Talking at the US State Department this summer, Hans Rosling uses his fascinating data-bubble software to burst myths about the developing world. Look for new analysis on China and the post-bailout world, mixed with classic data shows.

Sunday

On the flights from Tampa to Portland I started reading Herbert Marcuse’s essay on Sartre, “Sartre’s Existentialism” from 1948, collected in Marcuse’s Studies in Critical Philosophy.

Herbert Marcuse (19 July1898 – 29 July1979) had difficulty suppressing his contempt for Sartre's early existentialism.

In reading Marcuse on Sartre (with the subtle, sublimated hostility of a Marxist to the early Sartre, who went out of his way to distance himself from Marx and Marxists), it occurred to me that what we could call historical existentialism or historical naturalism are the heirs and continuators of historical materialism. That is to say, they are (or would be, if they were systematically formulated) the philosophical development of Marx’s historical materialism in the light of subsequent philosophical developments.

An existentialist philosophy of history begins from the premiss that existence precedes and creates essence — thus every conception of history that has recognized that individuals and societies are shaped by geography, topography, landscape, and earlier history is history understood in terms of existence preceding essence. Earlier history is, in its turn, a function of earlier naturalistic forces that have shaped that history. Ultimately we must trace this chain of earlier histories backward to the point that human history disappears imperceptibly into natural history.

This idea of an existentialist philosophy of history is very much in the same spirit of what I recently wrote in A Formulation of Naturalism, and, in fact, is not only in the same spirit but may be considered an extension of that post. In that post I argued that contemporary philosophical naturalism could be considered a conservative extension of materialism: naturalism is materialism wherever materialism was adequate, and only goes beyond materialism where materialism fails. Just above I suggested that historical naturalism and historical existentialism are synonymous. In so far as historical existentialism — in which historical existence precedes historical essence — is simply another formulation of historical naturalism, and in so far as naturalism is a conservative extension of materialism, historical naturalism “naturally” becomes a conservative extension of historical materialism.

I make no claim for the novelty of the position stated above; it is nothing but an alternative way to formulate the geopolitical perspective that current events must be seen in the context of history, and history must be seen in the context in which history is made, and that context is geography. I have only cast the net a little wider, and the more comprehensive nature of the thesis makes it appear that much more radical. This is one of the virtues of abstract and general thinking: once particular issues are framed in these terms, matters otherwise only implicit become explicit.

Perhaps more problematic yet is that I should burden the above formulation with the tag “existentialist”, since existentialism suffered from the irredeemable fate of becoming a briefly popular sensation in the middle of the twentieth century, so that it now sounds terribly dated. On the one hand, I should not allow popular taste to prejudice a valid philosophical position. On the other hand, it could be argued, in a similar spirit to the argument in made in A Formulation of Naturalism that the essential conceptions of existentialism have been superseded by more recent, and more accurate, philosophical formulations. For the moment, I will allow the label to stand.

I have, in this forum, several times quoted Ortega y Gasset’s famous line that man has not an essence but a history. This is also in the spirit of an existentialist philosophy of history. One might take Ortega y Gasset’s bon mot as an alternative formulation of Sartre’s famous dictum that existence preceding essence. In both, the emphasis falls upon man’s historical, temporal, actual existence and denies that there is any eternal, essential nature of man. In so far as Ortega y Gasset’s formulation sharpens the point by denying the essence that Sartre delayed and subordinated, he sharpens it to a point that an existentialist philosophy of history so conceived comes into conflict with other conceptions of history.

Recently in The Incommensurability of Civilizations and Addendum on Incommensurable Civilizations I wrote, “Each civilization is not only distinct, but each is based on a distinct idea of civilization.” And, citing a particular example, “We can explain both the continuity and the periodizations of Western civilization by reference to a basal ideal that changes over time.” Now, in so far as the idea of a civilization is similar to the essence of man (and, while the two are clearly distinct, I think it is fair to say that each conception is integral with the other), and in so far as an existentialist conception of history requires that we abandon any essence of man, then an existentialist conception of history, it would seem, must abandon all pretense of history that makes reference to idea, ideal, and essence.

This is the dilemma that faces me now. I do not say that these two approaches cannot be reconciled and rationalized, but I do say that some effort at conceptual clarification is necessary to that reconciliation and rationalization.

. . . . .

Domestic violence is physical or psychological assault with intent to harm or impose superiority on your partner or former partner. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), wife beating, spouse abuse are other words that are often used to represent domestic violence.

If we believe that the statistics presented by the American Institute on Domestic Violence and health costs of rape, physical assault, stalking and homicide by intimatepartner exceed 5.8 billion U.S. dollars annually. 94% of directors of corporate security rank domestic violence as a high security risk. 68% of executives surveyed agreed that the financial performance of your business could benefit from addressing the issue of domestic violence among its employees. Not a gloomy picture that reflects the uncivilized behavior of one of the most civilized states of the world?

Close review of one of the major search engines on the network that shows more3.5 lakh people have searched for lawyers dealing with domestic violence in a given month of July 06 itself. Imagine the total number of victims throughout the United States. Domestic violence causes serious problems for workers. Statistics show that 54% miss entire days of work and 28% leave work early because of constant abuse.

Strange but true statistical report made us think that we do not live in civil society? Is the only domestic violenceanother crime or to reflect the fact that we still need to be polite in our behavior towards women? If you are a victim of domestic violence by talking. Domestic violence is not confined to one person or seclusion of women. This can happen to anyone. In reality, women belonging to higher economic strata equally suffer from these problems, but often hide the facts because of their social reputation. Honestly speaking, if you suffer in silence one of thesepromotion of violence are in fact a crime against civilization.

Most victims who suffer from these acts of violence are not yet aware of the legal provisions in place to curb these crimes. Just surf the Web and find plenty of information on domestic violence. Many organizations and law firms to provide economic assistance to combat and eradicate the crime of domestic violence. Seek help immediately and do not fear aggressors.

