I need to stop posting for a while. Work is busy, some stuff will be happening at home, and I need to know that that I can exercise self control for a change. (I'm finding it really hard not to post lately, even though I know I should be spending more time catching up on work.)
I have also just passed the 4 year mark with this blog. Time does indeed fly.
Not sure how long this will take, but I absolutely, positively will not be posting for 14 days; that is, unless Kevin Rudd is caught in flagrante delicto with a member of cabinet, in which case I will come back here to laugh.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
The modern Gnostics of St Mary's (in exile, not due back any time soon)
I should really stop watching the services from "St Mary's in exile", but they hold a sort of morbid fascination for seeing how far the self delusion of Peter Kennedy and his followers can go.
This is, remember, a congregation which thinks it's terribly unjust and unfair that they should be told by their Archbishop that they are outside of the Catholic Church.
Yet, in today's homily, (not in written form on their website yet, you have to watch the video from the 10 minute mark) we learned from Peter Kennedy that:
* "the jury is still out" as to whether Jesus really existed or not. If he did exist, he was nothing like the Catholic Church has traditionally told us he was like. But anyway, it doesn't really matter if he existed or not. Because:
* the early Christians were all Gnostics who didn't see Jesus as a real historical figure, but only as a metaphor for "awakening" (the awakening being that God is all, All is One; you know - that sort of mystical mystery stuff.)
* that Constantine and the Council of Nicea is what stuffed up the church by going all anti-Gnostic
* modern scientists say there are billions of galaxies (true) and billions of universes (highly speculative)
* that the term "relational matrix" is a cool one for "God"
* that the power of goodness keeps coming out of creation. (I suppose the "relational matrix" sees to that, but it certainly makes it rather unclear as to what Kennedy thinks of animal suffering and evolution.)
As I've said before, I'm no university educated expert on theology and the history of Christianity, but I know enough to be mightily irritated by Kennedy and Fitzpatrick's modus operandi, which is to take a grab bag of whatever bits and pieces of revisionist history, scriptural exegesis, modern physics and speculative science they have found of interest over the last 20 years, and preach it to their congregation as if it were not academically controversial, and not a clear repudiation of Catholic doctrine and teaching.
Every homily contains statements which are exaggerations, over-simplifications, or simply misleading; but if it appeared in one of Peter or Terry's favourite recent authors, they'll repeat it anyway.
I still can't work out Peter Kennedy. I don't understand why his congregation think so highly of him. While this may be unfair, he comes across to me as probably an overly emotional man (with this aspect accounting for what some people describe as his "spiritual" nature,) but a not particularly bright one who is easily swayed by whatever radical re-assessment of Christianity he has read last. It remains my conviction that he should have just left the priesthood early in his career and led a normal life, instead of just having the ersatz family he found by living with a priest who had a son.
But instead, he seems to have decided to make a career of deliberately encouraging people to follow into his mystical, Gnostic, quasi-Eastern mystery-based replacement religion for Catholicism, under the pretence that this was clearly the way of all early Christians before it was corrupted. Perhaps I am being unduly charitable in suggesting that it's all because he is not so bright; maybe there is an element of dishonesty in there too.
Surely some in his congregation are going to start saying to themselves soon "gee, I don't really know that we are Catholic anymore," or even "perhaps I should read some counterclaims to a lot of this stuff Peter goes on about." We can only hope.
UPDATE: I see that the St Mary's blog has linked to this post. Welcome, gnostic heretics!
I note that, since this post was written, there was a later sermon in which Peter Kennedy claimed that a lot of his recent ideas were from books that his congregation had suggested he read, so that it was more a case of the congregation had led him to these radical ideas, rather than the other way around.
Well then, my characterisation of Kennedy as leading his group into Gnosticism may be wrong, but it makes no difference to my key point that it is rather ridiculous for them to claim they are upset that the Archbishop should say they are not Catholic if their position is that the physical reality of Christ himself (not just his resurrection!) is neither here nor there.
Visitors may also be interested in my recent post regarding Karen Armstrong's new book on God. After all, someone has probably already handed a copy of it to Kennedy to read.
