June 19, 2008
View From a Volunteer Window
In the spirit of Andrew Sullivan's "View From Your Window" series, I am posting this picture which was taken from a fellow Peace Corps volunteer here in Mali. This was taken during a wind storm.
June 18, 2008
June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day!
To my father, for getting up everyday and going to work to make sure I had a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food in my belly. For being an example of compassion, someone who taught me what it means to be a man not through lecture but by example. You are what every son should have and what only few are lucky enough to actually have. Love you Pops!
June 14, 2008
The Benefit of Being a Blogger
The best thing about blogging is providing yourself with the opportunity to voice your opinions... and then, letting people take you to task. My last post was on an Andrew Sullivan post in which he apparently sarcastically references a video that poorly demonstrated intelligent design and I, like a silly man eager to argue with someone who is intellectually superior, took the bait... haha. Thank you to my brother for pointing out...
Point taken and well understood. But regarding the point made in the video clip, I am still right. Even if I have deftly proven my inability to perceive sardonic humor when it is thrust upon me in all obviousness.
"...AS was kidding with that post and using it as an example as an extremely poor argument for God's existence."
Point taken and well understood. But regarding the point made in the video clip, I am still right. Even if I have deftly proven my inability to perceive sardonic humor when it is thrust upon me in all obviousness.
June 10, 2008
Bananas!
Andrew Sullivan posted a video yesterday titled "Take that, Dawkins." The basic argument of the video is that the banana is so perfectly designed to fit the human hand and mouth that it must be the product of God's intelligent design. Video follows...
First of all Dawkins is an absolute genius for his originality of thought if not for his entire correctness. In reading The Selfish Gene, I remember well reading his arguments for the process by which genes and sometimes groups of genes are selected or favored and therefor passed down generation after generation. I also remember his unnecessary comments about how all the evidence of gene selection and evolution did not require a God as if that somehow disproved a God. I have not heard any conclusive reason why a God absolutely could not be the reason for such gene selection and perpetuation.
Having said this, I hardly see any evidence in the video above that is conclusive or is even convincing of the direct intervention of God. I do not have any statistics, but I would love to know what percentage of the human diet is comprised of bananas. If God wanted to make a food more easily obtainable and consumable than why is that humans have engaged so extensively in such calorie wasting behavior as hunting for which a human must first seek out materials to design a weapon of some sort, devote the time to creating the weapon, spend hours hunting the animal, kill the animal, return to a communal habitat with the animal, and prepare that animal before the consumption can even begin.
While humans were most likely gatherers initially, substantial scientific evidence demonstrates that a significant contributing factor to the development of human brains has been the protein consumption made possible by eating meat. It is possible that God has made this process difficult on purpose - challenged us for reasons we cannot yet understand. Perhaps in order to make us stronger. But developing a banana to fit the human hand seems like a pretty week, and hardly conclusive, case for God's intelligent design. And I do find it highly ironic that a banana was chosen to demonstrate evidence of God's intelligent design when of all the animals on this planet, monkeys are most closely associated with the fruit.
First of all Dawkins is an absolute genius for his originality of thought if not for his entire correctness. In reading The Selfish Gene, I remember well reading his arguments for the process by which genes and sometimes groups of genes are selected or favored and therefor passed down generation after generation. I also remember his unnecessary comments about how all the evidence of gene selection and evolution did not require a God as if that somehow disproved a God. I have not heard any conclusive reason why a God absolutely could not be the reason for such gene selection and perpetuation.
Having said this, I hardly see any evidence in the video above that is conclusive or is even convincing of the direct intervention of God. I do not have any statistics, but I would love to know what percentage of the human diet is comprised of bananas. If God wanted to make a food more easily obtainable and consumable than why is that humans have engaged so extensively in such calorie wasting behavior as hunting for which a human must first seek out materials to design a weapon of some sort, devote the time to creating the weapon, spend hours hunting the animal, kill the animal, return to a communal habitat with the animal, and prepare that animal before the consumption can even begin.
While humans were most likely gatherers initially, substantial scientific evidence demonstrates that a significant contributing factor to the development of human brains has been the protein consumption made possible by eating meat. It is possible that God has made this process difficult on purpose - challenged us for reasons we cannot yet understand. Perhaps in order to make us stronger. But developing a banana to fit the human hand seems like a pretty week, and hardly conclusive, case for God's intelligent design. And I do find it highly ironic that a banana was chosen to demonstrate evidence of God's intelligent design when of all the animals on this planet, monkeys are most closely associated with the fruit.
Obama/Spielberg
John over at TEQP (Talented Earthquake Productions) makes the case for an Obama/Spielberg ticket. I'm sold.
How To Be More Keyboardy
Andrew Sullivan points me in another fascinating direction. This time to Greg Laden's blog post on How To Be More Keyboardy. Absolutely wonderful. I actually gasped two or three times upon learning cool things I never knew I could do without the mouse. And for even more cool uses of the keyboard read the comments down below Greg's post. My personal favorite new shortcuts are CTRL T to get a new tab and CTRL Enter to fill in the rest of a URL (for example type in "apple" and hit "CTRL Enter" to get "http://www.apple.com") Gotta love the nerds who come up with disseminate this stuff.
