Profiling house robbers – why a dog beats electric fences – HomeTimes

Profiling house robbers – why a dog beats electric fences – HomeTimes

The Top 100 Books Referenced by Noam Chomsky | ChomskyList.com

The Top 100 Books Referenced by Noam Chomsky | ChomskyList.com: The Top 100 Books Referenced by Noam Chomsky

Google is Recording Everything You Say — Here’s How to Hear It, Delete It, and Stop It | The Daily Liberator

Google is Recording Everything You Say — Here’s How to Hear It, Delete It, and Stop It | The Daily Liberator: Thanks to a function of their search software, Google could have years worth of your conversations recorded, and you can hear it for yourself. Your cringe-worthy history can be heard and viewed along with a list of all your searches, at your personal Google history page.

Notable.ca | Big Surprise: Harvard Study Shows that Sarcasm is Actually Good for You

Notable.ca | Big Surprise: Harvard Study Shows that Sarcasm is Actually Good for You: Data from a recent study entitled, The Highest Form of Intelligence: Sarcasm Increases Creativity for Both Expressers and Recipients, suggests that the delivery and deciphering of sarcasm offers psychological benefits that have been largely underappreciated and long overlooked.

When Being Pro-Life Did Not Mean Being Conservative | Religion & Politics

When Being Pro-Life Did Not Mean Being Conservative | Religion & Politics: Most of the pre-Roe pro-life activists were Catholics with liberal political sympathies shaped by their Church’s social justice teachings and the New Deal. They viewed their campaign to save the lives of the unborn as a human rights cause, which is why much of their rhetoric closely paralleled the language of the civil rights and anti-war movements.

The Heavy Anglo-Orthodox: The war in Iraq was a war on truth

The Heavy Anglo-Orthodox: The war in Iraq was a war on truth: The Iraq War was a hubristic demonstration, a demonstration of the Antichrist, that the truth itself is something that must be subjected to the human will, that it is human will that shapes reality and not the other way around.

How Charles Williams combined the occult with Christian faith | The Christian Century

How Charles Williams combined the occult with Christian faith | The Christian Century: Shadows of a saint

Charles Williams’s magical Christianity
May 12, 2016 by Philip Jenkins

In 1963, W. H. Auden reported his weary experiences on a lucrative U.S. lecture tour in the wry poem “On the Circuit.” It was grim maintaining a smiling face while meeting so many gushing strangers, but occasionally there was “a blessed encounter, full of joy . . . With, here, an addict of Tolkien / There, a Charles Williams fan.” The number of devotees of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis proliferated enormously over the following decades, and that boundless enthusiasm spilled over to any and all of their associates, including Williams. A rising tide lifted all Inklings

Louis van Gaal says 'it's over' with Jose Mourinho tipped to take over at Manchester United | Football News | Sky Sports

Louis van Gaal says 'it's over' with Jose Mourinho tipped to take over at Manchester United | Football News | Sky Sports: United have no plans for a victory parade in Manchester, and the club are believed to be angry that news of Mourinho's potential appointment has overshadowed the club's first FA Cup win since 2004 and first piece of silverware since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Community stands against farm attacks | Vryheid Herald

Community stands against farm attacks | Vryheid Herald: FOLLOWING the brutal murder of Billy Van Rooyen and his father in law Ronnie Lombard, the community members of Zwathi took to the streets saying ‘enough is enough’.

These members of the ward 4 community headed down to the Gluckstadt Police Station to hand over a memorandum regarding their concerns over the rise in crime in their area.

The main issue raised in the memorandum was that of the killing of farmers, which in turn has a negative influence on the community’s infrastructure as many of those working on the farms lose their jobs.

He Carefully Places Sponges Inside His Fridge… The Reason? This Is Pure GENIUS!

He Carefully Places Sponges Inside His Fridge… The Reason? This Is Pure GENIUS!:

• How to quickly and easily peel a lot of garlic cloves by shaking them in a container
• Keep your vegetables fresh by keeping sponges in your refrigerator vegetable drawer
• Cleaning your shoes with toothpaste
• Disinfect your cutting board while eliminating odor with a vinegar solution
• Speed up the drying of your laundry by adding tennis balls to your load

Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems | Books | The Guardian

Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems | Books | The Guardian: So pervasive has neoliberalism become that we seldom even recognise it as an ideology. We appear to accept the proposition that this utopian, millenarian faith describes a neutral force; a kind of biological law, like Darwin’s theory of evolution. But the philosophy arose as a conscious attempt to reshape human life and shift the locus of power.

Neoliberalism sees competition as the defining characteristic of human relations. It redefines citizens as consumers, whose democratic choices are best exercised by buying and selling, a process that rewards merit and punishes inefficiency. It maintains that “the market” delivers benefits that could never be achieved by planning.

Distributism from the East

Distributism from the East: Distributism premises its economic principle of subsidiarity with the ethical principle of solidarity; as such an exploration of what economic justice is to the Orthodox is needed in order to see if it aligns with Distributism’s views. Saint Basil the Great has much to say on the topic of economic justice. For instance, he says in his homily “I Will Tear Down my Barns” that the rich “have been made minister[s] of God’s goodness, a steward of your fellow servants”2 and as such should not hoard what they have but use the money to help others. He further ties justice and economic activity together in his homily “To the Rich” when he says that wherever the rich man turns he will “behold the apparitions of [his] evil acts … the tears of the orphan, there the groaning of widow….”3 driving home that one’s economic actions have both real victims and spiritual consequences. The fact that St. Basil humanizes the poor and gives them identities (orphans and widows) is remarkable for a time period where the poor where generally viewed as a faceless mass for the rich to dump their excess wealth on if they decided to practice charity. In modern Capitalist countries the economic realities often make it easier to see the poor in the later manner, but in a Distributist society with its focus on subsidiarity and solidarity, we would be better able to see them in the former light.

Five Things You Need Know About the Attacks From a Peace Activist in Brussels

Five Things You Need Know About the Attacks From a Peace Activist in Brussels: “We are going to go after them,” Obama said a couple of hours after the terrorist attacks. Really? When?

We know, for example, that the real people fighting ISIS at the moment are the Kurds in Kobane and other cities. We know that helping and supporting them, while cutting the route of ISIS’s oil to Turkey, would deal a huge blow to the so-called Islamic State. Are we doing it? Not at all.

Supporting Turkey, a crucial actor in this whole story with Machiavellian policies on the ground, is a major factor in the ongoing violence.

Theology and Racial Justice with J. Kameron Carter

Theology and Racial Justice with J. Kameron Carter: Get a deeper understanding of racial justice by examining its theological roots. In this course, theologian and author J. Kameron Carter reveals and explains many of the theological underpinnings of racial injustice.

The journey toward racial justice in North America cannot be fully undertaken without a grasp of the theological implications underlying both its origins and development.

South Africa's rising tide of racial profiling | Politics | RDM

South Africa's rising tide of racial profiling | Politics | RDM: Black thinkers need to prick the bubble of black triumphalism if South Africa wants to progress. Afrikaners should prick their hedonism bubble and confront their history of violent submission of black people and land grabs, and English speakers need to understand that their jingoist monolingualism, which is as exclusionary as the worst Afrikaner racism, will only deepen the inequality already bedevilling our common future.

