LILEKS on the election:
"I admit. I have a fantasy. Kerry wins. He's having a summit with Tony Blair. In the middle of the conversation, Chirac calls up; Kerry excuses himself and has a brief chat about a new resolution to let French oil companies bid on reconstruction projects, and they have an amiable conversation in French. Kerry hangs up.
'Your predecessor,' Blair says, 'spoke to him in English.'
'I know,' says President Kerry. 'He couldn't speak French.'
'He didn't have to,' Blair notes. He gives a tight smile. And sighs. And gets down to explaining what now must be done."
"I admit. I have a fantasy. Kerry wins. He's having a summit with Tony Blair. In the middle of the conversation, Chirac calls up; Kerry excuses himself and has a brief chat about a new resolution to let French oil companies bid on reconstruction projects, and they have an amiable conversation in French. Kerry hangs up.
'Your predecessor,' Blair says, 'spoke to him in English.'
'I know,' says President Kerry. 'He couldn't speak French.'
'He didn't have to,' Blair notes. He gives a tight smile. And sighs. And gets down to explaining what now must be done."
After my husband's "divinity school" mailed him an invitation to attend the Call To Action 2004 Conference, I decided to see what they're up to these days. I was pleased to see that they are reaching out to the "next generation" of young people, who they define as 18-42. 42? First of all, what's wrong with 43? And does anyone consider a 42-year-old YOUNG? They really must all be senior citizens at this conference.
MSNBC - Jamie Foxx channels a legend - Jamie Foxx has given outstanding performances in both Any Given Sunday and Collateral. Bully for him.
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN CONTRACEPTION AND ABORTION: "Although some in the pro-life movement occasionally speak out against the contraceptives that are abortifacients, most generally steer clear of the issue of contraception.
This seems to me to be a mistake. I think that we will not make good progress in creating a society where all new life can be safe, where we truly display a respect for life, where abortion is a terrible memory rather than a terrible reality, until we see that there are many significant links between contraception and abortion, and that we bravely speak this truth. We need to realize that a society in which contraceptives are widely used is going to have a very difficult time keeping free of abortions since the lifestyles and attitudes that contraception fosters, create an alleged "need" for abortion.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the US Supreme Court decision that confirmed Roe v. Wade [U.S. decision to permit abortions] stated "in some critical respects, abortion is of the same character as the decision to use contraception ... for two decades of economic and social developments, people have organized intimate relationships and made choices that define their views of themselves and their places in society, in reliance on the availability of abortion in the event that contraception should fail".
The Supreme Court decision has made completely
unnecessary, any efforts to "expose" what is really behind the attachment of the modern age to abortion. As the Supreme Court candidly states, we need abortion so that we can continue our contraceptive lifestyles. It is not because contraceptives are ineffective that a million and a half women a year seek abortions as back-ups to failed contraceptives. The "intimate relationships" facilitated by contraceptives are what make abortions “necessary”. “Intimate” here is a euphemism and a misleading one at that. Here the word “intimate” means “sexual”; it does not mean “loving and close”. Abortion is most often the result of sexual relationships in which there is no room for a baby, the natural consequence of sexual intercourse.
To support the argument that more responsible use of contraceptives would reduce the number of abortions, some note that most abortions are performed for “contraceptive purposes”. That is, few abortions are had because a woman has been a victim of rape or incest or because a pregnancy would endanger her life, or because she expects to have a handicapped or deformed newborn. Rather, most abortions are had because men and women who do not want a baby are having sexual intercourse and facing pregnancies they did not plan for and do not want. Because their contraceptive failed, or because they failed to use a contraceptive, they then resort to abortion as a back up. Many believe that if we could convince men and women to use contraceptives responsibly, we would reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, and thus the number of abortions. Thirty years ago this position might have had some plausibility, but not now. We have lived for about thirty years with a culture permeated with contraceptive use and abortion; no longer can we think that greater access to contraception will reduce the number of abortions. Rather, wherever contraception is more readily available, the number of unwanted pregnancies and the number of abortions increase greatly.
