tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82908176329006788982012-01-13T07:44:17.634-07:00Ripples quietly moving through the civilization pondZachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.comBlogger1121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-44365356925604637912011-11-27T09:51:00.003-07:002011-11-27T10:48:43.604-07:00

Alan Moore- Meet the Man Behind the Protest Maskhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/27/alan-moore-v-vendetta-mask-protest?CMP=SOCNETTXT6965 I think it's kind of interesting that Guy Fawkes had been a figure of ridicule in British culture, and also an icon for anti-Catholic sentiment because the real Guy had been for Papal control. Alan Moore is British, knew that, and deliberately chose

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-85593485809317844232011-11-25T10:34:00.000-07:002011-11-25T10:35:16.306-07:00

Meritocracy is a useful illusion. It tempts us to identify ourselves with the powerful and against the powerless. Because we are sure our own merits are great and our problems only circumstance, it comforts us that our own gain in future status in is assured. Because we are unfamiliar with others' circumstance and assume their problems are character flaws, it offers us the thrill of looking down

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-71140948447064285752011-11-10T14:49:00.003-07:002011-11-10T16:41:23.822-07:00

Yesterday was, or would have been, Carl Sagan's birthday. I think church never really had a chance with me because "Cosmos" plus some illustrated science books had sparked a sense of wonder that the stark walls and bad music at the local Mormon ward could never hope to match. (Who knows what the interplay would have been had our family gone to a more aesthetically evocative church?)What always

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-25332180252954986192011-11-03T10:18:00.002-06:002011-11-06T08:19:21.597-07:00

America was born in Rebellion. America was born On the Verge, where ideas, ethnicities, philosophies, religions, languages, histories and narratives from around the world came together in the cities, salons, pubs, coffeehouses, courts, churches, lyceums, presses and public squares, to mix, intermingle, and radically transform. In all of the great moral conflicts that have defined American

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-15380553592234943522011-09-02T10:16:00.003-06:002011-09-02T10:23:26.579-06:00

Liberals are stupid. Conservatives are evil. The pattern holds true. Liberal stupidity plays glaringly in the delusion that there is anything like a convicted, stable Middle to be picked up. Were such a thing true, the conservative ploy of stepping further to the right every time would never work. It has worked very well. Therefore, there is no vast unrepresented Middle committed to centrist or

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-54998057533115785182011-08-06T10:22:00.003-06:002011-08-06T10:42:18.593-06:00

I don't think there is any being in charge of the whole universe. I also have not been inclined to align with the organization American Atheists. This does not prove to be an exception.Jon Stewart Mocking American Atheists for Opposing Cross at 9/11 MemorialIf someone were specifically constructing and installing a cross to "represent the faith of the people here," that would definitely be a

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-48813193229003634472011-06-17T08:18:00.003-06:002011-06-17T08:58:19.521-06:00

You've probably heard, every couple months or so, of some town in the U.S. with atheist-themed billboards or bus signs, and angry people reacting with protest, stonewalling, or vandalism. Nontheists tend to see this reaction in terms of "see, they're so crazy even a completely inoffensive sign that we exist sets them off." Here's another way to see it. If you've told anyone about a

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-45225118260033215682011-05-31T09:00:00.001-06:002011-05-31T09:00:08.646-06:00

Of course, an interest in heritage, culture, even ethnicity, is neither racist nor fascist. However, an interest in the purity of that heritage or culture or ethnicity, a desire to keep it from dilution and free of anything foreign to it, is the very substance of racism and fascism.Purity is a corrosive antimoral value that reliably leads people to evil conclusions. Whether in matters sexual or

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-25464841590252092362011-05-24T20:51:00.002-06:002011-05-24T20:54:07.302-06:00

Logical corollary to the categorical imperative: Anything you try to justify doing to anyone else, you implicitly grant everyone in the universe permission to do to you. Your only refuge is in highly specific circumstances or in confessing to having chosen to do ill.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-28751383751998941192011-05-04T11:00:00.000-06:002011-05-04T11:00:05.707-06:00

Haymarket Affair, May 4"Anarchist" is a term that was generally adopted with some sense of irony. Apologists for status quo hierarchic government and business domains, sincere or self-serving, generally attacked any attempt to improve the lives and restore the rights of underclasses as bringing on "anarchy" in the chaos-brutality-and-riotous-destruction sense. If bringing about genuine freedom,

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-77925997247149719182011-05-01T18:57:00.002-06:002011-05-01T19:02:09.981-06:00

Imagine you're looking at a normal jar of jelly beans of assorted flavors and colors. Then someone less clever than they think they are tells you it couldn't possibly have just shaken out that way, that getting that exact arrangement of colors and shapes must have taken a greater-than-mortal power carefully planning and sorting to get that exact jar of jelly beans.definition of 'order' =