The Geography of Trumpism - NYTimes.com

The Geography of Trumpism - NYTimes.com: When the Census Bureau asks Americans about their ancestors, some respondents don’t give a standard answer like “English” or “German.” Instead, they simply answer “American.”

The places with high concentrations of these self-described Americans turn out to be the places Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has performed the strongest.

You really, really have to stop correcting the grammar of racists ranting about 'Muslins' on Facebook | Voices | The Independent

You really, really have to stop correcting the grammar of racists ranting about 'Muslins' on Facebook | Voices | The Independent: Fighting racism is virtuous; making someone feel bad because they don’t know about apostrophes is not. It is the same instinct that drives racism: the instinct to dominate, to denigrate, and to attack people rather than ideas.

Internet changing face of theology schools

Internet changing face of theology schools: Journalists, taxi drivers, musicians and motels have all had their economic apple carts upset by the Internet. Theology professors are discovering they too are not immune from the game-changing, democratizing effect of the world wide web.

Ever since the Council of Trent mandated seminaries to train priests, the only way to become theologically literate has been to enrol in a university, faithfully attend all the lectures and seminars, write the papers, debate with fellow students and pass the final exam. All of this had to happen in a classroom, on a campus.

No more.

Chant Matters - Compline at St Mark's Cathedral, Seattle - What is in Kelvin's Head?

Chant Matters - Compline at St Mark's Cathedral, Seattle - What is in Kelvin's Head?: That service breaks almost (and that almost is important, as we shall see) rule in the How to Attract Young People Big Book of Church Growth.

The building is as close to hideous as makes no odds.
The choir sing from behind a pillar and can’t be seen.
You don’t get a service sheet on the way in. You don’t in fact get anything.
The service is uncompromisingly old fashioned.
The service is based around Plainsong Chant.
There are no guitars. Not one.
It is unaccompanied by anything.
You don’t get to do anything.
You don’t sing.
You don’t speak.
You don’t engage.
You don’t form community.

And still they come. Hundreds of them. Every week they come.

The Return of Public Vulgarity

The Return of Public Vulgarity: It may appear that this disintegration is counteracted by the growth of political correctness, which prescribes exactly what cannot be said; however, a closer look immediately makes it clear how the "politically correct" regulation participates in the same process of the disintegration of the ethical substance. To prove this point, it suffices to recall the deadlock of political correctness: The need for PC rules arises when unwritten mores are no longer able to regulate effectively everyday interactions—instead of spontaneous customs followed in a nonreflexive way, we get explicit rules, such as when “torture” becomes an “enhanced interrogation technique.”

The crucial point is that torture—brutal violence practiced by the state—was made publicly acceptable at the very moment when public language was rendered politically correct in order to protect victims from symbolic violence. These two phenomena are two sides of the same coin.

‘We Think the Price Is Worth It’ — FAIR

‘We Think the Price Is Worth It’ — FAIR:

Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?



Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we think the price is worth it.



—60 Minutes (5/12/96)

A Comedy of Terrors: When in Doubt, Bomb Syria

A Comedy of Terrors: When in Doubt, Bomb Syria:



Sanders’ policy on Syria is na�ve to the point of doltishness. But Hillary’s Syrian war plan—shared by most of her Republican rivals—borders on the pathological. Having not missed a minute of sleep haunted by the corpses of Libya, Mrs. Clinton is now stumping for the dismantling of Syria, using the carefully cultivated domestic anxiety over ISIS as the pretext. The cornerstone of Hillary’s rogue scheme is the imposition of a no fly zone over that embattled country.

Sounds like a relatively benign plan, right? But wait. ISIS doesn’t have an air force. They don’t even a have drone. Russia, of course, is flying daily sorties in Syrian air space, at the invitation of the Syrian government, such as it is, and some kind of confrontation would be inevitable. Still, Hillary doesn’t flinch. She has zealously vowed to shoot down any Russian plane that violated her unilateral ban.

SUNDAY TIMES - From SONA to Zika: 10 things that happened this week you should know about

SUNDAY TIMES - From SONA to Zika: 10 things that happened this week you should know about: The State of the Nation Address may be focused on political topics but with every important event come important fashion moments. From Thuli Madonsela's canary yellow gown to the long gold dress of Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba's wife, Noma, designer Gert-Johan Coetzee dominated the red carpet. Here are our best and worst looks from the night.



SONA 2016 fail | News24:
Watching this #SONA2016 has been the biggest joke, thus far nothing has
come of it, all it's been is a fashion show and a debate on the rules
of the house!

We the people are slave to this joke of a house they call parliament!

For heaven sakes dear lord please help this country and its people cause
we are getting nothing from the people who are meant to better the
country!

Far From Narnia - The New Yorker

Far From Narnia - The New Yorker:

Although he likes Lewis’s criticism and quotes it surprisingly often, he considers the fantasy series “morally loathsome.” In a 1998 essay for the Guardian, entitled “The Dark Side of Narnia,” he condemned “the misogyny, the racism, the sado-masochistic relish for violence that permeates the whole cycle.” He reviled Lewis for depicting the character Susan Pevensie’s sexual coming of age—suggested by her interest in “nylons and lipstick and invitations”—as grounds for exclusion from paradise. In Pullman’s view, the “Chronicles,” which end with the rest of the family’s ascension to a neo-Platonic version of Narnia after they die in a railway accident, teach that “death is better than life; boys are better than girls . . . and so on. There is no shortage of such nauseating drivel in Narnia, if you can face it.”

Don’t go changing: The gaping silence

Don’t go changing � The gaping silence:

To be virtuous, in other words, is to do good not because it’s good but because it’s right: to judge your actions by criteria entirely different from the question of whether other people benefit or suffer from them.

It’s this abstract, disciplined calculus of virtue which is threatened by the onset of nylons and lipstick and invitations. For Lewis, growing up – becoming a sexual being, not to put too fine a point on it – was a fall from grace, not because adulthood meant living in sin but because it meant living in the world. The world we know, Lewis believed, is only a poor shadow of a real world we can only know through the imagination.

The Ramshackle Vampire: Sorry, Ladies, C.S. Lewis Finds You Tedious and Icky

The Ramshackle Vampire: Sorry, Ladies, C.S. Lewis Finds You Tedious and Icky:

An episode in the final book that Lewis's readers call “the problem of Susan” thus becomes multiply alarming: it brings sexuality (teenage romance) into the series and then condemns it, and the women who express it. In The Last Battle (1956), Susan Pevensie was denied re-admission into Narnia – and thus allegorically into Heaven – because she dared develop an interest in “makeup” and “boys,” neither of which left her time for Narnia or Aslan. Several authors have subsequently addressed Lewis's callous dismissal of Susan in their own stories. Ana Mardoll last month drew her followers' attention to a recent and curiously moving addition to this Susan Pevensie subgenre, “Elegant and Fine” by T. Kingfisher (alias Ursula Vernon).