The connection between contraception and abortion is primarily this: contraception facilitates the kind of relationships and even the kind of attitudes and moral characters that are likely to lead to abortion. The contraceptive mentality treats sexual relationship as a burden. The sexual revolution has no fondness - no room for - the connection between sexual intercourse and babies. The sexual revolution simply was not possibly until fairly reliable contraceptives were available."
This seems to me to be a mistake. I think that we will not make good progress in creating a society where all new life can be safe, where we truly display a respect for life, where abortion is a terrible memory rather than a terrible reality, until we see that there are many significant links between contraception and abortion, and that we bravely speak this truth. We need to realize that a society in which contraceptives are widely used is going to have a very difficult time keeping free of abortions since the lifestyles and attitudes that contraception fosters, create an alleged "need" for abortion.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the US Supreme Court decision that confirmed Roe v. Wade [U.S. decision to permit abortions] stated "in some critical respects, abortion is of the same character as the decision to use contraception ... for two decades of economic and social developments, people have organized intimate relationships and made choices that define their views of themselves and their places in society, in reliance on the availability of abortion in the event that contraception should fail".
The Supreme Court decision has made completely
unnecessary, any efforts to "expose" what is really behind the attachment of the modern age to abortion. As the Supreme Court candidly states, we need abortion so that we can continue our contraceptive lifestyles. It is not because contraceptives are ineffective that a million and a half women a year seek abortions as back-ups to failed contraceptives. The "intimate relationships" facilitated by contraceptives are what make abortions “necessary”. “Intimate” here is a euphemism and a misleading one at that. Here the word “intimate” means “sexual”; it does not mean “loving and close”. Abortion is most often the result of sexual relationships in which there is no room for a baby, the natural consequence of sexual intercourse.
To support the argument that more responsible use of contraceptives would reduce the number of abortions, some note that most abortions are performed for “contraceptive purposes”. That is, few abortions are had because a woman has been a victim of rape or incest or because a pregnancy would endanger her life, or because she expects to have a handicapped or deformed newborn. Rather, most abortions are had because men and women who do not want a baby are having sexual intercourse and facing pregnancies they did not plan for and do not want. Because their contraceptive failed, or because they failed to use a contraceptive, they then resort to abortion as a back up. Many believe that if we could convince men and women to use contraceptives responsibly, we would reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, and thus the number of abortions. Thirty years ago this position might have had some plausibility, but not now. We have lived for about thirty years with a culture permeated with contraceptive use and abortion; no longer can we think that greater access to contraception will reduce the number of abortions. Rather, wherever contraception is more readily available, the number of unwanted pregnancies and the number of abortions increase greatly.
The connection between contraception and abortion is primarily this: contraception facilitates the kind of relationships and even the kind of attitudes and moral characters that are likely to lead to abortion. The contraceptive mentality treats sexual relationship as a burden. The sexual revolution has no fondness - no room for - the connection between sexual intercourse and babies. The sexual revolution simply was not possibly until fairly reliable contraceptives were available."
Conversation with my mom, Thursday night -
Mom: "Robert's watching the game."(He's her husband.)
Zorak: "What game? Football?"
Sports are stupid. Thank you, God, for sending me one of the few men in the world that does not have a compulsion to watch other men throw balls at each other while wearing matching outfits.
Zorak: "What game? Football?"
Sports are stupid. Thank you, God, for sending me one of the few men in the world that does not have a compulsion to watch other men throw balls at each other while wearing matching outfits.
Female soldiers eyed for combat - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - October 22, 2004: "The Army is negotiating with civilian leaders about eliminating a women-in-combat ban so it can place mixed-sex support companies within warfighting units, starting with a division going to Iraq in January. "
She is too much.