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-27352590091004387672011-04-04T10:46:00.003-06:002011-04-06T07:08:42.605-06:00

In the 80s and 90s, one of the right's rallying hate-ons was "secular humanism." It probably still is, for all I know. I used to think they just didn't understand the deep roots of humanism in our civilization, going back to Renaissance, going back to Greece. I now fear they do know, and intend to unwrite all of our civilization's history and moral progress to root out the philosophical roots of

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-56968512305315795732011-03-23T20:32:00.005-06:002011-03-23T20:44:11.452-06:00

In our perfected system, the more aggressive (and not discernably wiser) monkeys are encouraged to beat down their comrades to ascend the slats of a small ladder, earning an advantageous position for flinging poo, and the privilege of imagining they are growing nearly as tall as their keepers.It's messy, but at least it's free of any trace of godless queer European-style socialism.*****Many

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-49671858659676341942011-03-09T08:42:00.003-07:002011-03-09T08:53:49.294-07:00

LTE. A bit Tea-Partyish, I know. But I actually bother to define my usage of 'fascism.' It's an exercise in social-cognitive damage control and messaging.See also the Serene Babe's irregularly updated page on America's creeping fascism._________ News about the rallies in Wisconsin sheds light on a broader pattern. There is a false moral system that puts purity and strength above

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-72255786062608960072011-02-26T19:29:00.001-07:002011-02-26T19:32:07.948-07:00

The First Decade of the Future is Behind Us

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-17744651644868970492011-02-25T14:49:00.001-07:002011-02-25T14:51:47.710-07:00

Democracy wants you for your body.Rally to Save the American Dream (MoveOn.org)

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-49506822394960785452011-02-24T15:04:00.003-07:002011-02-24T15:09:29.285-07:00

Twisted overlap: those who warn that acceptance of evolution would lead to everyone giving in to dog-eat-dog competition and self-interest, and those who warn that prosperity and "economic freedom" require everyone to give in to dog-eat-dog competition and self-interest.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-45944176701759920982011-02-18T12:34:00.000-07:002011-02-18T12:35:53.629-07:00

History is identity, identity is history; there is no essence.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-20983396523124855492011-02-12T08:00:00.002-07:002011-02-12T08:03:52.015-07:00

""The tradition of the Democratic Party is: be more liberal than the Republican Party on domestic matters. Not too liberal, but more liberal. On matters of foreign policy, don’t be much different at all." --Howard Zinn, 2009 interview with Dave ZirinThe think tanks that drive Republican policy have realized for at least 20 years that Democratic policy is only defined relative to Republican policy

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-80910841812119626422011-02-10T11:54:00.003-07:002011-02-10T12:04:19.890-07:00

Abuse of the Pledge This past Monday I attended a public debate at the Salt Lake City Library. I won't go into who was there or why, it's tangential to my point and you can easily find it if you like. Most of the event was interesting and engaging, and most of the participants showed to have some common ground on critical moral points. However, early on one side chose to invoke

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-31163900364954240732011-02-03T09:50:00.001-07:002011-02-03T09:51:36.733-07:00

The fundamental moral choice is to value something rather than nothing.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-84859096750952405662011-02-03T09:44:00.002-07:002011-02-03T09:49:21.315-07:00

The skeptic applies doubt to everything, including especially oneself. Denialists apply doubt only to reaffirm their committed selves.Denial of climate change, like denial of evolution, is heavily concentrated within the United States, and therein heavily concentrated among those aligned with or influenced by a particular political faction.Do not honor denialists by calling them skeptics. I'd

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-84923480558185009592011-01-26T08:53:00.003-07:002011-01-26T09:42:13.302-07:00

Daily Herald storyDeseret News storyCouldn't find anything on ksl or sltrib.I was glad to be one of the I'd say 150+ people who braved the descending cold to be on the steps of the Utah State Capitol building. Though I can't help seeing chants from a meta perspective, sometimes shouting along, but often just amused by them.Good speakers, though not always the best speeches. Each speech cycled to

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-58292644836557258452011-01-25T14:44:00.002-07:002011-01-25T14:52:04.499-07:00

I read this and thought it needed some spreading around. Of course, I've already demonstrated my tendency to align with Lakoff, he says what needs to be said about the language and philosophy behind political positions, and the political positioning behind political language.The "New Centrism" and Its Discontents, by George LakoffOn another note, I'm going to try to adjust my web2.0 usage. Since

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-89153068747167879942010-12-26T22:31:00.002-07:002010-12-26T22:34:02.085-07:00

Dualists want to tell us there must be more than merely this mundane world. We must be able to tell them that this world is not mundane nor mere, and that what are separately called physical, mental, spiritual, material, are of one Nature.(Dualism, of course, is the philosophical notion that reality is divided into two realms: one of meat, dirt, and atoms, the other of emotion, meaning, and

