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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

These last couple of weeks my energy level has gotten better and I'm starting to feel more like myself. Still I get worn out quickly and I've found that the best thing to do is stick close to home. So I've been watching a lot of TV (food network and baaaad reality Housewives TV) and I've also been watching movies - on cable and from the video store. Lots of movies. Many I'm watching again for the umpteenth time.

A few days ago I watched the movie Bobby again. I didn't really think much of it the first time, but this is like the 4th time I've seen it and for some reason this time it affected me differently. This could be because it's the first time I've watched it since the election in November so I'm looking at it through that filter. Could be that I watched it shortly after watching Frost/Nixon so that adds to the experience. Could be that I'm having an emotional reaction post surgery - everyone keeps saying that I should be expecting a big emotional reaction, but so far nada.

In any case after watching Bobby this time I have been thinking a lot about how lucky I was to grow up in that era. How blessed I am to be able to remember the hope that was represented in these two men: Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. They wer progressive at time when they could really create change. Martin Luther King was radical in the most intelligent way possible - and because he was grounded in the absolute truth of his convictions he was incredibly powerful. Bobby Kennedy was pragmatic in a way that was necessary for someone who was looking at leading this nation at that time. The Vietnam war was escalating. There were race riots in New York, DC and Chicago, and a real sense of divisiveness throughout the entire country.

Basically it was a lot like it is today.

Had Martin Luther King not been killed he could have galvanized people to create a peaceful and prosperous future for themselves and their children. Had Bobby Kennedy not been killed he probably would've won the presidency and I cannot stop thinking about where this country would be today if that had happened.

I can't stop thinking about where we would be today had those men lived to lead us.

Would we be in a better place? I'd like to think so, but I really have no idea. I can't stop thinking about how Barak Obama finds himself in much the same position that Bobby Kennedy would have been in had he lived and won in 1968 (although the mess seems much MUCH bigger today). Truly I don't see anyone in our current landscape who can fill MLK's shoes. Peace through non-violence seems to be an idealized utopitan fantasy whose time came and went - whose messenger was shot and killed by hate and racism (or, for the paranoid, by a US government that wasn't havin' it).

Still my faith in this country, in the people who live here and in this man who inspires so many to have hope, much like Bobby did, like Martin did, remains strong. I've been alive long enough to know that even though you're sitting in a long line that wraps around the block on the day when your even number license plate gets to buy gas, it will get better. Even when you have no job and you don't know where you're going to sleep next week - you will be okay. We've been thruough a lot of rough times in this country and we have always risen above, survived and thrived and we will continue to do so.

As long as we keep the faith and do not succumb to cynicism - which is tough to do when you watch too much realityTV, or the nightly news.

But that's what the "off" button is for.

1 comment:

Undercover Black Man said...

Comments activated! Yay! Elizabeth hooked you up?


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Peace Quotes

If we are to invoke the moral imagination, we must incite and excite the artist within us

Friday, November 6th, 2009
mathematical curves

If the moral imagination lies within us as a dormant seed of potential, and this seed holds the key to breaking cycles of destructive conflict, then our challenge is how to invoke the growth of this kind of imagination as an integral part of developing innovative professionals. Much of…

[Read more]

I am the grass; I cover all.

Sunday, June 7th, 2009
grassy hillside

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo,
Shovel them under and let me work–
I am the grass; I cover all.

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Human nature is essentially compassionate, gentle

Friday, April 3rd, 2009
peaceful lake

“If our essential nature is kind and compassionate,” I asked, “I’m just wondering how you account for all the conflicts and aggressive behaviors that are all around us.”

The Dalia Lama nodded thoughtfully for a moment before replying, “Of course we can’t ignore the fact that conflicts and…”

[Read more]

Peace is not stillness… it is a sense of trust in one’s place in relation to gravity.

Saturday, December 13th, 2008
Peace rainbow

Later on I sat and grinned at my 49 year old ankles, almost crooning at them about their lucky existence in my lucky little world. I didn’t have any more or less than I’d had a few hours earlier, but I did see what I have in a brighter light.

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Hope is the wild ride between peace and fear.

Monday, December 8th, 2008
hope is the wild ride between peace and fear

I paused, enjoying the sound of children’s laughter floating through the trees, and these words came to me: hope is the wild ride between peace and fear.

The sensation was as if an angel had laid a hand on my heart.

[Read more]

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Getting To Know . . .

The chief moving force behind QWL SPACE Ginton has been practicing massage therapy (MT) since 1979. Right from the start, she was affiliated with prominent physicians in related disciplines, such as chiropractor Dr Alan Pressman and podiatrists Dr Louis Galli and Dr Josef Geldwert. From actor Dustin Hoffman to tennis great John McEnroe, writer Norman Mailer, Olympic runner Grete Waitz, Olympic ice-dancer Judy Blumberg, Triathlete Allison Roe, lyric soprano Tomoko Shibata and a good number of medical doctors, Ginton is known internationally as an expert on the bodymind needs of high performance individuals. Trained in many MT techniques, Ginton views herself as client-centered and eclectic but basically traditional in her approach. She believes that MT-the earliest, latest and safest healing art-is THE link between Western and Eastern health technologies. Always promoting this philosophy, she early on developed her private practice into what was then the first MT group-practice. Her orientation and method of practice is known as Gintuina™.

In 1980, with the late NYC Marathon maestro Fred Lebow's blessings, Ginton-then president of the NYS chapter of American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA)-organized 50 licensed massage therapists, who voluteered their services at the world's largest Marathon, thus starting an MT tradition, now on-going in many major sports events including the Olympic Games. That year she started a communication trend by publishing and editing AMTA's first state newsletter. And she is the recipient of an AMTA meritorious state award. As a way of directing fellow MTs to useful informational resources, between 1992 -1996, Ginton worked as Book Review Editor for Massage Therapy Journal. An avid computer user and, arguably, the lowest-tech member of WebGrrls Multimedia Club, she has nevertheless been an active participant in online health forums, and she hopes to inspire her colleagues--especially women, who make about 80% of the MT profession--to do the same.

Ginton has written many articles on MT and has given numerous print, radio, TV and New Media interviews on the subject. Her work has been described in several books, including MARTY LIQUORI'S HOME GYM WORKOUT, by Mary Liquori and Gerald Secor Couzens WORLD CLASS,by Grete Waitz and Gloria Averbuch and the more recent BODYWORK, by Thomas Claire.

With tremendous growth in the demand for all Bodymind work (professional Bodymind Healthwork, client-centered MT, but also the commercial, cosmetic/assembly-line massage variety), Ginton conducted a survey for QWL Services which demonstrated that the public is not aware of the difference between professional and commercial practices. In 1992 she has founded ASSOCIATED MTs™ as the first responsible voice and professional network for present and future Licensed Massage Therapists who are dedicated to providing MT as a serious and reliable healthcare option in professional settings everywhere for prevention, for pain and stress relief, and for rehab.

To accomplish the ASSOCIATED MTs™ goals, Ginton has been the publisher of LicMTs Advocate, its print newsletter and the more recent MT MATTERS!, its popular, global monthly E-Letter and FAQ. She has written and published the MT USER GUIDE (QWL '93), which has been described by author and college professor, Myron Schwartzman, PhD, as "the most concise, complete, and compelling information on massage therapy."

Ginton has an MBA education in Organizational Psychology (Baruch College, NYC) and has taken Continuing Ed courses and intensive seminars in Sportsmedicine (Temple University), Sports Psychology (University of Virginia), and Orthopedic Massage (Hofstra University). Combining her knowledge in the area of Work-Stress Overload and her interest in ergonomic design with her vast work experience, Ginton has designed a userfriendly, efficiency-driven computer keyboard, which she hopes will be discovered by a healthminded hardware company with vision. From time to time, she'll team up with other experts in this field to present on-site Bodymind Health Workshops for corporations and for women's groups. To expand the mind component of her work with high-performance clients, Ginton has trained in clinical hypnotherapy (American Institute of Hypnotherapy), which she offers in combination with MT.

Since childhood, Ginton has been actively involved in various sports and in music. She is a seven-time finisher of the NYC "Mini Marathon," and she has twice performed with her conga-drum and vocal ensemble for the NYC Marathon. To offset her own stress and maintain her own quality of work life, she is a regular recipient of MT herself and periodic chiropractic manipulations. In a profession characterized by a high rate of "drop-in and drop-out/burn-out," Ginton credits her longevity and reputation mainly to limiting her hands-on work load to a reasonable, quality four-hour day.