Politics: Madeleine Albright: There's a special place in Hell for women who don't support Hillary | Best of Cain

Politics: Madeleine Albright: There's a special place in Hell for women who don't support Hillary | Best of Cain:



Would it be taking this whole thing way too seriously if I bothered to correct the horrendous theology? I think so. It's not so much that the threat of eternal damnation is alluded to here. That's just Madeleine Albright being a presumptuous blowhard. But I do think she's trying to do something serious when she basically tells every woman in America they have no business not supporting Hillary for president:

There's Also a 'Special Place in Hell' for Madeleine Albright

There's Also a 'Special Place in Hell' for Madeleine Albright:



Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is making headlines today after her appearance at a Hillary Clinton rally. Standing beside a laughing Clinton, she said “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.”

What isn’t making headlines is the irony of someone who was responsible for the deaths of 2,000 civilians, including 88 children, pretending to have any moral judgement whatsoever.

Apartheid-era murder of sleeping teenagers returns to haunt De Klerk | World news | The Guardian

Apartheid-era murder of sleeping teenagers returns to haunt De Klerk | World news | The Guardian:



Mr de Klerk has not denied ordering the 1993 raid, in which the five boys were killed, on what was described as a Pan Africanist Congress safe house used to plan "terrorist attacks".

After the attack, the military said the dead were men who were armed and shooting but photographs of the scene showed the boys still in their beds, riddled with bullets and no guns in sight. Mr de Klerk later described the killings as a tragic mistake.

londinoupolis: The Holy Abbess and Wonder-worker Saint Brigid of Kildare, Ireland

londinoupolis: The Holy Abbess and Wonder-worker Saint Brigid of Kildare, Ireland:



According to tradition, Saint Brigid (Brigit, Bridget) was born at Fochart (or Fothairt), near Dundalk of County Louth in Ulster, of a noble Irish family, which had been converted by Saint Patrick. A wonderful striving for virtue was seen in her from her earliest years. Being uncommonly beautiful, she had many suitors and her father tried to marry her to the King of Ulster. At the age of sixteen, she implored Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom alone she desired as her spouse, to make her unattractive, so that no longer would anyone want to marry her. Her prayer was heard; she lost an eye, and was allowed to enter a monastery. However, on the very day that she took the veil, she was miraculously healed and recovered her original loveliness, which was now set off by spiritual beauty.

Wheaton Faculty Council Unanimously Asks College To Keep Lary... | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com

Wheaton Faculty Council Unanimously Asks College To Keep Lary... | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com:



Update (Jan. 22): At a public listening session yesterday, Wheaton provost Stanton Jones presented his own answer to the question that started the current controversy: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

"Ontologically all monotheists affirm that there can only be one divine being, and it seems logical to me that there must be some referential overlap or similarity in the divine being that each is referring to in each of the monotheistic religions," said Jones, according to a transcript posted by The Wheaton Record.

Orthodox Christian Initiative for Africa: Capitalism, Protestant Ethics & Orthodox Tradition

Orthodox Christian Initiative for Africa: Capitalism, Protestant Ethics & Orthodox Tradition:



Orthodoxy is not linked to metaphysics. We saw in the previous analysis that the spirit of Capitalism, as analysed by Max Weber, is very closely linked to the theory of predestination, which is one of the characteristic marks of metaphysics. Of course, the term metaphysics includes many other aspects that will not be analysed here.
We could preferably say that Orthodoxy is anti-metaphysical. The centre of Orthodox anthropology is not the “orthos logos” (the appropriate word, reasoning). Without abolishing logic, Orthodoxy transcends it through a revelation by God, which is beyond all reasoning and not against reasoning.
The theory of predestination is rejected by the theology of the Fathers of the Church. God does not violate man’s freedom and those who wish can become sons of God. In Orthodoxy there is no “aristocracy of the pious”. When man follows a specific method of therapy, he can even reach the state of theoptia (the ‘sight’ of God). Thus, he comes to know God, he acquires selfless love and loves the entire world. Just as medical science cannot be metaphysical, so Orthodox theology cannot be metaphysical.

THICK END OF THE WEDGE: Mkhize to thank for Zuma turnaround | Columnists | BDlive

THICK END OF THE WEDGE: Mkhize to thank for Zuma turnaround | Columnists | BDlive:



Zuma, though, couldn’t see the problem, so some or all (certainly enough members) of the meeting told him bluntly if he continued to imperil the future of the country they would withdraw their support of him as leader of the party. That got through. It was a political threat, not an economics lecture, and Zuma understood it instantly.

UPD “It’s Kids drowning in the Aegean, stupid!” – 42 Migrants dead in two boat incidents, among them 17 children

UPD “It’s Kids drowning in the Aegean, stupid!” – 42 Migrants dead in two boat incidents, among them 17 children:



While refugees keep drowning in the cold waters of the Aegean Sea trying to flee the war, thousands of kilometers away, in snowy Davos, political and economic leaders meet in cosy chalets and try to find solutions to the world and European problems.

Panicked by the refugees and migrants flow that doesn’t come into a halt despite the winter conditions, the EU leaders raise fences and close their borders, while others like Denmark or Germany “strip the refugees’ of their money and valuable assets to have them self-finance” the honor of finding shelter in their countries.

800 Free eBooks for iPad, Kindle & Other Devices | Open Culture

800 Free eBooks for iPad, Kindle & Other Devices | Open Culture: Download 800 free eBooks to your Kindle, iPad/iPhone, computer, smart phone or ereader. Collection includes great works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, including works by Asimov, Jane Austen, Philip K. Dick, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Neil Gaiman, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf & James Joyce. Also please see our collection 700 Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free, where you can download more great books to your computer or mp3 player.

A truly liberal society would tolerate the Anglican church's views on sexuality - Spectator Blogs

A truly liberal society would tolerate the Anglican church's views on sexuality - Spectator Blogs: The preposterous claim that the contemporary church’s view of marriage is like supporting slavery is still worth deconstructing. There are only two ways you could plausibly make this argument. First, if today’s church supported using the coercive power of the state to uphold its teaching on marriage. Secondly, if the church – simply by teaching traditional views on sexuality – is indirectly responsible for persecuting homosexuals.

Refrain from Anger: On Anglican Bigotry | The Sub-Dean's Stall

Refrain from Anger: On Anglican Bigotry | The Sub-Dean's Stall: The Episcopal Church – this supposedly high-minded and elevated form of rational Christianity – has succumbed to the nastiest abusiveness of fellow Christians. Whether it is the veiled racism of referring to “the Africans” or the copious use of various forms of the word “bigot” or casting the acts of the Primates as devious and underhanded – we are reacting in ways entirely out of proportion to the sanction that we have received.

We are reacting in ways that actually imperil communion – in ways that are more dangerous than a sanction or reprimand from the institutional arm of the Church. The Church is the Body. It is a mystical union as well as an institutional entity. Our reactions – our words and deeds – have the potential to undermine the mystical union we share for we are literally saying to one part of the Body, “We have no need of you.”

Syrian endgame could begin with Aleppo - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Syrian endgame could begin with Aleppo - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East: This column has warned for more than two years of the campaign to mainstream radical jihadi groups under the rubric of the “moderate” Syria opposition. This trend has done a disservice to the true secular, democratic opposition that rose against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. In November 2015, we advocated keeping Ahrar al-Sham out of the Syrian political process, despite the group’s purported influence “on the ground,” which is at least in part due to its collaboration with the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group. Unfortunately, Syrian democrats can’t rely on the largesse of regional patrons who don’t mind a sectarian edge to the anti-Assad military campaign. Even prominent former American diplomats are ready to welcome Ahrar al-Sham and their fellow jihadi travelers into the peace fold, as long as there is some tactical divergence with Jabhat al-Nusra and these groups are willing to “engage” with the West.