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-33095994336667416912010-12-15T08:50:00.002-07:002010-12-15T08:54:58.173-07:00

Rick Scott's School Plan for Scoundrelshttp://motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/rick-scott-florida-education-jeb-bushIt's not just a hypothetical harm, as charter schools in many states have demonstrated. Charter schools get paid by the number of kids they enroll, and they are free from much of the bureaucracy Republicans like to bash so much. All that money mixed with all that freedom hasn't

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-41832390273394581842010-11-27T09:05:00.003-07:002010-11-27T09:11:30.523-07:00

The Grand Design by Stephen W. HawkingMy rating: 3 of 5 stars This is a good explanation of general relativity and quantum theory for the layman. However, I can see it becoming the standard recommended text for a bunch of fuzzy-thinking newage religions accompanied by their misleading interpretations to show how "scientific" they are. Also, it may not be clear that Hawking in fact

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-74927570981177995332010-11-22T21:12:00.004-07:002010-11-22T22:03:41.113-07:00

A few years ago, someone on the right of the spectrum was in my e-mail saying that the idea of "we're all in this together" was the source of everything wrong with America, distorting people's ideas with socialist thoughts and unAmerican values (and depleting precious bodily fluids, no doubt.)Several days ago, someone on the right of the spectrum was on the radio saying that because "we're all in

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-35156734981387861882010-11-15T10:55:00.005-07:002010-11-15T12:00:43.448-07:00

This blog is not dead, just neglected as per usual.I'd composed an essay on the Park51 issue, which may not be timely anymore. I'll at least put it here, but parts of it can be worked into another essay I've been composing on First Amendment issues in general, which I plan to send to a few newspapers as well as put online. It works in honor of the upcoming 90th Anniversary of the ACLU's beginning

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-10255700686314051392010-10-05T22:45:00.008-06:002010-10-14T08:21:12.714-06:00

Some links I've read in the last week:It goes against our nature; but the left has to start asserting its own valuesKeep Your Identity SmallCommon Cause Report (pdf download)This echoes what George Lakoff has written about morality in politics from a cognitive science background. I've been thinking similarly about identity, and the values issue is something I've been frustrated with many liberals

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-25614610013727897152010-09-28T10:42:00.002-06:002010-09-28T14:12:41.397-06:00

A great discussion. Don't dismiss the tea party, the segment of America their rhetoric appeals to have legitimate grievances, but aren't organized or getting any real answers.I was disappointed on the caller at the end of the hour, that Prof. Chomsky and Tom Ashbrook choose to tackle the anthropogenic climate change denial part of his question in their limited time, rather than his "the strong

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-91371304937141983892010-09-27T15:17:00.004-06:002010-09-27T23:27:45.695-06:00

[I contributed this to the "Theism+ AND Atheism+" thread on rpg.net's Tangency (registration required to view), which even considering it's a gaming and fantasy site's "other topics" forum, has some of the best society/culture/politic kind of discussion I've seen online (which may say more about the sorry state of the web itself or my experience of it than it says about Tangency), and is

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-53312462155484893712010-09-20T08:10:00.004-06:002010-09-20T10:49:15.291-06:00

The role of the Democratic Party is to persuade Republican partisans and the public in general that Democrats represent the left. Democrats are a centrist party (that is, pragmatic, bureaucratic, and oriented to discrete policy-by-policy and issue-by-issue behavior and decisions) with some token left-wing mascots. (No, the names regularly invoked in conservative "stop so-and-so from doing

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-38121638805172447442010-08-23T10:10:00.003-06:002010-08-23T10:15:51.896-06:00

The concept of God is supposed to be a mind encompassing the Cosmos, but many religious people insist on a god limited to a particular sex, a particular name, a particular form (after the image of man), who prefers particular nations in war, particular athletes in sport, and particular pairings and positions in sex. They insist on a god as small as they are.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-21020870066881720682010-08-16T22:01:00.001-06:002010-08-16T22:02:53.170-06:00

I refuse to believe in natural justice. Justice is an artifact of human conception and human effort.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-87452385595882606462010-08-14T12:45:00.003-06:002010-08-14T12:54:33.185-06:00

What the History Channel want you to think is a complete and thorough understanding of the past:Biblical Times ...> The American Revolution ...> World War II ...> Last WeekWhat the Republican Party want you to think is a complete and thorough understanding of the past:Biblical Times ...> Jayeezus ...> The American Revolution, when are FourFathers set forth a new nation conceived in Christianity -

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-29057392952525889422010-07-22T15:21:00.004-06:002010-07-22T16:00:35.673-06:00

