From an old old article in The Atlantic: “The Undertaker’s Racket“: Cemetery salesmen are also prone to confuse fact with fiction to their own advantage in discussing the law. Cemeteries derive a substantial income from the sale of vaults. The vault, a cement enclosure for the casket, is not only a money-maker; it facilitates upkeep … Funerals in America are Expensive and Weird
I don’t know much about Cody but I found him engaging, though I didn’t listen to any of the other parts of his presentation yet. Take note of the social contract as the “big other” theory he brings up. It’s a tool of what C.S. Lewis called “moral busybodies“—bureaucrats, activists, and other state-as-religion believers use … Invasion of the Moral Busybodies
Watch from 11:27 – 15:26. My takeaway is that 1) Enlightenment philosophical ideals aren’t as great as we dress them up to be, and 2) an abstraction (in this case, the state) with people as its primary engine cannot be trusted with the exclusive use of force. Bear in mind that Molyneux is very much … American Government is a Failed Enlightenment Experiment
As promised in a post almost a month ago, I’m happy to report back that I’ve remained flu-free. There were a few days, a few weekends ago, where I thought I was coming down with a bug, but nothing came of it. Sorry, Virus Men. Go pound sand and come back next year.
This is the level of political campaigning and discourse in Pennsylvania: video selfies, genuine or faux (probably the latter). Not that I care much since modern politics is really just like two guys with different tribal banners telling each other they are terrible people. And they’re both right but for the wrong reasons. It is … Katie McGinty’s Video Selfie
Yeah, you can depict things how you like in books or film, particularly animated ones, but the main motivation behind Millennium Actress illustrates a realistic bit of attraction psychology. Chiyoko spends her entire life chasing down a man with whom she spent only about a half a day, whose face she never fully saw, because … Millennium Actress – Full Movie
A few nights ago I Skyped with a good friend of many years who is struggling with severe under- and non-employment. He doesn’t have a steady job but does odd, mostly web-based projects that come along. I’ve been in that dodge, too, earlier in life. Sometimes it springs out of mistakes you’ve made in the … Waiting It Out
I decided to take out the jQuery I mentioned in my last design post and just the plain Okay theme with a few small UI changes in an external CSS file. I installed a plugin that will automatically add the Creative Commons footer to every blog post. I noticed that plenty of colophons on personal … Unnecessary Blog Design Update
I was going to do an original post on this but Wintery Knight did it sooner and better. Quoting J.W. Wartick: The depiction of the multiverse with little-to-no qualification was alarming, for there is much debate over whether there even is such a multiverse, and if there is, to what extent it may be called … Utterly Shocking: First Episode of Cosmos Reboot Contains Unscientific Propositions
I’m a softie for album art explanations; I’ve posts in the hundreds combined on Buzzgrinder and Noisecreep, et al., on album art design and the stories behind them. Former colleague and radio guy (radio-bro? bro-adio? brodio?) Sean Cannon interviewed Damien Jurado for his radio show, and Damien mentioned the cover of Brothers and Sisters of … The Story Behind Damien Jurado’s Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son Album Cover
Well, from what I can cobble together from scattered information online (here’s a good post on it), the word for “to be” or “am” in Japanese is “desu.” Sometimes it is shortened as “des” or “dess.” There is no “th” sound in Japanese, so an “s” sound is used as a substitute when porting loan … The Japanese Word for To Be/Death is Awesone
Political campaign commercials are the worst expression of modern media technology. Wolfy here is playing bigshot by wanting to make gas companies “pay up” by taxing them for drilling in PA, and he’s going to use the revenue to help pay for schools. There’s no such thing as taxing a corporation, because the corporation always … Surprise! A Politician Thinks You’re Stupid
Theatrical wordplay rides the sweep of socialized assumptions but it eventually crashes. I disagree with you not because what you propose is unfashionable (it’s actually very fashionable) or not an ideal (it’s very idyllic), but because it’s a certain non-possibility—not in the theoretical realm, not through a “given set of circumstances,” but literally, existentially, by … Give and Take