How to Fail at Family History Research in 10 Simple Steps | Family History Daily

Yes, we've all made most of these mistakes, many times. but I was saved from the first two to a large extent.



I was saved from the first by the friend, visiting from overseas, who sold me on the joys of ancestor hunting. When I said I was interested, he said "Have you got any aunts or uncles living nearby?" And we went to see an aunt I hadn't seen for 10 years, who had my grandparents' marriage certificate, and as we left he said to me, "They always know more than they think they do."



And I was saved from the second because no one had personal computers in those days and Ancestry.com did not exist.



How to Fail at Family History Research in 10 Simple Steps | Family History Daily:

How to ‘Fail’ at Family History Research in 10 Simple Steps

• Step 1. Jump right into your family’s history without taking the time to talk to any of your relatives. Whatever you do, do not ask parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins what they know about your family’s past.
  
  

• Step 2. Get a subscription to Ancestry.com and never, ever leave their site. Do not, under any circumstances, check out the many free genealogy websites that contain oodles of unique, helpful information.

But the rest of the mistakes I have made many times, and still do. Read them and be warned.

Blaming the Africans: Cultural Imperialism and the Meeting of the Primates | Thicket of the Jordan

Blaming the Africans: Cultural Imperialism and the Meeting of the Primates | Thicket of the Jordan: when the Anglican Communion does gather to discuss issues of theology and Africans repeat the official teaching of the Communion and the teaching of the vast majority of Christians everywhere, they are rebuked for taking the focus away from the common mission (of African economic development) that unites the Communion. We seem to be confused as to how those Africans would dare do this after we have spent the last thirty years congratulating ourselves for granting the aid that we have made the basis of our common life. We cannot understand why they would be so divisive and on the wrong side of our definition of justice.

Harry Potter vs. Huckleberry Finn: Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories Than Americans - The Atlantic

Harry Potter vs. Huckleberry Finn: Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories Than Americans - The Atlantic: If Harry Potter and Huckleberry Finn were each to represent British versus American children’s literature, a curious dynamic would emerge: In a literary duel for the hearts and minds of children, one is a wizard-in-training at a boarding school in the Scottish Highlands, while the other is a barefoot boy drifting down the Mississippi, beset by con artists, slave hunters, and thieves. One defeats evil with a wand, the other takes to a raft to right a social wrong. Both orphans took over the world of English-language children’s literature, but their stories unfold in noticeably different ways.

U.S. Dropped 23,144 Bombs on Muslim-Majority Countries in 2015 | Alternet

U.S. Dropped 23,144 Bombs on Muslim-Majority Countries in 2015 | Alternet: Nobel Peace Prize-winner President Obama dropped a serious amount of ordnance last year.

Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Lashes Out Against Gays: “Spit on Them, Beat them Up, They Are Not Human” - The Pappas Post

Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Lashes Out Against Gays: “Spit on Them, Beat them Up, They Are Not Human” - The Pappas Post:

Ambrosios is the Metropolitan of Kalavryta and Aigialeia— a region in north central Peloponnese and ranks as the 8th in order of hierarchy and influence in the Church’s synod, or governing body. Numerous politicians, media and public figures have called for condemnation of the bishop’s comments.

His vitriolic blog post (in Greek) followed legislation set forth by the ruling government to extend domestic partnership status to same-sex couples, granting them similar rights to those who are married.

Entertainment News - Magufuli’s ‘Pombe’ is intoxicating the world

Entertainment News - Magufuli’s ‘Pombe’ is intoxicating the world: The 5th president of Tanzania knows this all too well. Barely months into his first term, John Pombe Magufuli continues to win every one over with his anti-graft messages and actions. He storms hospitals and government offices to see if everyone is pulling their weight. Those who don’t are sacked, or threatened with the sack.

But the perception among Tanzanians is that finally, someone high up the leadership ladder is walking the talk. The raft of austerity measures the president has so far instituted have saved the East African nation trillions of Tanzanian shillings and for once, the country of some 50 million people seems to outclass her egotistic neighbour Kenya, while hogging the international limelight for all the right reasons.

Habetis Papam by David Bentley Hart | Articles | First Things

Habetis Papam by David Bentley Hart | Articles | First Things: F

ar be it from me—not being a Roman Catholic—to tell Catholics what they should think of their pontiff. But, just as a brief amicus curiae (so to speak), I want to note that I feel a wholly unqualified admiration for Francis; and nothing he has done, said, or written since assuming office has had any effect on me but to deepen that esteem. I have to say also that I am utterly baffled by the anxiety, disappointment, or hostility he clearly inspires in certain American Catholics of a conservative bent (using “conservative” in its distinctly American acceptation). And frankly I find it no more inexplicable in its most extreme expressions—which at their worst verge on sheer �hysteria—than in its mildest—an almost morbid oversensitivity to every faint hint of hidden meanings in every word, however innocuous, that escapes the pope’s lips or pen.

Christians, Capitalism, and Culture: A Response to David Bentley Hart | Public Discourse

Christians, Capitalism, and Culture: A Response to David Bentley Hart | Public Discourse: In an article praising Pope Francis in the December 2015 edition of First Things, the Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart confesses his bafflement at “the anxiety, disappointment, or hostility he clearly inspires in certain American Catholics of a conservative bent.” Referring to Francis’s environmental encyclical, Hart states that “I can quite literally find not a single sentence or sentiment in Laudato Si’ to which it seems to me possible for any Christian coherently to object.” Hart adds that he “simply cannot find an assertion anywhere in its pages that strikes me as anything other than either a plain statement of fact or a reasonable statement of Christian principle.”

Such comments are audacious but untenable. Close examination of some of Laudato Si’s arguments does raise questions about their coherence.

Warning: Actual Bible Reading Likely To Turn You Into A Liberal, Study Shows �

Warning: Actual Bible Reading Likely To Turn You Into A Liberal, Study Shows �:

Christian researchers have discovered the existence of a book that is so dangerous to conservative ideology, Republicans may soon decide to ban it altogether. Strangely enough, that book is the Christian Bible.

According to a study published in Christianity Today, people who say they read the Christian Bible frequently are far more likely to support liberal policies, when compared to those who read the Bible less often.

Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke

Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke:

This line of thought has led to some scientists claiming that “atheism is psychologically impossible because of the way humans think,” says Graham Lawton, an avowed atheist himself, writing in the New Scientist. “They point to studies showing, for example, that even people who claim to be committed atheists tacitly hold religious beliefs, such as the existence of an immortal soul.”

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since we are born believers, not atheists, scientists say. Humans are pattern-seekers from birth, with a belief in karma, or cosmic justice, as our default setting. “A slew of cognitive traits predisposes us to faith,” writes Pascal Boyer in Nature, the science journal, adding that people “are only aware of some of their religious ideas”.

