Sunday, November 15, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
A & B
Question: Why the above image (Venn Diagram)?
Answer: No particular reason. I am meditating. And the diagram looks nice -- and provocative, yes?
In any event: this is the blog for personal meditations & musings & notions & images having no particular point or purpose.
Friday, October 30, 2009
October 31: Reformation Day
The sale of indulgences shown in A Question to a Mintmaker, woodcut by Jörg Breu the Elder of Augsburg, circa 1530.
Reformation Day, WIKIPEDIA:
Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31 in remembrance of the Reformation, particularly by Lutheran and some Reformed church communities. It is a civic holiday in Slovenia (since the Reformation contributed to its cultural development profoundly, although Slovenians are mainly Roman Catholics) and in the German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. It is also a national holiday in Chile since 2008.
[snip, snip]
In 1516-17, Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and papal commissioner for indulgences, was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money to rebuild St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Roman Catholic theology stated that faith alone, whether fiduciary or dogmatic, cannot justify man; and that only such faith as is active in charity and good works (fides caritate formata) can justify man. The benefits of good works could be obtained by donating money to the church.
On 31 October, 1517, Martin Luther wrote to Albrecht, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, protesting the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences," which came to be known as The 95 Theses.
[snip, snip]
Luther objected to a saying attributed to Johann Tetzel that "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory [also attested as 'into heaven'] springs." He insisted that, since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances.
According to Philipp Melanchthon, writing in 1546, Luther "wrote theses on indulgences and posted them on the church of All Saints on 31 October 1517", an event now seen as sparking the Protestant Reformation. Some scholars have questioned Melanchthon's account, since he did not move to Wittenberg until a year later and no contemporaneous evidence exists for Luther's posting of the theses. Others counter that such evidence is unnecessary because it was the custom at Wittenberg university to advertise a disputation by posting theses on the door of All Saints' Church, also known as "Castle Church".
The 95 Theses were quickly translated from Latin into German, printed, and widely copied, making the controversy one of the first in history to be aided by the printing press. Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany; within two months throughout Europe.
There Is Hope
"Medvedev: Soviet-Era Terror Cannot Be Justified," NYTimes (Oct. 30, 2009):
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In a blog-posted video marking a day set aside in 1991 to commemorate victims of Soviet political repression, Medvedev suggested young Russians are getting a lopsided picture of their country's past -- learning plenty about its proud moments but little about the bloodbath that reached its peak under Josef Stalin in the Great Terror of the late 1930s.
''Let's just think about: Millions of people died as a result of terror and false accusations -- millions,'' a somber-faced Medvedev said. ''They were deprived of all rights, even the right to a decent human burial, and for long years their names were simply crossed out of history.
''And yet today it is still possible to hear that these many victims were justified by some higher state goal,'' he said.[snip, snip]
Medvedev said Oct. 30 is a day to remember ''millions of maimed destinies: people shot without trial or investigation, people sent to the camps and into exile, deprived of civil rights.''
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Natural Gas from Shale?
Natural gas from shale may be remaking the world's energy prospects. This is the result suggested by new technologies and new discoveries of usable shale. See, e.g., "BP sees possibility of 100 more years of natural gas" (Oct. 9, 2009) and "Drill Gas Here, Drill Gas Now" (Oct. 19, 2009). It appears that natural gas from shale is recoverable in significant amounts even in Europe. See "Shale Gas Will Tip The Scale" (Oct. 19, 2009).
A seismic shock wave is coursing through the global energy industry. Based on American innovation, a new way of extracting natural gas from prehistoric clay called shale is unbalancing the global energy equation. The traditional rulers of the fossil fuels industry – Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia -- are watching in horror as independent wildcatters in unlikely places like Poland and Pennsylvania are finding gigantic new natural gas reserves.
Shale Gas has been creeping up on the energy industry. As far back as 1981, a Texas wildcatter by the name of George T. Mitchell experimented with a new way of gathering natural gas from tight-rock deposits of organic shale. His idea was to drill horizontal wells 1 ½ miles behind the surface and then fracture the rock by using water pressure. ‘Fraccing ‘ is the industrial equivalent of pressuring hosing the back deck, except that the process requires 2 to 3 million gallons of water and 1.5 million pounds of sand for just one well -- though 3 million gallons of water is not as much as it sounds, only the equivalent of 5 Olympic size swimming pools.
Source: http://lingo.cast.uark.edu/LINGOPUBLIC/natgas/wellprep/index.htm
According to The Potential Gas Committee, which is connected with the Colorado School of Mines, estimated US natural reserves increased almost 40% between 2006 and 2008 due to shale gas technology. The US is now estimated to possess 1,836 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas reserves, 33% of which is related to shale gas that no one knew how to extract economically as recently as two years ago. This translates into an additional supply of 26 years at current rates of consumption of about 23 Tcf per year. Total US natural gas reserves are now estimated at 75 years. In less than two years, the US has gone from a gas importing nation to a gas surplus nation.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Replacement for Hills Brothers Brown Gold Colombian Coffee?
Recently 16 oz. cans of Hills Brothers Brown Gold Colombian Coffee disappeared from local store shelves. I need a replacement. Your suggestions?&&&
Friday, September 25, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
President Putin's Praise
President Putin praises President Obama's "brave" decision. See this.
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The dynamic evidence page
Generally, when one earns Putin's praise, one knows (or should know) one is in trouble.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Doofus Argument for Universal Health Care
I favor universal health care. (Really! Truly!)
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However, I do not favor the doofus argument for health care.
If I understand it correctly, the doofus argument runs this way:
Able: We should reduce health care costs.Baker: All things being equal, that's a good idea.
Able: Well, therefore, we should extend affordable health care to 30-45 million who can't afford regular health care now.
Baker: That's a good idea. But that will cost money, won't it? So that won't reduce health care costs, will it?.
Able: Yes, it will.
Baker: How so?
Able: Well, we'll pay for the health care for the 30-45 million by reducing the amount spent on everyone else.
Baker: I see. But couldn't we do that without extending ordinary health care to the 30-45 million people?
Able: No.
Baker: Why not?
Able: Because to reduce health care costs and give the 30-45 million people affordable health care, we will have a government-subsidized health care program. That will drive down health care costs for everyone.
Baker: I see, I think. But, Able, I have a question.
Able: Yes? What is it?
Baker: Couldn't we have a government-subsidized health care program without extending it to the 30-45 million?
Able: Baker, I lose patience with you; you're such a dimwit. The answer is, "Obviously not. Excuse me. Now I have to get to get to work at saving Medicare."
Friday, August 28, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
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