Saturday, October 28, 2006

Lakoff: Staying the Course Right Over a Cliff

The New York Times (free registration required) has an opinion piece by George Lakoff of "framing" fame.
The Bush administration has finally been caught in its own language trap.

"That is not a stay-the-course policy," Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, declared on Monday.

The first rule of using negatives is that negating a frame activates the frame. If you tell someone not to think of an elephant, he’ll think of an elephant. When Richard Nixon said, "I am not a crook" during Watergate, the nation thought of him as a crook.

"Listen, we’ve never been stay the course, George," President Bush told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News a day earlier. Saying that just reminds us of all the times he said "stay the course." ...

UUBlogSearch.com

If you get a moment, please check out my new website: UUBlogSearch.com. It searches over 50 blogs written by self-proclaimed Unitarian Universalists, as well as the UUA and UUWorld Magazine.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Good Vibrations

The September, 2006 issue of Fast Company magazine has one of the most incredible, futuristic ideas for generating power I've ever read.

What if high foot traffic areas were designed with treads that would flex, causing air or a liquid to be forced through a tiny turbine that would drive a generator and produce a current that could get stored in a battery?

Strikes me as an amazingly good idea. Kinda pricey to create, though.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

The state of habeas corpus these days

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC discusses the death of habeas corpus and concludes that only 1/10 of the Bill of Rights remain Rights. That makes it the Bill of Right.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

John Kerry: Support PatriotProject

John Kerry asks for the the support of PatriotProject.com.
The Patriot Project has an incredibly important and concise mission. "Freedom of speech and the right to dissent are cornerstones of our democracy. The Patriot Project will defend any man or woman, regardless of party or affiliation, who is attacked or defamed and whose patriotism is questioned simply because they exercise their rights as Americans. This is our mission."

That's pretty damn fundamental in itself to who we are. But there's a human face behind it. The fight is intensely personal to me. Veterans are running for office all over our country. A lot of them got interested in politics as part of my campaign, and some got involved in Wes Clark's race. Some of us had disagreements for thirty five years -- like me and Jim Webb, we didn't see eye to eye over the war we fought in. But no matter where we came from, something much bigger now brings us together -- we're all a band of brothers now. When I got off the phone with Patrick Murphy after the chickenshit attacks on his military record, something felt awfully familiar and it got me pissed off. I care about these men and women. They've got guts and they've got brains and they've got heart and I'm telling you they will change the character of this pathetic Congress, and I'm boiling mad watching people who didn't serve attack those who did because they can't win a debate on the merits.

The world I'd like to see

What would I like to see if I looked at the world?

I don't particularly care if everyone loves one another. I don't even particularly care if lots of people hate each other.

What I'd like to see is a world where people weren't killing each other because of differences in religious beliefs.

That, to me, would be a good step toward a perfect world.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

CUUMBAYA: Is the UUA a secular organization?

CUUMBAYA makes some provocative points about what makes Unitarian Universalism religious.
Is there any rite or practice that we are privileged or required to do that only a religion may perform? No. Weddings may be performed by J.P.s; in many states you’re married when the license is signed, and a priest only witnesses the fact anyway. Many fraternal organizations perform funerals; the Masons (along with Rev. Clear) spoke at my father’s. We do not perform or require baptisms or any other rites.

Do we perform any social services that a secular organization may not do? No. Many secular organizations engage in disaster relief, or work with the poor, or lobby Washington. The DeMolay chapter I belonged to as a kid regularly donated to the Wheeler Mission (a homeless shelter); the Star Trek fan club I used to belong to chartered and filled an entire semi full of goods for Hurricane Hugo relief. Contrariwise, there are many fraternal organizations that perform social services that we do not do as a denomination- the Masons, for example, run retirement homes and cemeteries.

Here's the final question:
Let me put it this way: can you write a definition of “religion” that would include the UUA as presently constituted, and not also include a Star Trek club with a socially conscious membership?

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Olbermann: how the administration used Christians to grab and maintain power

From a transcript of Countdown ...
Tonight on Countdown–David Kuo, who was the number two guy at the Office of Faith Based initiatives in the White House writes a scathing account of how the administration used Christians to grab and maintain power. This story validates Tucker Carlson's admission that: "The deep truth is that the elites in the Republican Party have pure contempt for the evangelicals who put their party in power."
This in a new book called Tempting Faith by conservative Christian author David Kuo.
Kuo, citing one example after another of a White House that repeatedly uses evangelical Christians for their votes — while consistently giving them nothing in return;

A White House which routinely speaks of the nation's most famous evangelical leaders behind their backs, with contempt and derision.

Furthermore, Faith-Based Initiatives were not only stiffed on one public promise after another by Mr. Bush — the office itself was eventually forced to answer a higher calling: Electing Republican politicians.

Kuo's bottom line: the Bush White House is playing millions of American Christians for suckers.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Historic UCC/UUA Dialogue at Andover Newton

I wonder what this means.
On Wednesday evening October 25th, Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) will host an historic dialogue between the national leaders of the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).

Thomas and SinkfordRev. John Thomas, General Minister and President of the UCC and Rev. William Sinkford, President, of the UUA, will reflect on the historical affinities and divisions between their denominations, and then go on to explore current realities and future possibilities. This exchange is of interest to clergy and congregants in both denominations because, despite theological differences and the historical controversy that led to their split, in recent years there has been a growing solidarity of the two groups. On a number of issues of progressive religious conviction and social justice the two share common perspectives, and in some communities there are some churches that have become aligned with both denominations. ...

I'm looking forward to seeing what "future possibilities" they talk about.

">