while "studying for finals" i discoverd these gems

feel the change media is my new favorite news source

never mind
i just realized that i forgot about the onion

for all book loving people

Galileo describing wine

"light held together by moisture"

not sure if i agree with him but i love his imagery

class

the class i am most excited about for next semester

Science and the Sacred: Exploring the Intersection between Religion and Rationality
This course will examine a number of important, contemporary issues at the intersection between religion and science. Scientific thinking about God, religious responses to cosmology and evolution, and the writings of both scientists on religion and religionists on science will be included. We will focus on attempts to learn about religion from science, and about science from religion, and on the different methodologies, assumptions, and entailments of the two disciplines.

snow!!!

mail order bride

just heard about this

i am horrified

i miss my cats

MATE 2010

mate has released the missions

haven't had time to look over them yet

"The Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan"

i am continually impressed by the intelligence of youtube comments

here are some highlights from this video

ShiekYerbooty
" THE WAY FORWARD ".....is that the best you idiots could come up with........How About the word .... Victory....or the words.......Bring them Home...........c'mon you tools, shit or get off the toilet

psa100verse3
Judgment Day is coming on May 21, 2011. Please follow my name for a detailed explanation. May God have mercy !

jaguarclaw
I bet you are a chick. Only a chick would believe Obama because of his pretty face. Obama is a fraud and a liar. Above all hes a puppet. He couldnt even locate afghanistan on a map. And as a response to your comment " I hope this works" I cant tell you right now that it wont. The Soviets couldnt defeat them and Afghanistan is known as the graveyard of empires.

PathofReason
Neither Jesus or Satan are real. Fasten your tin foil helmet and shut up

!tofallen
@CloseToChrist  Hail Satan.

night photo from the summer

stargon at night

from the night of the recent meteor shower at around 3AM

fog

awesome fog tonight

great sadness and woe

i broke my mug

spring course list posted

http://inside.bard.edu/academic/courses/spring2010/

what should i take next semester

inferno XVI (46-51)

Had I been sheltered from the fire

I would have thrown myself among them,

and I believe my teacher would have let me.

But because I would have burned and baked,

fright overcame the good intentions

that made me hunger to embrace them.

For those staying on campus over Thanksgiving

i just got this email form the bard dean of students office

FREE THANKSGIVING DINNER
NOVEMBER 26, 2009

The Salvation Army in Kingston will be serving a FREE Thanksgiving dinner on November 26 from 11am to 1pm.

Bard College in conjunction with the Dean of Students office will be providing a shuttle on November 26 leaving from Kline Bus Stop at 10:30am going to the Salvation Army in Kingston.

somehow this seems wrong to me

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

my mom sent this to me

i think i like it a lot

Manifesto:The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.

When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.

Listen to carrion -- put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go.

Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

trash islands

yikes

"twice times the size of texas"

i wouldn't blame our planet if it blasted us to bits in 2012

shoes

my feet are sad about there recent lack of barefootedness

war crime

what a strange term

Ellen Moballa

i received this the other day

it is amazing

Hello my Dear,

I was especially fascinated by your data's information and I am left with no choice than to mail you at once.You seem to possess some sterling qualities, Am long for in a partner and I`m persuaded that a relationship with some one like you is sure to be mutually- beneficial and fulfilling.give it a thought and let me read from you as soon as possible. Cheers
Thanks,

Yours Ellen Moballa

children

when two children are fighting over a toy a parent usually is called in to mediate the situation

this ether results in the children sharing the toy

or coming to the understanding that the toy belongs to one or the other of them and that's that

end of story

these children then grow up to be the next parents

mediating over the next generation of children

and the cycle continues

why haven't we learned to be our own "parents" when it comes to foreign policy by now

why do we always take the "childlike" path and go to war

(prompted by a lecture about the roots of the Israel Palestine conflict)

the onion

take that fox

afghanistan

i am worried that obama will make stupid decisions regarding afghanistan

even though there is a rational fear that retreating from afghanistan will result in afghanistan being taken over by the taliban it is my opinion that we should still out of there as fast as we possibly can

all that we can do by staying there is prolong the inevitable wasting resources in the process

there is no possible way that the us or anyone else for that matter can prevent ideas by occupying afghan cities

the only way we can fight these ideas is with respect

sending more troops will only make the middle east more mad at us than they already are

come on obama

the middle east likes you (somewhat) at the moment don't give it and the rest of the world reason to dislike you

don't make the same mistake bush made

we have enough to deal with domestically

recession

health care

climate change

. . .