Recently, "in order to focus on building a professional infrastracture and on re-tooling and putting a new meaning into our ethical promotion engine, here, @ MASSAGE THERAPY WEB CENTRAL, I am now (happily) forced to devote most of my time to content-providing and other web-related chores," she adds. Her client-load has been limited to individuals who understand that professional-level MT works best when done on a regular basis and thus are eager to commit themselves to a series of five to ten MT visits, ideally, scheduled once a week, but not less than monthly. And she is not taking on new clients and patients currently. In Ginton's own words: "To me, MT has always been a noble profession, not an executive perk, a locker-room gimmick or a shopping-mall fad, I consider myself a professional practicing with principles before--but not without--adequate compensation. And now my pressing, yet exciting goal is to connect with even more like-minded consumers, other health professionals, and fellow MTs. Together, we can actually affirm life and . . . give 'em health!"

E-Mail Bruria Ginton

So nice to have you on board
Massage Therapy Web Central
[ Table of Contents | Guestbook ]

Other Attractions @ QWL SPACE:
[ The INTEGRATIVE HEALTHWEB | SMOQUIT Webstop | Global Directory of MTs | HANDSON Bookstore ]
[ MT Organizations | MT Schools | Articles | MT MATTERS! | MT Quick User Guide | MT Woman | MT Cat ]
[ SportsHealth | Web-Presence | Marketplace | Links | Scuttlebutt ]

Made Possible by Quality of Work Life Services,
and the members of ASSOCIATED MTs™ around the globe.
©QWL Services, 1996-97. All rights reserved.


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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Heavy Heart

My heart is so heavy today for such sadness and hardship people have been facing recently.  3 things specifically have been on my heart today.

One, obviously being the tornado victims in Oklahoma.  My hometown was hit by a huge tornado when I was in jr high.  Every time I hear of another devastating storm, my heart hurts.  While my home was not destroyed, I can relate to the emotions that come from a town having to recover from such devastation and loss.

I've also been praying for the Taylor family in Jonesboro.  I went to college with Lynsey but I don't know her personally.  She is battling cancer for the second time.  She and her husband have 4 children.  From what I understand the prognosis is not good.  Not good at all.  I can't even fathom the sadness, fear, and hundreds of other emotions they face on a daily basis.  And ya'll, this family loves Jesus.  The testimony from their story has already been absolutely beautiful.

I'm also just so sad for the family and friends of Sydney Randall.  The 14 year old from our small town went missing a few months ago and her body was found in the river just this weekend.  So much sadness associated with this story, but I pray God will bring closure and healing.

These stories put things in perspective for me.  My Langley is sick and we had a bad experience with a new doctor's office, but my goodness I can hold my baby tonight and that's a blessing I will not take for granted.

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Petrochemical industry to promote industrial valves and Actuators Market

Valve is a fluid delivery system in the control unit, with diversion, closure, regulation, throttle, to prevent backflow, diversion or overflow relief and other functions. Valve as an important control element of the pipeline. Pipeline system to select the most suitable valve is very important, related to the safety of the pipeline, flow loss, cost, etc., must be familiar with the characteristics of the valve and the selection of the valve and the basis for the.
At present, China's valve industry has been able to produce the full range of gate valve, globe valve, check valve, ball valve, butterfly valve, throttle valve, plug valves, diaphragm valves, safety valves, regulating valves, steam traps and special valves in 12 categories; the maximum working pressure is 600MPa, the maximum nominal diameter of 5350mm, the highest the working temperature is 1200 DEG C, the lowest working temperature of -196, it is used to water, steam, oil, natural gas, corrosive media (such as the concentration of sulfuric acid, nitric acid, etc.) combustible materials (such as benzene, ethylene), toxic medium (such as hydrogen sulfide), and radioactive and explosive medium, medium (sodium metal, water loop etc.). Pieces of material bearing bronze valve, cast iron, ductile iron, high silicon cast iron, cast steel, forged steel, low-alloy steel, stainless steel, Hastelloy, Inconel Seoul, Monel alloy, duplex stainless steel, titanium alloy. And be able to support the production of a variety of hydraulic, pneumatic, electric valve drive device. The valve face of so many varieties and complexity of various conditions, to choose the most suitable for installation of piping system valve product, I think (Bret valve), should first understand the characteristics of the valve; second should master the steps and the basis for selection of the valve; the valve should follow the principle of choice.
First, the characteristics of the valve has the use of characteristics and structural characteristics
To determine the use characteristics of the main valve and the use of performance, is using the characteristics of the valve are: valve type (closed valves, regulating valves, safety valves etc.); product type (gate valve, globe valve, butterfly valve, ball valve etc.); valve main parts (valve body, valve cover, valve stem, valve, seal surface) material; valve drive pattern.
It identified the structural characteristics of the structure characteristics of the valve installation, repair, maintenance and other methods, there are structural characteristics: the connection structure of the valve length and overall height, and pipeline (flange connection, threaded connections, clamp connections, threaded connections, welded connections etc.); the sealing surface of the form (insert ring, thread ring, welding, spray welding, valve body); stem structure (rotating rod and the lifting rod).
Two, select the valve step
Clear the valve in the device or device, the use of the valve to determine the working conditions: the application of media, working pressure, working temperature and so on;
Determine the nominal diameter of the valve connection pipe and connection way: flange, thread, welding, etc.;
Determine the way to operate the valve: manual, electric, electromagnetic, pneumatic or hydraulic, electro-hydraulic linkage, etc.;
According to determine the selection of the valve housing and the inner parts of the material working temperature of pipeline transmission medium, working pressure: steel, carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steel, stainless steel, cast iron, malleable cast iron, ductile iron, copper alloy etc.;
Select the type of valve: closed valves, regulating valves, safety valves, etc.;
Determine the type of valve: gate valve, globe valve, ball valve, butterfly valve, throttle valve, safety valve, pressure reducing valve, steam trap, etc.;
Determine the parameters of the valve: for the automatic valve, according to different needs to determine the flow resistance, discharge capacity, back pressure, etc., and then determine the nominal diameter of the pipe and the diameter of the valve seat;
Determine the geometric parameters of the valve: structure length, flange connection form and size, open and close the valve in the direction of the size of the height of the connection of the bolt hole size and quantity, the entire valve size and so on;
The use of existing information: valve product catalog, valve product samples, such as the selection of appropriate valve products.
Three, the choice of the basis of the valve
The use of the valve, the use of operating conditions and control methods;
The nature of the working medium: working pressure, working temperature, corrosion performance, whether it contains solid particles, the medium is toxic, whether it is flammable, explosive medium, medium viscosity, etc.;
Requirements for valve fluid characteristics: flow resistance, discharge capacity, flow characteristics, sealing grade, etc.;
Installation dimensions and dimensions requirements: nominal diameter, and pipe connections and connection size, size or weight restrictions, etc.;
Additional requirements for valve reliability, service life and performance of explosion-proof electrical equipment such as (in the selected parameters should pay attention: if the valve is to be used for control purposes, additional parameters must be determined as follows: the pressure operation method, maximum and minimum flow requirements, the normal flow down, shut down when the pressure drop, the largest valve and the minimum inlet pressure).
Bret suggested that according to the above options and steps of the valve, must also be the internal structure of various types of valves to a detailed understanding of rational and correct selection of the valve, so as to make the right choice of preferred valve.
The final control of the pipe is the valve. Valve opening and closing parts to control the flow of media in the pipeline, the shape of the valve flow channel with a certain flow characteristics, in the selection of the most suitable for the installation of the valve pipe system must take into account this point.


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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

How to End Men's Rape in North America: a Fantasy Top Ten List

This is a work of creative fantasy writing protected by the U.S. First Amendment.

Written by Julian Real, 2008

Consider this a dream, a thought-bubble over my head. It has been in my mind in some form for a long time--ever since I learned that girls and women are raped systematically and systemically by men. And they are raped precisely because they are girls and women. And the rapist often experiences no public or private negative consequence sufficient to stop him from ever doing this again. He is usually neither caught nor sentenced, for example, not that being caught and sentenced to a series of therapy sessions or a few weeks or months or years in prison makes him ethically and politically incapable of repeating this human rights crime. I, alone, am responsible for creating this list. Feminists I know would have a variety of critical responses to this list being implemented in dominant North American society. I know of no single feminist who would fully support it.

1. After clearing the Criminal Justice system of its endemic racism, misogyny, and classism, change or create laws that make any sexual assault by a man of another person or non-human animal a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for the remainder of his life without the possibility of parole. (This will help cut down on repeat offending in society.)