Thomas Paine was an interesting and critical figure in the origins of America and the development of modern ideals of freedom and democracy.Glenn Beck thinks he understands Paine really well. Count it among the man's many not-so-charming delusions. I do eventually mean to read this thing, taking advantage of the local municipal socialist book-sharing program (library), though probably not the

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-34177730194797811472010-07-12T12:42:00.002-06:002010-07-14T19:56:24.630-06:00

A man says, "I have a gun and I will shoot you unless you paint your house red."A terrorist message declares, "we have bombs we will detonate in your city unless you paint all your homes red."An interstellar invasion fleet announces, "we can manipulate matter to the subatomic level, and we will tear apart your Sun unless you comply by painting all domiciles red."A Being walks the earth in shining

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-47727096196356579542010-07-05T22:22:00.003-06:002010-07-05T22:28:44.755-06:00

I don't think people should get to call themselves "skeptics" when their "skepticism" is rooted not in genuine doubt but in a devoted faith in Party position statements and Bernays/Hayek/Friedman's wilful misinterpretation of Adam Smith. Yes, that sentence is about climate change.Genuine skepticism is deep epistemological questioning into whether we could really know what we think we know, and

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-74415338162766285592010-06-16T21:59:00.004-06:002010-06-16T23:12:22.543-06:00

I saw Penn and Teller's "Bullshit!" today; a series I don't catch often, not having cable.Though their defining best episodes generally came early in the series (esp. profanity in season 2), this one was pretty good. It managed to stop me a couple times when I was standing up to turn off the TV and do something else, I'll give it that.Cheer. The problem the show addresses is that cheerleaders

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-5601337553490507342010-05-31T02:06:00.001-06:002010-05-31T02:08:08.185-06:00

Been hearing this over the last hour on the BBC.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8714085.stm

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-37161823546539530782010-05-06T14:23:00.001-06:002010-05-06T14:25:06.215-06:00

I don't think it makes sense to argue "It's the law" or "they broke the law" when some of the major points under contention are "is the law just?" and "what ought to be the law?". It's also odd, though more disappointing than surprising, that people who claim to dislike big government and the threat of government tyranny are just fine with that government being extra strict toward someone they

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-7017304623014492472010-03-27T13:47:00.002-06:002010-03-27T14:00:07.952-06:00

The fundamental ideological bias is ideology itself --the notion that believing the correct principles will lead to the correct conclusions. It's not unlike the basic function of scientific thinking --that knowing the underlying workings of nature will make one better able to understand and predict the specifics of the natural world. Also, easy comfort is found in one's perceived ability to

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-51864137315547399492010-03-26T16:35:00.003-06:002010-03-26T17:31:39.828-06:00

James Edward Raggi's blog has a particular geek focus that may or may not interest the half-dozen viewers I get, but he's explained well the nature of blogging in general and the position bloggers find themselves in whether they know it or not.http://lotfp.blogspot.com/2010/03/little-perspective-on-internet-and.html

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-72733949536148228242010-03-24T13:37:00.001-06:002010-03-24T13:38:54.144-06:00

Think I'll have to do a bit of policing in the comments.Anything deemed to be spam, advertising, link shilling, or thinly-veiled excuses for the same will be removed.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-79469103414788674082010-03-23T09:42:00.002-06:002010-03-23T10:01:19.222-06:00

How to use Joker in the next Batman movie:The action rises, as Bats and the new villain vie against one another. There's aerial fistfights, underground vehicle chases, oh-so-serious brooding and shouting and looming, relationship troubles, all the usual fare. At some point, and you could probably get away with it more than once, someone's brilliant plan of the moment goes catastrophically wrong,

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-31254791659053867092010-02-09T14:19:00.002-07:002010-02-09T14:28:20.101-07:00

The only problem with trying KSM and his allies in criminal courts (apart from the absurdity of using NYC itself, as Keith Knight pointed out, that leaves them no excuse for changing the venue of police brutality cases anymore) is that the practice of keeping them as military prisoners (under the bullshit term "enemy combatant" invented to evade Constitutional and treaty laws dealing with

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-45407718688345395092010-01-13T14:51:00.001-07:002010-01-13T15:00:55.887-07:00

The word 'freedom' is robbed of all meaning when it is used to refer to private dominion.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-13232109316757650952009-10-14T17:59:00.004-06:002009-10-16T16:04:03.839-06:00

Capitalism: A Love Story There are many things which need to be said, but which Michael Moore, by his stunt antics and controversy-inspiring reputation, risks driving people away when he says them. This is actually the first Michael Moore film I've seen, and I think it's pretty good. It starts off a little shaky, though the introduction about Rome was cleverly done, and the film

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-28095049536419746542009-07-13T00:52:00.003-06:002009-07-13T01:22:39.618-06:00

