tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088302011-08-10T12:39:32.332-07:00Public policy, social issues, gender politics, religion, civitas, and other taboo topics fall under the hammer of Shava's iconoclasmic force of natural philosophy.Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.comBlogger831100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1133551804749138352005-12-02T11:28:00.000-08:002005-12-02T11:30:04.766-08:00

I'm participating in a beta community site, gather.com, that is the first site I know aimed toward my demographic. Over 35, listens to public radio, reflective, intellectual. I'm liking it. Look for a burst of essays over there.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1132067234563661822005-11-15T07:03:00.000-08:002005-11-15T07:07:14.576-08:00

OK, so am I the last person in the world gamer-geeky and yet old enough to think it's hilariously funny that the 360 console reminds me of a 360 console? I feel old...

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1131724448576514502005-11-11T07:53:00.000-08:002005-11-11T20:08:00.300-08:00

All this madness, all this rage, all this flaming death of our civilization and our hopes, has been brought about because a set of official gentlemen, living luxurious lives, mostly stupid, and all without imagination or heart, have chosen that it should occur rather than that any one of them should suffer some infinitesimal rebuff to his country's pride.God bless us all in time of war.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1128435260921209442005-10-04T06:42:00.000-07:002005-12-01T06:34:25.516-08:00

Some days I feel like a moderate. Others, I am solidly in the Howard Zinn left wing "I don't believe these people haven't learned from history and their greater environment" camp.Last night I had a lively back and forth with a friend about unions. He said that, all things being equal, if he had a choice between a company with a mandatory-membership union and one without one, he'd

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1127311546787040642005-09-21T07:02:00.000-07:002005-09-21T07:05:46.793-07:00

My friend Teri Mills in Oregon is on a campaign to keep Americans healthy:As many of you know, Teri Mills and the National Nurse Team have been working with nursing leaders in Congress for a bill. Representative Lois Capps (D-CA) has taken the lead and her staff spoke with us a few weeks ago, stating that the bill was headed to Legislative Counsel. We are asking Congress to create an Office of

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1126296114026671382005-09-09T13:01:00.000-07:002005-09-10T09:21:02.583-07:00

George Bush issued an executive order on Thursday saying that contractors rebuilding after the devastation of Katrina don't need to pay minimum wage. Is that a Halliburton convoy I hear rumbling in the distance? Is that carpet bags they are packing? Are their shares going up, while they anticipate re-building the south in their image on the backs of poor, landless, displaced black folks

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1126044682519564062005-09-06T15:07:00.000-07:002005-09-06T15:11:22.520-07:00

A friend of mine was chatting in my living room and expounding passionately that our nation had never seen such a thing as a natural disaster displacing a whole economic area and all these people, such as we see with Katrina.And I said, "Hm. Have to disagree. One word: Okies." Lets hope that the nation treats those displaced by Katrina better than the victims of the dustbowl.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1126044093317691142005-09-06T14:57:00.000-07:002005-09-06T15:01:33.323-07:00

Today on a folklore email list I'm on, a southern professor asked, "What is the place of floods in American folklore, which we can compare to Katrina?" And although it hadn't even occured to me until that second, I immediately compared Katrina and the Johnstown Flood which swept away about 2200 in 1889.Katrina and the Johnstown Flood are both natural disasters amplified hugely by the negligence

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1125721416083877452005-09-02T21:23:00.000-07:002005-09-02T21:23:36.090-07:00

In Oregon, about this time of year, the gritty tightness of late summer gives way to rain. If the rain is enough, you can walk down the street and see the first curls of ferns coiled tight, ready to unfurl from the crotches of the big trees around town. Lawns that have been boasting a politically correct tan take to greening exuberance, and gardens strained from a dusty harvest season go

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1125168269504461032005-08-27T11:41:00.000-07:002005-08-27T11:46:46.490-07:00

Bush Approval Rating Continues to DropCurrent 40% approval is lowest of administration to dateGALLUP NEWS SERVICE - August 26, 2005PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll reflects further erosion in President George W. Bush's job approval rating, continuing the slow but steady decline evident throughout the year so far. The poll -- conducted Aug. 22-25 -- puts Bush's job approval rating at 40% and

