Thursday, March 11, 2004

Feelings, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa Feelings and I Meet TINA

Isn’t there a song with lyrics somewhat similar to the title of this post?  Well, except for the “and I meet TINA. Anyway, interesting piece written by Frank Furedi titled “The politics of the lonely crowd." The piece is published online at Spiked. A couple of excerpts.

"Children are no more curious about political life than their elders. Rather, political life in the Western world has become so infantilised that even eight-year-olds can share its brilliant insights."

I like that one, alot.  This next excerpt was my introduction to TINA.

"It is widely believed that the world is out of control and that there is little that human beings can do to master these developments or influence their destiny. Now that there are no competing visions about how society should be organised, real choices about how we control our future are no longer possible. Humanity is forced to acquiesce to a worldview that former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher aptly described as TINA - There is No Alternative. If there is no alternative to the status quo, the notion that we can control the future at all ceases to apply. Instead, it is assumed that all we can do is try to limit the damage that is threatened by a destructive system."

The piece is a bit long, but is worth chewing on.

Via Arts & Letters Daily.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/11 at 10:57 AM
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Modesty and Bravado Both Have Their Places

Individuals, in many instances, have either modesty or bravado.  Too much of one and not enough of the other or vice versa.  Anne Karpf, writing for the Guardian Unlimited, has penned a piece titled “A plea for modesty." Karpf’s piece is somewhat introspective, even modest, but is an interesting read.  A quote from the piece follows.

"Yet, viewing modern Britain, he’d have diagnosed a nation of narcissists and exhibitionists, a case of arrested infantilism. Hooked on applause, we’re toddlers living in a world of one, our every achievement magnified and celebrated. The modest, by contrast, realise that, in the sum of history and geography, they’re but a tiny, passing crater, and the stoics know that human pain has to be suffered and can’t just be railed against. In short, they’re adults."

I think you need both modesty and bravado.  It’s how and when you project them that really matters.

Via LewRockwell.com blog.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/11 at 07:30 AM
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A Publisher's Reject Finally is Printed

I enjoy Heinlein’s books immensely.  The first tome I read was Stranger in a Strange Land. Today I read, in the New York Times, Heinlein’s first novel For Us, The Living, has made it into print 60 years after it was originally rejected by two separate publishers.  The title is quite similar to another famous tome.

The piece is titled “Heinlein’s Prophetic First Novel, Lost and Found.

Via Charles Paul Freund at Hit & Run.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/11 at 06:43 AM
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The Scouts Don't Just Help Old Ladies Cross the Street

"The fully informed jury is the biggest and most powerful law enforcement agency in the United States. It has “absolute, non-neogtiable power to ignore laws, keep people out of prison, ignore judges and prosecutors, make any jury trial come out the way they want, and make our government honest”.* My goal is to inform 1,000,000 citizens about their rights and obligations as jurors. You can help me achieve this goal."

That’s a statement from Alexander Navarro, member of the Boy Scouts and aspirant for the rank of Eagle Scout.  Alexander’s website, JurorsRule.com, is his project to meet the community service requirements to attain the Eagle Scout rank.

When I linked to his site for this post, his counter was at 1546.  Help him crank it up.  Best of luck to you Alexander.

Via Claire Wolfe.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/11 at 06:27 AM
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A Physics Post

I have a oh so small grasp of physics, which is somewhat appropriate since many elusive particles in physics are so small, well they’re so small one cannot be quite certain, at times, if that is what is being seen.

So this BBC headline caught my attention “‘God particle’ may have been seen."

“‘God’ particle is, of course, simply an affectionate term.  What the physicists think they may have found is the elusive, and very important, Higgs boson.

"The Higgs boson explains why all other particles have mass and is fundamental to a complete understanding of matter."

There is still work to do though, as the following statement makes clear.

"There’s certainly evidence for something, whether it’s the Higgs boson is questionable,..."

I don’t know why, but when I read the above I thought of Ghostbusters.

Link to article via Fred Lapides.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/11 at 04:24 AM
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That's Rich

Google links to this story with the following as a clickable headline "George Michael to ‘retire’ from music industry." And here all this time I thought this guy was still hanging around outside public restrooms.  At least his ego is still intact.

"I’m not pretending I won’t be famous any more, but believe me in the modern world if you take yourself out of the financial aspect of things, ie you’re not making anybody any money or you’re not losing anybody any money, believe me I’ll be of very little interest to the press in a certain number of years."

Oh, we believe you George. 

Posted by John Venlet on 03/11 at 04:11 AM
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Passing the Responsibility Buck

The headline “Internet blamed in spread of syphilis among gays."

The first paragraph from the linked article.

"The Internet has played a significant role in the latest increase in cases of syphilis among gay men by introducing partners more likely to practice high-risk sex, according to a study released on Wednesday."

I don’t care what your sexual proclivities are, or how many partners you may meet whether on the internet, on the street, or in a bar, blaming anything other than yourself for acquiring any STD is simply denying the fact that you are individually responsible.  You can’t get an STD sitting, alone, at your computer. 

Via Drudge.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/11 at 03:50 AM
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