Saturday, January 22, 2005
Seeing stars
Funding is being cut for the Hubble telescope. No repairs will be made. Shortly, it will fall to earth. The White House has been instrumental in this, according to reports. One wonders why?
Dark-sinister conspiracy time (and no, I don't even have pictures of Bush family members making two-fingers-as-horns Satanic signs to back me up here). One of the more awkward aspects of astronomy for Biblical literalists is the size of the darned universe. Even our little local galaxy, the Milky Way, is 'some 30,000 light years across' (encyclopedia.com, reference below). And therefore, even if the farthest rims are travelling AT the speed of light, away from us, their light would have had to be emitted 15,000 years ago. Which is awkward, really, if you want to believe the universe was created about 5,000 years ago.
It's one thing to scoff at dinosaur bones, and imagine that these fossils were put there as part of some G*d's great scenery. It's quite another to imagine a universe entirely set up as a Potemkin village, whose vital machinery is there to maintain an erroneous appearance. (Perhaps the warning in our cars' wing mirrors is from divine inspiration: things are closer than they appear.)
With religious fanatics ascendant, it makes sense to shoo away something that persistently puts in front of the public beautiful images that come labelled with their distance as measured in light years. (210,000 light years in the example cited below, for example)
Sad, sad. Sad (1): that we'll miss Hubble's beautiful imagery. Sad (2): that so many people refuse to see the beauty of the universe in which we live.
[ www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/MilkyWay_SizeandShapeoftheMilkyWay.asp ;
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2005/04/image/a ]
Dark-sinister conspiracy time (and no, I don't even have pictures of Bush family members making two-fingers-as-horns Satanic signs to back me up here). One of the more awkward aspects of astronomy for Biblical literalists is the size of the darned universe. Even our little local galaxy, the Milky Way, is 'some 30,000 light years across' (encyclopedia.com, reference below). And therefore, even if the farthest rims are travelling AT the speed of light, away from us, their light would have had to be emitted 15,000 years ago. Which is awkward, really, if you want to believe the universe was created about 5,000 years ago.
It's one thing to scoff at dinosaur bones, and imagine that these fossils were put there as part of some G*d's great scenery. It's quite another to imagine a universe entirely set up as a Potemkin village, whose vital machinery is there to maintain an erroneous appearance. (Perhaps the warning in our cars' wing mirrors is from divine inspiration: things are closer than they appear.)
With religious fanatics ascendant, it makes sense to shoo away something that persistently puts in front of the public beautiful images that come labelled with their distance as measured in light years. (210,000 light years in the example cited below, for example)
Sad, sad. Sad (1): that we'll miss Hubble's beautiful imagery. Sad (2): that so many people refuse to see the beauty of the universe in which we live.
[ www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/MilkyWay_SizeandShapeoftheMilkyWay.asp ;
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2005/04/image/a ]
Friday, January 21, 2005
World. United.
My young brother was flying into Kathmandu last week. The Nepalese man sitting beside him on the plane observed that George W has succeeded in creating world harmony ... and unity, against the U.S.
Of course, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 had united the world with the U.S.
And, in 'Baghdad Burning', the Iraqi (I assume) writer says: "We were never a threat to America...
Congratulations Bush- we are a threat now." http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
Of course, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 had united the world with the U.S.
And, in 'Baghdad Burning', the Iraqi (I assume) writer says: "We were never a threat to America...
Congratulations Bush- we are a threat now." http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
A monopoly on virtue
Sometimes I don't know how the woman does it. I listen -- as one does -- to Terry Gross, NPR's Fresh Air interviewer par excellence last night as she interviewed two gentlemen, in sequence, on the subject of religion in the administration. And, throughout, although she did seem to struggle a bit at times, she kept her composure.
On my right, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (basically: the religion's lobby group). He notes that 'he and President Bush share the same evangelical faith.'
And, on my not-quite as right (stay with me here), Rev. Jim Wallis -- founder of Sojourners, 'a Christian group advocating a style of peace and justice', plugging his book, btw: God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It.
Land argues with angry conviction that the debate on values is over, he/they won. And in so doing he repeatedly executes a mean feat of rhetorical legerdemain (legerdemain = 'sleight of hand' for those who still dislike the Frenchies). The trick is buried in his logic, which runs as:
1. Moral values are on the ascendance, more important in consideration in the election, etc.
2. Therefore, Christians have won.
Did you see it? The trick, y'see, is the assumption that only Christians (and perhaps only his flavor of Christians) understand moral precepts. Other religions? Pshaw! The godless? Never! (Shall we set aside here, for a moment, the historical note that white, church-going, G*d-fearin' Southern Baptists played lead roles in the abominations of Southern slavery and the lynchings that ensued?) And thus, the right defines right. It's them.