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1123345442920429672005-08-06T09:15:00.000-07:002005-08-06T09:24:02.926-07:00

Sometimes, what you don't say is more important than what you do.Right now, the Unitarian Univesalist Association is being questioned by some lay and clerical leadership on a number of fronts, two of which are "Why is the UUA so expensive?" and "What are we really *for* as a movement, anyway?"I have my own answers to these questions that I've spoken before, but to a smaller interested audience.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1121614308267353842005-07-17T08:27:00.000-07:002005-07-17T08:31:48.276-07:00

With profound apologies to the psalmist, this is adapted from the translation at Aquila Books:O Spam, you have searched me out and known me:you know when I sit or when I stand,you comprehend my thoughts long before.You discern my path and the places where I rest:you are acquainted with all my ways.For there is not a word on my tongue:but you, Spam, know it altogether.You have encompassed me

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1119311149554440822005-06-20T16:45:00.000-07:002005-06-20T16:53:14.890-07:00

Two guys at Carnegie-Mellon are creating an internet standard for duplicating a 3D kinetic model of a person, for example, over the net. Back in the old days, we grey-hairs of the Internet used to refer to the ideal of this project as "teledildonics." It's the ultimate in safe sex, I suppose, assuming you don't get computer viruses...or trojans? :)

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1118377748525418802005-06-09T21:14:00.000-07:002005-06-09T21:31:38.990-07:00

My father used to say that for everything that is taken away, a gift is given -- and conversely for every gift given, something is taken away. He used this as a cautionary against believing that some talent or ability made us better than someone else. People who are very smart may be socially awkward, for example. People who are often ill may be more patient and compassionate. It doesn't

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1118254115486958862005-06-08T11:05:00.000-07:002005-06-08T11:08:35.493-07:00

Want to see yourself through the lenses of a conservative's nightmare? Check out Discover the Network -- something like a conservative's conspiracy theory window of the left, wiki-style.Rhetorically artful, subtly deceiving, it paints a self-consistent but false picture of the left media-sphere that is perversely fascinating.I know I shouldn't praise propoganda as such, but it's such a good job.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1116482077413749542005-05-18T22:49:00.000-07:002005-05-18T22:54:54.870-07:00

In the Washington Post review of Revenge of the Sith, Dan Froomkin gets jiggy with the symbolism:"Revenge of the Sith," it turns out, can also be seen as a cautionary tale for our time -- a blistering critique of the war in Iraq, a reminder of how democracies can give up their freedoms too easily, and an admonition about the seduction of good people by absolute power.Some film critics suggest it

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1116393494090776782005-05-17T22:14:00.000-07:002005-05-17T22:18:14.096-07:00

William F. Buckley, the soul of true conservative erudition, sees more than semantics in Newsweek's retraction today. According to Buckley, Newsweek was intending to express regrets over the story's impact, but was pressured into a retraction by the state departments of Afghanistan and Pakistan.Newsweek hesitated here, on the reasonable assumption that just as the magazine was wrong to proceed

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1116390011083851762005-05-17T21:17:00.000-07:002005-05-17T21:20:11.090-07:00

Just sit back and enjoy the man's testimony before the Senate.Regardless if he's really the questionable flake several people have told me he is, he's got my vote for favorite British Trickster God.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1116279500976028942005-05-16T14:26:00.000-07:002005-05-16T14:38:20.983-07:00

In a Columbia Journalism Review article amusingly titled Stations of the Cross, Marian Blake manages to spook me. It's not just her stories of the props that DC politicians are giving to this media ghetto, but the bald fact of the size of the category:Conservative evangelicals control at least six national television networks, each reaching tens of millions of homes, and virtually all of the

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1116260042906945752005-05-16T09:02:00.000-07:002005-05-16T11:10:45.350-07:00

If I had a reasonable denomination greenback for every time I heard Deval Patrick's name and Barack Obama's in the same scentence last weekend at the Massachusetts Democratic Convention, I might be able to give as big a contribution to his campaign as he deserves from my extremely modest coffers.The comparison is apt, but facile.Yes, Patrick is a handsome, youthful, vital, eloquent and

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1116225333789092032005-05-15T23:28:00.000-07:002005-05-15T23:40:27.623-07:00