2. Given that contemporary rape laws generally do little to nothing to deter or pause--let alone end--rape, decriminalize and endorse the creation of vigilante groups, who may responsibly patrol any public or private areas for the purpose of apprehending and detaining known serial rapists, incest perpetrators, child molesters, industry pornographers, corporate and non-corporate pimps, serial johns, and sexual traffickers and traders in girls, boys, intersex and trans folks, and women.

3. If documented rape and child molestation is found being visually distributed to or through a network of sighted men not involved in the work of identifying, apprehending, and arresting sex offenders (via home computers, any other internet-receiving devices, or video/digital/still image cameras or webcams), make the arrest and detainment of such men mandatory, with a penalty of having their retinas destroyed, by laser, or other means.

4. Teach boys that rape is not masculine, an entitlement, or a right. Have every social, religious, and legal institution in society reflect and reinforce that teaching. Eliminate from society all practices, customs, and social codes that endorse men possessing or subordinating women. Teach boys that their penises are not weapons for predatorially penetrating girls' and women's bodies. Make in mandatory for every literate man to read Pearl Cleage's book Deals With The Devil, And Other Reasons To Riot, Andrea Dworkin's book Letters From a War Zone, and Andrea Smith's book Conquest.

5. Abolish frat houses and frat boys.

6. Legally and socially support every woman, individually, carrying the means to effectively halt or apprehend any man who sexually harasses her or physically threatens her. (Such as by women arming themselves with stun guns and restraining devices for this purpose.)

7. Specifically to men: effectively interrupt, at every opportunity, the good ol' rapist boys' and men's "brotherhood" that condones the degradation and violation of women. Do this in your families, among your friends, on the streets, at home, and in schools and places of business. Use physical violence if necessary.

8. Decriminalize being a prostitute, and criminalize (make it a felony with a lifetime sentence without the chance of parole or release) for any man to pimp or procure a girl or woman for the purpose of using or abusing her as a prostitute. (See Sweden's law that does this for an example of how it works.)

9. Make it fully legal, and culturally and socially acceptable, for any white man not explicitly invited onto Indigenous/American Indian/First Nations land to be shot on sight by any Indigenous person on their land, if the white man approaches a girl or woman unknown to him, or not welcomed by her. See this, for some information on why this is necessary.

10. With the educational, social, and legal measures identified elsewhere in this list fully in place, make it a criminal offense punishable by life imprisonment without the chance of parole if a man is found to be engaging in, or is truthfully reported as having engaged in a form of sex with a girl or woman that is not meaningfully consensual, such as a man having sex with a very intoxicated woman, a date-rape drugged woman, or a woman who is severely mentally or physically disabled.


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No personal blog crapola.
Just one guy's quest to unlock the mysterious art of storytelling on screen.

Saturday, February 01, 2014

TEDxConejo 2012 - Lindsay Doran - Saving The World vs Kissing The Girl

"Audiences don't care about accomplishments.  What they care about is the moment afterwards when the accomplishment is shared with the person the hero loves."

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Class 158 No. 158829 in Arriva Trains livery passes Marston-on-Dove, Derbyshire on 19th March 2017 while working as the 14:00 Crewe (LNWR site) to Doncaster West Yard.
John Tuffs

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Sunday, March 27, 2016

Neon glitter rainbow

Neon glitter rainbow
-      Using craft glitter from a bookshop in Hungary

This is my second attempt of making a neon glitter rainbow. Last time I made decals on my silicone mat, but that didn’t got very well. This time I tried to make the rainbows directly on my nails.

I applied a layer of H&M’s silver holo polish which is called Prismatic. I did one nail at a time, so once the polish was on, I sprinkled the glitter onto it. I brushed the access glitter away with a nail art brush.

This is the final result, including two layers of topcoat:

I’m holding the tubes of glitter here. This went way better than the first time around, although I know it’s not perfect just yet.

It’s not a secret that I love rainbows, and neon glitter rainbows are seriously cool, don’t you think?

Number of coats: 1 with glitter sprinkled over it
Drying time: Good
Finish: Scattered holo with neon glitter
Overall impression: I know it’s not perfect but I still love it!
Make again: Yes!


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Monday, August 16, 2010

How to Make a Biscornu

Here is a basic tutorial for finishing a biscornu. Making these eight-sided little pincushions is easier than it looks. When you are done you will have an exquisite little treasure - a thing of beauty and a joy to hold. The model I have used in these photographs is called 'Stella by Starlight,' - the free pattern is now available here on my blog! Stella by Starlight Free Pattern.

1. Embroider two squares of equal size with the design of your choice. Then backstitch a square around each - in this example the squares are both 42 stitches by 42 stitches. This will become your whip-stitching edge - so anchor your threads firmly.
2. Cut backing fabric - at least 4 cm or 2 inches larger than the design area.
3. Pin the backing fabric to the embroidery.

4. Sew the backing fabric to your embroidery - place stitches within 1 cm of the whipstitching edge.
5. Trim each side - cut 1 cm outside the whip-stitching edge. Your backing fabric will still be attached.
6. You are now ready to join the two squares. Thread a blunt-ended needle with two strands of floss.

7. Come up at the corner of one square.
8. Pass your needle through the first stitch to the left.
9. Continue to pass your needle through either the first stitch to the left of center, if your sides have an even number of stitches, or the center stitch if your sides have an uneven number of stitches.

10. Bring the two sides together. Fold the excess fabric under and press the two backstitched lines together.
11. Continue to whipstitch to the left, matching one stitch to one stitch.
12. Your whip-stitched edge will start to look like this.

13. When you approach your first corner, prepare to turn.
14. Fold the excess fabric from the new side under.
15. Bring the bottom edge around to meet the new side.

16 and 17. Continue whipstitching.
18. When you come to your second corner, prepare to turn again.

19. Bring the two edges together as before.
20. Continue whip-stitching around the biscornu, turning each corner and matching stitch to stitch until six sides have been formed.
21. When two of the eight sides are left, stop to fill your biscornu.

22. Add batting to the inside of your biscornu.
23. Lavender can be added if desired. (This is my favorite thing to do with biscornu, because they smell wonderful when I pick them up.)
24. Finish with more batting. The biscornu should be firm, but not so tight that you can't create the characteristic dimple when you add your buttons later.

25. Continue whipstitching.
26. Turn your seventh corner, folding the edges into the biscornu.
27. When you come to the last stitch, discreetly knot the threads to finish.

28. Using a sharp needle and strong thread, add buttons or beads to the center of the biscornu. Pull firmly enough to create a dimple where your buttons or beads are placed. Knot it off securely.
29 and 30. You are finished! Isn't your work pretty? If you'd like to see more patterns for biscornu - visit me on Etsy - at

Happy Stitching!


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Sealed with a kiss!

Sealed with a kiss!
Laura & Chris' Wedding at JCRaulston Arboretum

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Sweet Small Wedding for Whitney and Don at Duke Gardens!

Whitney and Don met 3 years ago when Don was in the Navy.  Whitney had traveled with friends to Norfolk VA to go to a family and friends celebration on the aircraft carrier on which Don was stationed. There was an instant attraction between them and they followed up on it and got to know each other. Now that Don is out of the Navy, they want to start the next chapter in their lives, marriage. Don contacted me in February inquiring of my availability on April 14, 2012 and from there we made all the arrangements by email and US Mail for me to officiate their wedding. I met Whitney and Don and their friends for the first time on their beautiful wedding day. They chose the beautiful amphitheater area behind the visitor center at Duke Gardens. This year the gardens around the amphitheater have been transformed into what is called the White Garden with winding paths and a very interesting pergola that has cathedral type curves giving it a feeling of sacredness. It was inside that pergola where they chose to have their ceremony.
All of the flowers in bloom were white.
This is the usual spot where we do large weddings. Notice there are no lily pads in the pond and the water plants in the perimeter of the circular terrace are no longer there.
 So the ceremony began!
 Their friends gathered around.
 Natural cathedral.....
 Don and Whitney really took my words in.
After their vows, they wanted to do a "pinkie swear" a tradition they have created which made their vows unique.
 And now for the rings.......

 And now I pronounce you husband and wife!
Don and Whitney, you are so much fun and your love for each other shines on everyone around you! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your very special day. I wish you all the best life can deliver to you!