Some more advice for bands from Seth: What happens when Facebook determines your tour announcement is not high-quality content? Or that your line of products that you’ll be selling at this weekends market isn’t high-quality content? … Get your fans, the people who LIKED you, onto an email list. Now. Tell your fans on Facebook … Bands Need to Buy a Domain Name
Reading things like this lead me to believe politicians inhabit a completely different universe. Not just a different moral universe, but a literal inverted realm in every way except physically. Hat tip goes to Ed Hurst for this. Emphasis mine: The circumstances of McGovern’s 2011 arrest were marked by stinging irony. McGovern was brutalized and … Freedom Means Dragging and Beating You
I know flu season isn’t over yet, but I still haven’t gotten sick yet, even with two kids who came down with something. Who knows if what I’ve been doing is affecting anything, but here’s a few things that may be contributing to my success. 1. No flu shot! I’m not an anti-vaccine guy but … How I Avoided the Flu This Year
Saw the Lego Movie. Was good, etc. There was a character set up between two of the main protags that I’ve been seeing elsewhere, though I didn’t seem to find it on the TV Tropes site. It’s similar to the Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy trope—or rather, it’s a very specific version of it in bildingsroman … A Trope in The Lego Movie
“9. Say your bands name clearly on stage after the first song and after your last song. Like, actually say it, not just “heywe’resoandsothanksforcomingout…” but in a way that people may remember it. Say it clear. Not too fast. I hear so many bands do that, “we’reblahblahblahthanksofromingout” while the drummer is still tuning his snare.”
1. A libertarian asking for more government is not very libert_rian. If you answer number 1 correctly, the rest should be easy. 2. If you’re a libert_rian, you don’t make a case for mandatory GMO labeling of food products. 3. If you’re a libert_rian, you don’t make a case for the state recognition of gay … A Libert_rian Fill In The Blank Quiz
Taken by my daughter, Elena, on her Nabi tablet.
Ceteris paribus, the greater the supply the cheaper the cost, which can sometimes translate to a lesser value. Blog posts are easy to produce, and can thus be of less value. Facebook status updates and Twitter posts even more so; how many of those do you remember reading from yesterday? Or the last hour? I … Blog Posts and Print Books Come and Go, But Content Lasts Forever
Not tied by necessity to my previous posts on the Hambone vs. Nye-larhotep debate, but wouldn’t a debate be more productive if it placed a burden of proof on one side and not on both sides? I don’t know if the Nye/Ham debate was presented in this context and I don’t know anything about proper … What Should Debates Be?
See previous Nye/Ham post. Thinking on evolution different belief systems, I recall deciding (very tentatively) on “biblical evolution,” which is the theory of the existence of old earth and both micro- and macroevolution, but that humans were in some form (rimshot) directly created by God. In other words, it’s God-guided evolution, or standard-issue evolution with … Addendum To Evolution Debate Post
The Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham debate that happened was followed by a lot of build up and release by the likes of Time and NPR. I didn’t watch because science—evolution particularly—doesn’t interest me that much, and because Bill Nye isn’t an expert in evolutionary biology, while Ham has some credentials as a bachelor degree … Bill Nye and Ken Ham Debate About Weird Organisms That Died A Long Time Ago
This was the sermon last Sunday at my church. I liked it because it didn’t propose any particular eschatological theory; I don’t hold strongly to any of them and I don’t find it too pressing to decide. I do think, though, that some theories—dispensationalism, particularly—are more influenced by Western-styled, secular philosophical movements (i.e., positivism) than … A Sermon on Revelations
Decided to deploy a new WordPress template: Typo from Okay Themes. I was angling for a minimal one column layout and this is closest to what I wanted. I didn’t want to hack away too much at a an existing theme like I had in the past. Read on for more techy UI details. Otherwise, … New Blog Template Is A Go. You May Rest Easy.
Is to, paradoxically, stop making so many rules.
BabyMetal’s “いいね！- Iine!” (which I believe translates to “Sounds good!”) is probably the only underage jpop-idol metal song with a hip-hop break ever in existence. I could be wrong.