Krugman's column on Iraq today (requires free subscription) gets forceful, considering the Times, regarding our position in Iraq.He directly cites the Downing Street memo in a major US paper, including this quote from the memo:Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and W.M.D. But the intelligence

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1116224724274622922005-05-15T23:15:00.000-07:002005-05-15T23:25:24.283-07:00

Newsweek says it can no longer verify it's story from last week that the Pentagon was investigating Gitmo interrogators who may have desecrated a Quran by flushing it down the toilet.The report sparked riots in Afghanistan.But is it Newsweek who is backpedaling, or is it the Pentagon?In Newsweek's apology article, they note:On Saturday, Isikoff spoke to his original source, the senior government

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1115995908158054422005-05-13T07:42:00.000-07:002005-05-13T07:52:47.043-07:00

Although Dean' endorsement of Bernie Sanders involves party coalition brokering of the most conventional sort, he's going to catch flack from it from the right and the left.The left will criticize Dean for being undemocratic in his open request for Progressives not to run for local offices if the Dems support Sanders:He says he understands that some Vermont Democrats would like to run for the

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1115843186237663352005-05-11T13:26:00.000-07:002005-05-11T13:26:26.246-07:00

With Afghan riots coming up with at least four dead and over 70 injured, we see the most visible tip of the iceburg of impending diplomatic harm as the US military sends our reputation down the toilet again.In Guantanamo, our interrogators are alleged to have put copies of the Quran down the toilet to soften up detainees there.Why did we resort to measures that fly in the face of the US putative

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1115689791662554912005-05-09T18:48:00.000-07:002005-05-09T18:49:51.670-07:00

A recent hack had the Bush twins enlisting to go to Iraq, but here is the real life corresponding number from Britain: Prince Harry, the bad boy of the recent generation of royals, is in officer boot camp at Sandhurst. For purposes of first name/last name at Sandhurst, he'll be known as "Harry Wales."Does this mean he's heading for Iraq? Does it mean that the Brits will be out of the war,

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1115688327376953142005-05-09T18:14:00.000-07:002005-05-09T18:50:43.850-07:00

Swedish research reports that gay men and straight women respond to the same pheremone in men's sweat.This managed to make international news with the "See? Gay guys' brains are different!" headlines.However, this is a study that had a total of three dozen participants. Is this a statistically significant sampling?Although the Reuters story indicates that the authors call for further research,

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1115656452785670182005-05-09T09:24:00.000-07:002005-05-09T09:34:12.820-07:00

Well, only a few percent of us arrived in costume (I will take the comment from one videographer that I looked like I was from Japan in the future as a compliment). It took well over an hour to get started, some of the talks were interesting, one of the skits was clever but didn't end well, and apparently about 99% of the attendees had missed the bit in the invite that said that refreshments

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1115406727205718002005-05-06T12:11:00.000-07:002005-05-06T12:13:45.923-07:00

I play games. Too much, I'd say. But come on!Wired attributes a generational increase in IQ to the upcoming generations' affection for computer/video gaming:Over the last 50 years, we've had to cope with an explosion of media, technologies, and interfaces, from the TV clicker to the World Wide Web. And every new form of visual media - interactive visual media in particular - poses an implicit

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1115402087983492562005-05-06T10:50:00.000-07:002005-05-06T10:54:48.020-07:00

Daily KOS reports that the East Waynesville Baptist Church has excommunicated all people who voted Democrat. An additional 40 congregants resigned in protest.The Democratic Underground is going nutsThis is, perhaps, the most clear cut case for the IRS to step in.And this is from me.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1115400869436631022005-05-06T10:21:00.000-07:002005-05-06T12:15:55.383-07:00

Listening to the brit election returns on the BBC World News Service last night, this interview.George Galloway is a former Scottish MP who moved to urban London to challenge a Labor MP as the independent (running under his new Respect Party ticket as it's only candidate) on a strong anti-war ticket. The now-displaced MP was a black woman who was a prop to Blair's pro-war policies. Interestingly,

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1115399171565016332005-05-06T09:59:00.000-07:002005-05-06T10:06:11.610-07:00