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

More than meets the eye

Ok, so, like I said, I’m back in the old school vibe. Part of that lead me back to the excellent essays at Philotomy’s OD&D Musings ( If you’re an old schooler who’s never read these musings, stop reading this and go there now. I’ll be here when you get back. If you have read them before, read the again, they are that good. Reading (more accurately re-reading) made me want to really dig into the LBBs. See, I started really getting into D&D with my best friend at the time. He begged and borrowed the books long enough to hand copy them (the LBBs and Greyhawk). He taught me, was always the DM, and never relinquished his hard-won copies. So, back then I never actually read the rules. Eventually I did buy a white box, but by then I thought I knew it all already, so didn’t read it. Then came AD&D. Long story short, while I’ve read bits and pieces, I’ve not read them cover to cover.
When my old school urge fell on me, I immediately decided to set the Way-Back Machine for 1976 and avail myself of all the Supplements released by that time. Upon reading Philotomy’s excellent advice to read the LBBs with a fresh eye, I decided it was high time I do so. All I can say, is DAMN!
Sure, there are numerous references to Chainmail. But, for a book that weighs in at a svelte 30+ pages, digest sized at that, this is a remarkably complete character book. The most remarkable thing about Men & Magic, though, is its internal consistency. Individual systems and subsystems have been picked apart and criticized piece-meal for years. They’ve been ridiculed, laughed at, and called outdated. And all that was said from the instant Runequest arrived on the scene. The thing is, the systems and subsystems don’t exist in a vacuum. They are all part of a cohesive whole, and when they are left alone to function in that environment, they function unbelievably well.
This post isn’t going to be a guided tour of all the things I never realized were in there. It is an introduction to a series of posts offering guided tours of things I never realized were in D&D from the very beginning. Most of the time those earliest versions are still better than systems and methods designed with 40 years of collective design experience informing them. So far these has been a very rewarding experience, and I hope that by sharing it with you, perhaps you’ll be inspired to reacquaint yourself with the prototype from which all others sprang.

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Wednesday, June 30, 2004

GAME: A Twist on the Mouse Maze

Click on the Start button above. Then...

Use arrow keys to help the mouse get to the cheese. The first round is simple. In second round, the arrow keys are changed. In the third round, the arrow keys change dynamically during the game. A case for consistent interface.

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About Rationally Speaking

Rationally Speaking is a blog maintained by Prof. Massimo Pigliucci, a philosopher at the City University of New York. The blog reflects the Enlightenment figure Marquis de Condorcet's idea of what a public intellectual (yes, we know, that's such a bad word) ought to be: someone who devotes himself to "the tracking down of prejudices in the hiding places where priests, the schools, the government, and all long-established institutions had gathered and protected them." You're welcome. Please notice that the contents of this blog can be reprinted under the standard Creative Commons license.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Chatting with atheists

I just spent five days on a cruise from New York City to Canada, hosting three roundtable discussions on behalf of New York City Atheists, one of the most active groups of its kind in the United States. Each discussion was based on a simple question I posed to the group, limiting my role to providing a short introduction to the question, and then facilitating the ensuing discussion. It worked beautifully, and you can try it at home even if you are not a pro, unlike what they say in car commercials.

The first question was: “What's wrong with the New Atheism?” The term “new atheism” has been used by some mainstream media outlets during the last year or so to label the spate of recent books in open (some would say defiant) defense of atheism: Daniel Dennett's “Breaking the Spell,” Sam Harris' “Letter to a Christian Nation,” Richard Dawkins' “The God Delusion,” and Christopher Hitchens' “God is not Great.” Naturally, a group of atheists could not be expected to see much wrong with a significant output of books defending their philosophical position, but there were in fact doubts expressed by some about whether the specific arguments (e.g., in Dawkins' claim that the “God hypothesis” is scientifically testable) or general tone (especially Harris' and Hitchens') were on target or helpful to the movement in general. More broadly, there doesn't seem to be much radically or qualitatively “new” about the new atheism: while surely the science bearing on debunking specific religious claims (such as those advanced by creationists or supporters of Intelligent Design) is in fact more sophisticated than it was in the time of, say, Voltaire, the basic philosophical and moral reasons for rejecting religion remain the same – and they are as justified as ever.

The second question I posed to the members of New York City Atheists was: “Does science inform your meaning of life?” The philosophically sophisticated among the readers of this blog will immediately smell an objection to the question itself, raised originally by David Hume and known today as the naturalistic fallacy. The idea, Hume said, is that one cannot logically derive an “ought” (i.e., a conclusion about values) from an “is” (i.e., a matter of fact). Yet, in recent decades philosophers themselves (e.g. Quine) have begun to question the rigidity of the fact/value distinction, and one could reasonably argue that knowledge of the world may well influence the way we see ourselves, and therefore the meaning we attach to what we do. Indeed, the classic example – which turned out to be a common experience among the discussants – is the sort of scientific revolution that Copernicus and Galilei brought about: by showing convincingly that, as a matter of fact, the earth is not the center of the universe and that human beings are not the pinnacle of creation, these two scientists have profoundly altered our value systems. As a result of their discoveries, Copernicus and Galilei have helped us to develop a slightly more humble view of ourselves and a better sense of respect for the rest of the biosphere. After all, if science really had no influence on questions of meaning, one would have to wonder what all the fuss is about when creationists get so upset at the mention that the earth is billions, not thousands, of years old.

The final question was: “So, you are an atheist: what happened?” It turned out that my own experience was similar to that of many people present there, in that we have all encountered some well-meaning Christian who assumed beyond doubt and without a shred of evidence (as they are prone to do in a variety of circumstances) that there must have been some major trauma in the life of someone who has decided to abandon God. Besides the obvious observation that we are, in fact, all born atheists and become religious only after a culturally and historically specific process of early indoctrination, there is actual sociological research that illuminates the question. In “Amazing Conversions,” Altemeyer and Hunsberger show that typically it is the transition from non-religious (which doesn't necessarily mean atheist) to born-again that is catalyzed by a traumatic event. Apparently, people's emotions are overrun by the impact of the event and they seek solace in some sort of new belief, no matter how improbable it may be. The transition from believer to atheist, on the other hand, usually takes years, and is characterized by a much more deliberate process of inquiry, often including the reading of a variety of books on science and philosophy.

Needless to say (but I will say it anyway), I am keenly interested in reading the opinions of readers of this blog on any or all of the three questions. Anyone out there?

  1. Anyone out there?

    Sure. Hi!

    Question the first: I don't have a problem with the "new atheism", and in fact I quite enjoyed reading The God Delusion; I haven't yet read the others on that list, though a good friend of mine has read the others (I think) and highly recommends the work of Daniel Dennett and Sam Harris.

    I like Dawkins' argument that the God Hypothesis is scientifically testable, using the statistical form of proof/disproof that is so widely used in modern science. A really small p-value counts as evidence, to me at least.

    Question the second: Unlike lots of other people, I don't spend much time musing on the meaning of (my) life. Shorter-term concerns, on the order of one year or less, occupy my mind far more. So, I'll tentatively say "yes" in that I try to base my day-to-day decisions on practical issues and approach daily questions from a scientific perspective. That may be mostly a result of my on-going training as a scientist.

    Question the third: Nothing happened. Unlike most other atheists I know, I never had a "deconversion" experience, and I have no memory of ever being religious or of highly valuing faith. One of my strongest childhood memories is of being in a church in England (Christian, but I do not recall the denomination - something big and main-stream-ish, probably Anglican), brought there against my wishes as I was staying with a friend and his parents took me along. I can remember during one of the prayers, when everyone except the cleric was silent, thinking about how bored I was and doubting the existence of any God to hear my thoughts, or the prayers of those around me. I would have been about 10 years old at the time.

    So, asking "what happened" is the wrong question in my case. I suspect my condition is relatively rare, though.

    I just spent five days on a cruise from New York City to Canada

    WHERE did you go? I'm quite sure you're aware of the size of the country. Five days from New York on a ship could take one to quite a range of locations in Canada. I'm curious as to where the final stop of this cruise was.

  2. Question One: I don't have a problem with the "new atheism" either. I consider myself more moderate than say Sam Harris or Christopher Hitchens, but they do more than I could ever do to get atheism on the radar screen of public discourse and maybe make more people comfortable with outing themselves as atheists.

    Question Two: Maybe in some ways science informs my outlook on life.

    Question Three: I was raised Catholic and I turned away from it in my early college years because it didn't seem right to me that women or married men couldn't be allowed to be priests. I read more about history and different relgions, and for a while I believed in a god that we could have a direct relatinship with and that all of the religions were wrong because they were divisive and acted as barriers to communing with the divine. But as time went by, it became evident to me that the god I thought I could have a relationship with was simply a creation of my own mind. In other words, I thought, if God exists and is a just and compassionate being, then it must have these qualities. I came to the conclusion later in my college years that there was probably nobody there who cared about us.

