Apparently the Jackson verdict is in. Here is my verdict:
I still don’t care.
by John Cole| 8 Comments
This post is in: Popular Culture
Apparently the Jackson verdict is in. Here is my verdict:
I still don’t care.
by John Cole| 21 Comments
This post is in: Popular Culture
This is a genuinely interesting piece on the difference between liberal and conservative religious peoples:
A number of years ago I discovered a root cause of America’s culture war. It came to me as I debated professor Alan Dershowitz about issues of Jewish concern before a 1,000 Jews at the 92nd Street “Y” in New York City. With the exception of support for Israel, Dershowitz, a Harvard liberal, and I agreed on nothing, political or religious. Toward the end of the evening I came to understand why.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I announced, “the major difference between Alan Dershowitz and me is this: When professor Dershowitz differs with the Torah, he assumes that he is right and the Torah is wrong. When I differ with the Torah, I assume that I am wrong and the Torah is right.” Dershowitz responded that for the first time that evening he agreed with me.
That realization was an epiphany for me. I have come to realize that the great divide in values is not between those who believe in God and those who do not but between those who believe in a divine text and those who do not.
This explains in large measure the great culture war in the United States. Americans, of course, are divided not so much by religion as between right and left. Jews and Christians on the left agree with each other on just about every political and social question, and Jews and Christians on the right do the same.
So what distinguishes leftist Jews from rightist Jews and leftist Christians from rightist Christians? It essentially comes down to their belief in the Bible, not their belief in God.
Yes, this is a simplistic breakdown of differences, but there appears to be a lot to this. Any thoughts?
by John Cole| 24 Comments
This post is in: Popular Culture
I am already getting catcalls about my position regarding Terri Schiavo because of this new story of a wonderful surprise recovery of a NY fireman:
The Buffalo, N.Y., firefighter who started speaking after nearly 10 years might one day help scientists unravel the mysteries of coma and consciousness.
On Saturday, after almost a decade locked in his own world, answering “yes” and “no” questions but nothing more, Donald Herbert, 43, began a lengthy dialogue with loved ones, including his wife, Linda, and four sons, near his home in Orchard Park, a Buffalo suburb.
Scientists say such awakenings into normal consciousness and speech are rare, “but they are certainly telling us something about the human brain,” said Nicholas Schiff, a neurologist at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan.Scientists there have been putting people like Herbert through extensive brain scans and cognitive tests to figure out how they regained coherent speech after so many years.
Herbert was initially in a coma after a roof came down on him during a fire rescue a few days after Christmas 1995. During the next year, he regained consciousness, though his speech was slurred, his vision blurred and he needed help with daily activities. He was bedridden and seemed to have no memory of family, friends or the world.
Then Saturday arrived and with it an untapped reservoir of words and memories of his wife, his sons, who were 14, 13, 11 and 3 at the time of the accident, and his extended family.
Of course, there is a marked difference between someone who is minimally conscious after a brief coma and someone who has languished in a persistent vegetative state for fifteen years, which is why, after all, the lawyers for the Schindler family kept trying to assert that Mrs. Schiavo was in a minimially conscious state- because there IS a possibility for recovery for people in a minimally conscious state:
But Gibbs argued that medical science has changed since Schiavo was last evaluated medically in 2003, and that she has improved since then.
Specifically, he said, Schiavo could be in a minimally conscious state rather than a persistent vegetative state, and therefore could possibly be helped through therapy.
Unfortunately, we will never know what Dr. Frist might have diagnosed from the floor of the Senate, but an inability to detect such ‘nuance’ is predictable from people who practice ‘faith-based’ medicine and whose understanding of biology is rooted in a rejection of evolution and a warm embrace of creationism and intelligent design:
The Kansas minister says many opponents of creation science and intelligent design curricula are shocked and surprised to learn that “there are a lot of intelligent people who happen to know a little bit about science and also about the Bible, and that we really are well represented with great knowledge when it comes to biblical science.”
As the organizer of a coalition of 1,200 activist conservative pastors, Fox says he has observed a growing interest in the heartland of America for schools to teach alternatives to the theory of evolution, such as creationism and intelligent design. “We think that there needs to be a balance put into the public schools,” he says. “They’ve had one side for a long time.”
In the hearings this week, the State Board of Educators will be allowing testimony from 24 opponents of the current pro-evolution science standards in Kansas. Three conservative Board members have decided to permit both sides to spend up to $5,000 in state money to bring in witnesses.