Book Maven: Williams goes mainstream

Book Maven: Williams goes mainstream: There could not be a more appropriate venue to launch a book about a man less known than his two fellow Inklings, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R.R. Tolkien, but who had a powerful presence at their meetings at the Eagle and Child. Lindop describes him as the "missing piece of the jigsaw" - a novelist, publisher, lecturer, poet, critic and, yes, magician.

Book Maven

Book Maven: There could not be a more appropriate venue to launch a book about a man less known than his two fellow Inklings, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R.R. Tolkien, but who had a powerful presence at their meetings at the Eagle and Child. Lindop describes him as the "missing piece of the jigsaw" - a novelist, publisher, lecturer, poet, critic and, yes, magician.

Things Done In Secret - Anglican Pastor

Things Done In Secret - Anglican Pastor:

As a priest, I live at the intersection of two worlds: at the corner of seen and unseen, at the juncture of things in heaven and things on earth. So do you; so do we all. Yet, even this language is fraught with difficulty; it doesn’t get it quite right. It is too conditioned by Enlightenment dualism. There is, after all, only one world, not two – a single world containing both that which we see with our eyes and touch with our hands and that which we know only through revelation and perceive only by faith.

Things done in secret matter insofar as they reveal and partake of this unified world in which God is everywhere present and filling all things, a world in which water can actually become holy, a world in which bread and wine are actually consecrated by word and Holy Spirit and by prayer and touch, a world in which a bow is worship and the sign of the cross banishes demons. If this is, in fact, the kind of world we live in, then yes, things done in secret matter as much as things done in plain sight. I believe this is the kind of world we live in. If I am wrong about this, then seen or unseen, none of this matters.

Top editor ‘was an apartheid spy’ - South Africa | IOL News

Top editor ‘was an apartheid spy’ - South Africa | IOL News: A legendary figure in journalism, who edited the largest and arguably most influential newspaper of the day, was a “mole” working in the interests of the apartheid government, according to a book released this weekend.

God, Spies and Lies: Finding South Africa’s Future Through its Past is written by veteran journalist John Matisonn.

He says Tertius Myburgh, who edited the Sunday Times between 1975 and 1990, was the editor whom apartheid secret service head General Hendrik van den Bergh boasted he owned.

We can save atheism from the New Atheists like Richard Dawkins | Jeff Sparrow | Comment is free | The Guardian

We can save atheism from the New Atheists like Richard Dawkins | Jeff Sparrow | Comment is free | The Guardian: Why are the New Atheists such jerks? Case in point: Richard Dawkins’ continuing pursuit of Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas 14-year-old humiliated in school after authorities mistook his homemade clock for a bomb.

The other day, The God Delusion author called Ahmed a hoaxer and responded to suggestions “he was only a kid” by linking to a report about a juvenile Islamic State (Isis) fighter. “And how old is this ‘kid’?” Dawkins asked.

John Daniel’s Question — Or, Why Searching for the Missing Still Matters for South Africa (A Tribute) | Backstories

John Daniel’s Question — Or, Why Searching for the Missing Still Matters for South Africa (A Tribute) | Backstories: Before he died of cancer last year, and up until the moment he could no longer focus on much more than getting through the next treatment, John Daniel was a passionate and active supporter of the Missing Persons Task Team (MPTT) – of its cause, its work, and of its incredibly brave and overworked staff. His interest in the MPTT emerged not only from the long standing social justice orientation that came to define his political and academic life, but also from his work as a researcher for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which constituted the MPTT to continue with aspects of its overall mandate.

What I Discovered From Interviewing Imprisoned ISIS Fighters | The Nation

What I Discovered From Interviewing Imprisoned ISIS Fighters | The Nation:  An Islamic State fighter’s biggest resentment was the lack of an adolescence. Another of the interviewees was displaced at the critical age of 13, when his family fled to Kirkuk from Diyala province at the height of Iraq’s sectarian civil war. They are children of the occupation, many with missing fathers at crucial periods (through jail, death from execution, or fighting in the insurgency), filled with rage against America and their own government. They are not fueled by the idea of an Islamic caliphate without borders; rather, ISIS is the first group since the crushed Al Qaeda to offer these humiliated and enraged young men a way to defend their dignity, family, and tribe. This is not radicalization to the ISIS way of life, but the promise of a way out of their insecure and undignified lives; the promise of living in pride as Iraqi Sunni Arabs, which is not just a religious identity but cultural, tribal, and land-based, too.

SLAVA – what makes Serbs different from other Orthodox

SLAVA – what makes Serbs different from other Orthodox: Slava is connected to the times of old Slavic religion, when a cult of ancestors was very strong. For Slavs, family and its legacy is one of the holiest things in life; and this custom is highly appreciated even today. In order to maintain this legacy and implement it into Christianity, Serbian archbishop St. Sava canonized this ceremony and formed a unique cultural heritage for Serbs

Oswald Spengler and the Soul of Russia � Katehon

Oswald Spengler and the Soul of Russia � Katehon: while Spengler, like many others of the time in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution, regarded – partially - Russia as the Asianised leader of a ‘coloured revolution’ against the white world, he also considered other possibilities. This paper examines Spengler’s views on Russia as a distinct culture that had not yet fulfilled her destiny, while Western civilisation is about to take a final bow on the world historical stage. His views on Russia as an outsider are considered in relation to the depiction of the Russian soul by seminal Russians such as Gogol.

Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill

Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill: In my career as a psychologist, I have talked with hundreds of people previously diagnosed by other professionals with oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, anxiety disorder and other psychiatric illnesses, and I am struck by (1) how many of those diagnosed are essentially anti-authoritarians, and (2) how those professionals who have diagnosed them are not.

Anti-authoritarians question whether an authority is a legitimate one before taking that authority seriously. Evaluating the legitimacy of authorities includes assessing whether or not authorities actually know what they are talking about, are honest, and care about those people who are respecting their authority. And when anti-authoritarians assess an authority to be illegitimate, they challenge and resist that authority—sometimes aggressively and sometimes passive-aggressively, sometimes wisely and sometimes not.

Remembering St. John Coltrane

Remembering St. John Coltrane: “My goal is to live the truly religious life, and express it in my music. If you live it, when you play there’s no problem because the music is part of the whole thing. To be a musician is really something. It goes very, very deep. My music is the spiritual expression of what I am – my faith, my knowledge, my being.” –John Coltrane

Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe

jameschater.com - Home:

The Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe (hereafter referred to as the exarchate), headquartered at the Cathedral of Alexsander Nevsky, Rue Daru, Paris, is facing an unprecedented crisis. And that is saying a lot, given the archdiocese’s turbulent history! Recent actions by Archbishop Job of Telmessos have done nothing to stabilize what was already a precarious situation. Rather, they have brought matters to a head, with implications that run all the way to the throne of the Ecumenical Patriarchate itself. As such, the issues raised deserve the attention of all Orthodox.

The Rise and Rise of Papism in African Churches | Her Zimbabwe

The Rise and Rise of Papism in African Churches | Her Zimbabwe: You have to have study for a PhD or a medical degree to be called Dr. Somebody. You must have certain educational qualifications, experience and character qualities to be called Judge So-and-So. But in many churches have people called Apostle Ningi when he had not planted even one church and Bishop Lokhuzeni who has no leadership track record that anyone can attest to. These titles are often meaningless and only serve the purpose of distinguishing the title from other members of the church. They are the super-Christians and everyone else is subordinate. They are not about respecting a person but about exalting the person behind the pulpit further above the people on the pews.