Ann Coulter: Inmates 'have a plan' to run the asylum: "Among his other pointless carping about the war in Iraq, Kerry keeps claiming the military is overextended. His supporters claim Bush has a secret plan to bring back the draft. Whatever happened to all those gays who wanted to join the military? We haven't heard a peep out of them lately. How about rounding up a 'Coalition of the Fabulous,' Sen. Kerry? And what does his good pal Mary Cheney tell him about that? "
The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Political Points: The Debates' Greatest Hits: "Too Much Information Prize: Mr. Kerry and his campaign, for indignantly disputing Mr. Bush's assertion that he had passed only five bills in his Senate career. 'Once again, the president is misleading America,' he said. 'I have passed 56 individual bills that I have personally written.'
His press office followed up with a list of the 56 legislative achievements, none of which brought to mind Daniel Webster. Among the highlights:
A 'joint resolution designating Oct. 22 through 28, 1989, as 'World Population Awareness Week' ''; a 'resolution amending the Standing Rules of the Senate to change the name of the Committee on Small Business to the 'Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship'; a 'bill to re-designate the federal building located at 380 Trapelo Road in Waltham, Mass., as the 'Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center,' ' and, lest we forget, 'a resolution to recognize the accomplishments of Lewis A. Shattuck.'"
Via Dawn Eden.
His press office followed up with a list of the 56 legislative achievements, none of which brought to mind Daniel Webster. Among the highlights:
A 'joint resolution designating Oct. 22 through 28, 1989, as 'World Population Awareness Week' ''; a 'resolution amending the Standing Rules of the Senate to change the name of the Committee on Small Business to the 'Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship'; a 'bill to re-designate the federal building located at 380 Trapelo Road in Waltham, Mass., as the 'Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center,' ' and, lest we forget, 'a resolution to recognize the accomplishments of Lewis A. Shattuck.'"
Via Dawn Eden.
Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results From the 2001-2002 Private School Universe Survey: "This report on the 2001-2002 Private School Universe presents data on private schools in the United States with grades kindergarten through twelve by selected characteristics such as school size, school level, religious orientation, association membership, geographic region, community type, and program emphasis. The number of teachers and students are reported by the same categories and the number of students is reported by grade level."
CNS STORY: Vatican denies it responded to lawyer seeking Kerry's excommunication
Oh good. It's another soap opera instead of a teaching opportunity.
Oh good. It's another soap opera instead of a teaching opportunity.
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Debate, Declaim, Debacle: "When I'm president, our country is going to marry a really rich country, which will pay for everything. "
Pope Marks 26th Anniversary, Confounds Soothsayers: "In 1994 the magazine of a leading U.S. newspaper ran a cover story on his decline and named six possible successors. Only two are still in the running. The others have either died, resigned or turned 80 -- the cut-off age after which a cardinal cannot enter a conclave."
Yahoo! News - Dali-Disney Collaboration Premieres - Well, both Salvador Dali and the Walt Disney Company have a special affiliation for sodomy.
O Frabjous Day! Calloo, Callay!
After days of driving to grocery stores all around Northern Virginia at all hours with no relief, I FINALLY GOT A FLU SHOT! Baby Pele is very happy that we are not going to get sick.
I had to wait for 4 hours in line just to get a number, then another 2 hours to get the actual shot. During this time I finished Thomas Sowell's EXCELLENT book Vision of the Anointed and began Chesterton's Heretics.
Some people are amazingly oblivious. While they were actually giving the shots, all the people who had numbers were waiting in line (100 people). Yet people would come into the store, walk past ALL of the people waiting in line, come up to the nurse and say, "I'd like to get a flu shot." Um, maybe you've seen on TV that THERE'S A SHORTAGE? Maybe you saw 100 people in line before you, all of whom have NUMBERS that they got because they waited in line overnight? HELLO? I wonder how these people dress themselves. I really, really do.
I had to wait for 4 hours in line just to get a number, then another 2 hours to get the actual shot. During this time I finished Thomas Sowell's EXCELLENT book Vision of the Anointed and began Chesterton's Heretics.