let's not waste tons of money and life on a lost cause

seriously

what can be gained by staying there

i don't understand

if someone could enlighten me on this subject that would be great

hell houses and the devil's playground

i heard about "hell houses" the other day on this american life

the evangelical church is bizarre

this episode of this american life also mentioned devil's playground

i like the amish stance toward sex drugs and rock and roll . . .

it seems much healthier and also seems to result in better outcomes

original sin

i had myself some original sin last night

it gets a very high rating

it's up there with my old favorite

cuddle party

help this is scary

facebook

i have decided to delete my facebook account

from a facebook note

i love this piece

the more people read it the better

The War Prayer

by Mark Twain

It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fulttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory with stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.

It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

Sunday morning came -- next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams -- visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender!

Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation:

God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest,
Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!

Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory --

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there waiting. With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, "Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord and God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside -- which the startled minister did -- and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:

"I come from the Throne -- bearing a message from Almighty God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import -- that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of -- excpet he pause and think. "God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two -- one uttered, and the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this -- keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon your neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain on your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse on some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.

"You have heard your servant's prayer -- the uttered part of it. I am commissioned by God to put into words the other part of it -- that part which the pastor -- and also you in your hearts -- fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard the words 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory -- must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

"Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth into battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended in the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames in summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it --

For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimmage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!

We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(After a pause.) "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits."

…

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

military spending

from a facebook note

the solution to the economic problems of the world

is it obvious enough

counterinsurgency

i love how counterinsurgency "worked" in Iraq

we need to do this in Afghanistan to

Diary of a Country Priest

i saw this film in fysem today

wow

what an amazing portrait of internal struggle

i hope to go back and re-watch this a few years down the road

i feel like i will appreciate it more then

taking things for granted

i love it when things happen to me that make me realize and appreciate things that i usually take for granted

like hot showers

Bard tap water

Kline food

. . .

frisbee

back from my first frisbee tournament

i have mixed feelings about it

on the whole i am very glad i went but i am also glad that it was only one day long

any longer than that and the lack of intellectual stimulation would have gotten to me

though it was fun i am happy to be back at bard

xkcd

i sometimes wish that the world was more logical

republicans for rape

wtf

"amp up"

here is a review on the download page "My girlfriend just left me. . . Because this app is so cool! I'm typing this from the bottom of a pile of Dallas cowboy cheerleaders, I can't breath, and I don't even care! And why should I? Believer, this app will change your life in ways that lead to you traveling with extra underwear. Trust me, I've been there!"

What is Communism

and Obama is one of them

xkcd

xkcd at its best

interval humor

C, E-flat and G go into a bar. The bartender says, "sorry, but we don't serve minors." So E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough.

D comes in and heads for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me. I'll just be a second." Then A comes in, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and says, "Get out! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight."

E-Flat comes back the next night in a three-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says, "you're looking sharp tonight. Come on in, this could be a major development." Sure enough, E-flat soon takes off his suit and everything else, and is au natural.

Eventually C sobers up and realizes in horror that he's under a rest. C is brought to trial, found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility. On appeal, however, C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental. The judge rules that all contrary motions are bassless.

my two favorite surfaces to walk on barefooted

obviously the first one is moss

the newfound close second is fluffy dry pine needles on grass

rain

i love walking in the rain more than just about anything in the world

breathe

tich nat hanh

while in new york i saw tich nat hanh

what an interesting experience

nyc

was in new york for the first time since june

it is interesting how many things you notice after being away from the city for such a comparatively long time

