to everything that the post-Enlightenment Western world has held dear. It corresponds exactly with the microchip revolution, which has generated and sustained a world m which creating new apparent realities, living in one’s own private world, and telling one’s own story, even though it does not cohere with anybody rise’s story, becomes easier and easier. This, on one level, is what the Internet is about. We live in a cultural, economic, moral, and even religious smorgasbord. “Pick-n-mix” is the order of the day.
Monday, October 2, 2006
IN MATTERS OF JUDGEMENT
...wrote a poem on the way to work this morning ...simply dealing with the "definition of Self" conundrum as initiated by Descartes and his mind/body dualism and as answered by John MacMurray and as painfully experienced by every thinking Westerner ever since... it's simple but pure - but heck, i'm not a poet - so there. :)
IN MATTERS OF JUDGEMENT
(breaking out of the knot-thought mess of Descartes)
It's what I do
Not what I say [that matters]
It's what I say
Not what I feel
It's what I feel
Not what I think
(what I think hardly matters)
What I do
Is what I am
And what I am
Is what I do
I do therefore I am
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Steve Irwin - A Saint for the Wildlife
A true hero. A man among men. A champion of earth's wild creatures.Living the life that every boy dreams of.
These are the things of Steve Irwin.
One thousand years into the future, with whatever Christian/Catholic/World-Religion evolves, I hope that Steve Irwin will be designated as a Saint for all mankind. He should be.
I hope they make little statues of him and place them on dashboards and have little shrines to St. Irwin. His image should include a snake around his neck, a crocodile along-side him, and a lizard in one hand and a bird in the other with maybe a monkey or a koala bear on his back. He should be gazing forward with a courageous but loving look and a wide-eyed wonder for all things alive.
I would vote for him for Sainthood if I could. He could replace St. Francis of Assisi.
And whatever creatures we have left running around in whatever minimal wilderness we might have left at that time - we could then pray to and thank our God for the inspiration left behind by Saint Steve Irwin for all the future ages to come.
May wildlife continue for as long as man rules this earth.
God Bless Steve Irwin.
(And may God have mercy on what's left of our wildlife.)
Monday, September 18, 2006
Notes From an Underground Drunk
I'm being channeled
Lesson #1:
[set to music]
THERE ARE MANY SOULS OLDER THAN ME
Rule #2
It don't matter how far it goes out, as long as it comes back
I'd hate to impregnate the third hippy (infiltration, revolution) generation
Thought:
I never had so much fun in 10 years
"No. I [am] stronger than Adam."
One of the major rules of the game is - "If you're not that good - step off to the sidelines."
How can I be so romanticized by the hippie legend?
I'll do that because I'm robotic enough.
I'd rather have something 5 times as good, than 5 things 1 times as good.
The trick is to live like you could not live tomorrow.
Everyone wants to get away from everywhere they're feeling watched.
Which would you rather be?
Samson or Delilah?
- for to me.
I hope that was a good enough excuse - I was drunk!
I can't decide till tomorrow (laugh)
The '70s: We realized it wasn't gonna work - so we just got high. ('it' referring to the 60's revolution)
Lesson #1:
[set to music]
THERE ARE MANY SOULS OLDER THAN ME
Rule #2
It don't matter how far it goes out, as long as it comes back
I'd hate to impregnate the third hippy (infiltration, revolution) generation
Thought:
I never had so much fun in 10 years
"No. I [am] stronger than Adam."
One of the major rules of the game is - "If you're not that good - step off to the sidelines."
How can I be so romanticized by the hippie legend?
I'll do that because I'm robotic enough.
I'd rather have something 5 times as good, than 5 things 1 times as good.
The trick is to live like you could not live tomorrow.
Everyone wants to get away from everywhere they're feeling watched.
Which would you rather be?
Samson or Delilah?
- for to me.
I hope that was a good enough excuse - I was drunk!
I can't decide till tomorrow (laugh)
The '70s: We realized it wasn't gonna work - so we just got high. ('it' referring to the 60's revolution)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Promoting democracy and modernisation in the Middle East is not a solution to jihadist terrorism
Neoconservatism has evolved into something I can no longer support
"Promoting democracy and modernisation in the Middle East is not a solution to jihadist terrorism. "
huh? did i read that right? i thought Bush just said last night on tv that that was the answer?!
who said this?
-one of neo-conservatism's charter members and a scholar most responsible for establishing its post-Reagan policies - Francis Fukuyama.
I have to agree:
"Promoting democracy and modernisation in the Middle East is not a solution to jihadist terrorism. "
huh? did i read that right? i thought Bush just said last night on tv that that was the answer?!
who said this?
-one of neo-conservatism's charter members and a scholar most responsible for establishing its post-Reagan policies - Francis Fukuyama.
I have to agree:
What we need are new ideas for how America is to relate to the world - ideas that retain the neoconservative belief in the universality of human rights, but without its illusions about the efficacy of US power and hegemony to bring these ends about.
HOW TO LOSE THE WAR ON TERROR PART 5: The politics of indignation
HOW TO LOSE THE WAR ON TERROR PART 5: The politics of indignation
There is a growing angst presented in this article that somehow we in the west still aren't "getting it" and thus have this nasty feeling in our gut that though we know the evil the caused the towers to fall on 911 was sheer evil, we do not know still how to fight it.
The assumption has been, that just like the Soviet Union fell because it was a house built upon hollow principles the radical Islamists will also fall from implosion with just a little continued pressure and military might.
What if we are wrong?
There is a growing angst presented in this article that somehow we in the west still aren't "getting it" and thus have this nasty feeling in our gut that though we know the evil the caused the towers to fall on 911 was sheer evil, we do not know still how to fight it.
The assumption has been, that just like the Soviet Union fell because it was a house built upon hollow principles the radical Islamists will also fall from implosion with just a little continued pressure and military might.
What if we are wrong?
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