From an old old article, but I came across this line from the newest (?) director of the MET, Thomas Campbell: In an age of instant media and visual overload, there is something profoundly nourishing to the human soul when you come face-to-face with an object, whether it is the product of a lifetime of … A Stupid Quote From A Semi-Important Person
Wise words from C.S. Lewis, for those of us who use “amazing” or “absolutely” x to describe something as impactful as a new casserole recipe. From The Collected Letters of…: Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say ‘infinitely’ when you mean ‘very’; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to … Stop Using “Amazing” To Describe Your New Haircut
Interesting post over at the Freeman blog, touching on how fictional dystopias are formed: Second, let’s say that we are indeed right now living in a capitalist dystopia, yet, for the vast majority of us, it really doesn’t look or feel much like the dismal world of Blade Runner or Elysium. If the hyper-capitalist world … On How Dystopias Are Formed
This is part four of a five-part series, but to me this is the most important/”useful” part. Someone in the comments section mentioned that this is how all currencies are created. I don’t how much truth there is to that but since all fiat currencies need a government behind them to declare “by fiat” that … How American Currency Is Created
No Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabars This recipe is totally cribbed from My Whole Food Life but I thought I would repeat it here. Since Larabars don’t put anything goofy in their stuff, replicating them at home is easy to do. Like the Primal Energy Bites recipe I posted a while back, these are … An Atheist Abortion Doctor Read Matt Walsh’s Blog. What He Does The Next Day At The Office Will Completely Blow You Away.
Wintery Knight posted a while back (a while back on the scale of Internet time) about a response to the argument about God’s “hiddenness”—i.e., the phenomenon that God’s existence isn’t more plainly known to everyone in the same way that other, less important things, are apparent. [Michael Murray] argues that if God reveals himself too … Michael Murray’s Response to the “Hiddenness of God” Argument Is Eh
At first I thought that this declaration was due to journalistic bravado, since no academic would ever propose that one narrow study would be so broadly definitive. But then there’s this: After analysing 800 novels available to download at Project Gutenberg Yejin Choi, an assistant professor at Stony Brook University, claims she can predict literary … Math Can Determine Good Books
1. Don’t hurt people. 2. Don’t take/break/use people’s stuff without permission. Does a society really need many more damned laws?
Here’s my plan: Made with draw.io.
She doesn’t mince words, nor waste them. Economy of language is her greatest strength. She actually wanted me to edit these—I did, but not too much since I didn’t want to destroy her voice for the sake of making perfect “adult” sense. Nor did I want to mar the “sheen” of the stories. What it’s … My Daughter’s Stories Are the Essence of Quick Escalation
Taking a break from the blogging break to post this. I’m reading through Orson Scott Card’s Ender quintet series, currently on Speaker for the Dead (read for free here). Here’s a quote from one of the characters, who gives away the secret weapon (heh) of governments. “My beloved father, this has always been the way … Orson Scott Card Lets a Secret Out
I’m taking December off of my rigorous blogging schedule of maybe posting once or twice a week to finish the first and second drafts of Retardo Montalbán*. It’s verboten form for writers and bloggers to explicitly state things like this, but I’m neither so I don’t recognize those social constraints. There will be one small … Taking A Month Off
This is a redo of my previous post, “The ‘Accumulative Past’ Argument Against God’s Existence”. After some discussion on Facebook I decided to change it up. I thought #1 was a weak premise, even for a skeptic, seeing as time as we know it is an abstraction by itself, and if it’s applied to a … The “Accumulative Existence” Argument Against God’s Existence
Most Christians are too scaredy-cat—skeptics, too dull-witted—to really step into the thinking process of someone different. I, on the other hand, can spend inordinate effort doing so. This argument is very weak because it’s just a framework. A more realer philosopher-guy needs to put some meat on the steps. Additionally, this can only work for … The “Accumulative Past” Argument Against God’s Existence
Not a bad question from an audience skeptic, and a very good response, but it really takes a moment’s thought to realize a ballpark answer. It should be common sense that people of a certain time and place are going to think and act at least a little different (i.e., different than you). The gospels … Why Jesus Didn’t Offer Scientific Proof
Here’s a certain kind of fallacy I’ve noticed that is a specific form of the appeal to consequences fallacy, where one person leverages a premise’s favorable or unfavorable state of affairs to a certain conclusion. The current affluence fallacy appeals to a person’s present sensibilities and comfort levels to imply that a different situation would … The Appeal to Current Affluence Fallacy
I wonder why I’ve never heard about this until now. The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge is offered by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), which says it will pay out one million U.S. dollars to anyone who can demonstrate a supernatural or paranormal ability under agreed-upon scientific testing criteria. I was actually getting ready … The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge
Despite the mild blowback on beards I’ve noticed recently, I formed one. Thus sayeth Clement of Alexandria: How womanly it is for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, and to arrange his hair at the mirror, shave his cheeks, pluck hairs … I Growed a Beard
I’m not a super-theology buff so don’t yell at me for being a Piper or Wright fanboy. I have seen some N.T. Wright videos and liked them. I have seen some John Piper tweets and liked them. That’s about it. As with some Hitler Reacts videos, it’s hard to really determine who is meant to … Hitler on John Piper and N.T. Wright
A Facebook friend linked to these recently. Most of them are satirical strawman proofs; no need to take them seriously, but some do point out actual weak arguments. There’s too many good ones to point out, but check out one of the Carl Sagan Dragon arguments, number 90: CARL SAGAN’S DRAGON IN MY GARAGE ARGUMENT … Thomism.org’s Proofs Against Theism
Back when mises.org had the forums, someone posed an hypothetical situation (ugh) of a “uncoerced exchange” between a young boy and a group of pedophiles. The boy has no means of acquiring resources somehow, so he exchanges sex with the group of pedophiles for food and shelter, etc. The idea with this situation is that … The “Roving Hordes of Heartless Pedophiles” Fallacy
Intense online debates tend to go only one way. Some hapless dude makes a claim that is more or less self-evidently true, and a high-minded scientismist-debutante asks for “EVIDENCE??”. That’s really not the only way but many debates can follow this simple framework. The implication with this triple-syllabled rejoinder is that a failure to produce … Stop Asking For Evidence
I heard this sentence on last night’s episode of The Walking Dead: “If you weren’t in here already, you’d be here.” It was spoken to a doctor who had gotten sick and was being quarantined with a load of other non-doctor patients. It was meant to show the speaker’s (Herschel’s) regard for the sick doctor’s … Weird Language on The Walking Dead
Via Aeon Skbole’s Facebook, witness the double-surrealism of this video explaining Plato’s Cave analogy of human knowledge narrated by Orson Welles. I know him most as the voice of Unicron because that’s what I grew up with, but that he was the broadcast voice of the fake alien attack that people took seriously yields some … Orson Welles Narrating Plato’s “Parable of the Cave”
This was a neat exercise, mapping my employment history and assigning levels of happiness to them. I used the word “nurp” as a unit of happiness, a play off of Alvin Plantinga’s “turp” as a theoretical unit of evil. THe ratings I gave each position were based on pay (duh), the actual work itself and … Personal Employment History and Happiness
The dialogue in my current work in progress uses three languages: English (most of it), German (here and there), and Franco-Arabic (it is what you probably think it is). I was under the impression from previous reading that some or many foreign words that were actual foreign language words and not common loanwords (i.e., “taco”) … Italicizing Foreign Words in Fiction
Old, old news by now, but there’s another guy claiming Jesus was invented by Rome in order to appeal to the occupied Jewish population, and he has suspiciously non-peer-reviewed evidence to prove it. That a nation would go to such great lengths and expense to play pattycake-nice with (or a joke on) people who where … Jesus Was Invented By Rome, Why Not?
This came up on a randomized Youtube playlist I was streaming on cred.fm, and it reminded me of how much I liked the lyrics. There’s not a whole lot there, and I get that the music isn’t the first choice of everyone who reads my posts, but it encapsulates the view the church should have … Desire the End
Via Metalsucks here. A specialty burger at Kuma’s Corner has a communion wafer as a garnish. A Catholic foodie blogger (ugh) reacted negatively. From the Director of Operations at Kuma’s: “People have been kind of upset,” he said. “The thing with this is, the communion wafer is unconsecrated, so until that happens, it’s really just … Food Chain Makes Jesus Wafer Burger, Some People are Allegedly Pissed
Old page (a decade old!), but it does a good job of laying out some bare historical facts and estimates on the background of the “creeping death” plague from Exodus: As in many of the skeptical questions I get, the conclusion they end up with is often correct in some basic sense (i.e., ‘we should … Why God Killed All Those Egyptian Babies
The guy who started the self-parodying and extensive av1611.org, the website that documents Ruckman’s dislike for just about everything you can think of, for the flimsiest of reasons. But he also seems to have inside info about aliens and the American government* as well. It’s comforting, in a way, when someone is demonstrably crazy all … Peter Ruckman Really Is Crazy
I had a longer post but I watched the last video down below and it seemed to hit on a lot points of explanation. It also does a good job of putting to rest a lot of “Hey, why would they do that? That’s stupid,” kind of criticisms. Lifehack tip for people that watch movies: … Prometheus Analysis
American twenty-something males shoot each other over Nikes and women. Russian twenty-something males shoot each other over philosophy: [T]wo men in their 20s were discussing Kant as they stood in line to buy beer at a small store on Sunday. The discussion deteriorated into a fistfight and one participant pulled out a small nonlethal pistol … In Russia, Pure Reason Critiques YOU!