Pastor Fox says there is a “conservative resurgence” going on in Kansas. He cites growing interest in the teachings of alternatives to evolution and last month’s passage of a state marriage amendment and as just two recent examples.
Yeehaw. Flame away.
by John Cole| 10 Comments
This post is in: Popular Culture
Almost forgot- we have a new pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, heretofore to be known as Pope Benedict XVI. I know absolutely nothing about him, although his appointment (ascension??) did spawn this most unfortunate headline:
‘Germany will be very proud’
Because we all know all of the good that can come from a unified, united, and proud Germany. Flame away, I’m German.
Already, for me, at least, the election of a new Pope is paying dividends, as Andrew Sullivan’s steady stream of posts on the man virtually assure that I am no longer the most hysterical man in the blogosphere.
At any rate, it seems to me that Andrew’s chief objection is that the new Pope tends to adhere to church doctrine. Strange sin to get worked up in a lather over. If he were running for President, I might have an issue, but as the leader of his church, it seems to me that is what he is supposed to be doing.
At any rate, Andrew, you are American now, so you can do what all other good Catholics are doing- ignore him when it comes to matters of conscience:
When the pope or official Catholic teaching differs from one’s own conscience, the conscience should be the guide, said 72 percent of Catholics surveyed, with just 18 percent saying the pope must be obeyed.
That is the same finding as twenty years ago when CBS News pollsters first started asking that question.
In this most recent survey, 82 percent of Catholics said you can disagree with the pope and still be a good Catholic; 15 percent said the opposite.
At any rate, here is to a long and healthy reign for Pope Benedict the XVI.
More here in the same vein from Jeff Goldstein, whose radio show I will be a guest on this week.
by John Cole| 5 Comments
This post is in: Popular Culture
Charles married Camilla. They are happy, this is an honest to goodness lifelong love. I wish Diana had never been caught in the middle, but she was. Let Charles and Camilla be- they clearly love each other.
Shouldn’t that be enough for any society?
by John Cole| 29 Comments
This post is in: Popular Culture
Saw this via Outside the Beltway:
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer left his church last week after the pastor wrote him a letter suggesting “it might be easier for all of us” if he leave.
Greer, whose orders on the Terri Schiavo case have brought him criticism, is a Southern Baptist who attended Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater.
Though he had other unrelated problems with the church, Greer’s attendance faltered after a Baptist publication the church supported criticized his decisions in the Schiavo case. He stopped his donations to the church, but remained a member. He briefly discussed his relationship with the church in a March 6 St. Petersburg Times article.
Four days later, Calvary Pastor William Rice wrote Greer a letter: “I am not asking you to do this, but since you have taken the initiative of withdrawal, and since your connection with Calvary continues to be a point of concern, it would seem the logical and, I would say, biblical course.”
Rice’s letter became public when he sent a copy to the Clearwater courthouse. Rice also said the church supports keeping Schiavo alive, though he said he was “truly saddened and embarrassed by the level of harassment and vitriolic nature of so many comments that purportedly come from people of faith.”
Rice, who has been pastor at the church for five months, added: “But you must know that in all likelihood it is this case which will define your career and this case that you will remember in the waning days of life. I hope you can find a way to side with the angels and become an answer to the prayers of thousands.”
Greer responded with a letter severing his relationship with the church.
by John Cole| 16 Comments
This post is in: Popular Culture
I am depressed and have a headache, and I am thinking seriously about going out and getting a bottle of Laphroiag and a couple Padrons. IN that spirit, I ask you:
What are you reading?
What is in your DVD player?
CD Player?
X-Box (or other console- I have X-box)?
What are your plans for the Easter weekend?
*** Update ***
Forgot to add this:
Reading: Some crappy pulp fiction by Robert Ludlum, the name of which I don’t remember.
DVD Player: Deadline (documentary about Death Row)
CD Player: Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerels
X-Box: Just finished Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II, which may be the greatest RPG games since the original Deus Ex (PC) and one of my all-time favorites, Vampire: The Masquerade. I am eagerly awaiting Jade Empire and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, but right now I am just biding time with Star Wars: Battlefront and the exceptionally made Brothers in Arms. If any of you have any games that were like KOTOR, please let me know. I hated Morrowind.
Easter plans- nothing special.