Some people are amazingly oblivious. While they were actually giving the shots, all the people who had numbers were waiting in line (100 people). Yet people would come into the store, walk past ALL of the people waiting in line, come up to the nurse and say, "I'd like to get a flu shot." Um, maybe you've seen on TV that THERE'S A SHORTAGE? Maybe you saw 100 people in line before you, all of whom have NUMBERS that they got because they waited in line overnight? HELLO? I wonder how these people dress themselves. I really, really do.
Dave Barry: Centuries later, women still baffle men: "According to this article, when a male fruit fly wants to have sex with a female fruit fly, he goes through a series of specific steps, the first one being to pound down approximately eight martinis.
No, wait, that's what a human guy would do if he were going to attempt to mate with a female who had six legs and 17,000 eyeballs, which trust me is not out of the question for some guys, and you know who you are. What male fruit flies do is engage in a courtship ritual that includes, according to the Reuters article, 'tapping the female, extending and vibrating a wing and singing.' (The article doesn't say what they sing, but I assume it's 'Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe,' by the late Barry White)."
No, wait, that's what a human guy would do if he were going to attempt to mate with a female who had six legs and 17,000 eyeballs, which trust me is not out of the question for some guys, and you know who you are. What male fruit flies do is engage in a courtship ritual that includes, according to the Reuters article, 'tapping the female, extending and vibrating a wing and singing.' (The article doesn't say what they sing, but I assume it's 'Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe,' by the late Barry White)."
Cosby delivers tough talk to Richmond's black teens - The Washington Times: Metropolitan - October 12, 2004: "Study. That's all. It's not tough. You're not picking cotton. You're not picking up the trash. You're not washing windows. You sit down. You read. You develop your brain."
Today O.O. felt the baby kick for the first time. This was a challenge because the baby has made a practice of seeming to hide as soon as O.O. gets his hand on my belly, then start kicking again when O.O. gives up. I have nicknamed the baby Pelé due to his/her love of kicking.
Another clearly false quiz ...
You are glucose. People feed off of you. You are sweet, caring, and a source of energy for everyone around you. You can inspire others with your creativity and depth, and you can keep people alive when in times of famine. People love you...or at least the way you taste.
Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Awesomeness
Here are two examples of awesomeness to brighten your day.
First: At the 5:30 pm Sunday mass at St. Leo's, Fr. Jerry Wooton gave a short and direct homily against voting for pro-choice politicians and those who support embryonic stem-cell research. He reminded us that abortion really means 1.5 million murders a year, and asked what policy or set of policies could possibly balance that out. He noted that abortion is always a moral evil, while capital punishment and war can, depending on the circumstances, be either morally neutral or morally necessary. He pointed out that the Nazis, at the height of their bloodthirstiness, killed 800,000 people per year. He concluded this section of the homily by stating, "So, if you know of a candidate who is pro-abortion, but whose opponent is worse than the Nazis on other issues, I guess you can go ahead and vote for that person. But I can't think of anyone like that."
He then noted that the ESCR debate is somewhat personal for him as he suffers from MS. He argued that what promoters of ESCR are really saying is that other people should die so that they can live a more comfortable life.
Finally, he summarized briefly and sat down, the whole homily could not have taken more than seven minutes. Short and sweet.
Next I must tell you about our wonderful OB-GYN clinic, the Tepeyac Family Center. As you might guess from the name the place is solidly Catholic and does not promote any contraceptive or abortive practices. Today we saw Dr. Bruchalski, the man who founded the clinic, for my six-month pregnancy visit. While we were chatting he told us this story. "So many women get it backwards," he said. "I had a patient come to me and ask, 'Doctor, is it better for me to do sit-ups or push-ups during my pregnancy?' I asked her, 'Are you going to have the guts to stay at home with your child after the baby is born?', and she said, 'No.' So I told her, 'Then it doesn't really matter what you do about exercise. Do whatever you want.'" He reports that she is still a patient of his.