This week MIT gets a new president. Hockfield is hailed in the first paragraph of the first bio I read as the first life scientist to head up MIT -- she's a pioneering neuroscientist. Only in the last paragraph of that full page bio did it say something like, "Oh, yeah, and she's the first woman to head up MIT too."Her official bio in the inaugural materials doesn't even mention she's the first

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1115398135860153902005-05-06T09:42:00.000-07:002005-05-06T09:48:55.913-07:00

Two great things that go great together! On the urban-myth-checker site snopes.com, a Menken quote I saw recently gets confirmation:The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1114716093525521562005-04-28T12:14:00.000-07:002005-04-28T12:22:26.203-07:00

I am currently considering making some durable art to bury in a time capsule to publicize the time travellers convention at MIT on the 7th of May. Although at least one future first hand report says it's going to be a zoo, I think both my son and I might enjoy the chaos. After all, the reporter is going back in time for his third go at it. Without a time machine, I'm afraid I'll only be able

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1111726125018248262005-03-24T20:45:00.000-08:002005-03-24T20:48:45.020-08:00

Does this count as a faith-based initiative? Today I got this in the newsletter from the Unitarian Universalist Association's UU Advocacy Office:From April 8-17, congregations from different faith communities across the country will be taking part in a "Blessing of the Taxes" around tax day, April 15.As Unitarian Universalists, we are committed to creating an equitable tax system that provides

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1110464000654952782005-03-10T05:54:00.000-08:002005-03-10T06:13:20.663-08:00

With the frenetic media frenzy around Martha Stewart's release from prison fading into dull background noise, I've been thinking a lot about why people love and hate her. In some ways she does exemplify the comic book superhero domestic goddess, it's true, and it's hard not to see her potential as a prosperity icon for the wishful bourgoise. And, I'll confess, seeing her go to jail for lying

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1109404089274157632005-02-25T23:47:00.000-08:002005-02-25T23:48:09.276-08:00

Since March, I've moved at least four times. It's hard to count. My life lately has been dominated by a move back to the east coast. Part of the impetous for this move is my mother's health -- I want to be within a few hours of seeing her in her declining years. She is 85, and in failing health.Part of the impetous was a disillusionment with west coast culture -- or my fit with it. I have to

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1109404068597771082005-02-25T23:34:00.000-08:002005-02-25T23:47:48.596-08:00

Well, so much for last year's resolution to write more. In fact, I did write for quite a few months. I published a few articles in journals and newsletters but never sold anything, and I put a lot of attention into writing in support of the Democrats in the last election (much good I did them!).So, in the interest of starting with a clean slate, I am going to forgive myself for having a lousy

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1078983790107872582004-03-10T21:43:00.000-08:002004-03-10T21:45:26.373-08:00

For the last 37 years, I've known I was going to be a writer, but I've rarely actually sold any of my writing. Although I write likely over 10,000 words a week, I've almost perversely kept that writing in open and unpaid forums. I've decided to stop running away from what I despair may be my best talent. Being currently underemployed this is an easier than it might have been. Any business

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1077558875453907012004-02-23T09:54:00.000-08:002004-02-23T09:56:35.060-08:00

Last election, I vote traded with a GA voter to be able to give the Green Party another vote for you in good conscience. I changed my registration last spring and began to work for Howard Dean. When you asked for input months ago, I begged you not to run. You have ignored us and all the people who gave you input. I supported you, but I now believe your candidacy is a source of social

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1071278262795169192003-12-12T17:17:00.000-08:002003-12-12T17:38:46.170-08:00

[modified from a post I made 8/17/03 to a list I'm on -- brought to mind by Nader's exploratory committee, who posted a survey asking people if they thought he should run, and what they'd do for him if they support him. I answered the survey asking him PLEASE not to run.] I love you all, and [friend] is opinionated, but it's hard not to be frustrated. I have been working on this post for three

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1069131892610364762003-11-17T21:04:00.000-08:002003-11-17T21:05:16.030-08:00

At 04:05 PM 11/17/2003, someone on a Vermont Dean list wrote: > Do you think that Howard Dean will be able to catch Osamo or Saddam? I may be the only Vermonter ex-pat (now in Oregon) with a serious background in central Asia, so let me take a personal take on this question -- or two questions... "Can Dean catch Osama Bin Laden?" Part one, implied: "Will catching Osama Bin Laden cripple