Kind of a throwaway post, but in the last few days I made everything darker here at jd.com. The development environment I use at work is by default a white background and customizing the colors is hellish, so I leave it as is. I generally don’t like staring directly into flashlights so I thought I’d … Once You Go Dark…
Rick Sebak narrated a PBS documentary on the history of amusement parks (Youtube playlist here). He mentioned baby incubators at Luna Park in Pittsburgh at the turn of the century, but it was also at the Luna Park at Coney Island. It comes off as unseeming to put babies and nurses on display for the … Baby Incubators in Amusement Parks
From left to right. Just throwing it out there. Found here.
One of the dumbest comments I’ve seen goes to this one, on an article about some schmuck brain surgeon who killed people. See bolded part: There is no regulation in Texas of ANY kind. Regulation in Texas only exists to protect the businesses and individuals from the consequences of their actions, just like this so … “There is no X, except there is X.”
…IS A GO. Watch this. It’s a brief overview of the leading alternate human history theory, going from Atlantis to the Greeks to Jesus to the Illuminati. Basically anything you hear on Coast to Coast AM. It’s standard fare in that regard. There’s actual logical progression of events, not a mishmash of crazy, and the … SYNTHETIC CHRIST-CONSCIOUSNESS GRID…
Old old old news, but a few weeks ago I came across the uncensored version of P.O.D.’s “I Am” track from their Testify album. Given the explicit (heh) Christian content of the song it certainly makes the swear more noticeable. Honestly, it’s from the point of view of not-Sonny, so it’s not out of context … Sonny from P.O.D. Dropped F-Bombs in Song, No One Is Hurt Yet
Experience the horror of this very crudely paraphrased argument I had with someone on the IMDB message boards. I searched my darndest to find the original but it’s been lost in the black hole of Internet history, possibly for the sake of its participants’ sanity. When you are raised in a philosophical climate—the techno-Enlightened West—that … Having Your Head in the Scientific Sand
Zach Braff doesn’t always tweet about penises: RT @UberFacts There are almost 5,000 gods being worshipped by humanity." But don't worry… only yours is right. — Zach Braff (@zachbraff) October 7, 2012 I get it. The implication with this statistic is that all religious belief systems can’t all be right, but that declaring them all … Zach Braff Is Kind of a Knucklehead
Hemingway’s mom, Grace Hall Hemingway, was a little off: Ernest had four sisters but always wanted a brother, vocally expressing his discontent at the births of his two sibling sisters. In his very early childhood his mother, as was not totally uncommon, dressed Ernest in frilly girls clothes and paraded him and his elder sister, … Ernest Hemingway: Crossdresser
A pastor I follow online posted a quick rebuttal of a boilerplate criticism of theistic belief. In his blog is mainly concerned with theistic belief qua theistic belief, not as interpreted via Western modes of reasoning, though this post shows his strong grip on formal logic. To wit: Smart-aleck atheist wannabe asks, “Do you believe … What God Can Do and Can’t Do
Concerning your methods of courting the muses. INTERVIEWER I’m curious to know how material from the “real world” comes to be incorporated into the rather enclosed spaces of books such as High-Rise, Crash, or Concrete Island? BALLARD Well, before starting Crash, for example, in 1969, I staged an exhibition of crashed cars at the New … J.G. Ballard, We Gotta Have A Little Talk
There’s no reason for me to post this other than I thought that this was one of the better modern movie endings I’ve seen. I didn’t see this in theaters but I imagine this scene was quite the spectacle, especially in IMAX theaters. The score certainly helps. It’s obvious that Branagh, et al, proposes the … Thor (2011) Credits Sequence
An wonderfully-written excerpt from Ballard’s Super-Cannes. Content warning: We were married within three months. I was still on my crutches, but Jane wore an extravagantly ruched silk dress that seemed to inflate during the ceremony, filling the register office like the trumpet of a vast amaryllis. She smoked pot at the reception held at the … “We were married within three months.”