Marc Owens’s augmented reality project “Avatar Machine” puts its users in VR helmets that display the world around them as though they were playing a third-person game, so that their own body is seen from behind. Owens theorizes that “The system potentially allows for a diminished sense of social responsibility, and could lead the user to demonstrate behaviors normally reserved for the gaming environment.” (Avatar Machine (via Beyond the Beyond)

Avatar Machine: “The virtual communities created by online games have provided us with a new medium for social interaction and communication. Avatar Machine is a system which replicates the aesthetics and visuals of third person gaming, allowing the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space via a head mounted interface.
The system potentially allows for
a diminished sense of social responsibility, and could lead the user to demonstrate behaviors normally reserved for the gaming environment.”

Chivalry

By REQUEST, I will begin to express my dearest opinions towards this topic.

A dead, well, dying stereotypical characteristic… It mainly depends on how you interpret what the notion of ‘chivalry’ actually is. It can be seen through a person living in the 18th, 19th or 20th century OR even back in the ancient society.

Ill express these different classifications of the ways people express the attitude, ‘chivalry’ through chronological order of events in history.

But I’ll start with modern day. In this contemporary age, the basic definition of ‘chivalry’ is ‘a courtesy towards women’. In relation, when one opens a door for a woman, it is classified as a characteristic of ‘chivalry’. This is not the case in this day and age. I may not speak for the whole of society as interpretations differ, the minds of every person is unique and so, I cannot clarify a general interpretation of ‘chivalry’, however, I can clarify for you, ‘MY’ interpretation of chivalry.

I believe that idea that to call someone ‘mistress’ is a dying custom and that only very few continue to use it. I also believe that sliding out a chair for a girl is ‘pussy’ and only gives a feeling for ‘awkwanoia’ (conrad’s made up word) between the two. However, I certainly believe that chivalry has developed to become accustomed to today’s traditions. Now, the characteristics of chivalry are to tend to a girl if they request for assistance, to compliment and to even buy a drink for.

I also should not deny the fact that modern feminism has influenced that notion of chivalry.

Sadly, chivalry is a topic too broad to clarify, but that does not mean I cannot compare it to past societies.

In the ancient society, chivalry was to call the women, ‘mistress, provide them with first serves of food, gifts for special events (marriage)’ this information can been gathered from archaeological evidence. In the 18th century, chivalry was to open the door for a woman, bow, hold their hand to walk. In the 19th century, chivalry was to basically to provide them with more equality, to allow them better education, job opportunities.

Ill end with my comment, ‘Chivalry is a characteristic that is influenced throughout the times, it is not uniform and will vary between different cultures, minds, ages and genders. Hence, it is a topic too broad too comprehend as vast amounts of information is required to clarify its notions’. I do not have time to write a book about it, but I will leave it as a definition that is undefinable due to its inability to be uniform.

I repeat, this was a request. From now on, I will only post opinions that will definitely be answered.

Sorry, but there are no pictures as i have no primary resources for this concept.

From, Rawk the World.

‘We will Rawk and Rawk until the whole world hears us’

-Conrad & Vanessa

Friday

Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, 1954

As it happens, the second most comprehensive Salvador Dalí museum in the world, The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, is only about fifteen minutes drive from the corner of Sunshine Drive and Friendly Way where I am currently staying. I went to the Dalí museum today and spent some time with the works of the Master of Surrealism. The museum has a great collection, only part of which is displayed. I was told that they own about 1,300 pieces, which is obviously more than can be displayed at once. A new and larger museum is currently under construction nearby. Although the present museum is not large, the collection is nicely shown and very accessible to the visitor. My only complaint is with the lighting, which glares on the large canvases and which could easily be adjusted to shine less directly on the paintings.

Dalí's Basket of Bread (1926) shows his talent and his early mastery of technique, but his distinctive aesthetic imagination is notably absent.

The earliest paintings of Dalí show him experimenting with the styles of art familiar in his time. There is a canvas that is indistinguishable from Monet, and another that could pass for Cezanne. I can’t imagine a better technique for a painter to gain experience and knowledge of both the medium and the tradition than by imitating the most advanced works of his time, and Dalí shows the technical precision of his talent right from the beginning. Probably everyone knows someone with artistic talent, who has a natural knack for drawing or painting. Obviously Dalí had talent. Beyond talent, one must acquire technique. These early canvases show Dalí working through his technique. Beyond talent and technique, the true genius will have the aesthetic imagination to employ his talent and technique in unique works of art. When Dalí passes into his definitively surrealistic maturity, he reveals at the same time his aesthetic imagination — at it is an imagination of the first order.`

What is surrealism? There are, of course, many answers to this question, and the very idea of attempting to capture something as resistant to rational formulation as surrealism is problematic. Nevertheless, surrealism does have its locus classicus, and its locus classicus is as surreal and as hallucinogenic as any later productions of the genre. This is Comte de Lautréamont’s Les Chants de Maldoror, a truly bizarre and unclassifiable prose poem novel that contains, among other unlikely passages, this paean to beauty in the form of a litany:

La somme des jours ne compte plus, quand il s’agit
d’apprécier la capacité intellectuelle d’une figure sérieuse. Je me connais à lire l’âge dans les lignes physiognomoniques du front: il a seize ans et quatre mois! Il est beau comme la rétractilité des serres des oiseaux rapaces; ou encore, comme l’incertitude des mouvements musculaires dans les plaies des parties molles de la région cervicale postérieure; ou plutôt, comme ce piège à rats perpétuel, toujours retendu par l’animal pris, qui peut prendre seul des rongeurs indéfiniment, et fonctionner même caché sous la paille; et surtout, comme la rencontre fortuite sur une table de dissection d’une machine à coudre et d’un parapluie!

The total number of days no longer counts when it is a matter of appreciating the intellectual capacity of a serious face. I am an expert at judging age from the physiognomic lines of the brow: he is sixteen years and four months of age. He is as beautiful as the retractility of the claws of birds of prey; or, again, as the unpredictability of muscular movement in sores in the soft part of the posterior cervical region; or, rather, as the perpetual motion rat-trap which is always reset by the trapped animal and which can go on catching rodents indefinitely and works even when it is hidden under straw; and, above all, as the chance juxtaposition of a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissecting table!