This is, remember, a congregation which thinks it's terribly unjust and unfair that they should be told by their Archbishop that they are outside of the Catholic Church.
Yet, in today's homily, (not in written form on their website yet, you have to watch the video from the 10 minute mark) we learned from Peter Kennedy that:
* "the jury is still out" as to whether Jesus really existed or not. If he did exist, he was nothing like the Catholic Church has traditionally told us he was like. But anyway, it doesn't really matter if he existed or not. Because:
* the early Christians were all Gnostics who didn't see Jesus as a real historical figure, but only as a metaphor for "awakening" (the awakening being that God is all, All is One; you know - that sort of mystical mystery stuff.)
* that Constantine and the Council of Nicea is what stuffed up the church by going all anti-Gnostic
* modern scientists say there are billions of galaxies (true) and billions of universes (highly speculative)
* that the term "relational matrix" is a cool one for "God"
* that the power of goodness keeps coming out of creation. (I suppose the "relational matrix" sees to that, but it certainly makes it rather unclear as to what Kennedy thinks of animal suffering and evolution.)
As I've said before, I'm no university educated expert on theology and the history of Christianity, but I know enough to be mightily irritated by Kennedy and Fitzpatrick's modus operandi, which is to take a grab bag of whatever bits and pieces of revisionist history, scriptural exegesis, modern physics and speculative science they have found of interest over the last 20 years, and preach it to their congregation as if it were not academically controversial, and not a clear repudiation of Catholic doctrine and teaching.
Every homily contains statements which are exaggerations, over-simplifications, or simply misleading; but if it appeared in one of Peter or Terry's favourite recent authors, they'll repeat it anyway.
I still can't work out Peter Kennedy. I don't understand why his congregation think so highly of him. While this may be unfair, he comes across to me as probably an overly emotional man (with this aspect accounting for what some people describe as his "spiritual" nature,) but a not particularly bright one who is easily swayed by whatever radical re-assessment of Christianity he has read last. It remains my conviction that he should have just left the priesthood early in his career and led a normal life, instead of just having the ersatz family he found by living with a priest who had a son.
But instead, he seems to have decided to make a career of deliberately encouraging people to follow into his mystical, Gnostic, quasi-Eastern mystery-based replacement religion for Catholicism, under the pretence that this was clearly the way of all early Christians before it was corrupted. Perhaps I am being unduly charitable in suggesting that it's all because he is not so bright; maybe there is an element of dishonesty in there too.
Surely some in his congregation are going to start saying to themselves soon "gee, I don't really know that we are Catholic anymore," or even "perhaps I should read some counterclaims to a lot of this stuff Peter goes on about." We can only hope.
UPDATE: I see that the St Mary's blog has linked to this post. Welcome, gnostic heretics!
I note that, since this post was written, there was a later sermon in which Peter Kennedy claimed that a lot of his recent ideas were from books that his congregation had suggested he read, so that it was more a case of the congregation had led him to these radical ideas, rather than the other way around.
Well then, my characterisation of Kennedy as leading his group into Gnosticism may be wrong, but it makes no difference to my key point that it is rather ridiculous for them to claim they are upset that the Archbishop should say they are not Catholic if their position is that the physical reality of Christ himself (not just his resurrection!) is neither here nor there.
Visitors may also be interested in my recent post regarding Karen Armstrong's new book on God. After all, someone has probably already handed a copy of it to Kennedy to read.
What's that big yellow thing in the sky, then?
Forecasts of 'barbecue summer' for UK come with health warning | UK news | The Observer
According to the Observer:
According to the Observer:
And what exactly constitutes a spell of hot weather there?:Temperatures could today reach their highest so far this year and Britain can expect to bask in the heat until Wednesday, say forecasters.
But doctors have warned that the spell of hot weather - which is likely to return throughout much of the summer, according to meteorologists - could ultimately trigger a rise in numbers of skin cancer cases unless care is taken by sunbathers.
Oh, from an Australian perspective, that's pathetic!Yesterday, the Met Office said it expected temperatures would reach at least 23C (73F) throughout most of Britain.