Carmen Bugan: Secret Police Records and The Language of Memory - Nieman Storyboard

Carmen Bugan: Secret Police Records and The Language of Memory - Nieman Storyboard:

Reading my personal “biography” in the secret-police speak of the files sends me back to a self I both recognize and don’t, creating another place of writing, which I could not have imagined before. I am caught in the conflict between the free, fluid language of memory and the shackled, impersonal language of surveillance reports.

The Slow Death of the University - The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Slow Death of the University - The Chronicle of Higher Education: From Cape Town to Reykjavik, Sydney to S�o Paulo, an event as momentous in its own way as the Cuban revolution or the invasion of Iraq is steadily under way: the slow death of the university as a center of humane critique.

The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much - The New York Times

The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much - The New York Times: a major factor driving increasing costs is the constant expansion of university administration. According to the Department of Education data, administrative positions at colleges and universities grew by 60 percent between 1993 and 2009, which Bloomberg reported was 10 times the rate of growth of tenured faculty positions.

What Happened When Sam Harris Tried (and Failed) to Embarrass Noam Chomsky | Alternet

What Happened When Sam Harris Tried (and Failed) to Embarrass Noam Chomsky | Alternet: Harris shares the perverse belief that pervades the corridors of power, “people are going to be killed, many of them women and children – and unlike our enemies it appalls us so that makes it okay.”

Daily Maverick Chronicle: #FeesMustFall – Violence at the Gates of Parliament | Daily Maverick

Daily Maverick Chronicle: #FeesMustFall – Violence at the Gates of Parliament | Daily Maverick: When students stormed Parliament's grounds on Wednesday afternoon, SHAUN SWINGLER was there to document the police's brutal response. It is an upsetting but important video.

Shooting Feet: Israel Targets Palestinian Soccer Players | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

Shooting Feet: Israel Targets Palestinian Soccer Players | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community: One more God-awful chapter in the ongoing God-awful narrative that is Israeli occupation: Israeli forces attacked two teenage Palestinian cousins and soccer players, Jawhar Nasser Jawhar, 19, and Adam Abd al-Raouf Halabiya, 17, shooting them repeatedly in the feet and legs - ten bullets into Jawhar, two into Adam - before unleashing attack dogs and finally beating them in what critics call another egregious targeting of Palestinian athletes in a place where "soccer is politics."

Here’s How Facebook’s News Feed Actually Works | TIME

Here’s How Facebook’s News Feed Actually Works | TIME:

Facebook is injecting a human element into the way News Feed operates. The company’s growing army of human raters help the social network improve the News Feed experience in ways that can’t easily be measured by “Likes.” A new curation tool launching Thursday, for instance, called “See First” will let any user choose which of their friends they want to see at the top of the feed, rather than having the decision dictated by an algorithm.

John Pilger: Fascism and a new holocaust beckon if we remain silent - Stop the War Coalition

John Pilger: Fascism and a new holocaust beckon if we remain silent - Stop the War Coalition:

Had the Nazis not invaded Europe, Auschwitz and the Holocaust would not have happened. Had the United States and its satellites not initiated their war of aggression in Iraq in 2003, almost a million people would be alive today; and Islamic State, or ISIS, would not have us in thrall to its savagery. They are the progeny of modern fascism, weaned by the bombs, bloodbaths and lies that are the surreal theatre known as news.

Neoliberalism and Higher Education - The New York Times

Neoliberalism and Higher Education - The New York Times:

...neoliberalism is a pejorative way of referring to a set of economic/political policies based on a strong faith in the beneficent effects of free markets. Here is an often cited definition by Paul Treanor: “Neoliberalism is a philosophy in which the existence and operation of a market are valued in themselves, separately from any previous relationship with the production of goods and services . . . and where the operation of a market or market-like structure is seen as an ethic in itself, capable of acting as a guide for all human action, and substituting for all previously existing ethical beliefs.” (“Neoliberalism: Origins, Theory, Definition.”)

Zuroff: What happened in Srebrenica does not fit definition of genocide | InSerbia News

Zuroff: What happened in Srebrenica does not fit definition of genocide | InSerbia News:

BELGRADE – It is absurd to compare the Holocaust, genocide in Rwanda and the crimes committed in Srebrenica, said Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center Efraim Zuroff from Israel as one of the most famous Nazi-hunters.

Stanford scholar upends interpretation of philosopher Martin Heidegger

Stanford scholar upends interpretation of philosopher Martin Heidegger: After a lifetime of studying the German philosopher's groundbreaking works, Stanford Religious Studies Professor Thomas Sheehan concludes that Heideggerians' obsession with Being misses the point.

ReligiousLeftLaw.com

ReligiousLeftLaw.com:

Germany will be able to export much more than it otherwise would, since its currency — the euro — is undervalued as a German currency. It also means Greece will have much more trouble exporting than it otherwise would, since its currency — the euro — is overvalued as a Greek currency. So Germany will tend to rack up huge trade surpluses, and Greece will tend correspondingly to incur deficits and debts — all thanks to the nature of their shared currency in relation to their very different economies.

Almost Everything You've Heard About The Anti-Gay Sweet Cakes Wedding Cake Case Is (Probably) Wrong - The New Civil Rights Movement

Almost Everything You've Heard About The Anti-Gay Sweet Cakes Wedding Cake Case Is (Probably) Wrong - The New Civil Rights Movement:

the Oregon DOJ sent Cryer's consumer complaint to the Kleins, with a cover letter requesting that they respond to the complainants. It was an attempt to encourage reconciliation.

Instead, Aaron Klein posted the discrimination complaint to Facebook (not taking the precaution of redacting the couple's name and address from the document). "This is what happens when you tell gay people you won't do their 'wedding cake,'" he posted.

The Kleins then took to the news and media. They cozied up to anti-gay hate group Family Research Council, campaigning at appallingly anti-gay hate rallies, for their business' totally-fictional right to discriminate against LGBT people.

After filing the discrimination complaint, the Bowman-Cryers became the victims of death threats — as well as outrageous and horrific claims by conservative media outlets and anti-gay groups.

The Evolutionary Mystery of Left-Handedness and What It Reveals About How the Brain Works | Brain Pickings

The Evolutionary Mystery of Left-Handedness and What It Reveals About How the Brain Works | Brain Pickings:

So what can the brain reveal about handedness? One of the first scientists to ponder the mystery of left-handedness was pioneering French surgeon Paul Broca, whom Wolman calls “the closest thing the religion of Southpaw has to a prophet.” In 1861, just two years after Darwin had discovered the principles of evolution, Broca encountered two patients who stumped him profoundly. One was an epileptic man named Leborgne but known as “Tan,” nicknamed after the only syllable he was capable of uttering. Leborgne was able to understand spoken language but couldn’t articulate his thoughts in speech — something that perplexed Broca enormously, doubly so given that one of Leborgne’s first symptoms was a weakening of function in the right side of his body, which progressed to more loss of motor control and eventually the loss of sight and some of his mental faculties.