The last items of this litany — the chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissecting table — was taken up by later surrealists as something of a one-line slogan and manifesto. André Breton, the surrealist’s surrealist, said that Maldoror was “The expression of a revelation so complete it seems to exceed human potential.”

Dalí exemplified this conception of surrealism, though he did not merely exemplify a pre-existing tradition. Dalí was, to be sure, a surrealist, but he transcended, exceeded, and over-determined surrealism, as all great artists go beyond the cultural context that was their own conditio sine qua non. For the mediocre artist, one’s conditio sine qua non becomes conflated with one’s raison d’être; in the superior artist, there is always a profound disconnect between the two.

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Peaceful creature living on the edge of civilization.

It wasn’t widely reported, but in April of this year, the United States declared war on Canada. Perhaps it was inevitable – the smug superiority over low gun crime figures, that cruel stranglehold on the world’s moose resources, or maybe just the country’s odd propensity for coming up with place names like Flin Flon and Winnipeg – whatever the reason, the US of A seemed to feel that its neighbour to the north had it coming. It certainly looked like the whole business was going to be over quickly: on one side, a nation of proud arms-bearing hyper-capitalists hepped up on Big Tastys and Buffalo Jerky, and on the other, a cadre of unnaturally polite international backpackers. What could possibly go wrong for Uncle Sam?

Alexis Bonte, the man who indirectly made this invasion possible, has been quick to distance himself from any fallout, however. “I didn’t do this!” he says, when asked for a comment. “It was the users who did it.” Bonte also adds that, once the dust had settled, the outcome turned out to be rather unexpected. “The US had about 1000 inhabitants at the time, and Canada had just 200. If this was all AI-driven, it would have been over in a few hours. Instead, the President of Canada was a pretty clever fellow. He called Spain, asked for forty of their best soldiers, and paid them well. So now there was a Spanish mercenary army showing up, and then the French Foreign Legion joined in, and eventually the US started losing the war and had to sue for peace! They paid thousands in reparations.” The world, it seems, can be a surprising place when you look at it through the lens of an internet browser.

This invasion – and many like it since – took place in the fictional world of eRepublik, a bold collision of MMO, strategy game, and social networking site. Look at it one way, and eRepublik seems a lot like the world you already live in: you’re a citizen of a country, you have to get a job in order to buy food, and if you’re clever enough, or just horribly persistent, you can rise through the ranks to fame, wealth, and power. Look at it another way, and it’s more like Facebook: a simple white page, largely text-based, with a scattering of innocuous-looking icons and update panels. Either way, someone like William Gibson is probably studiously wetting himself (if that’s possible) at the prospect of a fully-functioning world-in-a-bottle peering out of his iMac screen. He would, wouldn’t he? He’s half Canadian, after all.

“The logic was the following,” says Bonte, chief executive and co-founder of Tevin Solutions, the company behind the game. “eRepublik was never going to look like a typical MMO. With the 3D way, the problem is that you need a really powerful machine, and you need a downloaded client most of the time. You can’t do it in a browser so easily. At the end of the day, we thought, ‘We’re building a strategy game. They don’t need that many bells and whistles.’ What you want is that experience where you play something like Risk. We then combine that with the user-generated potential of the web, and then the social tools that you find in things like Facebook, and what you get is really interesting.”

What you get, in fact, is America invading Canada, and sharpish. But while eRepublik is a game with a truly massive scope – it aims to provide a user-directed simulation of a world that’s broad enough to capture geopolitics, social trends, and global economics, yet sufficiently detailed to cover what it’s like to lose your job at a tyre factory and subsequently starve to death – it’s been designed with the needs of a casual audience in mind. All you need to get stuck into the game is an internet connection, an email account, and roughly fifteen minutes of free time every day. This thing is going to be huge in prisons.

“We designed the game for people like me who are great fans of strategy games but no longer have the time to play them,” says Bonte. “You know the feeling, you’re playing Civilization at eight in the evening, you look at the clock again, and it’s two in the morning. So we wanted to design a game with the same depth, but instead of a lot of hours over a short number of days, it’s a fifteen-minute experience over several months.”

And so you start out in eRepublik by choosing a country to belong to, and then set about getting a job to earn money. In keeping with the game’s short play sessions, you can only work once every (real-world) day, an activity that involves answering a set of trivia questions to get a cash boost. The more questions you get right, the bigger your productivity bonus. In time, these quizzes will be tailored to your profession – become a dentist, and you’re likely to learn a lot about gingivitis in the process (quick heads up: you don’t want it) – but right now, it’s kind of a mish-mash. I chose to join a lumber firm, for example, and ended up fumbling my way through a few questions about Baltic ports and Henry VIII. I did not fare particularly well.

Working gives you experience points as well as money, and levelling remains a big part of the eRepublik appeal. Over time, better jobs will become available, and you’ll eventually be able to start your own company, and employ other people. Or, you could become a merchant and travel the world undercutting your rivals. Or, you could just relax, enlist in the military, and fight against another country for reasons you scarcely understand, answering trivia questions all the while.

But if you detect the nasty taint of educational software lurking at the heart of eRepublik, rest assured that the day-to-day grind and Baltic shipping pop quizzes are actually only a small part of the overall package. The most ambitious aspect of the game is its reliance on other players. The boss of your company, and all your fellow employees, are all real people. So’s the president of your country, and his congress, and all the other characters helping the world to slowly tick over. There are no NPCs at all in eRepublik, and this leads to the game’s real point: social interaction.

“When you get to level two at the lumber job, say, if it was just a normal game, you could get a better job automatically,” explains Bonte. “Here, you can talk to your boss and say, ‘You’re not paying me enough! Give me more money or I’ll move on.’”

And that’s only the start. eRepublik encourages you to get stuck into your society in increasingly meaningful ways. With the game playing out across a single server, if you get in now, there’s a chance that you’ll be able to make a real mark on the world. Having just turned thirty, and with a noble history of complete non-achievement stretching behind me as well as beckoning me into the sunset, this is actually starting to sound kind of appealing as far as I’m concerned.