Happens every time there's a discussion somewhere about gay marriage. Hell, I did it myself a few times. Some clown tries to dodge the whole issue saying, "well we should just do away with all marriage, get the government out of the marriage contract an just let churches and couples do what they want."It's nice for you that you've found a way to pretend to have such an original and edgy

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-2052097153045140322009-05-07T09:24:00.006-06:002009-05-07T10:30:34.725-06:00

I came across a snippet mentioned in passing in Casey Jones' political humor column in the Trib from Sunday. Some googling brings up this:In an e-mail sent Wednesday to the 168 voting members of the committee, RNC member James Bopp, Jr. accused President Obama of wanting “to restructure American society along socialist ideals.” “The proposed resolution acknowledges that and calls upon the

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-22675704837355170752009-04-17T10:23:00.003-06:002009-04-17T10:36:21.900-06:00

As a gesture of open-mindedness and a sign of how much I love and respect some conservatives I was interacting with online, I offered to read Ann Coulter's Treason.I tried, really I did. No, I didn't finish. I read some of each chapter, I flipped around trying to pick up threads of meaning, I scanned the index and read anything related to topics I knew or found interesting, I read her conclusion

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-58368994476374841232009-03-12T22:55:00.002-06:002009-03-12T23:03:12.772-06:00

Today, I was getting ready to leave work, about to pull my non-work shirt on over my work shirt, when I noticed a single strand of Milky cat fur inside the collar. I just stared at it a minute, wondering what to do. Then some damn stupid customers needed attention so I clocked back in and helped them.I couldn't see the cat hair anymore when I got back.I actually did a kind of daily diary during

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-13783823597964080712009-02-20T19:34:00.003-07:002009-02-20T20:10:52.608-07:00

So it turns out getting my computer to hunt down every flac music file in my collection and encode an ogg version of it takes just under four seconds to type, and just over four days to run. It doesn't slow down basic web surfing at all. I used to think typing on the command line was something one tried to get away from in computers.On something of a whim, Tuesday, I drove up to the capitol and

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-28002779265763735152009-01-09T22:59:00.005-07:002009-01-10T00:15:56.056-07:00

So my current project is putting my music collection conveniently on my computer in FLAC format, since I picked up a hard drive that can hold that much a couple months ago. (Really, I consider myself fairly computer-savvy, but unlike many people interested in computers, I've mostly made do with hardware that was top of the line back in the final days of Windows 98.) I've been at it a couple

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-47524965152775014212008-12-12T10:59:00.004-07:002008-12-12T11:10:26.608-07:00

How about a real-life technothriller story with secret codes, international intrigue, and factionalism and personality conflicts in the face of a devastating global threat? It has 1337 haxxors, and a non-government, not-for-profit, adhocratic organization working for good. And the ending ominously warns, "it's not over yet."From the pages of Wired

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-55895093262991660492008-11-27T20:16:00.002-07:002008-11-27T20:23:00.301-07:00

(Since the topic doesn't seem to be disappearing from the news...)I say let the enemies of freedom have their short-lived victory in California. The last time it came to a vote, their side had sixty-something percent, this time they had fifty-something percent. In a few years gay marriage will come to popular vote again and they will lose.Look for social conservatives to become more and more

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-49414482677654547122008-11-10T08:48:00.002-07:002008-11-10T08:52:59.547-07:00

Here's something they can stick in that huge pit in Sugarhouse.http://www.dailytech.com/Miniature+Nuclear+Reactors+to+be+on+Sale+Within+5+Years/article13389.htm

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-21747616170726363012008-10-26T02:38:00.001-06:002008-10-26T02:41:04.857-06:00

Hmm... interesting... Blogger seems to be a few minutes ahead of TribTalk.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-51652629072783706892008-10-26T02:31:00.002-06:002008-10-26T02:34:39.494-06:00

Just another little thing I want published and timestamped here before it's uploaded to a forum controlled by someone else:It is especially imperative in a free society that the election process be totally open. The basic balloting process where everyone writes their choice down, the votes are counted and the totals announced is very open. Anyone can understand how it works, and think of any

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-63851911016278749342008-10-06T00:07:00.002-06:002008-10-06T00:10:52.190-06:00

Excellent Bill Moyers interview on PBS. Link is to part one. Part two is another link on the page.http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09262008/watch.html

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-73917827913456361782008-09-09T09:12:00.003-06:002008-09-09T09:31:44.509-06:00

My lengthy contribution to the discussion of this piece in the Tribune:A lot of anarchist and libertarian socialists criticized Marx, and Lenin all the more, for creating a dictatorship of the bureaucracy. Republicans don't know what socialism is, but neither do liberals. The socialist spectrum is as or more diverse than the conventional American political party divides.Bringing up Linux as a

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-91420628457751265892008-08-29T11:14:00.003-06:002008-08-29T11:40:56.617-06:00