"There is just a chance that it could top 26 degrees, which we experienced on Friday, and so make Sunday the hottest day of the year so far," added forecaster Andy Hobson.....
"The high temperatures and sunshine should last until Wednesday, when clouds will begin to build up over Britain," Hobson added.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Please, donate to find a cure for Tim
This is pretty funny. As I noted earlier this week, Tim of Will Type for Food fame did not like Samson and Delilah, a new Australian film. Found it quite boring and tedious, and could not understand the critical acclaim.
Shortly after expressing this view, it won a prize at Cannes. It was Tim against the world.
Well, we all thought, Cannes is full of left leaning critics who, just like David Stratton and our local crowd, would warm to a film about the social problems plaguing Central Australian aborigines.
But today, conservative Andrew Bolt writes a kind of review praising the film too. In fact, he says it is "impeccably paced," yet the pacing seemed to be exactly the thing that Tim criticised.
Clearly, Tim is suffering from some unusual form of cognitive deficit. He needs treatment.
Given sufficient funds, I can imagine a sort of reverse Clockwork Orange treatment: strapped in a dentist's chair, eyes pried open, but this time injected with some pleasure inducing substance while re-watching the film, until he gets it, just like the rest of the world.
Either that or I should just go see it to reassure Tim that he is not wrong. I love pre-hating Australian films, after all.
Update: Alternatively, I suppose there could be a sort of failed critic's gulag set up, presumably in some location that is extremely boring so as to ensure that, when they are allowed to watch a tedious film again, it seems thrilling by comparison. Readers are free to suggest the most appropriate Australian location for such a camp. I'm thinking parts of South Australia, myself, although even the quietest town there still has the thrill of avoiding acid barrels.
Shortly after expressing this view, it won a prize at Cannes. It was Tim against the world.
Well, we all thought, Cannes is full of left leaning critics who, just like David Stratton and our local crowd, would warm to a film about the social problems plaguing Central Australian aborigines.
But today, conservative Andrew Bolt writes a kind of review praising the film too. In fact, he says it is "impeccably paced," yet the pacing seemed to be exactly the thing that Tim criticised.
Clearly, Tim is suffering from some unusual form of cognitive deficit. He needs treatment.
Given sufficient funds, I can imagine a sort of reverse Clockwork Orange treatment: strapped in a dentist's chair, eyes pried open, but this time injected with some pleasure inducing substance while re-watching the film, until he gets it, just like the rest of the world.
Either that or I should just go see it to reassure Tim that he is not wrong. I love pre-hating Australian films, after all.
Update: Alternatively, I suppose there could be a sort of failed critic's gulag set up, presumably in some location that is extremely boring so as to ensure that, when they are allowed to watch a tedious film again, it seems thrilling by comparison. Readers are free to suggest the most appropriate Australian location for such a camp. I'm thinking parts of South Australia, myself, although even the quietest town there still has the thrill of avoiding acid barrels.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Everyone needs a hobby...
While looking around for any blogs commenting about Peter Kennedy and this week's Australian Story, I found a Melbourne blogger who has this as the first line in his blog sub-title:
"My most present concern to-day is the denounciation of the extremes of pornography,i.e., BESTIALITY."
His occupation is "lay-theologian". Keeps him occupied, I guess.
"My most present concern to-day is the denounciation of the extremes of pornography,i.e., BESTIALITY."
His occupation is "lay-theologian". Keeps him occupied, I guess.
"A slow motion time bomb"
Arctic thaw could prompt huge release of carbon dioxide : Nature News
It's all about what happens when permafrost stops being being permafrost:
It's all about what happens when permafrost stops being being permafrost:
Scientists have long debated how the global climate might be affected by thawing of the Arctic's permanently frozen soils, known as permafrost. When permafrost melts, microbes decompose organic matter in the soil, producing greenhouse gases. But when plants have access to warmer, deeper soils, they grow faster and take in carbon dioxide....The end result:The study by Schuur and his colleagues, published today in Nature1, shows that after 15 years of thaw, plants initially grow faster and take in more carbon than is released by the melting tundra, so the ecosystem is an overall carbon sink. But after a few decades, the balance shifts and the ecosystem becomes a source of carbon.