When you first join your country of choice, for example, you’ll be greeted with a letter from your new president. This president will have had to make a name for him or herself – most likely by doing something industrious like starting a daily newspaper, writing articles, and getting a lot of subscribers – before getting elected to congress and working his or her way up the ladder to the top. And even if that seems out of reach as an ambition, you can still worm your way into the congress itself and help direct the course of the country from there. For every action in eRepublik, there is an equal and opposite social interaction – and even if you’ve got a bad apple in charge, the game schedules fresh governmental elections every month anyway. Like in Italy.

So while for most players, the aim of eRepublik is still to make your mark, there are endless ways to do it. “That’s the whole idea,” laughs Bonte. “Because we offer different careers, you can choose how to work your way up. When you join, you’re not just doing your thing, you’re part of a nation, and you want your citizen and your nation to do well.”

The Original: Here

A game I fondly remember playing again and again, burning the midnight oil and gaming the night away because of it, was Sid Meier’s Civilization, released by MicroProse Software in 1991.  This retro MS-DOS based game had it all: outstanding gameplay, a well-executed concept, and superb graphics (for its day), and was yet another hit from Sid Meier and his team.

Sid Meier's Civilization (1991) Box Cover

Players started with a single settler (a covered wagon) at the dawn of civilization, chose a location to found their first city, and from that built an empire as the game timeline progressed to the Space Age.  Sometimes you’d find another computer player right next door, and either had to keep the peace with non-stop diplomacy, or – more times than not – send in the troops to crush them like the insects they truly were.  Up to six other civilizations were out there to discover, and they all had to be dealt with, one way or another (either the Americans, Aztecs, Babylonians, Chinese, Egyptians, English, French, Germans, Greeks, Indians, Mongolians, Romans, Russians, or Zulus.)

Yet this wasn’t just yet another military simulation; players had to build their empires by monitoring the happiness of their citizenry, providing improvements that would encourage growth in their cities, establish trade routes, and pursue technology advancements through scientific research.  Neglect anything for too long and the consequences could be dire: fall behind in the technology and your troops might be like the Polish Cavalry facing the Blitzkrieg on horse with sabres.  Forget to keep your citizenry content and your cities begin revolting.  Overlook trading with other empires and find your city improvement budgets limited.  Limit your internal and external upgrades of your cities, and watch them spontaneously Neglect to build up your military might and watch as your cities fall to the armed might of your bitter enemies – or worse yet, random barbarians raging across the continent. A strong empire builder needed to be aware of all aspects of their empire!

Sid Meier's Civilization (1991) Screen Shot

But, wait, there’s more!  This was an incredibly deep game.  You start out as a Despot (where do I sign up?), but as the game progressed and new ideas developed as a result of technological improvements, other forms of government presented themselves.  Each had its advantages depending on your goals and current state of your empire, but each also had disadvantages.  It wasn’t a great idea to switch to Democracy in the middle of a military build-up or full-blown campaign, as your citizens tended to be on the pacifistic side.  On the other hand, if you wanted to push the envelope on scientific development, ruling over your cities with an iron fist as King wasn’t a winning strategy either.

You could also gain serious advantages over the other empires by building one of the many Wonders of the World.  These took a long time to build, using up many resources, but could be the difference-maker between victory or defeat.  These Wonders varied by game era, and could become obsolete with new technological advances.  Some had limited appeal and should only be looked at under a specific set of circumstances, however.

Sid Meier - Gaming god

This game has not only stood the test of time, it has spawned many sequels: Civilization II, III, and IV, CivNet (the first multiplayer Civilization), Civilization Gold, and Civilization Revolution, as well as many similarly-themed games, such as Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, Civilization: Call to Power, Colonization, and Master of Magic.  And the franchise doesn’t appear to be running out of steam anytime soon.  If you love retro games and you haven’t played the original Civilization, what are you waiting for?

Two hundred years ago, God began another new nation of people based upon the same principle as Israel.  The United States of America came into existence by attracting people from all over the world.  Every nation under the Sun has contributed to the children born as Americans.  They too do not have one outward identifying appearance.  Yet, they are all Americans.  Different in size, color, and bone structure; but they have given up their original single mindedness concerning a nation built upon One God.  The God of Israel!

This is their mistake.  The singular principle defining Israel is and was their single mindedness toward their One God.  While America has sold their souls by tolerating foreign gods, just like King Solomon did to acquire wealth: and as King Solomon wound up depressed and broken by allowing foreign gods to be worshipped, so are Americans depressed, who will soon be broken if all Americans don’t return to the God of Israel.

If you have ever visited the land of Israel, you might have noticed the thousands of variations of Jews that live together.  Variations of people who traverse from black skin to very white skin, and all the shades in between.  Variations of people who swing from gray eyes to blues eyes, and from brown eyes to black eyes, and all the varying shades in between.

While the Watussi Negro in Africa are all seven feet tall, and Pigmy Negro were all three feet tall, Adult Jews scale from three feet tall to eight feet tall.  This proves there isn’t one definitive marking for all Jews.  The variations of people also run from Far Eastern Asian Oriental appearances to the Hindu people of India.  There are Negro people from many African nations.  European people from all the nations of Europe.  Arabic people from all over the Middle East, Northern people from Scandinavia and Russia.  The list of different races called Jews is as endless as the stars of heaven.  The conclusion is that the Jewish people are not a branch of the original tree, but a human stew forged by God and grafted into the tree.

A colony of people who herded together; who came from every other branch of the human race to form a new tree that would offer life to the other dying branches of the tree.  Hence, God was grafting the Gentiles into the nation of Israel, until the Romans reversed it.  God in His infinite wisdom, and knowing the future, gathered people from every race on earth to create a new race of people who loved God.

Then God purified the new branch through Jesus, and would cause an evil nation to scatter those people amongst the various branches of the human race for three reasons:

1. To establish God’s judgment and justice in the world.
2. To keep Rome from being able to root the Jews out and genocide  them.
3. To give the Jews the ultimate privilege of following in their Messiah’s footsteps who was the Passover Lamb, to be the scapegoats who would be blamed and killed for the sins of the world.