    It was very disheartening for me at the time but I got over it and I am doing fine without religion.

  3. Question 3: My deconversion was extremely difficult and painful, and climaxed with me leaving the seminary. In my case it was initiated by trauma, but I wouldn't say that I decided not to believe in God because of that trauma. The event shook me up, and afterwards I felt the need to question my views on everything, including religion. Over the period of about 18 months the questioning eventually led me to discard my belief in God.

  4. I'm not sure what "new" atheism is, but I just read Christopher Hitchens' "God is not Great" and thought it was lovely polemic. It cheered me up immensely. But I'm not living in New York; I'm in a small town in the rural midwest, where as a non-believer I have to be careful of what I say at all times. Locals are sure that if a person lives here, they have a regular "church home", most likely a Baptist one, and are in agreement with the Statement of Faith of that sect. There is an "artsy" sort of bunch in the area, but they are "spiritual seekers" and I'd better not have anything to say about THAT, either. Irrationality is the local core value. Your discussion cruise sounds like something from another planet. Beam me up, please.

    As far as 'science' informing my meaning of life, if you mean rationality, it's a goal for myself. My education was in mathematics and computer science, which has given me an unfortunate tendency to regard consistency and rational behavior as positive attributes. I have learned in my life not to look for it in others. Saves a lot of grief (and pointless argument.)

    What happened: I was raised a Roman Catholic (not in the midwest.) As a teenager, I started going to the iHop when my mother thought I was at Mass. Eating pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream seemed more relevant.

  5. Question three: would it sound too flip to say I joined the library? I was old enough to get my “young moderns” card at age 14, and from there I devoured all the books I could find on astonomy, everything from Patrick Moore to Jeans and Eddington. And of course I got a good dose of intellectual history too- the travails of Galileo, for example. One day while reading The Universe and Dr. Einstein by Lincoln Barnett it simply occurred to me (with what I would call an audible thought) that “Your God is too small”. At that point I became a deist, and have never retreated beyond that point. For most of my life I was content to call myself an agnostic, but I am now reinvestigating the whole question. In between there was a period when I became interested in various forms of religion, and I also at one point joined AA, and embarked on the recommended quest for a “higher power”. But I could never satisfy myself with my own conclusion , because my Unitarian sports model never seemed to be the sort of thing that others were interested in, or were referring to when they spoke of God. At the end of all this (in my 50’s) I decided to reinvestigate and thought I should concentrate on two gray areas: parapsychology and evolution, and these are the areas I am still looking into. I was once very interested in Bergson, and also read quite carefully Darwin Retried by Norman Macbeth, a creationist book which even Gould reluctantly praised. But I now see little point in philosophizing about evolution, just let the scientists do their job. As for ID, Behe’s examples of Irreducible Complexity could be worthwhile objections (I am sure Darwin would have treated them fairly), but the answers that are available seem to be as good as the answers Darwin came up with when he considered the human eye. As for parapsychology, it’s hard to find anything to really sink your teeth into. I am still not sure what to call myself, but perhaps Russell had it right when he said that to the man-in-the-street he would seem an atheist, whereas to other philosophers he would seem an agnostic.

    I had a few things to say about question one as well, but I started arguing with myself, and that seems to be a bad sign, so I’ll save it for another time.

  6. Hi Mass --

    I haven't read any of the New Atheist writings; I'm pretty much head-down in life right now. Having not read Dawkins, I don't know what schemata he provides for testing the god hypothesis, but I have one thought on the issue. Why cannot we detect god's energy? All creative agents emit energy, right?

    As for your second question: science informs my sense of meaning. Knowing that I am a product of evolution causes me to regard the rest of life with respect. Knowing that I live in the galactic sticks gives me a sense of wonder, and place.

    What happened with me was: I lived in Iran in the '70s, where I
    was exposed to religions other than the Southern Baptism in which I was raised. That started the questioning: who's right? And when the revolution happened, I couldn't reconcile a good God with the evil I'd witnessed. After a few years of searching, I assumed responsibility for myself. Traumatic? In part.

  7. 1) I don't have any objections to the writings of the "new" atheists. Yes, the tone of some of their writings may only serve to further alienate some believers, but at the same time may be exactly what others needs. There is room for more than one approach. Also, like you mentioned in the post, I don't much care for the "new" designation, but then again I don't care for the term "bights" either.

    It is encouraging that all these books have been well received in terms of sales and as Hitchen's muses may give reason to be optimistic about a possible change in the "zeitgeist" with respect to non-belief.

    However, I will note that I sometimes worry that the on-line atheist community (especially the new recruits, or those who have not read as much about it) in their exuberance and new found confidence may lose sight of the fact that reason, secularism and individual liberty is more important than atheism. In other words I would rather live in a secular society filled with religion than an atheist society that is not free. Obvious, but worth remembering.

    Atheism is merely the absence of belief, it is not a philosophy to live by or a means of self-identification.

    2) Science informs my perspective of the Universe that I live in and the body/brain that my conscious inhabits. So it helps to lay the constraints for how I see the meaning of my life. In other words, it does not directly inform my life's meaning which also depends heavily on morality and ethical ideas/philosophies, but it helps me to determine when my perceived meaning conflicts with reality.

    3) I was raised Roman Catholic, but there was always an appreciation of science and math in my house. My "de-conversion" started very slowly and without trauma probably in high school and I became more atheist/agnostic over a period years which lasted into my mid '20s. I read lots of books and writings in the years after college (thanks to the Internet) which solidified my non-belief. Although I no longer believed and I considered myself a freethinker and a rational skeptic, I was not very "anti-religion" until 9/11. That, as it did for so many, made me for a time an angry more outspoken atheist.

  8. I bogged down half way through The God Delusion, and have read only snippets of the others. I can sympathize with those who feel that the "New Atheism" is extremist. Its tone is certainly calculated to antagonize. My primary complaint, though, is that none of the big guns seem to take any account of basic human psychology or recognize that logic and science aren't going to convince very many people.

    It's probably the scientific outlook that most informs my life.

    And nothing happened. I wasn't brought up in any religion, and have never found any reason to resort to one.

  9. “So, you are an atheist: what happened?”

    Nothing bad I think, but in the process to be an atheist, to think of death has been the most difficult thing to overcome for me, I use this thinking of death in a possitive manner to do all things that are building my happiness, at the end I hope to see my life and to be very pride of it if ever I was looking for it that always want. This I think is much better that any one "paradise".

  10. khtujOn Q1: I love the New Atheist writings, but I'm naturally pugnacious anyway and relish books that put the boot into arrant nonsense such as theism. (I've read all the books Max mentioned, and have also read AC Grayling's "Against All Gods", Victor Stenger's "God-The Failed Hypothesis", Harris's "The End of Faith", David Milne's "Atheist Universe", Michel Onfrey's "Atheist Manifesto", and a few more besides. All highly recommended.)
    Yes, science informs my life insofar as a knowledge of how the world really is (formed-NOT created, note!-approx. 4.5 billion years ago, not the centre of the universe, or even of the solar system, etc.) affects my decision-making process. How could it not?
    Q3: I get the same diatribe all the time from theists, who think I must have been buggered by a RC priest or something for me to be "anti-god". (Ha!) In fact, I don't think I was ever a believer; certainly, I remember wrestling with the question of first cause (Who created god?) when I was five years old; I hypothesised that there were strings of magic flying around (I imagined them as glittering intangible snakes--a typical child's imagination), and two collided to create god. Then I thought maybe two collided to create a magic man who created god (kind of like Chronos giving birth to Zeus), at which point I realised that there could never be a starting point for all this. I certainly never believed there was a big sky fairy watching me. Christopher Hitchens says that 20% of us are born without the divine impulse, and that religion to us is just so much white noise. He counts himself in that 20%, and so do I.
    Christine: one of the things Hitchens learned on his book tour was that in the Bible Belt, many people mistakenly believe themselves to be the only atheist in town. You may have more like-minded people locally than you know.
    Max, when's the next tour? Can I come?

  11. Damn, our Richmond Reason and Naturalism Association (RRNA) only meets at an Italian restaurant... A great one tough, great food, nicest people, we get a round for the ~20 of us, I wonder what they think of us and our crazy talk there... Prontos is the name, if you're ever down here in VA, pay them a visit. :-)

    “What's wrong with the New Atheism?”

    Nothing. I see the point of those who say it angers and alienates some people, but who cares? I don't think that's bad after all. The people who will be anger are mostly those who would be anyway even if you just mention you're an atheist or something like that. Every "movement" or "cause" needs its high visibility, radical elements to draw some attention and heat. And out of heat eventually comes light. Or fire. :-)

    And as I've said before in RRNA meetings and probably here too the blacks did not get their rights by "being nice", the women didn't improve their standing in society by "being nice", even the gays got much further up society's scale than they used to be, and they did not get there by "being nice" and quiet and reasonable. And so on.

    “Does science inform your meaning of life?”

    So, I am "philosophically sophisticated", then... Not by a long shot. Specially after I read the rest of that part, and I saw that yes, science does inform us to a certain extent on things regarding meaning. But I still think the "naturalistic fallacy" objection applies in many cases.

    “So, you are an atheist: what happened?”

    Again, nothing. Or, maybe, everything. I grew up in a Brazilian Catholic family, in a big city (São Paulo). There, I know nobody who goes to church. That's the style, you know, baptisms, weddings, and that's it. My parents believe in god and all that, but are probably what you'd call "non-practicing" Catholics. But I guess it's all a matter of personality more than information and education alone. Sure, you're much more likely to reject superstition if you do have those things. But so many people DO have those things, even way more than I or other atheists I know do, but they still believe in the big daddy in the sky baloney. I did get access to rationalist and scientific writing from an early age, due to my own interest (my parents are simple people, so to speak, who were never in contact with science, even in school). I asked for Sagan's "Cosmos" book when I was about 8 years old -- I was fascinated by the TV series, which was shown there at that time. And I was crazy about the children stories written by a Brazilian author from early to mid 20th century, Monteiro Lobato. He was kind of a positivist, I think, and valued science and education to great extents. His stories would tell you what was know at the time about how petroleum forms, for example. Or geography. Or math and Portuguese. Or greco-roman mythology (he was big on classical stuff too).

    So basically, like thebrummell and others, I have never really believed, or even cared for a long time. When I finally did care enough to question myself to "what am I?" (late teens, I believe), I just noticed I could not believe those things, they make no sense and that's how the world is.

    Now, speaking for others. In our RRNA meetings we have spoken about this "conversion moment" thing, and I don't recall any traumatic story, really, among the 30 or so stories I might have heard over the years. It was always "never needed/ never made sense/ never believed", or "believed, then slowly changed" because "finally read the Bible/ things don't fit/ don't make sense after all". The only problem that seems to show its ugly head more frequently is that of acceptance by family, friends and/or coworkers AFTER the "conversion" (or should we say "reversion" as the Muslims do, since we're all born atheists?), and the pain it sometimes can cause.

  12. Another thing, to break one awfully long post in two awfully long posts: the testing of the "god hypothesis".

    Well, to me it seems people mix things up here. By what I remember of Dawkins writings, he is mostly talking about testing the claims of religions, and not the existence of god(s). That's an important distinction to me.

    Because if someone is stupid/hardheaded/ whatever enough to say the Universe is ~6000 years old, that only shows... what? That some people are completely out of touch with anything remotely reasonable. If you assume that god can only exist if this loony religion (or some other) is completely true, then yes, by testing religions' claims you are testing the existence of god. But I do not think that needs to be the case at all. It's perfectly possible that god(s) (or aliens in Andromeda) exist but no religion that exists or has ever existed or will ever exist knows anything about such god(s). Then what?

    And any god worth its salt will be SUPERnatural, right? It won't play by our merely-mortal rules, right? It will be able to stay there and not be noticed if it wants too, or make the Universe in such a way that you wouldn't see anything indicative of god's existence even if you tried. How do you test for THAT type of irrational, out-of-the-world thing? The same way you test for the Invisible Pink Unicorn, methinks.

    That's why I say that, strictly speaking, I'm an agnostic atheist...

  13. Regarding the New Atheism. I have not read any of the recent books, however I am familiar with the main jests of their arguments from shorter articles, interview, reviews, etc.. After reading criticism of Harris by Taner Edis over at the Secular Outpost (also see his article in this month's Free Inquiry): and also criticisms by Atheist Ethicist Alonzo Fyfe of Harris, Dawkins, and Hitchens, I have been persuaded that they oversimplify alot of issues.

    Harris may be somewhat correct in his arguments that religious moderates provide cover for religious extremists, in attempting to make religious belief immune from criticism. However, I think some atheists are beggining to paint religious believers with to broad of a brush. We need to see distinctions among their various stripes.

    Second question. First, I think we can put value on the pursuit of knowledge, and derive meaning from that pursuit of knowledge. Which I think is a little different from saying that scientific knowledge somehow dictates some specific trancendant "meaning of life" to us. The latter of course would be wrong. Does that make any sense?

    Finally, I am an atheist, what happened? I was raised in a very strict religious home, Jehovah's Witnesses! As I recall, starting at about 14, I started doubting the beliefs that I was told I had to believe. Certainly part of it was simple teenage rebellion and wanting to get off the "straight and narrow" path and on to a "funner path". But alot of it was intellectual. I simply started to think that none of this stuff could really be true. Somehow I had come across Corliss Lamont's book on humanism, read it, and said "Thats what I am, a humanist".

    The traumatic part were the battles I fought with my parents to be who I wanted to be. I refused to go to church, and they attempted to force me. This came to the point of near violence with my father. I moved out of the house at 16, worked to support myself while I stayed in high school, but barely graduated because of all this.

  14. 1. For me the writings of the New Atheists are very important. I am not from the midwest but am stuck here, and as someone else noted it can be difficult to challenge assumptions of faith. For whatever their particular flaws, the books as a whole are inspiring and a breath of fresh air to those of us really on the "front lines" of this cultural divide. I can tell you that seeing Dawkins at a lecture nearby was like a rock concert for atheists and agnostics. The details of his comments were less important than the "permission" to hang out together for one night and see we were not alone. For me, that aspect of the new atheists is far more important than the details of any of the books. Putting the scarlet A sticker on my car here is not a meaningless or entirely safe act.

    That said, of course all have flaws in some way (what book doesn't). Dawkins is very much guilty of scientism (as you call it in Denying Evolution) and is naive to the point of silliness about philosophical matters. Harris tends to oversimplify, but what preacher of jeremiads does not? Dennet is overly laborious, as is the wont of philosophers. Hitchens is a jerk, but in this book at least he is "our" jerk, and that is itself refreshing in the same way that Franken is a nice antidote to Limbaugh, even if Franken doesn't improve the public discourse. Hitchens is also, of course, by far the best writer of the bunch and a treat to read whenever one agrees with him.

    A naturalistic worldview is important to me in many ways, and in terms of the atheist issue it mostly affects me in terms of laying bare the essential silliness of the "god hypothesis." I also have always enjoyed science despite my status as a Humanities guy, so it probably informs my perspective in ways I have not (yet) bothered to fully identify.

    I was brought up a modernist protestant. It never did much for me, but when I lived in places not dominated by evangelicals I did not much worry about them. My definite, and defiant, stance as an atheist has everything to do with living and teaching in a place dominated by poor education and much religion. In particular, the damage that I see that religion does to the basic level of knowledge and awareness of my students appalls me. I also see an urgency and level of importance in this "culture war" that has forced me to take sides in a more open way than I felt I had to in other places. So - no trauma except the trauma that I see everywhere around me done in the name of god.

  15. Michael Shermer's open letter to the "new" atheists can be found here.

  16. My concern is the "new journalism" which seems to assign a strong Christian to review each or all three of these books.

    Each review seems to be based on an agenda to trash the author and the book, just like a theater review where one sees the play and wonders if the reviewer saw the whole play, these book reviews seem to reek of the possibility that the reviewer did not really read the book with an open objective mind.

    If the papers would assign a Moslem to critique Christian events and atheist writers to critique both then I will ignore the "new journalism"

  17. I think the new atheism is great. I doubt any sort of backlash is going to make religious types dislike atheists more than they already do. On the other hand, I think the books may embolden more atheists to come out, and that can only be a good thing. Also, while Dawkins' book (which I admit I haven't read) seems more like a retread of something like G.H. Smith's "Atheism: The Case Agaist God," Dennet's book is more of a contribution to our understanding of religious belief itself, thus the most valuable of the three, and the least inflammatory. Dawkins' book is a start, as a sort of bulldozer to the rotted hulk of religion, but Dennett's book lays the foundation to build something better in its place.

    I think that Hume was (partly) wrong. I think science can inform moral debates such as the issue of abortion. I find Richard Carrier's argument on the Secular Web very persuasive, i.e. that what we call a personality cannot begin to exist until the cerebral cortex of a fetus begins to develop. Through science, we now know when that happens, and thus can make a more informed decision about when abortions should be allowed. DNA evidence tells us how closely we are related to other animals and should force people to re-think how we treat our distant cousins. Maybe I've missed the point of Hume's argument, but it seems like we OUGHT to treat chimps well, because they ARE related to us.

    Anyway, on to #3. I wasn't really raised religious, and after talking about the subject with my father and grandfather, it seems that a certain freethinking tendency runs in the Talbott bloodline. Anyway, I've always been kind of a science lover, but when I got to high school I thought maybe I should give this religion thing a fair shot. So, I started going to a baptist church w/ some friends from school. Needless to say, after about a year I hadn't been convinced of anything. Then I started reading books on my own, and went from being merely agnostic to confidently atheist.

  18. disposable_americanSeptember 04, 2007 11:00 PM

    First question: IMHO (OK maybe not so humble), there's nothing wrong with the New Atheism except that repulsive term. The only New thing is that books arguing the non-believer's perspective can be successful in the popular non-fiction market. And as far as atheism is concerned I don't know why we need a special term for folks who don't make a distinction between not buying into the god beliefs of the Abrahamic religions (which is what all the current fuss is about) and not buying into all of the other god beliefs in recorded history. As Dawkins would say, Christians, Jews and Muslims are all atheists when it comes to Zeus, Odin or (your god here) - some of us just go one god further.

    I loved The End of Faith, The God Delusion and Stenger's God - The Failed Hypothesis. I haven't read Dennett's stuff yet. Yes, if you're a believer the authors get in your face. So what? Those of us who aren't believers have delusional, batshit religious crap shoved in our face 24x365 as if it were self-evident truth. Our point of view is openly marginalized without a second thought in our so-called pluralistic, secular society. We're so repulsive to mainline society that they would rather elect a gay, Muslim president (note - I make this comparison because of how other folks feel about gays and Muslims, not how I do) than someone who either rejects Bronze Age tribal mythologies as a life philosophy and refuses to put on a public act to cynically pander to those who do.

    So some believers (and even some non-beleivers) may be put off by the tone of Harris and Dawkins. Well cry me a f***ing river. It isn't Dawkins, Harris, Dennett that are saying that religious believers are unfit to hold public office or are not even citizens (ala Bush the elder). It isn't non-believers that are pretentiously inserting their argument into high school graduation ceremonies because no one could possibly object.

    By social convention religionists have been allowed to place a rather heavy thumb on the scale of intellectual discourse by ruling critical examination of their beliefs as impermissible. All Harris, Dawkins, Hitchens and Dennett are doing is, quite sensibly, calling bullshit on that convention and hauling religious beliefs into the light where we can get a good look at them. If religionists are so confident that they're right then what's the problem?

    If what they believe in is so compelling, so self-evident and so righteous then what do they have to fear? It's comical to hear them whining about how they're under attack by secularism. It's as if they're offended that there's anyone who dares have the audacity to find fault with their teachings and say so in public.

    They're like Microsoft, living in fear that if anyone at all is exposed to a non-Redmondian piece of software that their entire empire will tumble. Well, yes that might happen, but if it does it's because your empire lacked the substance you claimed for it and could be preserved only by the artificial suppression of more deserving alternatives.

    Second Question: I'm not a philosopher or a student of that discipline but I do take the point about how an is doesn't imply an ought. However, for me science does inform what meaning I can find in life. Science tells us quite a bit about the nature of our existence, the impermanence of things, the role of chance and the place of our species in the great order of things. I take from all of this not a small bit if guidance on how to live my life.

    Third question: I received the standard Roman Catholic indoctrination in my youth but I guess you could say it never took. The story religion told never added up for me and as soon as I deduced that there would be no parental repercussions (early teens) I ditched religion for good. I had only been putting on a pretense for some time before that so it wasn't a great leap. I guess skepticism was something that came naturally to me.

  19. Sorry for the delay in contributing.

    1. The New Atheism. While provocation is not my style, these people are making an impact. I appreciate this confrontative challenge to religion and belief. I wish they had a different sense of tact in making their uncompromising points, but it takes a certain imperfection of character to boldly enter and remain in the fray.

    My knowledge of philosophy is cursory. However, it seems to me that insights from the sciences should be able to alter the discussion of God from what was accesible to philosophers from ancient times and even those of the recent past. Yet I admit that I am the type whose eyes glaze over when reading tracts on epistemology.

    2. Does science inform my meaning of life? Yes. Having already incorporated an atheistic and existentialist philosophy in early adolescence, science continues to reinforce my personal philosophy. In a different vein, it also gives me insight into my "altruistic" actions, which is a large part of how I define myself and the "meaning" of my life as seen by others.

    3. What happened? I just remember questioning the God of Bible stories as a child, and then questioning the broader "more sophisticated" God concepts in adolescence. Reading works by "adults" who shared my skepticism (Voltaire, Joseph Heller, Camus, others) validated my atheism as not being simple adolescent musings, and helped me to overcome in my own mind those criticisms that I simply was too immature and unsophisticated to understand the concept of God.

  20. I haven’t read the books discussed, but I have read other works by these writers. I tend to prefer the “more flies with honey” approach, but I have to say, at least these guys are getting the issues out there to the general public. It’s been some time since that happened.

    One thing that does bother me is when these guys (or even Rational Response Squad) get characterized as “militant” atheists. Last I checked, Dawkins isn’t advocating flying airplanes into churches. Hitchens hasn’t suggested a holy war with Christians. They wrote books critical of religion. Big deal.

    If these guys are militant then what are Pat Robertson, Fred Phelps or Ken Ham?

  21. Question 2:

    I guess science informs my meaning of life in that I try to keep abreast of what science learns about the human condition and I try to take that into account when thinking about the meaning of life.

    Question 3:

    I was Catholic and “converted” to atheism, but not through some traumatic event. I just eventually decided, after struggling with faith for a very long time, to admit that I didn’t believe. For a long time I thought I “had to believe in something” and I prayed often that God would “show me the way”. Once I realized it was O.K. to not believe, my life got a lot better.

  22. I don't have much to add to Q1&2, but in regards to Q3 I have found that my experience is somewhat different than others, in that it was not informed directly by science or an objection to my faith's views on, say, homosexuality or miracles. Until about the end of high school, belonged to a "liberal" and "sophisticated" episcopalian church. Since the bible could essentially be interpreted any way we wanted, there was never a problem inserting science or cherished beliefs into faith. Perhaps ironically, it was studying the humanities (history and cultural anthropology) that made me seriously question belief in god. It became clear how "man-made" religion was and studying other religions and cultures made me realize that there was no way to reject their faiths without rejecting my own. Consequently, I fell back into deism, believing that all the world's religions were not to be taken literally and were perhaps approaching some underlying reality. Deism and liberal theology are easy because it doesn't make any strong claims about reality and doesn't offend most people, but eventually it just became too obvious there was no god at all. I had never read anything from public atheists like Russell or Dawkins, but having read many since then, it has only confirmed what I arrived at myself. And, of course, there was no major crisis in my life that precipitated atheism.

  23. 1) You want to know what's wrong with the "New Atheism"? People who should have better sense keep asking stupid questions like "What's wrong with the New Atheism?". [rim shot!!]
    "New Atheism" is a contrivance : a false moniker meant to marginalize atheists from public discourse and to set wedges between them. Why assist with the framing and perpetuation of this pseudo issue?

    2) Science does more to dissuade me from subscribing to readymade claptrap as regards "my meaning of life" than in informing any teleological declarations. I tend to favor mythologist Joseph Campbell's take on the issue (to quote from dim memory/paraphrase):
    "People are more in need of a sense of being alive; of living fully in the moment, ...of being in possession of their lives ... than in needing a 'meaning of life' , per say."

    3) Raised catholic in an Irish catholic neighborhood in NYC. I was very religious and though I wouldn't admit it, I wanted very much to become a priest or religious and tend to "people's most important needs"--[read as "messiah complex"/desire to please the adults in my life].
    Still, even as a young person, there were "things that didn't quite add up". I attributed this to my lack of understanding. After all, no modern american would turn their lives over to a convoluted and contradictory belief system. Right?
    So if I just persisted... I went as far as the seminary door with the intent of finding our how it all fit together into some coherent whole before I admitted to myself it was a just a lot of baloney [Which was quite a big turnaround for the little suck-up to authority/conventionalism I was at the time]. Investigated about a half-dozen other religions... found them similarly lacking. Became a deist... found out the "first cause" argument didn't hold up ... became an atheist.