"The plants are growing faster, but after a few decades the rate of carbon loss from the soils is so high the plants can't keep up," says Schuur.
It's estimated that permafrost soils store about twice as much carbon than is currently present in the atmosphere2, and the stores of carbon are unlikely to run out any time soon. "It's a slow-motion time bomb," says Schuur.
Extrapolations of the experimental findings to the whole Arctic region suggest that CO2 emissions from future permafrost thawing could be roughly a billion tonnes per year — of the same order of magnitude as emissions from current deforestation of the tropics. Burning of fossil fuels releases about 8.5 billion tonnes of CO2 a year.Note that the experiment also does not look at the release of methane, a much more powerful greenhouse gas, from ex-permafrost.
Polar ocean acidification on track?
Rate of Iceland Sea acidification from time series measurements
I haven't read any commentary on this bit of research into the measured drop in ocean pH around Iceland, but it sure sounds like it is in line with predications made about how the polar oceans will suffer first under ocean acidification from CO2. Here's the conclusion to the paper (bold is mine):
I haven't read any commentary on this bit of research into the measured drop in ocean pH around Iceland, but it sure sounds like it is in line with predications made about how the polar oceans will suffer first under ocean acidification from CO2. Here's the conclusion to the paper (bold is mine):
The anthropogenic increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide affects the Nordic Seas both at the surface and at depth. In the surface, the pH has decreased from 8.13 to 8.08 between 1985 and 2008, and the aragonite saturation (Ò), which is naturally low 10 anyway, decreased from 1.6 to 1.5 between 1985 and 2008. In the deep water, the pressure effect adds to the low temperature, and above the depths of about 1500 m, the aragonite saturation horizon is shoaling at a rate of about 4myr−1. This shoaling results from extensive vertical mixing which transmits atmospheric signatures to waters as deep as 1500m (Messias et al., 2008). Large areas of the benthos are thus 15 undergoing a rapid transition from being exposed to waters that are supersaturated to being exposed to waters that are undersaturated with respect to aragonite. There is an urgent need to clarify the effects of these changes on associated benthic ecosystems, especially at shallower depths, where the population of carbonate forming benthic biota are much greater.
Labor State loves coal
Clive Palmer announces Galilee Basin coal mine funding | The Courier-Mail
I'm sure I heard the Queensland Treasurer praising this new massive coal mine (on line in 2013) on the radio yesterday, but I can't find a link right now.
I'm sure I heard the Queensland Treasurer praising this new massive coal mine (on line in 2013) on the radio yesterday, but I can't find a link right now.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
All about that dream (no, not that one)
Oxford don Mary Beard writes of her "great lecturing disasters", although they really don't seem so spectacular to me.
Of more interest is the fact that she opens with this:
One of the comments refers people to this XKCD comic on the topic, which really captures the dreams perfectly. (Especially the line "I thought I had finished my requirements already." I know that used to be a common thought in my exam failure dreams.)
It seems rather curious that the sleeping mind keeps going back to this theme. Then again, leaving the house without pants doesn't seem a dream worthy of repetition either. Funny things, brains.
Update: incidentally, mine are always about tertiary education, never high school. For people who don't go to university, do they have these dreams about their last year of high school for the rest of their lives? Or are they free of them?
Of more interest is the fact that she opens with this:
Students (and ex-students) dream about exam disasters. I still occasionally wake up with the horror that I've just arrived in an exam room to find that it's the wrong paper (I've revised for Latin Literature, but it's Greek philosophy on the table).I not sure to what extent I had previously realised that such dreams really are ubiquitous. Certainly, it seems that I'll have one of them a couple of times per year, but I don't recall ever talking to anyone else about them.
One of the comments refers people to this XKCD comic on the topic, which really captures the dreams perfectly. (Especially the line "I thought I had finished my requirements already." I know that used to be a common thought in my exam failure dreams.)
It seems rather curious that the sleeping mind keeps going back to this theme. Then again, leaving the house without pants doesn't seem a dream worthy of repetition either. Funny things, brains.