This Is How Hillary Loses the Primary - The Daily Beast

This Is How Hillary Loses the Primary - The Daily Beast:

Hillary Clinton has supported every U.S. war since Vietnam. She supported not only DOMA, which her husband signed, but a travel ban on those who were HIV positive. She supported welfare cuts (remember her husband’s efforts toward “ending welfare as we know it”?). She supports the death penalty and campaigned in her husband’s place during the 1992 New Hampshire primary when he left to oversee the execution of an African-American man whose suicide attempt left him brain damaged.

Greece referendum result and the meaning of debt - Business Insider

Greece referendum result and the meaning of debt - Business Insider:

To pay back debt, you have to have a growing economy. That's a basic law of economics. It's how credit cards work. It's how mortgages work. And it is how sovereign/central-bank debt works. But Greece's economy was never in a position to benefit from debt, because it has been shrinking for years:

Thomas Piketty accuses Germany of forgetting history as it lectures Greece - The Washington Post

Thomas Piketty accuses Germany of forgetting history as it lectures Greece - The Washington Post:

A number of prominent economists have raised concerns about Germany's approach to the Greek debt crisis, which Germans say reflects a need to force changes in Greece's economy so that it never again has such a crisis.

But in the interview with Die Zeit, Thomas Piketty went even farther, saying that the Germans are only in the strong economic position they are today because they benefited from the forgiveness of their neighbors after World War II.

This 200,000 Year-Old City in South Africa Could Rewrite Human History | The Mind Unleashed

This 200,000 Year-Old City in South Africa Could Rewrite Human History | The Mind Unleashed: A giant stone city was discovered in South Africa, approximately 150 km west of port Maputo, Mozambique. By calculating the erosion rate of the dolerite, it became possible to assess the age of the site. It was estimated that the 1500 square-kilometer metropolis was constructed between 160,000 and 200,000 years ago!

Dylann Roof’s racist manifesto: ‘I have no choice’ - The Washington Post

Dylann Roof’s racist manifesto: ‘I have no choice’ - The Washington Post: Authorities said Saturday that the man accused of killing nine African Americans in a venerable Charleston, S.C., church left a racist manifesto targeting blacks, Jews and Hispanics on his Web site, a white supremacist broadside that also appears to offer a rationale for the shootings.

The lengthy declaration, loaded with offensive racial characterizations of blacks and others, includes the conclusion that “someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me.”

“I have no choice,” states part of that final section, titled “An Explanation.” “I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is [the] most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country.”

A Letter From a White South African to White America�|�Bronwyn Lea

A Letter From a White South African to White America�|�Bronwyn Lea: I know there are many differences between America and South Africa's histories: they are complex narratives, woven in blood and ink. I do not write this as an expert analyst, or as a political pundit -- but as one confessing there is so much I don't know and understand. But, I offer the little I've learned living in a country which shed tears and blood over race, and now living in another doing the same:

The Usenet Improvement Project - Home

The Usenet Improvement Project - Home: What is the Usenet improvement Project?

The Usenet Improvement Project is an attempt to make Usenet participation a better experience for those who are clued as to what the Usenet medium is and how to use it.
Lamers
Lamer Street Sign

Most of the people who post to Usenet via the clunky Google Groups web interface are lusers or lamers. Because of their use of a clunky Usenet web interface (and all Usenet web interfaces suck - Usenet wasn't designed for webification and does not need webification), they have no idea what Usenet is, how it works, or how to use it properly. And, generally, they don't want to learn.

Don’t stress about us in SA | Opinion & Analysis | BDlive

Don’t stress about us in SA | Opinion & Analysis | BDlive: there have always been people who think SA has five years left before we go over the cliff. No change from when I was at school in the sixties. The five years went down to a few months at times in the eighties!

But it seems the people who are the most worried live far from the cliff in places like Toronto, Auckland, London and other wet and cold places. Also from St Ives and Rose Bay in Sydney, Dallas and Europe and other "safe places" that are in the grip of the global financial crisis, which by the way is quite scary.

I'm a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me - Vox

I'm a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me - Vox: So it's not just that students refuse to countenance uncomfortable ideas — they refuse to engage them, period. Engagement is considered unnecessary, as the immediate, emotional reactions of students contain all the analysis and judgment that sensitive issues demand. As Judith Shulevitz wrote in the New York Times, these refusals can shut down discussion in genuinely contentious areas, such as when Oxford canceled an abortion debate. More often, they affect surprisingly minor matters, as when Hampshire College disinvited an Afrobeat band because their lineup had too many white people in it.

Priest George Maximov. �Everything that Neo-Pagans said about Christianity was A lie�. Interview with former neo-pagan Ivan Liskov / OrthoChristian.Com

Priest George Maximov. �Everything that Neo-Pagans said about Christianity was A lie�. Interview with former neo-pagan Ivan Liskov / OrthoChristian.Com: Today Father George interviews Ivan Liskov who joined the satanists in his adolescence and whose search for “true religion” later resulted in many years of involvement with neo-paganism (see the video here in Russian).

“Divine Totalitarianism” - Institute of Modern Russia

“Divine Totalitarianism” - Institute of Modern Russia:



The recent conflict surrounding the production of Tannh�user has revealed a new dimension of the relationship between religion and the state in today’s Russia. It clearly demonstrates that if, contrary to the expectations of the state, the church does not act with sufficient toughness, Orthodox activists can be used to manipulate public opinion. After all, except for Metropolitan Tikhon, who filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office, none of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church called for any action to be taken against the director of Tannh�user or the director of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater. On the contrary, on March 5, the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church published an explanation by Vladimir Legoyda, head of the Synodal Information Department, in connection with the situation. His words were correct and encouraging: any believer or priest, he wrote, who notices something in the public sphere that he considers blasphemous or insulting to his feelings should not immediately rush to the Prosecutor’s Office. “A sinner is not only the one who blasphemes God, but also the one who falsely accuses someone of blasphemy,” claimed Legoyda. However, these words were ignored by Orthodox activists.

A science fiction and fantasy reading list for teen creativity | ideas.ted.com

A science fiction and fantasy reading list for teen creativity | ideas.ted.com: Creative writing is part of being a kid. Writing and reading goofy stories of lost kingdoms and Mars colonies helps the imagination grow strong. But a recent study uncovers an interesting, perhaps even dismaying trend: this generation of kids seems to prefer narrative realism when they write.

Fighting Fire with Ire: 3 Lessons from Noam Chomsky’s Takedown of Sam Harris | Religion Dispatches

Fighting Fire with Ire: 3 Lessons from Noam Chomsky’s Takedown of Sam Harris | Religion Dispatches: For Sam Harris, “not all cultures are at the same stage of moral development.” Yes, he admits, the U.S. has committed atrocities at a larger scale than many of our enemies, but we have higher moral standing because these were mistakes. Harris likens the U.S. to a “well-intentioned giant,” whose aims are good even if it occasionally blunders.