Rev. Wallis, softspoken and humble compared to Land's stentorian self-assuredness and pride, spoke next.
An equal-opportunity scold, he argues (surely correctly) that none of us is without flaw. He wondered about the hijacking of a religion, to the point where the holy name of Jesus is used to prop up ... tax cuts? For the rich? Somehow, I don't think he got invited the fancy balls in Washington last night. See, he doesn't get it about moral values, does he?
Listen and gasp at http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13&prgDate=01-20-2005
On my right, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (basically: the religion's lobby group). He notes that 'he and President Bush share the same evangelical faith.'
And, on my not-quite as right (stay with me here), Rev. Jim Wallis -- founder of Sojourners, 'a Christian group advocating a style of peace and justice', plugging his book, btw: God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It.
Land argues with angry conviction that the debate on values is over, he/they won. And in so doing he repeatedly executes a mean feat of rhetorical legerdemain (legerdemain = 'sleight of hand' for those who still dislike the Frenchies). The trick is buried in his logic, which runs as:
1. Moral values are on the ascendance, more important in consideration in the election, etc.
2. Therefore, Christians have won.
Did you see it? The trick, y'see, is the assumption that only Christians (and perhaps only his flavor of Christians) understand moral precepts. Other religions? Pshaw! The godless? Never! (Shall we set aside here, for a moment, the historical note that white, church-going, G*d-fearin' Southern Baptists played lead roles in the abominations of Southern slavery and the lynchings that ensued?) And thus, the right defines right. It's them.
Rev. Wallis, softspoken and humble compared to Land's stentorian self-assuredness and pride, spoke next.
An equal-opportunity scold, he argues (surely correctly) that none of us is without flaw. He wondered about the hijacking of a religion, to the point where the holy name of Jesus is used to prop up ... tax cuts? For the rich? Somehow, I don't think he got invited the fancy balls in Washington last night. See, he doesn't get it about moral values, does he?
Listen and gasp at http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13&prgDate=01-20-2005
I (name here) do solemnly swear ...
... to uphold the Constitution of the United States.
One has to wonder if W had his fingers crossed when he said that? Let us consider the great wisdom of the early amendments to the Constitution ... and W's record on them. In a touching essay -- a picture speaking a thousand words -- Juan Cole (don't know him, he's a blogger comme moi) has put in juxtaposition the text of seven of the first eight amendments with images representing the Bush adminstration's flagrant violation thereof.
http://www.juancole.com/
One has to wonder if W had his fingers crossed when he said that? Let us consider the great wisdom of the early amendments to the Constitution ... and W's record on them. In a touching essay -- a picture speaking a thousand words -- Juan Cole (don't know him, he's a blogger comme moi) has put in juxtaposition the text of seven of the first eight amendments with images representing the Bush adminstration's flagrant violation thereof.
http://www.juancole.com/
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Pictures from Aceh
I am, still – and always will be – grateful to the
http://projects.mindtel.com/2005/0115.tzone/t1/05-bandaaceh.html The terrifying thing is … just how many photographs there are, and how endless the devastation is.
Monday, January 17, 2005
My paintings: shameless plug
Several of my paintings are now visible at joeinc.tv ... Click on the LINK below.
The painting of the Minang house (Minangkabau are the people in the West Sumatran highlands) has been repainted significantly since, both to bring out the colors more and because the painting as shown is incomplete: each traditional Minang house has two sets of 'buffalo horns' ... for a total of 4, not the three shown here. It's one of a set of four paintings of Minang houses -- three are nearly complete; the fourth not started. Each are 1-foot square. (Acrylic on canvas)
The painting of the farmer in the rice field is based on a drawing I did in Bali in 2003. There are several other paintings from Bali -- mainly farmworkers. (Acrylic on treated paper; 24" x 12")
The painting of the Minang house (Minangkabau are the people in the West Sumatran highlands) has been repainted significantly since, both to bring out the colors more and because the painting as shown is incomplete: each traditional Minang house has two sets of 'buffalo horns' ... for a total of 4, not the three shown here. It's one of a set of four paintings of Minang houses -- three are nearly complete; the fourth not started. Each are 1-foot square. (Acrylic on canvas)
The painting of the farmer in the rice field is based on a drawing I did in Bali in 2003. There are several other paintings from Bali -- mainly farmworkers. (Acrylic on treated paper; 24" x 12")
my links
{http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/}
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