Eckhart Tolle

i encountered Eckhart Tolle on speaking of faith today

he seems to be an interesting person worth studying in a bit more depth

i am slightly wary though because it seemed to me that crossed over the line too far from the spirituality realm into the self help realm

i disagreed with him more than i agreed with him

still i think he's still worth looking into

the fall

what a wonderfully brisk fall day

a bit too much wind for frisbee though

the onion

something tells me this won't have the desired effect on the bard campus

camera

i must use my camera more often

that was fun

people

i need to spend more time with older more mature people

it is enjoyable

apples

i stole some apples from an estate today

they are quite good

getting them was fun to

the harper's index

if you don't know what this is you should

i like the print version better but this will do

search something random and see what happens

it's fun

i'm not sure exactly how factual it is though

i am sick

praying mantis

i found this creature today

i think it's pretty cool

shoes at bard

i have a new and awesome system for shoes at bard

i have hidden my flip-flops outside the dinning hall

i now don't have to carry them

ydw

ydw here i come

conference at bard

The Burden of Our Times: The Intellectual Origins of the Global Financial Crisis will be at bard on october 16th and 17th

it looks amazing

i hope to get to as much of it as i can

fresh air

Karen Armstrong was on fresh air yesterday

here is the transcript

she makes it her spiritual path to study the religions of the world

if i start a religion it will be something like that

texts from last night

a dorm mate of mine showed me this website

isn't it amazing where the great minds of the people in this world are

sleep

i went to sleep last night at 8:45

it was amazing

i felt fully awake the whole day

quote from an elder in greenland

"Every day we in the north see what you in the south are doing to the Earth. We have seen what it takes to melt the Arctic ice. What will it take to melt the ice in the human heart?"

the Symposium

i finished the Symposium last night

it was definitely worth the read

it calls cultural norms into question both how they are created and wether they are valid

thirty year old men having sex with fourteen year old boys sounds disgusting to us now

they would have found hookup culture equally disgusting

the celestial form of love described in the Symposium is very attractive to me

i think that it is perfectly feasible to have that kind of love with someone of the opposite sex

i hope that i go back and reread this in a few years

sleepy eyes

if you have ever read a dense book late at night then you probably know what i mean when i say that my eyes were trying to fall asleep while i was finishing the Symposium

i have discovered the solution to this problem

rub some burt's bees lip balm on your eye lids

it makes a striking difference

it feels sparkly and wakes your eyes up

(thank you Rose)

wine

i have just finished reading the Symposium

during Alcibiades' speech he says "truth comes from wine"

i wonder if there is any truth in this statement

my inclination is no but it's defiantly open to debate

printer

it's times like this that i am especially happy to have a printer in my room

rationality

why is it that people (including myself) continue to do things that we don't enjoy

both while we are doing them and afterward

one would think that after all the time we've been on this planet we would have found a way to avoid this problem

if you ask me this is solid proof of the irrationality of humans

opinions of obama

this is possibly the scariest video i have ever seen in my life

i found it on the website of Max Blumenthal the author of "Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party"

love and forgiveness

i came across this website through speaking of faith

i haven't read very much of it yet but i love the premise

ydw

only one more week till some real dancing

the onion

too brilliant not to post

my hair

it is starting to get long enough to make shaking the water out of it after taking a shower fun

the onion

It is always important not to take the things too seriously

the onion does just that

fresh air

Max Blumenthal the author of an an interesting sounding book was on fresh air

it is called "Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party"

it sounded like a scary book

relevant in our times of political unrest

and useful to help understand where the values of the radical right are coming from

if i wasn't swamped with work i would read it now

click here for the transcript of the interview

men in skirts

"Not everyone who dons the clothing of the opposite sex is a crossdresser. Society tends to perpetuate stereotypes on the basis of visible behavior patterns. Drag queens are usually gay or bisexual males who don women's clothes either to mock femininity and society's stereotypes of gays, or to find sex partners. Female impersonators dress to entertain. Transsexuals believe they are entrapped in the body of the opposite sex, and seek sexual reassignment surgery. Crossdressers do not aspire to any of these things, but are simply expressing the crossgendered side of their personalities."

a scholarly article on what contra dancers wear

read more here

budget forum

is was a waste of my time

contra

the bard contra was a mixed experience

it made me appreciate cdny

not many contra dances do that

it was sure good to dance again though

it has been too long

fire

wow that was fun

and much easier than i thought it would be

tea

isn't it wonderful

frisbee

woke up today for a 9 am frisbee practice

not a bad way to start off a sunday

i wish my knee would heal faster

tent

i think i am going to buy this tent

for a link click here

a flaw i have discovered

i have found a flaw in the human body

when you run on a still night you hear a great deal of wind in your ears

when you turn your head ninety degrees you can hear your surroundings much better you can't see where you are going though for obvious reasons

i have not found an easy solution to this problem yet