Some decent thoughts here, with requisite spoiler warnings if you haven’t seen the entire film. The film is, however, must-see for science-fiction or technology/futurist enthusiasts, as long as you’ve already gotten past the “animation is for kids” reservation that you may have. If you haven’t yet, please do get past that assumption before watching it … Video: Ghost in the Shell vs. The Matrix Analysis
From Chapter 3 of Lost Horizon: He was also interested in the mountain beyond the valley; it was a sensational peak, by any standards, and he was surprised that some traveler had not made much of it in the kind of book that a journey in Tibet invariably elicits. He climbed it in mind as … Monasticism and Trigonometry
The first interview I did for Noisecreep was with David from For Today. We were in the room were the touring bands kept all of their gear went they weren’t playing their sets—basically the closest thing to backstage there can be at a venue with a capacity of only a few hundred people. In the … It’s Okay, I Didn’t Want To Interview Your Band Anyway
An overlooked film from 1987, about an alternate history space program. It comes off, to me, as a precursor to Contact but without the latter’s stupid heavy-handedness of the conflict thesis binary. Science and religious elements play hard in the story but their treatment is far from Hollywood’s childishness. Like Magentic Rose, the mechanical designs … Free Movie Time: Wings of Honneamise
Those of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook might know I took up a project to summarize all 66 books of the Bible, roughly one book per day. I recently finished all the books and I thought it would be best to publish them all in one grand blog post. A tweet-dump motherlode … Bible Book Summaries: The Criterion Collection
Below is a comment I posted on a blog post written by a Facebook friend of mine, Jason (from Becoming the Archetype—a reference point for those of you who are familiar). The post was a response to a video titled “My Question For Theists,” which I haven’t watched yet—my comments were general and more in … Religion and Science Blah Blah Blah
He says we’re just too stupid for aliens to bother. Too stupid, except for probably him, his fans, his publishing agent, the colleagues still in his good favors, etc. The idea gets some traction because he’s being half-humorous and it plays well with the scientism crowd as a safe criticism. It’s not aimed in a … Neil Degrasse Tyson Trolls the Human Race
The nicely-done Your Logical Fallacy Is commits an unfortunate logical fallacy: Here are some reasons you might want to order one of these pretty great posters: … 2. To put up in your kids’ bedroom so that they get all clever and whatnot, and are able to tell the difference between real news and faux … Website About Logical Fallacies Pretty Much Commits Logical Fallacy
From Chapter 10 of Gulliver’s Travels: No man could more verify the truth of these two maxims, “That nature is very easily satisfied;” and, “That necessity is the mother of invention.” I enjoyed perfect health of body, and tranquility of mind; I did not feel the treachery or inconstancy of a friend, nor the injuries … Gulliver on the Good Life
Useful physical objects: not known to just disappear. I doubt the collapse of nations occur as they do in movies. Things would more likely end gradually, with a quiet, undramatic whimper (sorry, doomsday preppers, and people who think The Purge is realistic). This holds true if the collapse occurs via the government’s own hand—enterprise-wide, self-inflicted … Not Your Parents’ Government Collapse
After raiding the newfound Language Log’s archive for a few minutes, I found this post, on the increasing usage of the “We are all x now” snowclone. Quoting from a Jeffrey Kluger article in Time: “This increasingly common trope has an easy, fill-in-the-blank quality to it that allows us to affect a bit of purloined … We Are All Something Agreeable Now
Most of these recommendations come with the territory of “living in a society flush with books.” They are a given, yet I want to assume that, if you want to write a fiction novel, you are out-of-this-world stupid and in need of guidance. The links are to free copies online where available, otherwise it’s an … Read These 50 Books Before You Write Your First Fiction Novel
A bit late in mentioning this, but Tom Woods addressed Slate’s “unanswerable” question to libertarians nicely here (with some follow up here and here). An introductory quote is below. The scattery Stefan Molyneux also provided a decent video answer here. If I can offer an uneducated answer: the reason nations don’t “do” libertarianism is because … An Unanswerable Question Rebuffed