The Jews would become the blood offerings, like the Messiah Jesus who was the firstborn of many who would be guiltless, yet persecuted and killed.  For which reason Moses the High Priest killed a lamb on the altar (signifying the death of the Messiah), and was instructed by the Lord to take another lamb from the goats (signifying the death of Jewish people).

The priest was instructed to take the goat to the edge of the forest, place his hands upon the goat’s head, and let the goat escape into the wilderness, while he said: may the sins of the world be upon you. Then the goat would be hunted and killed by the leopard with wings like an eagle, for the sins of the world.

For salvation is of the Jews! It is the will of God that Jews be sacrificed, like Jesus, for the salvation of the Gentiles.

To be continued…

The sparrow twists its little head left, then right. It knows what we are thinking, studies us, flits away and posts itself gallantly on the weathered tree branches now barren.

Thriving off of the growth of civilization, the sparrow has adapted to the ways of humans, in great numbers they exist upon the refuse of mankind. Its movements quick, almost manic, it takes in sensory information at the speed of light, judges whether it is in danger or not, resides within a coursing ball of 15-20 other sparrows just in case. As with humans, they too have a tendency to plunder nature, ripping new plant shoots from the ground, decimating fruit still on the trees, extinguishing flowering plants. But this one simply sits and watches, seems far distant from a signifier of destruction, seems curious, almost playful. I throw a few seeds out along with some bread crumbs. It hops over on its pumpkin-orange legs, twists its head to the left watching me and then decides it is safe and begins to eat, manically pausing every so often to check that I have not moved.

One minute later, the sidewalk is inundated with their little puffed-up bodies, each vying for the best position nearest the food. The brawls begin, two begin pecking at each other, chirping obscenities and while they fight, another swoops in, takes the very food that they were fighting over. The timid or the small remain passive but clever in the background. While they miss out on the larger morsels, they wait for the intensified fights to begin and as the bigger birds go for each other’s necks, calmly they will hop in and begin their long-awaited feast. The old and decrepit are brought pieces by some of the bigger birds that hop them over in their beaks, drop them to the frozen concrete below, and stand guard as the elders eat.

There is a strange sense of commonality between these birds and humans. Perhaps it is no mistake that they have grown in such large numbers with mankind. They have become the backdrop of city-life, the nonchalant decorations in our daily comings and goings. Miniature representations of the radiance and madness that mankind embodies, the sparrows rest calmly within the collapsing branches of an effete  society marking time, watching us as we busily ride out our days.

A petite, disheveled sparrow hops in my direction, stopping not four feet from my boots. I smile and it opens its beak, its little pink tongue quivering. “Our day will come,” I hear the sparrow say and taken aback, I clench the bread bag tight in my left hand, turn quickly and go back inside, scrupulously watching that the sparrow does not follow.

It merely flies away.

Web 2.0 Expo NY 09: Douglas Rushkoff

Tools are devices used at making of all sorts of people of works both through people as well as machines. They were well-known already in the oldest ages, at first as very much primitive, as e.g. in the Stone Age done of universally accessible materials, so as animal bones, horns, wood or stones. In consecutive ages it was being created of tougher materials, in the – Bronze Age of bronze and copper, and in the next age of iron, naming it in the process. The more further development of the civilization caused coming into existence of more and more improved tools, more closely adapted to needs of people and to kinds of work carried out. For needs of the developing economy, industry, craft, farming and different fields lives were produced by tools. Tools are being shared according to different criteria. Depending on applying types of universal and special tools are distinguished. In terms of the drive they are divided for manual, mechanical and machine. Assigning them is a different division of works for making determined. There are tools so rewarded depending on assigning to processing of different kind, from applying in individual professions, e.g. by shoemakers, carpenters, tailors, from the kind material used in the process of working or also from the way of working. Measuring tools used for measurements of different kind constitute the specific group of tools and for writing them. He is standing out among them  and, as well as functional and test. Grasped tools are also a name different notions in all sorts categories. So they determine with this notion the device for counting i.e. the calculator, means of production in the field of economics. Under the name of tools of the fight a weapon is being covered and they in criminology are using universally determining tool of the crime.

TEDtalks have been a very dear thing to me. I can’t seem to get enough of the interdisciplinary potpourri of utter awesomeness.

One of the things that I have struggled with for a while is the imposed dichotomy between the Eastern and Western schools of thought, ways of life etc. According to some it boils down to basic stereotypes but for others there are intrinsic differences caused by geographical location, climate and other natural factors.

So in today’s TEDtalk, Devdutt Pattnaik discusses the differences between the myths of India and the general West and the differences in business models that arise from that. It can be viewed here.

Okay, so he has a good basis for comparison, a very unique approach to understanding business and possibly an avant-garde professional title. Yet when I was watching it, the following points of concern came up.

1. India is a large country. Hindu myths are not the only ones around. In addition, Hindu myths as learned by him the mythologist are hardly the same as the general public. His interpretation of myths come from his extra-textual experiences, which presumably include a lot of interdisciplinary reading. The general Indian public doesn’t go around doing that, resulting in a much different interpretation.

2. The “West” is not just influenced by Greek myths. Local myths are often way more influential in forming cultural identities than those from what is considered to be seat of Western civilization. Also, he stresses the point about the West’s preoccupation with “one” life, linear logic, a step-by-step approach etc. This is a generalization that cannot be easily forgiven.  What about the Second Coming of Jesus? Of King Arthur, once and future king of Britons?

3. People are shaped not by their myths only. There are many more contemporary things which, no doubt may be inspired by mythical writings, but arguably can go further than myths in shaping individuals. The point is that interpretations change over time. Heroes become villains and villains become victims. Pattnaik seems to suggest that myths are static documents with absolute extra-textual relationships. Myths are simply a category of literature. That hardly gives them enough power to sustain a century without being torn apart.

This got me thinking. What is my personal mythology? What are my takes on the traditional mythos of my people?

In the video, Pattnaik talks about how Ganesha revolved around his parents three times implying they are all the world is to him. While that may be a fair example to explain the differences between subjective and objective worldviews, I think it also goes a considerable way in explaining a country full of mama’s boys.