No mere president is going to put the country on the right path (whatever you think that is.) To a disturbing extent, elections serve to convince people they've had all the voice and choice they need, deserve, or are capable of exercising, so they'll stop clamoring and let those who already have power get on with using it.Still, the choice of leader is informative about what kind of society

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-60984905188914260342008-08-29T11:10:00.004-06:002008-08-29T11:41:30.389-06:00

There are roughly two motives in quoting someone. In one you expect the esteem for the person to lend credence to the words. In the other you expect the words to be judged on their own, and the attribution is merely giving credit where credit is due --and perhaps to affect the esteem for the person.The first approach is authoritarian. The second is the ideal of rational discourse.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-65843327919964604912008-08-29T11:01:00.006-06:002008-08-29T11:40:00.671-06:00

The whole question of abortion just about goes away if we had perfect birth control. And what's perfect birth control? Something universal and affordable. Something not dependent on external technology. Something so women can accept or suppress pregnancy at will. Something built into the genes so every woman on the planet has it by right of birth and no kings, priests, prophets, patriarchs,

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-89511942293766538002008-08-25T11:47:00.002-06:002008-08-25T11:58:14.051-06:00

TV ReviewsProbably they just have it set to say everybody's is "genius." Makes people feel good and keeps people linking in.ETA: oh horrors, my nice clean blog now has a picture in it.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-55230597105014199852008-08-19T19:20:00.002-06:002008-08-19T19:31:36.952-06:00

Batteries and other electronics are being built by viruses. Diesel fuel, or something like it, is being made with bacteria.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-14671311387794483502008-08-19T09:06:00.003-06:002008-08-19T09:11:48.981-06:00

I rattled off this comment to something on the Trib webpage a couple days back. After some thought I've decided I rather like the wording, so I'm putting it here rather than let it simply languish in the forgotten Trib archives.::"Elitist," apparently means anyone who thinks the people should put more thought into politics than just cheering whoever buys the most ad time during NASCAR to tell

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-61675414072957434952008-08-10T11:29:00.002-06:002008-08-10T11:35:36.254-06:00

It occurs to me that if one is interested in the U.S. presidential elections, their major issues, and likely results, then the least relevant information is what the candidates themselves say. Look to the wisdom of the crowd, such as it is. Hear what people say about what people say about what people say about what the candidates say. Examine the textures of information and try to take the

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-24731460293379300882008-08-08T02:09:00.003-06:002008-08-08T02:27:16.300-06:00

Oy, you know that hyperalert state where you're somewhat drunk and you focus and rebalance your sensory systems 'cause you know you can't quite trust your automatics, and then when you get home you can relax and so then the alcohol effects really come to your conscious attention? Yeah, me too.Reggae still annoys me on radio, but it makes pretty decent bar live music.Note to all musicians

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-1854972280510594732008-08-06T15:06:00.002-06:002008-08-06T15:09:37.309-06:00

At last humans have found a use for photosynthesis.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-86940483701905213282008-08-05T21:23:00.004-06:002008-08-05T22:11:04.967-06:00

So, back from my excursion with my family (had a great time, maybe I'll write about it later), I find that -not for the first time- my desktop computer has taken the opportunity of being left off for several days as a chance to fuck itself over. So now, after several unsuccessful attempts at repair and reinstallation, including -definitely not for the first time- a perfectly functional new XP

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-52561989644245645492008-07-18T22:31:00.002-06:002008-07-18T23:52:57.710-06:00

I am constrained by conventional language in trying to write.Any idea, inspired by what I've seen or done or read or a conversation I've had, becomes a cascade of parallel inter-referencing verbal and nonverbal thoughts. Often several of these lead to linear things I'd like to say or write out, but the feedback continues and I often find I've gone through an inner turn of phrase that may never

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-56714971186803690742008-07-18T22:30:00.000-06:002008-07-18T22:31:14.063-06:00

No task is beneath anyone. Subordination is beneath everyone.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-37628187947736900682008-07-09T20:47:00.003-06:002008-07-09T21:05:52.472-06:00

The Salt Lake City Weekly this week is carrying a repeat of the No Exit comic "Conflicting Constituent Groups of the Republican Party." It may be a testament to my poor googling skills that I can't find a link to the comic online (though the artist's website has a temporary sampler of the Democratic Party version.) Still, if you happen to be somewhere that carries CW, it's worth a glance. At

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-42230893541507119882008-07-05T23:54:00.002-06:002008-07-06T00:00:37.810-06:00

Aerial fireworks are very pretty. But there's a part of their beauty I found myself dwelling on in particular at Friday's show. After the carefully correographed explosion, the fading sparks drift on the air currents, curling around one another. The neat pattern loses its sphere or ring or whatever shape it was designed to have, and a new ephemeral pattern falls out and fades. It's the part