Via Media Bistro, an infographic (.pdf, ugh) on how high school reading lists have changed over time. The immediate conclusion is that kids aren’t as easily attentive to words on a page as they are to whatever shiny device is eating their free time up like so many Pringles, so they aren’t able to process … What High Schoolers Read Now
I got rid of the annoying Google ad in the sidebar, for no other reason that I just didn’t like the aesthetics of it. I was actually starting to make some money off of it but it would be another few decades until I would see some return from it. In its stead I replaced … A Blog Design Update of Some Interest
I rewatched this movie last night on the Crunchyroll channel, but it’s also on Youtube for free in its entirety (see above), in decent quality. It’s worth watching, even if anime isn’t your thing, because it has the sense of a semi-sci-fi movie from a Western producer…but animated. It helps to think of it as … Movie: The Place Promised In Our Early Days
Related to one of my recent posts about art inside the church, I came across this gem posted in a Facebook group. While not really single-church related it bears out the attitude of gatekeeper Christians needing to sanitize expression. Here we have Vengeance Rising’s Destruction Comes, released in 1991, with the cover as it should … Vengeance Rising’s De-Awesomed Artwork
It was the day of all days. I planned on finally exerting some of my blossoming masculinity on the two callow lads that were a year my minor. I was picturing how awesome I looked in my “confidence headband” when I slipped on that damned log and fell. They ran away, but I found a … A Short Excerpt of the Internal Dialogue of a Young Video Game Hero
Consider the first two paragraphs of this post, “How to Discourage Artists in the Church” from The Gospel Coalition: Many Christian artists live between two strange worlds. Their faith in Christ seems odd to many of their friends in the artistic community—almost as odd as their calling as artists seems to some of their friends … Why Your Pastor Thinks Your Painting Is Stupid
From a NYT article on the decline of certain word usage in literature: I’d like to tell a story about the last half-century, based on studies done with this search engine. The first element in this story is rising individualism. A study by Jean M. Twenge, W. Keith Campbell and Brittany Gentile found that between … Those Words Do Not Mean What You Think They Mean
Consistently hit-or-miss James Altucher‘s new book, upon first release, will only be bought with Bitcoins, the currency of choice of libertarian doofs everywhere. It’s supposedly the first of its kind to do that. Many people who self-publish right now are simply uploading their files and hoping for the best. I am self-publishing as if I … James Altucher Wants Your Bits
I’m posting a Twitter-sized summaries of each book of the Bible on my Twitter (and Facebook, too), one a day, in order. Right now I’m on Deuteronomy, but eventually all 66 books will be drained of meaning summarized. When I’m done I’ll post all the Tweets for any one-stop Bible study pleasures that need to … I’m Hacking Away at the Bible to Meet All Your Short Attention Span Needs
She chattered on with the appropriate disposition of a teenager displaced onto another world. This time she had to convince him that people on her planet dressed up like he does, just for fun, and got together in conspicuous groups to ogle one another. He ignored her as best he could when trying to vibe … Story: Luck Intensification Program
I started reading the series in the late eighties, right in the midst of that pre-pubescent sweet spot where one instantly relates to fictional character one’s own age. Garion, the main protagonist of both of Eddings’ series, was about my age around when I was reading the first few books, so my identification with his … Book Series Review: The Belgariad and The Malloreon
Came across this one-two gem between Lewis and Tolkein, on Christianity Today: “Why C.S. Lewis Was Wrong on Marriage (and J.R.R. Tolkien Was Right).” And while it’s technically about divorce (their generation’s “gay marriage,” if you will), it still has similar applications. That CT sided with Tolkein is no shocker—just look at the post title. … C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkienn on Gay Marriage
I wanted to try one of these because I’m usually not super hungry in the morning and it was more convenient than making something the night before (or the morning of). AMRAP bars are fairly new to the market and the ingredient list was attractive. It’s very dense but chewy, not crumbly or crunchy. At … I’m Not a Foodie Food Review: AMRAP Bar