The Japanese Tradition

I found the following series called "The Japanese Tradition," a quirky tongue in cheek collection of lessons on Japanese culture. The videos in the series should run one after the other. However there is a part of the series missing: a three part on dating in Japan. There is a version on YouTube with English subtitles. which I cannot find now.

Richard Hitchens, author of god is not Great was recently interviewed at an atheist convention.  He says that Abraham Lincoln & Thomas Jefferson were atheists but I beg to differ as they often quoted God in a manner that accepts His existence.

"In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, "Reply to Loyal Colored People of Baltimore upon Presentation of a Bible" (September 7, 1864), p. 542.

I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever. Thomas Jefferson

Once again, like his book, Hitchens' makes too many false generalizations.

Quote of the day: "Life's too interesting to be bored."

Surgery & ObGyn have eaten my time.

Quote of the day: "Your cervix is stone-cold closed."

I am thirsty:

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God? -Psalm 42:1-2

Surgery is a vacuum of time, but it is a draw - the challenge of technical prowess, the satisfaction of tangible action; but do I want to constantly feel tired?

That's all secondary. What is life apart from God?

Disney Returns to High School

I admit, I watched High School Musical 2. Despite the oversaturated glare from color editing, abrupt transitions to song & dance, cliched villainess and talent show plot, and a scene with poor juxtaposition of baseball with dancing, I enjoyed it. High school never came in such fake rosy (magenta) packaging and romance; but romance, spectacle, or comedy is what we expect from musicals--an escape. Here the faces are fresh, choreographs are polished, and songs are radio ready. The Village Voice has a review with spoilers.

If you missed the crazy amount of media buzz generated, it's a Disney made-for-TV movie. The last two weeks saw a sudden rush of media outlets featuring HSM. Who is this unknown on the cover of Rolling Stones? I guess he's become somebody...good business. The first movie generated $100mil in merchandise (highest selling CD in 2006) and so Disney tripled the production cost of the sequel and it shows.

OD on Caffeine

17 year old girl consumes seven double espressos, develops palpitations, hyperventilation, fever, diaphoresis.

Step Closer to Precog

Ars Technica reports on the Department on Homeland Security (DHS) exploring automated Hostile Intent detectors. As quoted, "hostile intent indicators are composed of behavioral, speech, and physiological cues that are derived from operational and laboratory experiments" which Ars notes:

these cues can identify not only those who pose immediate risks but also individuals who are likely to pose risks in the indefinite future (italics added).

It's a step closer to the Precogs in Minority Report. I'm interested in seeing where this goes.

New iMac. More svelte than ever.

Night Rain
Aching swollen heaven cries.
There, there...
Gunshots tear white hot twists
And leave slow "Timber!" in the hollows of space,
Shaking houses beneath the strobe of vapor mountains.
Frog, cicada join the applause of struck dirt.
The heavens cried and cooled the earth.

gPhone
In the wake of Apple's iPhone, rumor is Google developing a cell phone to be supported by ads (as recently reported in Wall Street Journal, then other news sources).

Yesterday, the Chicago Sun-Times published an excerpt from the book Blasphemy: How the Religious Right Is Hijacking Our Declaration of Independence, by Alan Dershowitz. The issue: separation of church and state. Mr. Dershowitz shows a surprising lack of understand. Essentially he says the religious right wants to break down the "wall of separation in Church and State" to form a state-run religion. A religion run by the government is exactly what the religious right does not want. Therefore Dershowitz is actually in agreement on this point and in agreement with Thomas Jefferson. When Jefferson coined the phrase in a letter to the Danbury Baptists, he was trying to protect the free practice of religion by not setting a federally sponsored religion. The religious right see a twisting of this original intent. Instead of protecting religion, the past few decades shows rulings and legislation impinging on religious freedom.

David Crowder Band's next album, Remedy, seems set for Sept. 25, 2007. Yeah!

Marijuana: Risk for Schizophrenia

P1010508
Originally uploaded by munghole.

A study published by The Lancet, strongly links marijuana use with the risk of developing schizophrenia. Users have a 41% increase risk of psychosis and higher with heavier use. Of note is, if Britain stopped its marijuana consumption, ~800 cases of schizophrenia would be prevented. (see article at Reuters).

NY Times article on restaurants for people with celiac disease. It is useful to know if you have friends who have the condition. It frees you up to go out to eat and not have to always check in advance if the restaurant offers gluten free food.

Rambling on Tolerance (modified)
It seem unavoidable that we operate by stereotypes. How do people sum or size others up? By pattern recognition. We match from past experiences with people of the similar body habitus, complexion, fashion sense, posture, demeanor, vocal inflections, vocabulary, etc. How do people make a judgment call or determine first impression? At times it is an essential tool in order to screen people in the interview process, auditions, airports... not to say that our ability to match is perfect. Mass data (people) under time constraints demands practicality.

In part I poo-poo the notion of tolerance. What is tolerance? It is the notion of not acting out against something attributed negatively. Our P.C. nation has no tolerance for stereotyping that is matched with negative emotions (hatred, anger, annoyance); though it has spread to avoiding almost any form generalization (which is impractical). This band-aid on a heart issue will not resolve by putting on a front. Yet everyone is required to assume the front and pretend without necessarily addressing the core. Doesn't this just add another layer of deception? Then again we should strive to live at peace with others so it could suffice as a temporary salve.

As for tolerance in terms of "being open to new ideas or change," fine. There should be a willingness to entertain and understand new things, within reasonable limits. After all, experience is not an end-all (unless you're an existentialist), otherwise everyone would try, for example, street drugs. But we don't need experience to necessarily choose wisely.

At the other side of the spectrum there are elements we can not tolerant: injustice, evil and the likes... In conclusion, tolerance is too broad an agenda to set, that could lead to oversight of practicality and core issues.

(There is a distinction between tolerance and patience. Patience is tied closely with contentment and enduring stress, duress, boredom.) Okay, I'll get off my soapbox.

Break & Down

Break in.
Break locks.
Break chains.
Break free.
Breakfast.
Break ties.
Break promises.
Break hearts.
Break spirits.
Breakdown.

Down to the details.
Down to a science.
Down to the bone.

Down to an artform.
Down to the last second.

LOLCats.com. Woot! (in the same lines as dpac)

Saw Ratatouille. Awesome... consummate satisfaction! And the animated short, Lifted, made me laugh out loud. I'm amazed at how Pixar pulls it off that movie magic each time. How do they keep it fresh? Working there is a dream job for many people I'm sure.

Chinese Steam Buns Made from Cardboard.