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-88669762106147510312008-06-19T21:59:00.004-06:002008-06-19T22:21:29.761-06:00

I've been holding back on this because lately any writing ideas I've had seem to feed into a broader context and I want to work them into something that's a whole lot more than a blog post. Just one thought out of the big mess to entice you: Capitalism is not just, it is merely useful.On more day-in-the-life matters, some degree of leg stiffness or soreness seems to have become a constant, as I

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-36836574818096435702008-06-10T17:18:00.003-06:002008-06-10T17:27:16.941-06:00

First point of the post is that it's best to put your contact lenses in before cooking with red pepper, not after.So I made a chicken dish for lunch (and dinner, probably to last a couple days). Started out with a sort of chicken and pasta idea, shifted to more a cream-o-mushroom based thing. (I tend to improvise a lot when cooking.) Unfortunately the pasta is now extraneous (and didn't soak

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-41934787139005466852008-06-07T23:43:00.005-06:002008-06-08T00:16:41.511-06:00

Restored from the brink, where lo these blogging fields have lain fallow for many weeks...So nothing really new today, just some discourteous and probably unfair thoughts that recur to me sometimes at my job.*Waiting at the restaurant is your just punishment for having so little diversity in your lifestyle that you actually get hungry at the same time as your neighbors.*In a corollary, you'll

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-49123990540907552532008-05-01T16:57:00.005-06:002008-05-01T17:11:07.647-06:00

The Salt Lake Tribune printed my letter the other day. Of course, they never bothered to send me an acknowledgment or anything. So I wouldn't have known except the people at the BMT unit brought it to my attention when I went in today. So here's my letter on religious freedom and the FLDS.User comments are mostly positive.They edited it only a tiny bit. Their slight reconstruction of the

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-42481890394472200942008-04-29T17:18:00.003-06:002008-04-29T17:23:12.879-06:00

So, if your beloved dog or cat had a splitting headache, how could you ever know? How could you ever be in a position to do anything about it? "Hey, Fido, need an aspirin?"Just one of those little things that occasionally pops into my head. Although I'm pretty sure Milky cat isn't suffering any headache right now, given the contented demeanor.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-67152503961438507432008-04-23T11:09:00.003-06:002008-04-23T11:28:25.167-06:00

Okay, I've left this thing inactive for a little while. So here's something not-too-serious.First, a pretty cool thread in which people speculate on how various fictional heroes do/ought to finally meet their end: "Theories: How Does Your Favorite Genre Hero Die?"Second, one that makes you laugh a little, then laugh a little more, then laugh a lot more. Sorry, it's a lol-monkey pic.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-15389905919725172662008-04-16T23:12:00.004-06:002008-04-17T00:01:19.093-06:00

Current Listening: Ihsahn, The AdversarySo as I was riding home from the hospital yesterday (cancer-free at last, with hope), I noted the billboards about the upcoming Crossroads of the West gun show on April 19-20. Of course they have a gun show on April 19, who wouldn't? Ask any armchair-patriot pseudo-revolutionary and he'll tell you the great importance of that date, because an average of

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-42278035603992562492008-04-13T09:53:00.002-06:002008-04-13T10:04:33.328-06:00

Conspiracy theories are a crutch for those who are so terrified of the idea the world is ruled by no one, they take comfort in the hope that at least the world is ruled by evil. Really they are a sign of authoritarian thinking. Conspiracy theories are the social/historical/political manifestation of the same errors in thought behind creationism and Soviet-communist-style command economies: that

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-68570178209777264112008-04-02T15:11:00.003-06:002008-04-16T22:01:59.668-06:00

I'm writing this from a semi-stable region of consciousness between adequate pain control and drug-induced fogginess.It's been two days since my stem cell infusion, since Day 0. A few of the nurses and techs said something interesting that day, "happy birthday."It's oddly appropriate if you think about it.I have had a life-threatening illness. In order to treat it, we have had to resort to a

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-66940851687133968902008-03-25T03:58:00.002-06:002008-03-25T04:11:37.681-06:00

There is a basis for empathy and for moral equality.That is our common condition as conscious beings in this universe.The thing which makes us sapients and sentients different from the rocks in the ground or the dust between the stars is that we are the part of the universe that is aware of the universe. It's a rare, wondrous, and mysterious thing, and it should be valued more than it is.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-21645182083321544742008-03-23T05:42:00.002-06:002008-03-23T05:49:25.316-06:00

"And if I fail?""Eternal consciousness."I can't sleep.I mean, I got some sleep earlier, but little interruptions and schedules in this place are throwing off my usual rhythms and cycles.I guess that's all for now.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-1712599165923958122008-03-18T19:31:00.003-06:002008-03-18T19:46:14.101-06:00

