Sunday Morning Reading Material (Fourth Sunday in November.)
It’s Sunday. Sundays are for saying “fuck it, I’m getting a donut.” And then have two old fashioned chocolate donuts washed down with Funranium’s Finest “Black Blood of the Earth” super coffee. And if that doesn’t get your heart started, then lounging around in bed texting with a lovely lady will do the trick. Yes, I did just conflate the physical heart with the metaphorical one. Anyway. Sundays are for listening to the 1776 soundtrack because you are– and forever shall– be Team Adams.
This week, we Americans celebrated a crushing victory in the war against slavery by holding our annual “Thanksgiving” feast. By eating an enormous quantity of food, we remind ourselves of when our ancestors were slaves in Alabama, and had no food. This is similar to why Jews lounge on Passover. Also this week, North Korea decided to get crazy with South Korea. So the whole world waits with baited breath to find out if Kim Jong-il is really crazy enough to start a nuclear war. “Crazy” in this context is a technical term in International Relations.
Before I get started, I’m told that “evidence of a mind at work” is a standard by by which one can defend one’s self from legal malpractice. It would be a fantastic name for a legal blog.
Rob Zachny talks about being self employed and exhausted. He touches on the paradox of being fried by being paid to play games– something that most people would and do pay for the privilege of doing. The difference, I think is that when you’re being paid, there is a whole different pressure.
Sunday morning preacher talk. I am a pagan solitary practitioner (“Sol Prac”, in the parlance). Among other things, this means I have no circle (technical term for a group of pagans), and no figures of moral authority. Atheists must have this problem in even larger measure. Anyway, the linked story is about a priest who realized that he was an Atheist after he had assumed the cloth. Worst, his congregation and community seem to be rather hostile to the notion of atheism. And yet… he can offer them moral guidance. It’s an interesting dance.
I do have some religious training. Not a whole lot, but a fairly solid grounding in Christian theology, and a framework for understanding other religions. So I am utterly bemused by this attempt to re-write the founding mythos if Christianity in the mold of a 20th/21st century Science Fiction show. It’s terrible theology, but a compelling lens through which to examine both Christianity and Doctor Who.
Speaking of British Sci-fi: What does it mean that Ron Weasley isn’t black? There are more than a few dark-skinned Brits. If you’re interested in the role fiction plays in shaping our perceptions of the world around us, do read that.
Slactivist– and by now you should be reading Slactivist every day– talks about the difference between the creation story and the resurrection account. He doesn’t mention Orwell’s “politics and the English language”, but it would almost be superfluous.
That Orwell essay is about how word choice can inject or deny certain memes into the political discourse. I’ve done a bit of writing about memes this week. One of the more destructive memes in American Society is that we’ve got “the world’s best healthcare”. This is false.
A bunch of TSA agents get all whiny about how they’re ‘just doing their jobs’. You know who else was just doing their jobs? Godwin. Also: the Italian Fascist Party. The fault, of course, always rests with the citizenry who demand ever-higher levels of “security” from internal and external threats. If you don’t like what the TSA is doing, call your congressperson. In the mean time, keep harassing TSA members: the more of them who quit in disgust the more likely we are to see a change in policy.
I’ve been incorrectly using the word anticipate. I shall endeavor to correct this.
More words: The GOP vows to stop honoring kids, retirees, athletes, others. They claim that it takes up too much floor time. If they can’t get unanimous consent on a calender Wednesday for a resolution honoring the Mission San Jose High School Marching Band’s invitation to perform for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, they’re doing it wrong. And these things aren’t too expensive– the one I wrote (Diamond Jubilee) took about 20 minutes. The only thing that will be accomplished is that people who would otherwise feel a bit more special will no longer have that opportunity. Denying opportunity– that sounds like the Republican Party.
The lighter side of words: Reptiles may no longer exist. The critters are still around, but the word may soon be extinct.
I’ve loved George Orwell since before his grandchild taught me Intro to Political Science. And I’ve mentioned him a couple times in this roundup. So…read his wartime diary.
What role do and should physical works hold in a digital age? Troy Goodfellow ponders. I love my Kindle, I do! But I also love the musty smell of books.
I’ve sort of run out of interesting ways to introduce Troy’s “National Character” series. You’re either interested or not, at this point. Obviously I think you ought to be interested. So here’s Babylon. It’s a sort of ancient Manitoba.
But Brahe was far from a dry scholar. In 1566 at the age of 20, he lost part of his nose in a duel with another Danish nobleman named Manderup Parsbjerg. The duel is said to have started over a disagreement about a mathematical formula. Because 16th century Denmark didn’t have resources like the internet to figure out who was right, the only solution was to try to kill each other. For the rest of his life, Brahe wore a prosthetic nose. His fake nose was likely made of copper, although he probably also had gold and silver noses around for special occasions. If that doesn’t make you want to read the whole thing, there’s something deeply wrong with you.
Cut the crap, Hamlet Ami’s biological clock is ticking…
Seeing this, I kinda want babies too
I discovered a new music blog this week. Every day Grass houses puts up a new song for your entertainment. Some is good, some is less than good. But its a daily dose of new music.
Cats with laser beams. Because San Francisco is awesome.
Thanksgiving, Revolutionary War… all the same, right? I will go to any lengths to jamb a theme into this post! The revolution, tweeted.
The meaning of thanksgiving In Cartoon form.
There is no such thing as sexism. No sir. Certainly not at the Thanksgiving day Parade. This blindness to women’s presence is exactly what we mean by “institutional sexism”.
If you miss thanksgiving with family… they will never let you forget it
Sometimes you can’t be with family, because you’re in Bangladesh. And you don’t even realize how much you’re missing home until there’s a bunch of people around you who look like you…
Bike riders? Bunch of assholes. Mass Effect claims that it exists to challenge car culture’s assumptions of car-centric spaces. Which totally explains why they’ll keep plowing through pedestrians when there’s nary a car in sight.
This video is incredibly funny. But not 100% worksafe. It is 100% Mom safe, though. ThanksKilling Full Trailer
This week’s theme? Words and their discontents. What’s your favorite word? Leave a comment below!
Nick Cage doesn’t need words:
