Thursday, August 6, 2009
Crack Ravages Academia
Here's proof: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327151.500-winning-the-ultimate-battle-how-humans-could-end-war.html?full=true. Anthropologists seem to think that humans aren't' really geared for war; that rather war is counter to human nature. These are obviously people who my old man would refer to as "not having enough sense to pour piss out of a boot." Let me gently explain something to you, Eleanor or Basil or Harold or whomever you are sipping free trade latte in Cambridge or wherever: as long as there is this thing called "testosterone" and this other thing called "pussy" and there are rocks or spears or swords or M-16s laying around, then there is damn sure going to be some war. That shit don't change because you conferred with your other dipshit colleagues in Denmark or wherever. And just to prove a point, the young lady shown relaxing above is what the boys are fighting for. Any questions? Didn't think so. Lock and load.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Shamans in the New Age
Robert Wright weighs in on the subject of alternative belief systems discussed here the other day in the article about Judas: http://www.slate.com/id/2223786/pagenum/all/. Wright seems to have a pretty good sense of perspective about religion, understanding that alternative or new or something from outside the Judeo-Christian perspective doesn't mean it's more or less valid. It just means it's something else and may indeed be a complete bag of hooey. This thought process also comes into play on college (and grade school) curriculums (curriculi?) when it comes to preferring the works of people of color or colorful people over the infamous Dead White Men. I've suffered through enough of that stuff with my own kids dragging home the latest assignment of a Toni Morrison or Maya Angelou shitburger to tell you right here and now that the colorful people can't carry Bill Shakespeare's jock strap.
I know someone personally who is continuously swayed by whatever new religious or spiritual improvement concept is out there and will gently scold you for not being enlightened enough to see the truth in whatever current belief system she has embraced. Sad and she's exactly the type of person that shamans or preachers or swamis or what have you depend on to keep the dollars flowing in. Not to say that I don't admire a good preacher--I always thought Billy Graham gave a helluva sermon and that Jimmy Swaggert was good to listen to after a couple of Jack Blacks. Not that much of it made a lot of difference, but entertaining nonetheless. I always wanted to see the crooked jackass Robert Tilton pilloried or at exposed as a cross dresser--maybe someday my prayers will indeed be answered.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Clear Thinking on the Farm
Doesn't get any better than this: http://www.american.com/archive/2009/july/the-omnivore2019s-delusion-against-the-agri-intellectuals.
Blake Hurst, a Missouri farmer, eviscerates the agri-intellectuals and their notions of what correct and incorrect farming methods should be. Naturally, he represents substance over symbolism, an unfortunate position of fact versus muddle headed fancy regarding how food is brought to our table. Excellent reading.
Mrs. Taras is the daughter of a farmer and rancher and her brother in law is a current farmer in the Rio Grande Valley. One thing that was immediately apparent in knowing my father and law and brother in law is their contempt for those who profess to dictate to them what is best for them without any depth of understanding of what they do. And, there's a lot of that going around today; bright but horribly misguided people shaping policy that impacts those grounded in reality. Barbara Boxer: call your office.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Vincent Bugliosi on Manson
Interview with Bugliosi forty years after Manson and his band of fucked up aspiring hippies butchered Sharon Tate and others: http://www.newsweek.com/id/209940?from=rss. Manson got the death penalty but was paroled to life after the subsequent Supreme Court ruling. Great--just what that nut job wanted--to have a public forum to spew his brand of crap while he basks in an environment that he's quite comfortable--the guy was in prison most of his life prior to the invention of his helter skelter persona. He likes it there--he's smarter than the rest of the inmates, gets fed regularly and is a big man on campus. That's the thing about a lot of these criminals--they don't mind incarceration and that's a fact that a lot of people don't get, those that say they'd rather die than face life without parole. Not so for Manson and guys like him.
One thing about the Chinese. For their many faults, they don't seem to have a great deal of angst when it comes to the fate of heinous criminals. A bullet to the back of the head and the perp's family billed for the cost of the bullet. Manson should thank his lucky stars he didn't grow up speaking Mandarin.
Judas Unbound
Great article on the interpretation and ongoing reinterpretation of Judas: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2009/08/03/090803crat_atlarge_acocella?printable=true. I've never given Judas a lot of thought. In my view, his alleged behavior is a side issue to the core nature of Jesus' message. Whatever Judas did or didn't do really doesn't matter or shouldn't matter to those who profess themselves as Christians. Though it most often isn't, the religion should be about what Jesus is said to have preached instead of complicating and conflicted messages.
As the author, Joan Acocella points out there's a cottage industry devoted to shedding light or bringing something new to the table when it comes to Christian dogma. Most typically, that's in the form of presenting the gnostic gospels as truly being "secret knowledge" or as something undiscovered or earth shattering when it comes to understanding Christianity. The boring fact is that the gnostics are really nothing new; biblical scholars have known about them, studied them, and pretty sensibly dispensed with them long ago. You're talking about some really bizarre shit when you get into a gnostic gospel with it's claims that only a few possessors of inside skinny will get to the promised land and that everyone else is essentially an animal. Kick in the fact that these were penned long after the synoptic gospels and their credibility is further eroded. But, there's an audience for them--the same folks who go in for Stonehenge mysticism, eastern goofiness, the "wisdom" of American Indian mythology, and other similar stuff just can't get enough of this thing to add to their crystal collection. That said, I've got no problem with people believing whatever they wish, as long as it doesn't involve forcing me to believe it or trying to kill me because I don't.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)