The Emerald Empire

 FB memory from Nov. 23, 2012

Driving up and down I-5 today to meet relatives in Salem we passed fields of velvet, velour, and narrow-wale corduroy, in dozens of shades of green, from brilliant chartreuse to kelly to emerald to olive. I love this place!

My Love Affair with Crayola Crayons

A trip down memory lane. I was privileged to have the 64 box, but in first grade Vickie R. had the 96 box, and I was so envious. I can't imagine what it would be like to have the 200 bucket. What was your favorite color? Mine was sea green.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ZRnuiJCtc

A Contemporary Cassandra: AOC's Speech to Censure Gosar

 

Full speech: AOC calls for censure vote of Rep. Gosar after he shared violent anime video

https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/full-speech-aoc-calls-for-censure-vote-of-rep-gosar-after-he-shared-violent-anime-video-126463045839

or

https://www.yahoo.com/now/full-speech-aoc-calls-censure-195620623.html

 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke on the House floor ahead of a vote to censure Rep. Paul Gosar and remove him from committees after he shared an anime video depicting violence against her and President Biden.  Nov. 17, 2021

Dante, Inferno Canto 31: Private Language and the Word

 "For words to communicate something to another person , there has to be a frame of reference beyond simply oneself." Ludwig Wittgenstein would later say there can be no such thing as a private language. This gives me a new appreciation of Jesus Christ as the Word; and if he is the Word, then what is Satan?

Dante on Contradictions, Inferno Canto 27

"He who does not repent, cannot be absolved: nor can one repent a thing, and at the same time will it, since the contradiction is not allowed." --Dante, Inferno Canto XXVII.

Contradictions are always a sign of error.

My Response to Inferno, Canto 29 Video (100 Days of Dante)

 

I've been participating in the "100 Days of Dante" project headed by Baylor University. Today I read Canto 29, and watched the associated YouTube video, which have usually been very helpful. Here is my response to that video:

-----------------------------------

I submit that even if we accept the idea that Covid originated in a Wuhan lab,* we must remember that the vaccines that have combated this virus also originated in labs. We Christians need to be careful as we speak about science. We can either see science as "thinking God's thoughts after Him," or we can see it as our chance to usurp him, control nature and bend it to our will.

I think Dr. Clark missed an opportunity to contrast the intentions of the alchemists with the intentions of medieval Christian figures like Albert the Great and Robert Grosseteste. Yes, we can excel as "apes to nature," but we can also worship God with our minds and strength. He gives us the choice. I thank God for scientists like Dr. Frances Collins, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Dr. Emily Smith (aka, "The Friendly Neighborhood Epidemiologist") who have chosen the latter path.

*this is not a foregone conclusion. For example, see "The COVID lab-leak hypothesis: what scientists do and don't know, " in Nature, 594 , 313-315 (2021)"

Ruin a Book by Adding One Word

 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Kidney Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber Pot of Secrets

Lord of the fruit flies

Wind turbine in the willows

Jurassic Car Park; Dune Buggy

the epic fail of Gilgamesh

Peter Bedpan

The beauty and the yeast

Animal farm management

the power of covid-positive thinking

Dr No Way

the Canterbury Veggie Tales

Jo Arnold The Mince Spy who Loved Me

Alice Cooper in Wonderland

I kissed Carbon Dating goodbye!

Star Trek Wars

Lord of the Open Flies.

"How to Make Imaginary Friends and Influence People"

A Song of Fire and Ice Cream
Lord of the Onion Rings

The Return of the Burger King

The Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Ring

Cry, The Beloved Country Music

Norwegian Woodpecker

Jane Eyre Jordans

Charlie and the chocolate factory settings

Out of the silent Planetarium; Voyage to Venus Flytrap; That hideous strength finder; till we have facebook

the crosswordpuzzle and the switchblade

Left And Right Behind

The Patriot Acts of the apostles

The Gospel According to Luke Skywalker

Sixth Sense and Sensibility

The cookbook of Mormon

Moby Dick Cheney

All the UV Light We Cannot See

The Return of the Burger King

Photographs Of Mice and Men

The Nick Name of the Rose

The art of the Cocaine Deal

1984 Gumdrops

The Scarlet Neon Letter

Tom Turkey Sawyer

The Two Towers’ Towels

Return of the King Trump

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Poop.

Return of the King Jesus.

Silence of the Lamb(s) Chops.

The Catcher in the Rye Bread.

Fifty Shades of Grey Paint.

Life of Peach Pi.

Where the Wild Hairball Things Are.

The Purloined Alphabet Letter

Huckleberry Pie Finn

The Housetrained Hound of the Baskervilles…

The Rise and Fall of the Roman Galactic Empire

Inflatable Little Women.

Sweet Jane Eyre

Animal Muppets Farm

The Hitchhikers Pointless Guide to the Galaxy.

The Empire Waistline Strikes Back

Twelve and a Half Angry Men

The Sound of Pop Music

The Sour Grapes of Wrath.

Leaves of Parched Grass.

Of Mice and Impotent Men. Of Mice and Incontinent Men.

How philosophers respond to objections

 

How philosophers respond to objections

https://dailynous.com/2021/11/11/how-philosophers-respond-to-objections/

<A critical thing to notice here is that which of these responses or strategies the proponent of P ought to opt for depends on three factors:

1.How likely Q is to be true

2.How relevant Q is to P

3.How strong an objection Q is to P.

The more that 1-3 hold, the greater the argumentative pressure on P and the more conciliatory, etc. proponents of P should be in response to Q. The less that 1-3 hold, the lesser the argumentative pressure on P and the more dismissive, etc. P’s proponents should be in response to Q.>