The Pokey Finger of God

I was reminded about my Fellowship project last night when I saw that my birthday this year is the day Mercury is hidden by the Sun. It will remain invisible for 12 days. (It’s actually passing in front of the Sun from our perspective, but you can’t see it without special lenses, because Sun.) Two […]

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I’m still dwelling on the intentional community thing. Folks have been suggesting known ICs to investigate, and I appreciate that. One of my comments asked what time frame I had in mind for ‘moving off the grid’, but I never responded because I haven’t considered that question. I think I would go as soon as […]

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— from Chris Hedges of Free Press on Alternet Many of these atheists, like the Christian fundamentalists, support the imperialist projects and preemptive wars of the United States as a necessity in the battle against terrorism and irrational religion. They divide the world into superior and inferior races, those who are enlightened by reason and […]

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The dissolution of Bear Stearns over the weekend put a rather somber exclamation point on the sub-prime mortgage crisis. If anyone had any doubt regarding the extent of the problem or how deeply it had spread, that doubt should now be lifted. I have no clue what to do about the global or national economies. […]

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It is an imperative of Life that we each must search for more of what we have, only better. It’s no accident that hominids, like most herding species, were originally nomadic. They were always searching over the next hill, beyond the next valley, for the greener pastures and fatter sheep. The advent of semi-agricultural habits […]

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Just to note, that as it is practiced in America, philanthropy is not a gift economy. In America — 1. Funding is only provided in context of achieving some goal 2. Funding is distributed based on needs assessments 3. Funding must be spent within a time frame long enough to diminish the value of the […]

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Principles of Gift Economy 1. Gifts are given without anticipation of reward 2. Gifts are given without assessment of need 3. Gifts must not be kept / Gifts must be perishable 4. Gifts must not be sold 5. Those who do not give gifts are shunned from the community 6. The gift not yet repaid […]

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When I was very young and I was learning about government for the first time, my initial judgment was that our government was carefully contrived to make it as difficult as possible for one person or group to hold power for very long, while simultaneously preventing anything from ever getting done. I recall also making […]

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