First: At the 5:30 pm Sunday mass at St. Leo's, Fr. Jerry Wooton gave a short and direct homily against voting for pro-choice politicians and those who support embryonic stem-cell research. He reminded us that abortion really means 1.5 million murders a year, and asked what policy or set of policies could possibly balance that out. He noted that abortion is always a moral evil, while capital punishment and war can, depending on the circumstances, be either morally neutral or morally necessary. He pointed out that the Nazis, at the height of their bloodthirstiness, killed 800,000 people per year. He concluded this section of the homily by stating, "So, if you know of a candidate who is pro-abortion, but whose opponent is worse than the Nazis on other issues, I guess you can go ahead and vote for that person. But I can't think of anyone like that."
He then noted that the ESCR debate is somewhat personal for him as he suffers from MS. He argued that what promoters of ESCR are really saying is that other people should die so that they can live a more comfortable life.
Finally, he summarized briefly and sat down, the whole homily could not have taken more than seven minutes. Short and sweet.
Next I must tell you about our wonderful OB-GYN clinic, the Tepeyac Family Center. As you might guess from the name the place is solidly Catholic and does not promote any contraceptive or abortive practices. Today we saw Dr. Bruchalski, the man who founded the clinic, for my six-month pregnancy visit. While we were chatting he told us this story. "So many women get it backwards," he said. "I had a patient come to me and ask, 'Doctor, is it better for me to do sit-ups or push-ups during my pregnancy?' I asked her, 'Are you going to have the guts to stay at home with your child after the baby is born?', and she said, 'No.' So I told her, 'Then it doesn't really matter what you do about exercise. Do whatever you want.'" He reports that she is still a patient of his.
SAN FRANCISCO / Sexual disease alert via the Net / New Health Dept. program for gays
If David Morrison had not linked to this article, I would have thought it was a parody written by conservatives.
Suzanne Herel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
These e-cards appear funny, sexy and hip, but if you're lucky, you won't be seeing one in your inbox anytime soon.
They're the newest way for gay men diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease to tell their sex partners about their condition.
The program is called InSPOT -- an acronym for Internet Notification Service for Partners or Tricks -- and it premieres today, paid for by the San Francisco Department of Public Health STD Services and run by a local group called Internet Sexuality Information Services (ISIS).
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, who directs the city's STD Prevention Section, says the service is the first of its kind. Though it's not new for health officials to e-mail people exposed to a sexual disease using a list provided by the patient, InSPOT allows the person carrying the infection to make the notification.
"This goes beyond ... by empowering a community member to take the responsibility of informing partners themselves, and at the same time protecting individuals' privacy," he said.
The service is in response to a recent increase in STDs in gay men, Klausner said, with chlamydia being the most prevalent ailment.
A common way for gay men to meet casual sexual partners -- also called "tricks" -- is on the Internet, where the only identification they may glean is a screen name or e-mail address, so the service makes sense, Klausner says . He notes that more than half of the local cases of syphilis stem from meetings arranged online.
"STDs are an unfortunate consequence of sexual behavior the same way other infections may be a result of hiking, kayaking or contact sports," Klausner said. "If someone gets an STD, he should not be stigmatized."
Tom Kennedy, a gay man himself, was on the community advisory board that helped design the cards. "It took a lot of time to come up with language that didn't seem accusatory," said Kennedy, who now is program director of ISIS.
The group devised six pithy slogans, including: "It's not what you brought to the party, it's what you left with," "You're too hot to be out of action" and "I got screwed while screwing; you might have, too."
Deb Levine, executive director of ISIS, said: "The bottom line was they wanted fun. They wanted something that also speaks to the gay culture and gay lifestyle -- something you would find in a store in the Castro, not in a Hallmark store in the mall."
"We wanted to lighten up the issue a bit," she said. "It doesn't have to be all serious, fear-based and shameful."
Kennedy agrees. "How awkward are those phone calls, 'Hey remember me?' I hope this service will be less threatening."
The cards can be sent to as many as six e-mail addresses at a time and may be signed or anonymous. A drop-down menu of STDs lists eight diseases, from chlamydia to syphilis, but does not include being HIV-positive. Kennedy says the designers feared that spammers might use that attribute to scare people.