I am sure at one time Rama was like King Arthur. That however does not mean he didn’t have a patriarchal fetish with testing female chastity (What a surprise! That’s around even today! Among the most significant people; brothers, fathers and husbands!). However that may have been interpreted back in the days, I am pretty sure someone somewhere agreed with me, even centuries ago. Just because Rama did it, it doesn’t make chastity policing an okay thing to do for Indians today. A lot of crap is allowed to go down in myth-obsessed societies just because it has canonical precedents.

That brings me to my last point. Should myths be allowed to dictate how people behave in the modern world? How the individuals behave today regardless of what culture they come from? Is it more okay for Indians to be ambiguous and contextual in their business planning than their Western counterparts just because their myths made them that day? Is it acceptable for Westerners to keep being linear and narrow in their focuses and business decisions?

Sure there is a clash of civilization bound to happen somewhere down the road, but simply learning about the other perspective and not budging from one’s own and then throwing your hands up and blaming your myths is not the way.

So I guess I’ll end with a question. What mythology, modern or ancient influences you? How does it help you adapt to the modern worldview?

Weed, grass, pot…let ‘em smoke it. Gay, homosexual, partners…let ‘em put a ring on it. Inconvenient, unintended, accident…let ‘em kill it. Decent, moral, compassionate…let ’em all just forget it.

When I read an article by Jacob Weisberg in a recent issue of Newsweek, that is exactly the message I took away from it. Weisberg seems to think if enough people want to do something, every one else should just get out of the way and let them do it. My problem with this short-sightedness is that when anything goes, everything goes.

“Our forms of prohibition are more sins of omission than commission,” Weisberg writes in the article, titled, “Gay Marriage & Marijuana: You can’t stop either. Why that’s good.”* “Rather than trying to take away long-standing rights, they’re instances of conservative laws failing to keep pace with a liberalizing society.”

While I do think too many in the media would love it if Americans could just lounge around all day massaging their same-sex spouses, inhaling cannabis, eating Doritos and shooting babies with BB guns, I do think a majority of Americans still disagree. Certain elements of society — namely, the media — are “liberalizing,” but many Americans such as myself feel like a lot of this is being shoved down our throats. We are starting to choke.

Weisberg quotes the president, Barack Obama, saying, “‘I inhaled — that was the point.’”*  That is just one more reason I am glad I did not vote for the man. Seriously, even when he admits he consumed illegal drugs, Obama does it in a condescending way.

Pointing out that the bastion of conservative ideology, The New York Times, (can you hear my sarcasm?) has recognized gay unions on its wedding pages for the past seven years, Weisberg says this reflects “evolving social norms.”* I say this is just another example of a media outlet foisting its views on us.

Weisberg writes, “What’s advancing the decriminalization of marijuana is not just the demand for pot as medicine but the number of adults — more than 23 million in the past year…who use it and don’t believe they should face legal jeopardy.”*

Wow, I am amazed the “but Mom, everybody else is doing it” excuse can be used at any age now. Weisberg calls this the “evolving definition of the pursuit of happiness.”* I call this another example of our declining civilization.

Rome crumbled once the societal elites turned to hedonism. Is that the path we wish to travel? Should we let just anything go?

Discussing the relaxing of marijuana laws, Weisberg reports, “In L.A., you need only tell an on-site doctor at a walk-in pot emporium that you feel anxious to walk out with a legal bag of Captain Kush.”* Well, I have to stay up late to get this article done. How long before I can step into a walk-in methamphetamine boutique to pick up some Captain Keep-Me-Awake?

This is exactly my point. Where do we draw the line? When does it stop? Who is going to stand up and yell, “Enough!”? When are we going to realize what I said before — when anything goes, everything goes?

I do not think the problem is that society is becoming more liberal. I think the problem is that we are becoming weak and spineless.

We are too afraid of appearing judgmental. We are too afraid of being deemed politically incorrect. We are too afraid of causing offense.

I say the whole thing about not judging others is a load of crap. We judge others all the time. It is in our nature to do so. If I hurt your feelings and you think I am politically incorrect, go cry to your mama. If I offend, maybe you should be offended. Perhaps that is exactly what you need.

* Quotes from the article, “Gay Marriage & Marijuana: You can’t stop either. Why that’s good.” Newsweek. Nov. 9, 2009. (24).

If civilization were to collapse tomorrow, mankind would be survived by no artifact as long-lived as our nuclear waste. And that presents an interesting problem — namely, how do we keep our progeny away from the stuff?

The tomb of the ancient Egyptian vizier Khentika (also known as Ikhekhi), for example, contains the inscription: “As for all men who shall enter this my tomb … impure … there will be judgment … an end shall be made for him. … I shall seize his neck like a bird. … I shall cast the fear of myself into him.” It’s possible that the vizier’s contemporaries took Khentika at his word. But 20th-century archaeologists with wildly different religious beliefs had no reason to take the neck-cracking threat seriously. Likewise, a scavenger on the Carlsbad site in the year 12,000 C.E. may dismiss the menace of radiation poisoning as mere superstition. (”So I’m supposed to think that if I dig here, invisible energy beams will kill me?”) Hence the crux of the problem: Not only must intruders understand the message that nuclear waste is near and dangerous; they must also believe it.

Of course, the simplest solution is simply to maintain a semblance of civilization in perpetuity. And, as Matt Yglesias points out, if civilization does collapse, nuclear waste probably ain’t the biggest thing our descendants wind up facing.

part of an ongoing series of columns I’ve written, reprinted from the TU Rambler.

May, 2009.

(This conclusion to “The Green Man Says”, Vol I comes hot on the heels of The Swine Flu and associated Chicken Little-esque pandemic paranoia.)