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1068068757051978762003-11-05T13:45:00.000-08:002003-11-05T13:46:50.953-08:00

Posted on aether, Michael Stein's blog, where he's been posting about how his recent minitour on the Dean Campaign shows that the online community is peaking, and may dissolve into contentiousness at any moment. I wrote in a comment: I've been working with the Dean folks for about six months, and I started on the net in 1981. I was an activist in the free-net movement for about a decade, and a

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1067276205123319122003-10-27T09:36:00.000-08:002003-10-27T09:37:04.320-08:00

Today, a friend of mine who collects quotes and threads from current news sent me this: "I will not stand for it. ... Anything that has to do with 9/11, we have to see it —- anything. There are a lot of theories about 9/11, and as long as there is any document out there that bears on any of those theories, we're going to leave questions unanswered. And we cannot leave questions unanswered." -

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1066367992768790002003-10-16T22:19:00.000-07:002003-10-16T22:19:52.656-07:00

Mr. Secretary General, members of the Security Council, I would like to speak today about the recent UN resolution 1511 concerning international support for the stabilization of Iraq... I have to say I have reservations. In the United States, we see a country whose delivery of social services -- education, support for the poor, even the maintenance of infrastructure such as the electrical grid

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1065984244642372052003-10-12T11:44:00.000-07:002003-10-12T11:52:52.950-07:00

A friend of mine was a little shocked that I'd have a map to my house online -- admittedly listed by another organization. She wrote: > Shava > do you really want this to come up in a Google search!?! > > http://www.porsfis.org/altmtg/shava.html Actually, I point to that page for people trying to find the house all the time. You can also find my name (in full) and address in the phone book, on

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1064974786726198422003-09-30T19:19:00.000-07:002003-09-30T19:19:46.666-07:00

In July, when Wilson's accusations about the "yellow cake" first emerged, I was overcome with questions. If the State of the Union speech (SOTUS) was in January, why did Wilson wait until July to talk? I easily found some very interesting information. This chat transcript from the Washington Post on April 3, 2003 asks Wilson -- in his capacity as our last diplomatic representative to Iraq

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1062099264428347082003-08-28T12:34:00.000-07:002003-08-28T12:34:24.383-07:00

This article makes me realize I live on the edge of a genderfucked ghetto, and kind of like it that way... Metrosexuals count as gender bent? Um. I suppose. And I suppose kids who pay designer prices for "pre-stressed" pseudopunk fashions, and comb-in-shampoo-out hair color gel count as punks, too... This article is amusing and/or appalling in blurring of issues surrounding fashion/image,

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1062051911984407272003-08-27T23:25:00.000-07:002003-08-27T23:25:11.983-07:00

First, I think folks should be proud of trying. Nicotine is fully as addictive as opiates, for some of the same reasons -- yet we don't make quitting smoking the heroic thing that kicking heroine would be. Jon you are a hero. You are moving mountains in your personal reality, and of course it's hard, but we know you can do it, and those of us who've been through it feel for you because it

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1061371052005700112003-08-20T02:17:00.000-07:002003-08-20T02:17:32.063-07:00

(Modified from this article on Ashcroft for illustrative purposes.) Senator Joe McCarthy delivered a clarion defense of the McCarran Act (The Internal Security Act of 1950), calling the embattled law instrumental in fighting communism. "While our job is not finished, we have used the tools provided in the McCarran Act to fulfill our first responsibility to protect the American people," McCarthy

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-1059585363061987522003-07-30T10:16:00.000-07:002003-07-30T10:34:23.550-07:00

It's been since May, when I got pneumonia, that I've posted here. Live has been interesting and very very busy, and somewhat of a struggle -- more on that later. But right now, I'm engaged in a project called Portland Civitas, which is aimed to give us a nonviolent alternative (in the full satyagraha sense) to confronting the security cordon at Bush's appearance here on 8/21. In putting this

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2002330832003-05-02T08:51:00.000-07:002003-05-02T08:51:16.220-07:00

The Nation does it again. A wonderfully awfully thought provoking article.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2001701022003-04-19T08:53:00.000-07:002003-04-19T08:53:25.883-07:00