The Limits of Discourse : As Demonstrated by Sam Harris and Noam Chomsky : Sam Harris

The Limits of Discourse : As Demonstrated by Sam Harris and Noam Chomsky : Sam Harris:

For decades, Noam Chomsky has been one of the most prominent critics of U.S. foreign policy, and the further left one travels along the political spectrum, the more one feels his influence. Although I agree with much of what Chomsky has said about the misuses of state power, I have long maintained that his political views, where the threat of global jihadism is concerned, produce dangerous delusions. In response, I have been much criticized by those who believe that I haven’t given the great man his due.

Last week, I did my best to engineer a public conversation with Chomsky about the ethics of war, terrorism, state surveillance, and related topics. As readers of the following email exchange will discover, I failed. I’ve decided to publish this private correspondence, with Chomsky’s permission, as a cautionary tale. Clearly, he and I have drawn different lessons from what was, unfortunately, an unpleasant and fruitless encounter. I will let readers draw lessons of their own.

Ex-Prosecutor Apologizes to Wrongfully Convicted Glenn Ford After 30 Years on Death Row — The Atlantic

Ex-Prosecutor Apologizes to Wrongfully Convicted Glenn Ford After 30 Years on Death Row — The Atlantic: Glenn Ford spent 30 years on death row for a murder he did not commit. Sentenced to die in the electric chair, he was sent to a Louisiana penitentiary in 1985. "My sons, when I left, was babies,” he said. “Now they’re grown men with babies.” Earlier this month, he was released at age 64, but his story doesn't end happily. He has stage-four lung cancer. He is expected to die within months. And the state of Louisiana doesn't want to pay the $330,000 it owes for destroying his life, as The Shreveport Times noted in an editorial denouncing the state's behavior.

Rhodes protester repeats faults he reviles | Opinion & Analysis | BDlive

Rhodes protester repeats faults he reviles | Opinion & Analysis | BDlive: There is a lesson in this. Maxwele is a student of politics at arguably SA’s leading university. Interviewed by Chris Barron of the Sunday Times, he struggled to offer an argument. Alleging racism, he fell into racist stereotyping himself. Barron was repeatedly told he could/would not understand because he’s "a white male and privileged and so on".

Repeating the racism he allegedly opposes, Maxwele grew incoherent: "We as black people don’t have to justify anything. If you ignore our history because you are a white male, then that is not my problem," he told Barron. Maxwele shows a collapse of the critical engagement with reality a university hopes to encourage.

UVA Law Prof Who Supports Gay Marriage Explains Why He Supports Indiana's Religious Freedom Law | The Weekly Standard

UVA Law Prof Who Supports Gay Marriage Explains Why He Supports Indiana's Religious Freedom Law | The Weekly Standard: The issue with respect to Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs) is whether people should be allowed to practice their religion, even when their acts would otherwise be illegal, if they are not doing any real harm. The American tradition of religious liberty has exempted religious practices since the seventeenth century. Quakers in colonial times didn't have to swear oaths, or serve in the militia.

Sometimes this is entirely uncontroversial. It is illegal to give alcohol to minors, but no one thinks that law should be applied to communion wine, or seder wine at the Jewish Passover.

Changes in training prompt resignation and protest letter

Changes in training prompt resignation and protest letter:

A PROPOSAL to devolve decision-making about ministerial training to the dioceses, opposed by 17 theological educators in a letter to the Church Times today, prompted one member to resign from the task group behind it, it emerged this week.

The Revd Dr Sarah Coakley, professor of divinity at the University of Cambridge, sent a resignation letter to the group four days before the report - Resourcing Ministerial Education - was published (News, 16 January). In it, she lists several reservations about the report, warning that it is "anodyne and misleading". She describes the devolution to the dioceses as "the most disturbing part . . . I must be blunt: I simply do not believe there is sufficient qualitative theological understanding in most of the dioceses to protect the sort of aspirations that this report promotes."

WCC consults on humanitarian aid for Ukraine

WCC consults on humanitarian aid for Ukraine:

A survey by the Ukrainian polling company Research & Branding showed that the Church is the most trusted organisation in Ukraine: 62 per cent of respondents said that they trusted the Church, compared with 24 per cent who said that they did not. The army generates a 57 per cent trust-rating, as do civic and voluntary organisations.

In contrast, political parties are trusted by only eight per cent of respondents.

Don’t blame Eskom for load-shedding | Opinion & Analysis | BDlive

Don’t blame Eskom for load-shedding | Opinion & Analysis | BDlive: At the end of 1998 the government published a white paper on energy policy. The intention was to restructure the generation as well as the distribution of electricity in SA. Eskom was then prohibited from building any power stations. Future power stations were to be built by private investors. This never happened. One of the many reasons was that the price of electricity was not attractive enough for private investors to enter the electricity market in SA.

Despite the fact that Eskom was not allowed to build power stations, it continued to develop long-term electricity demand forecasts and concomitant generation expansion plans. These forecasts were based on expected long-term economic growth for the country, and also catered for the electrification of houses. Plans based on the moderate long-term Eskom forecast done in 1997-98 had at that stage already indicated that the country would need new generating capacity by 2007.

the ochlophobist: returning. again.

the ochlophobist: returning. again.: I am returning to the Orthodox Church.

I hereby recant my rejection of Orthodox dogma. I ask forgiveness for my ridicule of certain Orthodox beliefs - particularly concerning the energy/essence distinction and uncreated light. I also ask forgiveness for my ridicule of some Orthodox saints (particularly those I assigned to seats in hell), the Athonite tradition, the entirety of the elder tradition, and some of the basic components of Orthodox piety. I was also wrong to laud the Soviet annihilation of nearly all of the Russian Church, and to downplay the horror of their killing of many thousands of believers, and to justify the killing of children in a basement in Yekaterinburg. I also beg forgiveness to those many souls I mocked for their faith and the accouterments of faith that are dear to them. I have never embodied the calling that Fr. Matthew speaks of above. It is my endeavor now to do so.

Get to Know Robocopy for More Powerful File Management

Get to Know Robocopy for More Powerful File Management: Robocopy (the name is short for Robust File Copy) was introduced with the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit and is included in all editions of Windows 7. Its many strengths include the ability to copy all NTFS file attributes and to mirror the contents of an entire folder hierarchy across local volumes or over a network. If you use the right combination of options, you can recover from interruptions such as network outages by resuming a copy operation from the point of failure after the connection is restored.

One Man’s Genius Idea To Grow Tomatoes – One Man’s Genius Idea To Grow Tomatoes

One Man’s Genius Idea To Grow Tomatoes – One Man’s Genius Idea To Grow Tomatoes

falkenbergs folly: Avoiding the retirement blues

falkenbergs folly: Avoiding the retirement blues: I always thought that a beautiful environment such as Greyton (where I am lucky to live) usually enhances one’s happiness. But now I’m not so sure. Recently someone mentioned that, in her opinion, Greyton has an unnervingly high number of depressed people, many who have struggled to adjust to retirement. I would never have thought so, but then I don’t belong to any of the informal networks that gather and distribute such information.

The Myth That Everyone Naturally Prefers Trains to Buses - CityLab

The Myth That Everyone Naturally Prefers Trains to Buses - CityLab: there's no reason to suspect these two rides—modern BRT or modern light rail—would be noticeably different experiences. And yet when transport scholars David Hensher and Corinne Mulley of the University of Sydney Business School showed these images to about 1,370 people in six Australian capital cities, the difference in preference was enormous.