And while the service was designed with gay men in mind, it is available to anyone with a computer and Internet connection.
As for critics who may contend that the city's resources should go toward preventing STDs rather than creating edgy notification cards, Levine says that InSPOT is just another tool to try to attack the transmission of STDs.
"STDs will not be eradicated despite our best effort. As long as they're there, let's try to slow the transmission," she said. "What we heard from the advisory board loud and clear is that most men notify their (steady) partners, but they don't usually take the time to track down their sex buddies. While there may be a gnawing feeling in the back of their head, there just hasn't been a way to do it. This will give them a chance to be responsible."
Klausner says it will cost less than $20,000 annually to maintain the site, and another $20,000 will be spent on marketing, including a new billboard at Castro and Market streets.
Levine says that the only aspects of the Web site that will be monitored will be impersonal statistics, such as how often a particular card is used, and how many visitors the site receives.
"We are not collecting any personal information," she said.
The site, www.inspot.org, carries a request that visitors respect the service and use it responsibly.
"We'll just have to count on the good-natured side of humanity," Klausner said. "If there are abuses, we might have to consider shutting it down."
If David Morrison had not linked to this article, I would have thought it was a parody written by conservatives.
Suzanne Herel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
These e-cards appear funny, sexy and hip, but if you're lucky, you won't be seeing one in your inbox anytime soon.
They're the newest way for gay men diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease to tell their sex partners about their condition.
The program is called InSPOT -- an acronym for Internet Notification Service for Partners or Tricks -- and it premieres today, paid for by the San Francisco Department of Public Health STD Services and run by a local group called Internet Sexuality Information Services (ISIS).
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, who directs the city's STD Prevention Section, says the service is the first of its kind. Though it's not new for health officials to e-mail people exposed to a sexual disease using a list provided by the patient, InSPOT allows the person carrying the infection to make the notification.
"This goes beyond ... by empowering a community member to take the responsibility of informing partners themselves, and at the same time protecting individuals' privacy," he said.
The service is in response to a recent increase in STDs in gay men, Klausner said, with chlamydia being the most prevalent ailment.
A common way for gay men to meet casual sexual partners -- also called "tricks" -- is on the Internet, where the only identification they may glean is a screen name or e-mail address, so the service makes sense, Klausner says . He notes that more than half of the local cases of syphilis stem from meetings arranged online.
"STDs are an unfortunate consequence of sexual behavior the same way other infections may be a result of hiking, kayaking or contact sports," Klausner said. "If someone gets an STD, he should not be stigmatized."
Tom Kennedy, a gay man himself, was on the community advisory board that helped design the cards. "It took a lot of time to come up with language that didn't seem accusatory," said Kennedy, who now is program director of ISIS.
The group devised six pithy slogans, including: "It's not what you brought to the party, it's what you left with," "You're too hot to be out of action" and "I got screwed while screwing; you might have, too."
Deb Levine, executive director of ISIS, said: "The bottom line was they wanted fun. They wanted something that also speaks to the gay culture and gay lifestyle -- something you would find in a store in the Castro, not in a Hallmark store in the mall."
"We wanted to lighten up the issue a bit," she said. "It doesn't have to be all serious, fear-based and shameful."
Kennedy agrees. "How awkward are those phone calls, 'Hey remember me?' I hope this service will be less threatening."
The cards can be sent to as many as six e-mail addresses at a time and may be signed or anonymous. A drop-down menu of STDs lists eight diseases, from chlamydia to syphilis, but does not include being HIV-positive. Kennedy says the designers feared that spammers might use that attribute to scare people.
And while the service was designed with gay men in mind, it is available to anyone with a computer and Internet connection.
As for critics who may contend that the city's resources should go toward preventing STDs rather than creating edgy notification cards, Levine says that InSPOT is just another tool to try to attack the transmission of STDs.