A friend on a local UU list asks: How to understand folks like these? I can't imagine the UU equivalent. [story on Christians nailing themselves to crosses] BTW, the arabnews coverage is very evenhanded on this item. /* in which Dave and I prove that we both tend to J in our Myers-Briggs profiles -- love you Dave! ;) */ Our entire culture is based around insulating ourselves from disease,

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2001585642003-04-16T16:06:00.000-07:002003-04-17T11:00:58.000-07:00

If you asked me, there are three causes for our large percentage incarcerated. One obvious cause is the war on drugs -- and I'd leave it as an exercise for the reader why we have such excessive issues with addiction and intoxicant over-use in this country -- a question which should be addressed before we can truly debate legalization of whatever, IMNSHO. Another cause is the breakdown of that

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2001482342003-04-14T20:43:00.000-07:002003-04-14T20:43:46.110-07:00

Well, I'm down with pneumonia, out of sick time, and just weak as a kitten, and my body has fallen a bit out from under me. I'm fine, though, on a relative scale. I told Joseph, when I ended up in the hospital on Thursday: We need to be grateful. I don't have SARS, which might have killed me. We live four blocks from a very good hospital. It has good water, power, medicines, equipment, good

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2001482302003-04-14T20:42:00.000-07:002003-04-14T20:42:51.076-07:00

I wrote to my friends at the UU church in Eugene: Well, I'm down with pneumonia, out of sick time, and just weak as a kitten, and my body has fallen a bit out from under me. I'm fine, though, on a relative scale. I told Joseph, when I ended up in the hospital on Thursday: We need to be grateful. I don't have SARS, which might have killed me. We live four blocks from a very good hospital.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2001411732003-04-13T11:49:00.000-07:002003-04-13T12:00:05.000-07:00

Subscribe to unpopnonfic@yahoogroups.com to get post via email and to discuss posts, or to read posts as a nonsubscriber.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2001411552003-04-13T11:45:00.000-07:002003-04-13T11:45:36.250-07:00

Go to yahoogroups and subscribe to get postings from this blog via email, and discuss them. Or go there to read discussions -- the archives will be open to non-members.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2001406782003-04-13T09:14:00.000-07:002003-04-13T09:19:25.000-07:00

On the 260th anniversary of Jefferson's birth, I can't help thinking about President's Day. We honor the two most prominent standing commanders-in-chief of our nation with a bank holiday in February. But do we honor the man whose name becomes synonymous with the birth of American democracy in the rest of the world? How many people know that April 13 is Jefferson's birthday? How many Americans

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2000997542003-04-04T16:41:00.000-08:002003-04-04T16:41:23.270-08:00

From The Nation: The Reason Why by George McGovern Thanks to the most crudely partisan decision in the history of the Supreme Court, the nation has been given a President of painfully limited wisdom and compassion and lacking any sense of the nation's true greatness. Appearing to enjoy his role as Commander in Chief of the armed forces above all other functions of his office, and unchecked by a

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2000715562003-03-30T23:58:00.000-08:002003-03-31T00:03:54.000-08:00

[this is a review I wrote on 9/30/02, dug up for a friend now that the film's won a well-deserved Oscar] Speak harshly to your little boy, and beat him when he sneezes! He only does it to annoy, because he knows it teases! ,,,,,,,,,,,[Waaah! Waaah! Waaah!] ..................................... -- "lewis carroll" Alice in Wonderland Isn't it a pity that many children will never be creeped out

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2000413392003-03-25T00:11:00.001-08:002003-03-25T01:24:04.000-08:00

In the late 1700's, a superpower in global trade was brought to failure by a small force of colonialists, under-armed and hardly trained, who had ideas. The power of these ideas were mostly about setting aside the conventional ideas of an old order. Some of these ideas were about freedom -- but some were about warfare. Warfare in Europe was still run by the conventions that pre-dated the gun.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-2000044812003-03-18T07:54:00.000-08:002003-03-18T07:54:12.543-08:00

I couldn't say it better myself. There really is no reason being given to the free people of the world. There are no checks and balances. I hope enough people strike and resign to put Blair out of business. But what can we do in the US?