So as my four and a half readers already know, I was in a car accident today. I'm writing this from the eleventh floor of the new hospital in Murray, where they're keeping me for observation overnight. I haven't been in the habit of doing day-in-the-life posts, and it's not likely to start now.I'm pretty much okay so far. I think. At least they haven't found any serious issues so far.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-41694810143253863962008-03-13T12:02:00.002-06:002008-03-14T08:49:49.974-06:00

Dolphin rescues beached whales. The Mythbusters examined stories of dolphins fending off sharks from attacking swimmers, and found that sharks actually avoided the bait they left in the water when their mock-up dolphin was nearby. There's speculation either that dolphins really hate sharks, or they really feel some compassion for the sharks' victims.Scientific American had an article on bluefin

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-44442798031196927292008-03-08T12:01:00.006-07:002008-03-08T17:34:35.547-07:00

So it's a lazy Saturday and I've been watching EcoTech on the science channel. It's full of really interesting materials and devices being developed to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution. It showcases innovations in building design, solar and wind power, even paint that absorbs toxic nitrous oxide and breaks it into harmless nitrogen and oxygen. The show points out that

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-40041635347854108382008-03-07T21:51:00.003-07:002008-03-08T17:32:59.085-07:00

*I am not dogmatically insistent that there are no such things as Gods, spirits, afterlives, etc. But I do demand some model for how they could fit in with what we already know about physics, cosmology, neurology, etc. Failure to provide such a model when the best current science suggests the phenomena themselves are not necessary to explain anything is fair grounds to be skeptical.Hitchens got

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-40393160610783331032008-03-06T15:49:00.002-07:002008-03-06T15:56:37.925-07:00

Nothing will give you a hankering for chips, cookies, and cola quite like when the medics tell you to restrict your carbs in preparation for a medical test. It's a specific form of the Law of the Forbidden: that which is prohibited is inherently more attractive. Ah well. I got to talking metal music with Ben the rad tech. We had Baroness and Black Sabbath in common, and shared

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-49455332842225644362008-03-06T15:19:00.005-07:002008-03-06T15:49:19.544-07:00

The Salt Lake City Weekly printed my letter this week: I sincerely believe Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, simply made a poor choice of words with his 'black baby' remark, and did not have any ulterior racial message in mind. That said, it's a shame he'll probably go down for this instead of for the years of actual hate-filled insanity he and his ilk have pushed through the

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-42918430795923145892008-03-03T21:52:00.007-07:002008-03-03T23:02:18.941-07:00

I was cleaning out an email account (well, partially cleaning out) and came across some recent email alerts from Gun Owners of Utah. I really don't like what they've done there. I refer specifically to GOUtah's attitude to Henry's Law (the attempt to make animal torture a felony) and the Dating Violence Bill (to create a legal mechanism for people to obtain protective orders on people they've

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-18886040516749104622008-03-01T16:30:00.000-07:002008-03-01T16:33:28.833-07:00

Subcutaneous implanted video display

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-1548100628233503942008-03-01T11:27:00.003-07:002008-03-01T11:41:08.908-07:00

"Sociopaths are already highly productive members of corporate society."This is a web tie in to Peter Watts' novel, Blindsight. It also has some delightful social and political satire.Several of Watts' novels and stories are available free on his website, in the Real World section. His science fiction is rigorously researched, absoutely brilliant, and wholly depressing. Highly recommended, at

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-57381732507998241022008-03-01T10:21:00.003-07:002008-03-01T11:26:50.472-07:00

I am at this moment connected to a machine that is drawing my blood and separating bone marrow stem cells for later use. The folks here can tweak the machine to get at various blood components as needed, This isn't even the leading edge, it's a refinement of a technique, using the equipment in new ways over the decades.

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-70626813376384291622008-02-29T18:41:00.004-07:002008-02-29T19:11:36.966-07:00

Earlier this week I went into the local geek store for some comics (um, and then I saw that big shiny new Conan book...)Anyway, they had a TV running and showing one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, I think it was Dead Man's Chest. So I got to thinking. I differ from some people's opinions (hi, Sra) in that I find DMC the best of the three. Beneath the PG-13 fantasy adventure movie

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-86342675122845465182008-02-29T18:35:00.002-07:002008-02-29T18:41:29.151-07:00

I'm going to make some commitment, as one of the growing number of atheistic yahoos writing screeds on the web, not to ever say someone is stupid just for believing in gods. Although I find occasional use of terms like "faith-addled" cathartic at times, I recognize that many intelligent and sincere people have come to the conclusion that some religion or religion-like thingy is true. It is a

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290817632900678898.post-82449698572726553142008-02-26T23:59:00.001-07:002008-02-27T00:00:27.883-07:00

Signs of idiocy: they actually think high school was "the best years of our lives."

Zachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347222024950563901noreply@blogger.com0