Posted by David
It’s clear to me that one of the hardier roots to our present financial and economic problems is usury. The traditional arguments against usury are laid out in a variety of places on the web (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury), so I won’t go there today. I’m going to approach it from the point of promises and [...]
Entries from February 2009
February 28, 2009
The Age of the Jubilee
February 25, 2009
Word Shrapnel
Posted by David
I was substitute teaching yesterday and my second class of students came in a furor, some were late, some were cussing, and some were just dealing internally. It’s my policy not to allow students to use profanity. When I hear cussing, I instantly make that clear. As usually happens, one kid was trying [...]
February 24, 2009
Mona Lisa and Truthfulness
Posted by Mike
The enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa may indicate that she was cautiously reluctant to reveal to the observer who she really was. For the rest of us it may be that truthful representations of ourselves to others may be equally difficult. In earlier postings we discussed issues related to truth. In those [...]
February 21, 2009
Space Time
Posted by Mike
We were in Orlando last week, driving down I-4 to one of the few Disney locations where you can get the ambiance of Disney but don’t have to spend any money if you don’t want to. The section of I-4 right before you get there is reminiscent of Vegas’ pre-Strip area: smaller motels, [...]
February 16, 2009
The Archetype of You
Posted by David
Earlier I defined evolution in one line: Evolution is the process whereby a natural system becomes its archetypal form. Let me go a bit further on this idea.
First, to see where I’m going with this we must realize that an individual is not independent. Nothing is independent. Everything is part of a greater [...]
February 15, 2009
Arrogance
Posted by Mike
I’m inclined to think that there are two kinds of arrogance: the overt kind, which everyone can see, where some obnoxious person makes an ass of himself expressing his notions of superiority or putting down others that he considers less adequate in some way or another. But there is another kind of arrogance [...]
February 8, 2009
Slippery Slopes
Posted by Mike
As individuals we have all kinds of slippery slopes. We say to ourselves, “It won’t really make any difference. I’ll just….” Most of us can fill in the blank for ourselves; could be an addiction, dishonesty, cheating, lying. It always becomes easier the second time, and by the third time we don’t notice [...]
February 6, 2009
The Marginalized
Posted by: David
Society will always marginalize this or that group, no matter what group is in power.
If Party A: the poor are marginalized.
If Party B: the disabled are marginalized.
If Party C: the weak are marginalized.
If Party D: the hard workers are marginalized.
If Party E: the justice-seekers are marginalized.
If Party F: the peacemakers are marginalized.
Blessed be [...]
February 1, 2009
Stuttering and Conversation Anxiety
Posted by: David
Today I’ll be writing about my experience as a stutterer and what contributed to my present-day fluency.
My experience as a stutterer was probably rather typical. I’m not sure about the onset, but it probably started when I was in middle elementary school. It became progressively worse due to social embarrassment and ended fairly [...]