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-906988702003-03-14T00:35:00.000-08:002003-03-14T00:35:09.266-08:00

Someone reading a humor piece where I advocate shooting men who leave their wives and kids might think I was some kind of fringe radical feminist yahoo who hated men. Or at least, some fed-up old prune who had given up on them. Mind you, I am not against men. In fact, I rather like rubbing up against one now and again, and it's been a long drought... Most of the real friends I've had in my

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-906919672003-03-13T23:43:00.000-08:002003-03-13T23:52:30.000-08:00

Folks who know me know that I am as sweet and nonviolent a person as could be in real life. My father once described himself as a Militant Pacifist: “People who believe in solving problems with guns,” he declared, “should be shot. And if it would solve the paradox, I’d volunteer to be the first one.” I’m not quite that self-sacrificing, but I’m not one to advocate violence outside of extreme

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-905958052003-03-12T10:19:00.000-08:002003-03-12T10:21:21.000-08:00

What this country needs is a whole set of civic boddhisattvas -- people who put the enlightenment of their community ahead of personal material goals. I really enjoyed Mark Morford's article on sfgate today. Bush says to be patriotic we must consume. Morford says to be patriotic (or, at least, to discombobulate the greyface right) we must live deeply and exercise kindness (boddhicitta!). Far

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-3904244032003-03-08T00:31:00.000-08:002003-03-08T00:54:24.000-08:00

The Guardian is speculating that the federal funds rate may be taken down to one percent in the light of our recent miserable employment numbers here in the states. And that number seemed so dramatic, so I decided to dig a bit. The Federal Reserve Board only has historical numbers for the federal funds and prime rates going back to the middle fifties, which I find questionable. But it's been

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-904243262003-03-07T23:30:00.001-08:002003-03-07T23:33:37.000-08:00

Referring to this article. At 07:07 PM 3/6/2003, another friend wrote: The ruling basically declares it is technically not against any law, rule, or regulation to deliberately lie or distort the news on a television broadcast. Thank god it's not criminal for the media to lie. It never has been, except when the lying is damaging to the reputation of persons. (libel, slander) There are two

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-904086582003-03-04T23:52:00.000-08:002003-03-04T23:52:24.673-08:00

Tonight I was delighted to go to a presentation of a taped lecture by Lester Thurow, who addressed the MIT Enterprise Forum on "Entrepreneurship in a Global Economy." http://web.mit.edu/entforum/www/SBS/18thurow.htm He gave me this great tool to describe what we're doing. Entrepreneurship only arises in times of disequilibrium (chaos/opportunity). In times of stability, the big company just

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-904038332003-03-04T02:17:00.000-08:002003-03-04T02:17:25.673-08:00

Scottish land reform -- truth is, in fact, stranger than fiction.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-904037352003-03-04T01:12:00.000-08:002003-03-08T01:12:14.000-08:00

[a woman on a board asks if anyone has experience with children diagnosed with ADHD -- her daughter's just been diagnosed] About four years ago, a young friend of ours who we met when she was recommended as a babysitter, came over to cover my son for the evening, and she was nearly in tears. I asked Jasmine what was wrong, and she said, basically, that she was diagnosed with ADHD, and that her

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-904036632003-03-04T00:36:00.000-08:002003-03-04T00:36:54.590-08:00

Richard Nisbett was on NPR's Talk of the Nation this morning, and I didn't hear much of his chat on his new book, on the gross differences between eastern and western mindsets, but I was struck by an example he used. He said that a mother in the West will show a truck to a child and say, "Look at the truck! It's a red truck. Look at the wheels?" The focus is on the object. Where the mother

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-904035062003-03-03T23:09:00.000-08:002003-03-03T23:13:28.000-08:00

At 09:06 PM 3/3/2003, a new friend wrote: Shava: Why do I hear the voice of John Ruskin? And perhaps Eric Hoffer? Heavy reading there; I'll get back to you in a couple of days. - N And you can't even see me blush on the other end of all this ether...;) I'm not much used to people comparing me to such luminaries! I am flattered and a bit abashed. My father was really fond of Hoffer, and I

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-3903949382003-03-01T23:09:00.000-08:002003-03-01T23:09:02.250-08:00