"STDs will not be eradicated despite our best effort. As long as they're there, let's try to slow the transmission," she said. "What we heard from the advisory board loud and clear is that most men notify their (steady) partners, but they don't usually take the time to track down their sex buddies. While there may be a gnawing feeling in the back of their head, there just hasn't been a way to do it. This will give them a chance to be responsible."
Klausner says it will cost less than $20,000 annually to maintain the site, and another $20,000 will be spent on marketing, including a new billboard at Castro and Market streets.
Levine says that the only aspects of the Web site that will be monitored will be impersonal statistics, such as how often a particular card is used, and how many visitors the site receives.
"We are not collecting any personal information," she said.
The site, www.inspot.org, carries a request that visitors respect the service and use it responsibly.
"We'll just have to count on the good-natured side of humanity," Klausner said. "If there are abuses, we might have to consider shutting it down."
O.O., on the fact that Zorak attended an event with a bar, but could not drink due to her pregnancy: "Just ask for Jack Daniel's. It's only 80 proof now anyway."
Is Derrida dead?
A conceptual foundation for the deconstruction of mortality: "Can there be any certainty in the death of Jacques Derrida ? The obituarists' objective attempts to place his life in a finite context are, necessarily, subject to epistemic relativism, the idea that all such scientific theories are mere 'narrations' or social constructions. Surely, a postmodernist deconstruction of their import would inevitably question the foundational conceptual categories of prior science - among them, Derrida's own existence - which become problematised and relativised. This conceptual revolution has profound implications for the content of future postmodern and liberatory science of mortality."
A conceptual foundation for the deconstruction of mortality: "Can there be any certainty in the death of Jacques Derrida ? The obituarists' objective attempts to place his life in a finite context are, necessarily, subject to epistemic relativism, the idea that all such scientific theories are mere 'narrations' or social constructions. Surely, a postmodernist deconstruction of their import would inevitably question the foundational conceptual categories of prior science - among them, Derrida's own existence - which become problematised and relativised. This conceptual revolution has profound implications for the content of future postmodern and liberatory science of mortality."
A renowned Bible scholar's response to the question, "Were you comfortable in the hotel you stayed in, or should we look for different accomodations next time?"
"The Holiday Inn remains my preference because of its reliable shuttle service. The next time I will probably not need to share the hotel with 200 beagles and their owners. But let me not complain—it was a cut above sharing a Dallas hotel with the national cross-dressers’ beauty contest, and even a Holiday Inn in Orlando with a tattooers convention."
"The Holiday Inn remains my preference because of its reliable shuttle service. The next time I will probably not need to share the hotel with 200 beagles and their owners. But let me not complain—it was a cut above sharing a Dallas hotel with the national cross-dressers’ beauty contest, and even a Holiday Inn in Orlando with a tattooers convention."
Happy Anniversary -
Today is the fifth anniversary of my marriage to this guy. Before that we had dated for almost 5 years, this August marked our first meeting 10 years ago in the common room of Pierson College at Yale.
It is also the day that Che Guevara was executed in 1967. So many things to celebrate!
It is also the day that Che Guevara was executed in 1967. So many things to celebrate!
Voices from the Days of Slavery: Former Slaves Tell Their Stories provides the opportunity to listen to former slaves describe their lives. These interviews, conducted between 1932 and 1975, capture the recollections of 23 identifiable people born between 1823 and the early 1860s and known to have been former slaves. Several of the people interviewed were centenarians, the oldest being 130 at the time of the interview. The almost seven hours of recordings were made in nine Southern states and provide an important glimpse of what life was like for slaves and freedmen. The former slaves discuss how they felt about slavery, slaveholders, how slaves were coerced, their families, and, of course, freedom. It is important to keep in mind, however, that all of those interviewed spoke sixty or more years after the end of their enslavement, and it is their full lives, rather than their lives during slavery, that are reflected in their words. They have much to say about living as African Americans from the 1870s to the 1930s, and beyond. As part of their testimony, several of the ex-slaves sing songs, many of which were learned during the time of their enslavement. "
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