When I went home for Mayterm break last month, my librarian mom was reading a book called Life As We Knew It, which deals with the chaos that ensues when the moon’s orbit changes; narrated by a 16-year old girl, it’s basically Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging meets “The Day After Tomorrow”.  As someone interested in end-of-the-world scenarios, survival, and the estranged relationship between modern civilization and the natural world, this book seemed right up my alley, and I flew through it in about four long sittings.
While I’m sure it’s fine reading for the target audience of middle school girls, readers looking for an insight on survival strategies or the future of the human race would be sorely disappointed.  Up until the lunar cataclysm, the main character’s family makes absolutely no preparations; they spend the book living off a supply of canned goods bought in a panic after the disaster; and while the mother does try to grow a food garden, she only starts after the proverbial shit has hit the fan.
However, the author—whether or not she meant to—does show the reader the extent to which most people are painfully dependent on the infrastructure of our ‘civilization’ and disconnected from the natural world.  As a species, we Homo sapiens lived in kinship with nature for 100,000 years; now, as a consequence of shortsightedness and poor decisions stemming from our separation from nature (which only really began in the last 200 years or so) we might not survive another hundred years.
My main complaint with Life As We Knew It is this: the character and her family spend most of their time huddled inside their house waiting to be saved, believing that their world will eventually be getting back to normal, and they are completely unable to imagine a different, better world; they are content to live by the rules and norms of the ‘old’ one.  The late Michael Crichton once wrote that the only difference between a bear and a human is imagination; at this critical point in our species’ history, it is imperative now that we work to imagine a new future for ourselves, one that is actually sustainable*, because the present system—rooted in petroleum, consumption, and convenience—certainly isn’t.
“Get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand, the times they are a-changing”.

*(For the inquisitive reader, looking for specifics, I point to the concept of Permaculture, which is probably the best middle ground between the two extremes of Primitivism (the Project Mayhem-style, all-out destruction of civilization) and the dead-end that, unless we make some big changes, is where we’re headed now).

Show me your faith in the written Word and I’ll show you your belief; for the just live by faith; and faith is keeping the commandments of God, which are the Biblical principles: but if the Biblical principles are not dear to you Jews or Gentiles, well don’t worry – you won’t be persecuted and neither will you get to heaven.

Believing in Jesus is not an audible statement of mouthing some religious phrases or the name Jesus!  It is the act of accepting the concepts handed down by God to Abraham, and from Abraham to Moses, and from Moses to Jesus, and from Jesus to us, and is written clearly in both testaments of the Jewish Bible, written by Jewish men, and ratified by the blood of the Jewish Man named Jesus.

A person making the conscious or unconscious decision to try and follow their conscience to do what is right, and make changes in their character, which is repentance, that person believes in God and Jesus.  Whether they know it or not is meaningless to God; whether they accept it or not doesn’t change a thing.  They will still receive the rewards God has waiting for them.

In spite of what Christians tell you!  It is the Christians who have their heads in the sand, not the rest of the world.  They seem to enjoy being deceived and the rest of the world knows it.  In spite of what Christians claim is the art of believing in Jesus, one fact remains landmark proof to the writings in the New Testament.  If you hate your brother, whom you can see, how can you say you love God whom you will never see… …and how will the Christians, who have always persecuted the Jews, explain to the God of Israel, that they hated Jews in the name of Jesus: or anyone else for that matter.

There hasn’t been a single major war on earth, in the last thousand years, that wasn’t started by the Christians!  Explain that one to God on Judgment Day!

The Jews believe in the Old Testament.  The New Testament wasn’t written when Jesus taught the things recorded in the New Testament.  Therefore, the Old Testament was the only Word of God in existence when Jesus taught the people of Israel to believe in the Word of God.

Isn’t Jesus’ name, in the New Testament, the Word of God?  Then logic dictates that if the Jews believe in the Word of God, then they believe in Jesus!  Even if the Jewish people don’t know it or believe it….  I did not come to save the righteous, Jesus said, only the sick need a physician.

People who do not believe in the Word of God are sick!  Even the Apostle James taught, a person claiming to believe in the Word of God says, I have faith; which is not proof of your faith; but your faith is proven by what you do because the Bible dictated you should do it that way!

Clean up your country Gentile Christians and your works will precede you into heaven, but if you don’t, they will sit in judgment of you!  For Jesus taught: the only outward sign to prove the false prophets have been at work in the land, is their followers would be sinful.

American children are disappearing in the U.S., not Israel.  Americans are hateful and rebellious to parents, teachers, and authorities.  Murder is a by-word on the News Broadcasts; dope and alcoholism are rampant in the streets, even amongst children eight years old!  Gangs terrorize citizens and conduct open warfare.

Gentiles need to save yourselves and your own children before they can claim to be Christians, the Jews don’t need your type of help!  Wake-up to the truth, Christians.  Jesus told you this outward sign would prove the false prophets are in control of your country and destroying your families and land by using his churches.

The only thing flourishing because of the false churches is your economy, which gives satan’s son, ‘The Antichrist’, the enormous amounts of revenue they need to hunt down and destroy the children of God.  Repent or something worse will come upon you!  Demand the truth from those preachers who have had your ears for the last thousand years.  Study your Bible to become a person worthy of God’s protection and provision.

Lord knows the Jews haven’t been teaching Americans and Europeans in the churches.  In a land where there is a Gentile Christian Church on almost every corner, crime is prevalent, blood runs in the streets and schools, not to mention the lives and families ruined by dope and alcohol, and the homeless and poor; which do not exist in Israel!  Those are the measuring sticks Jesus gave the world to measure the Temple of God.

The true believers of Christ are the Temple of God!  The men in the pulpits, who have taught you the lies of Rome, are responsible for destroying your heritage, and robbing you of your eternal life.

To be continued…

Here are some of the books, that I am reading or have been influential in my development.  Maybe you can add some of these to your own library.  Maybe you have an opinion on one of them. Let me know!

ESV Study Bible (English Standard Version)

This is simply the best study bible out there for people who want to not only read verses out of the bible, but to understand the message of the bible and articulate that message to other people.  Lots of great tools have been included to help one’s study of the Bible. (When you get the Bible, read St. Mark’s Gospel, Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,  and Ephesians )

Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley

This biography was such an amazing tale of a man who through the force of his convictions educates himself and becomes one of the strongest orators and thought leaders of the 60s.  Even if you disagree with his politics, his story is fascinating.