June 9, 2008
Travel Plans
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Today, I am leaving Bamako to go say goodbye to my host families in Niono and Sikasso before I leave Mali for good. I obviously wont be posting until I come back on Saturday, but I hope to have a few good stories and lots of pictures to share with you guys! So until Saturday, I hope everyone enjoys the NBA playoffs and other less important news...
June 7, 2008
Does Science Make Belief in God Obsolete?
The John Templeton Foundation has been hosting a series of discussion boards. Does Science Make Belief in God Obsolete? "is the third in a series of conversations among leading scientists and scholars about the 'Big Questions.'"
Featured on this site are responses from 14 extraordinary individuals from a variety of backgrounds. They are professors, archbishops, Nobel laureates, physicists, and much more. To try to tackle such a question in an apparently limited format (most arguments have been in the 750 word range) is quite a daunting task. But most of the responders have been remarkably thoughtful and thorough given the format. And of course there are a wide range of responses that do not necessarily adhere to the stereotypical chasm normally depicted between science and religion.
If you only want to read a few, I would strongly recommend the essay by Christoph Cardinal Schönborn. I think it is a very intellectually honest response to what could be interpreted as a question attacking his very firmly held beliefs. However, I disagree with his essay's final sentence when he says,
Instead, I might say, "Consideration of the order and beauty in nature can lead us to a Something, the 'god of the philosophers,' but consideration of our incompleteness leads us beyond, in search of something that is the Good of us all. Science will never make that quest obsolete."
Perhaps God is a someone, but to be intellectually honest one must allow that it is possible that God also may not be a someone.
Overall... thought provoking, smart, and well worth the read.
Featured on this site are responses from 14 extraordinary individuals from a variety of backgrounds. They are professors, archbishops, Nobel laureates, physicists, and much more. To try to tackle such a question in an apparently limited format (most arguments have been in the 750 word range) is quite a daunting task. But most of the responders have been remarkably thoughtful and thorough given the format. And of course there are a wide range of responses that do not necessarily adhere to the stereotypical chasm normally depicted between science and religion.
If you only want to read a few, I would strongly recommend the essay by Christoph Cardinal Schönborn. I think it is a very intellectually honest response to what could be interpreted as a question attacking his very firmly held beliefs. However, I disagree with his essay's final sentence when he says,
"Consideration of the order and beauty in nature can lead us to a Something, the "god of the philosophers," but consideration of our incompleteness leads us beyond, in search of a Someone who is the Good of us all. Science will never make that quest obsolete."
Instead, I might say, "Consideration of the order and beauty in nature can lead us to a Something, the 'god of the philosophers,' but consideration of our incompleteness leads us beyond, in search of something that is the Good of us all. Science will never make that quest obsolete."
Perhaps God is a someone, but to be intellectually honest one must allow that it is possible that God also may not be a someone.
Overall... thought provoking, smart, and well worth the read.
The Policy Debates Begin...
Megan McArdle from the Atlantic Monthly posts,
YES!
(Post found through Talented Earthquake Productions)
Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy
At long last, I can start covering policy again. There was no point in covering candidate policy while the main race was between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama; other than foreign policy, there's really very little daylight between them. Stand by as I joyfully stop watching vacuous cable news coverage on the primaries, and instead dig into campaign platforms.
YES!
(Post found through Talented Earthquake Productions)
June 6, 2008
Clinton/Obama, Micah/Adam
Sorry bro, I think in this comparison I am Obama. That's ok, I think you are a formidable brother.
Convictions and Positions
Recently I was reading an Andrew Sullivan post in which one of his readers compared Clinton and Obama to Yahoo and Google respectively. For those who are interested in the observation I would recommend it as a nice entertainment piece. After having read it myself, I decided to check out the rest of his reader's blog and have found it quite interesting. I would recommend Talented Earthquake Productions (as his blog is titled) to anyone who enjoys reading Andrew.
In particular there was one post that was especially perceptive regarding McCain's convictions and his positions and most notably the lack of connection between the two. Here is the quote...
The video he is referring to is here...
For the full post click here.
In particular there was one post that was especially perceptive regarding McCain's convictions and his positions and most notably the lack of connection between the two. Here is the quote...
"Then of course there is the problem of exactly what McCain thinks. This video highlights some of his contradictory statements. I don't think he's intellectually dishonest- I just think he doesn't think about policy that deeply or carefully enough to have consistent positions. He has principles, which are deeply held, and are generally good. But I don't think he's done a lot of the hard work connecting the principles to the positions."
The video he is referring to is here...
For the full post click here.
New Huff Post 'Green'!
Hufffington Post just dedicated an entire section of their website to 'green' news. It is about time our environment was recognized a subject worthy of significant attention. I hope to find blog-worthy stories here for your consumption. The new section is introduced here by none other than Ariana Huffington herself.
June 5, 2008
Leadership vs Mimicry
Please tell me what this makes you think of...