Mr. Bush has set the NSA to wiretap the UN Security Council at their homes and offices. It's in the Guardian's 3/2/03 edition. The man has completely undermined the diplomatic process at the UN. Does this call for articles of impeachment yet? I didn't think I could be so shocked and ashamed anymore. I am nearly in tears. This is a very sad event in American history. I suppose it could be a

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-903767982003-02-25T22:38:00.000-08:002003-02-25T22:38:47.023-08:00

OK, so some of the lists I'm on get into serious odd trivia... ============== At 06:00 PM 2/25/2003, [a friend] wrote: >nancy wants to know if you ever wrote a book with no use of the letter >e...is that true or was it somebody else or was it just an essay or is a >total literary urban myth? Urban myth, I guess. I've heard that some Frenchman did it, but never by anyone who cd remember the

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-903767532003-02-25T22:19:00.000-08:002003-02-25T22:19:41.503-08:00

The union officials and the school district have come to a settlement, here in Portland, and if the agreement is ratified, we've got no strike. And if that's the case, then the teachers have pledged to work ten days for free, and the city is buying the remaining fifteen days with a 1% increase in the business license tax -- and there will be a full school year. No furlough. It's almost too

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-903733892003-02-25T08:49:00.000-08:002003-02-25T08:49:53.620-08:00

I was talking to my mother, a sweet 82 year old labor liberal, and as we were chatting about the State of the Nation, she said it was about time people resurrected the "F" word, talking about the current administration. Being as my mother is not accustomed to using bad language, I was taken aback for a minute. "What word, Mom?" She said, "I am old enough to remember the rise of fascism in

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-903718162003-02-25T02:56:00.000-08:002003-02-25T02:56:01.003-08:00

Or, at a minimum, I shouldn't try to write html. Mission K5 indymedia call for volunteers This is where I don't write a sonnet to the cat, who apprarently groks my allergies and therefore sneaks into my room at every chance she gets. I could sleep if I could breathe...

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-903715632003-02-25T00:41:00.000-08:002003-02-25T00:58:02.000-08:00

I'm giving the blog a facelift, and as soon as I can figure it out, I will -- I promise -- set up comments. Meanwhile, email works.

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-3903714102003-02-24T23:43:00.001-08:002003-02-24T23:47:57.000-08:00

Mission K5 ready for launch! Tonight I went to an organizational meeting for the Student Activist Association, seeking volunteer help and allies, and to help them organize furlough activities for the older kids (middle/high school) . KBOO-FM was there, and pulled me for an interview, so I guess I'm officially opening up the Mission K5 project, even though I wasn't going to go public until we

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-903639032003-02-23T14:31:00.000-08:002003-02-23T14:31:07.510-08:00

The integrated intellectual Recently, a friend has been tempting me to join an intentional community in east Texas, with a group of amazing people. It was actually really nifty to go through the process of thinking about moving to Texas, because it clarified a great deal of my feeling about community. East Texas seems like a place where my ability to act in civil society might be seriously

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-903635362003-02-23T12:33:00.001-08:002003-02-23T12:38:35.000-08:00

Why this is a religious war Sometime back, my friend Chris wrote this on a mailing list I'm on: > Every religion has > it's warriors that are supposed to kill and destroy to force their opinions > down the throats of their perceived enemy. To the best of my knowledge, though the Tibetans have had armies of conquest in their time, they have never imposed buddhism on anyone. The

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-903634282003-02-23T12:03:00.000-08:002003-02-23T12:03:54.510-08:00

A sketch of circumstances As I write this, I document some of the circumstances of my life. Some seem more important than others, some seem more fun. A few I'd rather not mention, but they are important to understanding who I am. To most of the world, in all likelihood, I am a successful if outspoken businesswoman, VP of Marketing and Business Development at eMarket Group, a reasonably

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508830.post-903632902003-02-23T11:17:00.000-08:002003-02-23T11:17:40.466-08:00

On Wearing Purple When I retire, I want to write Unpopular Nonfiction. I can't imagine not writing! I can't imagine the kind of retirement where you read and don't write, sit passively and recreate and not create. My own writing has been shaped by my life. I wrote a great deal about religion in my 20's and 30's, and more and more about social issues in my 30's and 40's. Here and there, I've

Shavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10627239054521159514noreply@blogger.com0