Martin Luther King Trilogy by Taylor Branch (Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire, and On Canaan’s Edge”

This trilogy I still haven’t finished.  But if you are looking for something on the life and times SURROUNDING Dr. King and the players in that era (e.g. Kennedy, Malcolm X) this is series for you.  The author spent almost 20 years of his life putting the information together and its well worth the read.

Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper

Piper calls for those of us who are Christian to run after God and get out of boring, safe Christianity, and actually run after Jesus.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

If you are trying to pick up some tools to order your life, there are some here.

Desiring God by John Piper

Piper drops this gem. “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”  Please read!

Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams

Mr. Williams spent an inordinate amount of his life tracing the history of the decline of ancient African empires to the modern day neo-colonialism that is Africa’s calling card.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Achebe speaks about a civilization — a way of life — that is killed ironically by “civilization.”  Good book: it gave me perspective.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

I just love anything that Mr. Gladwell writes.  The Tipping Point started the love affair.

21 Indisputable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell

John Maxwell writes this great one on leadership.

Slide-ology – The Art of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte

If you are into making presentations and want to understand the art behind great Powerpoint or Keynote slides, pick this one up for your library.

Vintage Jesus by Marc Driscoll

I haven’t read this one yet, I must confess.  However, I hear it is good for those who want to know about the life of Jesus in highly reader-friendly language.

Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin speaks to the discontent of the Black America in the sixties.  Some of what he writes is still prescient for today and he is at his poetic best in this book.  The Letter of a Birmingham Jail is included.

As usually always complaining about how “great” Tuesday was. Not that it would be so bad that one wouldn’t survive, but still i could imagine something better than a compilation of the worst subject in the whole schedule on the same day. Bravo for those who have made it so!

Monday was nice (though i start to think that it is too long even if it’s full of Finnish, which i keep on worshiping and liking further), but still is tiring to be there the whole day, coming home and then to have to think about “oh shit tomorrow is Tuesday and i haven’t read anything for that idiot seminar of general linguistics.”… indeed a nice way to spend the end of a quite good day. But thank God music exists and while coming home yesterday (in the rain) was listening the loudest i can Puhu äänellä jonka kuulen by Happoradio, that made everything so great. I have this song posted in this entry so if you don’t know the song or just can’t remember you can listen it there.

Ah, and i know 2 dates of my exams: 5th January for British Culture and Civilization and 12th January for Lexicology… yeah you can imagine how much i look forward for the second one.

Tomorrow Fuksiaiset at the Finnish Library… uhh dunno what’s the right word in English, but it’s kind of a meeting/party to welcome those in the first year at the university.

• Tom Petty/Mudcrutch < Lynyrd Skynyrd/Allman Brothers
• Frat Dudes <  Jax Beach Rockabilly dudes
• Less than jake > Yellowcard
• Xenophobic Gainesville Hipsters < Go Nowhere Riverside Hipsters
• No Idea Records > Dead Tank Records
• Hot Water Music/Against Me > Whole Wheat Bread/evergreen terrace
• Paines Prairie = Hanna Park
• Santa Fe College > Florida State College (FCCJ)
• Boca Fiesta < Burritto Gallery
• Kickstand > Zombie Bikes Bike Gang Bike Co-Op
• Gainesville Artwalk < Jacksonville Artwalk
• Wayward Council/ Hyde & Zekes/ Sharpies > Weird Wax/nothing/ nada
•  Lake Newnan < Jax Beach
• Anthem Tattoo < Ink Smith and Rogers
• Purple Mushroom < Glasseye
• RTS > JTA
• Reggae Shack  > Phase 1 Jamaican Products
• 1982 > Jack Rabbits
• O Connel Center < Jacksonville Arena
• Gator Football < Jacksonville Jaguars( Fuck the Gators, they win every fucking game, thats boring)
• Downtown Farmers Market < Beaver Street Farmers Market
• Civic Media Center > The Museum of Southern History
• Balls > Blanding Billards
• Alachua/Newberry/Waldo > Macleney/Fernandina Beach/ Orange Park
• Downtown Gainesville < Downtown Jacksonville
• Gainesville Beer Prices < Jacksonville Beer Prices
• Jammy Dodgers < The Band Aids
• Grabass charlestons < SPP
• Hardback = Milk Bar
• Kickstand (venue) < Doozers Pub
• Backstage Lounge > The Pit (Beach Blvd)
• The Atlantic > The Landshark
• The Venue > Freebird
• Young Livers < The 2416
• Religous As Fuck > Civilization
• Radon = Grabbag
• Asshole Parade > Status Faux
• Anchor Arms < Swirl360
• Assassinate the Scientist > Whaleface
• Whiskey & co. < Honey Chamber
• Chris Wollard < Kevin Lee Newberry
• 2nd Ave   <  College St.
• Gainesville Downtown Library Bums <  Jacksonville Downtown library bums
• Fletchers = Da Dirty Dirty
• Swamp < river
• Mothers < Harpoon Louies
• Video Rodeo > Superstore Video News
• Gator Dawgs > JAG Dawgs
• Leonardos < Moon River
• Obscurist Press = Infintesmal Records
• Southernshedpunk.com > Whacksonville.com
• Stephen Stills < Ricky Medlock
• Oaks Mall < Normandy Mall
• Glory Days Booking = Orange Garden Productions
• Haile Village Market < Riverside Arts Market
• Hogtown Brewery = Bold City Brewery
• Las Margaritas > La Nopalara
• The Fest( corp. sponsered) < Conmoto Trech Fest(imagine if HOH was in downtown jax! !)
• Later Gator bus service > Calling a fucking cab/driving drunk

Asked if everyone should be required to have at least some health insurance, 67 percent agreed and 27 percent said no.

The responses flipped when people were asked about requiring everybody to carry insurance or face a federal penalty: 64 percent said they would be opposed, while 28 percent favored that.

Americans, twenty eight percent of your fellow citizens believe you should go to prison for refusing to carry medical insurance. Who is lobbying for this? More importantly, where is the lynch mob armed with rails, tar, and feathers?