Who ever approved this becoming McCain's new front page to his website should be fired - immediately. Its tough to know exactly where to begin but lets start with the background. How does it compare to say, oh, I don't know, this...
So that is a pretty clear rip off.
Second, lets take that new slogan McCain has started using.
"A LEADER WE CAN BELIEVE IN."
Doesn't sound so bad. In fact, sounds kinda good. Actually, its kinda sounds like...
"CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN."
But wait, that is Obama's slogan.
These are both pretty bad. When Obama copied someone else at least he did it from a friend - someone with whom he has a history of sharing ideas.
The biggest problem with the add, though, isn't that it comes across awkwardly, although it does. The biggest problem is that it reminds people of Obama - the last thing you want to be doing if you are McCain. But a copy is never as good as the original and this is stridently obvious here. The add comes across rigid and forced.
But these are superficial matters, right? After all, a flashy website - copied or original - won't improve your life or mine. And I would hesitate to make the leap that this implies that McCain is somehow a follower. But then he goes and does this...
Granted the idea is great. We should all recognize those around us who contribute to our society in positive and constructive ways. The problem with this video, other than the plain black background that makes this add look like an 80's sales training video, is that this concept of a bottom-up, grassroots campaign that empowers and honors the average voter, while it certainly did not originate from Obama, it has been a part of his campaign from the very beginning. It is not something that comes naturally to McCain and this video demonstrates it.
Most of all all this stuff makes me realize how stupid Al Gore must have looked in 'earth tones' or how ridiculous John Kerry looked riding a motorcycle onto Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" stage. The problem with making someone into someone they are not is that it never looks right. The person never feels comfortable being something they are not. There is nothing more politically unattractive than someone who is not comfortable in their skin (i.e. Nixon).
This is what McCain's website used to look like...
Now it is certainly not groundbreaking but it is honest.
McCain needs to do some serious soul searching. He needs to reclaim his own unique voice. When he says he believes that he "can inspire a generation of American's to serve a cause greater than their self interests" he cannot pretend that it will come across as it does for Obama. He should not believe that by mimicking Obama he will inspire anyone. I really hope that he does reclaim his voice. McCain is not one for theatrics and soaring rhetoric, but when he used to speak candidly he appeared honorable and courageous. Certainly whoever becomes our next president will need a great deal of courage. The courage to lead... not follow.
Thievery reference - Video and new McCain Website Front-Page Image found on Talking Points Memo)
Who ever approved this becoming McCain's new front page to his website should be fired - immediately. Its tough to know exactly where to begin but lets start with the background. How does it compare to say, oh, I don't know, this...
So that is a pretty clear rip off.
Second, lets take that new slogan McCain has started using.
"A LEADER WE CAN BELIEVE IN."
Doesn't sound so bad. In fact, sounds kinda good. Actually, its kinda sounds like...
"CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN."
But wait, that is Obama's slogan.
These are both pretty bad. When Obama copied someone else at least he did it from a friend - someone with whom he has a history of sharing ideas.
The biggest problem with the add, though, isn't that it comes across awkwardly, although it does. The biggest problem is that it reminds people of Obama - the last thing you want to be doing if you are McCain. But a copy is never as good as the original and this is stridently obvious here. The add comes across rigid and forced.
But these are superficial matters, right? After all, a flashy website - copied or original - won't improve your life or mine. And I would hesitate to make the leap that this implies that McCain is somehow a follower. But then he goes and does this...
Granted the idea is great. We should all recognize those around us who contribute to our society in positive and constructive ways. The problem with this video, other than the plain black background that makes this add look like an 80's sales training video, is that this concept of a bottom-up, grassroots campaign that empowers and honors the average voter, while it certainly did not originate from Obama, it has been a part of his campaign from the very beginning. It is not something that comes naturally to McCain and this video demonstrates it.
Most of all all this stuff makes me realize how stupid Al Gore must have looked in 'earth tones' or how ridiculous John Kerry looked riding a motorcycle onto Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" stage. The problem with making someone into someone they are not is that it never looks right. The person never feels comfortable being something they are not. There is nothing more politically unattractive than someone who is not comfortable in their skin (i.e. Nixon).
This is what McCain's website used to look like...
Now it is certainly not groundbreaking but it is honest.
McCain needs to do some serious soul searching. He needs to reclaim his own unique voice. When he says he believes that he "can inspire a generation of American's to serve a cause greater than their self interests" he cannot pretend that it will come across as it does for Obama. He should not believe that by mimicking Obama he will inspire anyone. I really hope that he does reclaim his voice. McCain is not one for theatrics and soaring rhetoric, but when he used to speak candidly he appeared honorable and courageous. Certainly whoever becomes our next president will need a great deal of courage. The courage to lead... not follow.
Thievery reference - Video and new McCain Website Front-Page Image found on Talking Points Memo)
Our Nominee - June 3rd, 2008
Watch and be inspired. For about the 10 minutes I thought this was a great speech but, because Obama sets the bar so high, nothing out of the ordinary for him. But then he just took it a new level. He keeps finding levels that I previously did not know existed. Goosebumps. That's all I can say.
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