  24. Let me just add a reading recommendation to the list of books related to the so called New Atheists. I suggest you take a look to Victor Stenger's 'God: the failed hypothesis' which seems to have impressed Dawkins himself. It has a less passionate tone than God's Delusion (no doubt the writing is a bit dull but not the content) and some reader could like this.

  25. The first question is important. I agree with "Alan" and with Shermer as referenced by "J" above that atheism itself is less important than liberty.

    It's also less important than kindness, and the "new atheism" as I understand it isn't characterized by kindness.

    Question two: science provides the best approach I know to understanding the universe. Other disciplines may foster a sense of its meaning if it has one.

    Question three: as with "thebrummell", nothing happened to me. Atheism just made more and more sense as I continued to think about it.

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Day by Day by Chris Muir

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Farewell 2011, Hello 2012! Now what do YOU have in store?

For me, 2011 brought the worst and the best that life has to offer.  To describe 2011 as a year of transition is to take understatement to an entirely new level.
The month of August begins to take on new meaning other than simply "beach week".  In 2010, August highlighted the final chapter of one story.  August 2011 brought an emergency visit to the cardiac cath lab, and an entirely separate healing of the heart - a most unexpected and welcome one - the opening chapter to another story, the one I hope ends with "and they lived happily ever after."
To all who have touched my life in ways large and small, I offer my thanks. I hope that you will look kindly on whatever small impact I may have had on your lives as well.
This young lad now on his 60th circuit around the Sun has been blessed (or "blessed") with a life that is never boring. I expect that will continue in 2012. As somebody once said, God does answer our prayers; He does not take requests.  The answers are often not what we expect. ANd they are most often not easy. But they are there for us.
Happy New Year to all my friends, family, associates, collegues, and random online game teammates.
May your 2012 be the best year ever.

(About the photo: Taken I think in 1955 around Christmas.  I was then and am now "the thinker", Tom was and is "the doer", and Rick learned to live life on his terms.  This is part of a huge cache of old photos I am scanning and preserving.)

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Well, hello there.

Turns out that sentence has become music to my ears.
More on that at some future time.
Which leads me to the point of this post.  I'm giving the blog another go.
First, there's some tidying up to be done with the blog interface, as well as with my little addled brain.

Thanks to this blog for the inspiration.

Friday, June 3, 2011

One take

That's the claim.
This is awesome on so many levels.


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Wednesday, 31 July 2013

205 Garden City

Friday 26th July 2013 Miles Today 179 Total  15,235

Today we are en-route to Garden City, Utah to meet some friends I met on an internet bikers forum. The guy, Rick Plumb and his wife Connie invited us down to their holiday home in Garden City, just North of Salt Lake City. As usual, the views were spectacular.

Around halfway there the road took us temporarily out of Idaho and into Wyoming (again – we like Wyoming) we came upon a town called Afton. It was another wild west cowboy town and we just had to go shopping.

These cowboys like petrol toys as well as hores.

This is the center piece of the town.

Typical architecture.

After shopping we moved on back into Idaho and as it was hot, thought we would stop for a small beer before we entered Utah. We drove through a town called Montpellier. We searched in vain for a bar. There was none. We did however find the bank that had been held up by Butch Cassidy and his band of robbers in 1896.

Info plaque about Butch Cassidy and his gang.

And this is (was !) the bank he robbed, opposite the sign above.

We then moved on to Garden City and Rick and Connie’s holiday place and met them face to face for the first time. Rick had sent me instruction on key codes ect on the internet. We were lucky (not) that there was no internet available in the area and our phone would not let us access the messages. We ended up parked outside and waited for Rick and Connie to arrive.

Rick and I had been exchanging abuse and insults between us for a couple of years and it was good for him to insult me to my face for a change.

It was late so we all went to bed with the promise of fun the next day and judging by the number of toys they had It would be good.

Saturday 27th June 2013 Miles Today 0 Total  15,235

We awoke to a vehicle arriving outside. It was Jessica, Rick and Connie’s daughter. She had bought her new boyfriend, Eric, up for the day to go play on the lake. Rick had a huge 5.7 litre power boat and the weather was good enough to take the beast out.

Rick and Connies boat.

The Halls being treated like Royalty.

Jessica was seriously good at the knee board....

and the wake board.....

I tried the knee board but if you stick 240lbs of throbbing lard on a board the size of a tea tray this happens.....

I am too old for this malarky

Rick did his best not to wet himself laughing at my watery demise but struggled to get air into his lungs for laughing.
The weather then turned windy so we took the boat back out of the water, went back to Ricks house and after some of Connie’s delicious grub, Jessica and Eric went back to Salt Lake City to go on a bike ride. She has a SV650 Suzuki motorcycle. Top girl.
The rest of us then changed toys and took out a Yamaha Rhino 4 wheeler and 2 quads. We rode then up a nearby hill and on to some rugged trails for some fun.

The view of the lake from the quad trail.

Connie and Rick in thr Rhino and fat boy on the quad. I am ashamed to say that I could not keep up with Rick driving the Rhino.

His and hers quads.

Karen was very good on this beast.

On the way back we came across a male moose with a serious set of antlers.

Our delightful hosts and a moose. That woman sure can cook.

Sunday 29th July 2013 Miles Today 0 Total  15,235

We awoke to a very warm and clear day and although we intended to go off road riding, we took the boat out again. Yeehaaaa
Rick decided to take out Giant Bubba the multiseat float. Karen and I went on the float first and all was well till Connie took us over some wash whilst I was showing off and not holding on. As I went off over the back, my head bashed on Karen’s and she bailed out too. Oops.

Fear and joy have similar facial expressions.

Then we decide to go for a swim. Connie, who was driving the boat, was a bit embarrassed about us going in. She has no idea how much fun we were having and the water was very warm.
Then Rick and I had a go together and Connie turned the wick up a notch. Rick and I struggled to breathe due to our laughing so hard. The ride was cut short by a puncture. Rick got off last as he was the captain but he was not brave enough to go down with the float. Wussy.

We laughed so much we couldn'r breathe.

Thanks for a great couple of days from a great couple of guys.

We had a long ride around the lake and decided to call it a day after the storm clouds started to gather. Once home Connie cooked us chicken and corn on the cob. We were treated to the biggest chicken I have ever seen. It must have been a sumo wrestler before being taken down by a SWAT team.
Rick and Connie needed to depart for Salt Lake City for work the next day. We have had a fantastic
couple of days from which the memories will be with us for years. Thanks Guys.

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San Diego Police Department Resources & Links

If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1.  For more information about Reporting Emergencies, click here.  To access 9-1-1 from a cell phone or outside San Diego, dial 619-531-2065.

For 24-hour non-emergencies, dial 619-531-2000 or 858-484-3154.  For more information about Reporting Non-Emergencies, click here.

San Diego Police Department’s Northeastern Division serves a population of 234,394 people and encompasses 103.8 square miles.

Address: 13396 Salmon River Road
San Diego, CA 92129
Phone: (858) 538-8000
TTY: (858) 538-8093
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Please call prior to your visit to verify when the Front Counter Officer is available for your specific request

Northeastern Division provides the following services to Rancho Bernardo residents:

Vacation House Checks

Police volunteers can conduct a security check on your home while you are on vacation. To request this service contact Northeastern Division.

“You Are Not Alone” YANA Checks

If you know someone who is elderly or disabled and also alone, police volunteers can stop by and check on these people regularly. To request this service, contact Northeastern Division.

Problem Solver for Northeastern Division Residents

National Crime Prevention Council Resources:

Other Resources:

California Highway Patrol

County of San Diego – Adult Protective Services

County of San Diego – Child Welfare Services

Drug Free America Foundation, Inc./Partnership for a Drug-Free America

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department

San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force

Sex Trafficking – The Ugly Truth


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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Today was...well...I hate my shrink!!

Today I went and I saw my skrink. It sucked. I was done 10 minutes into session. She kept asking the same questions over and over again like a friggin broken record!!!!! I hate it when people do that!! I drew a pretty looking hand though. It's pretty kewl. I'm exhausted now. I, instead of the overwhelming desire to cut, I have the overwhelming desire to paint. I have an art site, for any who care...not that there's anybody following me...except my bff, but still it's

Well, that was my day. Later daze!!

1 comment:

a_fragile_soul said...

I love you Hillary. Please don't ever forget that. And that's what scares me so much, because I always lose the ones I love and as fragile a state as my mind is in, I wouldn't be able to handle another death.

So please, just keep on painting. Don't hurt yourself. I need you far too much.