Update: incidentally, mine are always about tertiary education, never high school. For people who don't go to university, do they have these dreams about their last year of high school for the rest of their lives? Or are they free of them?
About Guantnamo
Guantanamo is not the hell-hole we imagine | Tim Reid - Times Online
A pretty interesting article here on Guantanamo by a guy who's seen it recently.
A pretty interesting article here on Guantanamo by a guy who's seen it recently.
Chu catches up
It was noted at this very same vastly under-read blog you are now reading about 2 years ago, but Obama's "climate guru" Steven Chu has caught up with me and suggested that a lot can be achieved simply by painting roofs white. (OK, I was just reporting someone else's promotion of white, but all the same....)
Fuel cell for your home - available soon
CFCL_BlueGen_Launch_
Some time ago I had some posts about domestic fuel cells in Japan, which use natural gas. (I might even have mentioned this Australian company before too, but I don't have time to check right now.)
But while stumbling around the web today, I found the above link to just published marketing stuff about a new, Australian, modular fuel cell.
It certainly seems to make sense to me. Why do they never get much attention?
Some time ago I had some posts about domestic fuel cells in Japan, which use natural gas. (I might even have mentioned this Australian company before too, but I don't have time to check right now.)
But while stumbling around the web today, I found the above link to just published marketing stuff about a new, Australian, modular fuel cell.
It certainly seems to make sense to me. Why do they never get much attention?
Extreme vice-regal-ness
Canadian governor asks for tasty treat – raw seal heart
When Quentin Bryce does something like that, my respect for her will increase.The Queen's representative in north America was visiting an Inuit community in Nunavut, in the Arctic, when a couple of dead seals were laid out before her in symbolic defiance of a looming EU ban on seal products. With an ulu blade, a traditional knife, she bent over one of the freshly killed seals and cut along its body. After firmly slicing through the flesh and pulling back the skin, she turned to the woman beside her and asked for a taste. "Could I try the heart?" she said.
A chunk of the organ was duly cut out and handed to Jean, who took a few bites, chewed on it and pronounced it good.
"It's like sushi," she said, according to the Canadian Press news agency. "And it's very rich in protein."
The Sistine Chapel - brought to you by Weber
Humans, the Cooking Apes - Review - NYTimes.com
By the way, the book apparently does an excellent take down on the "raw food" movement:
“Catching Fire” is a plain-spoken and thoroughly gripping scientific essay that presents nothing less than a new theory of human evolution, one he calls “the cooking hypothesis,” one that Darwin (among others) simply missed. Apes began to morph into humans, and the species Homo erectus emerged some two million years ago, Mr. Wrangham argues, for one fundamental reason: We learned to tame fire and heat our food.However, I'm not sure that we should be so keen on a theory if it means Gordon Ramsay is at the pinnacle of human evolution.
By the way, the book apparently does an excellent take down on the "raw food" movement:
He cites studies showing that a strict raw-foods diet cannot guarantee an adequate energy supply, and notes that, in one survey, 50 percent of the women on such a diet stopped menstruating. There is no way our human ancestors survived, much less reproduced, on it. He seems pleased to be able to report that raw diets make you urinate too often, and cause back and hip problems.
Dubai is Number 1
Report: Dubai Leads World in Price Declines - NYTimes.com
Mind you, it appears they are (finally) doing something to help ensure workers get paid. Have a look at this link for a wage protection system that looks like it was designed by Barry Jones.
Dubai prices have dropped 32 percent in the last year and 40 percent in the last quarter, according to the latest edition of the Knight Frank Global House Price Index, released today.Heh, heh, heh. Couldn't happen to a nicer country built on the back of poorly treated impoverished migrant labour.
Mind you, it appears they are (finally) doing something to help ensure workers get paid. Have a look at this link for a wage protection system that looks like it was designed by Barry Jones.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The wisdom of Hollywood (sarcasm mode)
Brooke Shields Regrets Not Losing Virginity Sooner - Brooke Shields : People.com
Oh yes, this is just the message young women need to hear: you don't like your body much? Have sex earlier, that'll help.
Thanks Brooke, but haven't you got something else to do?
Oh yes, this is just the message young women need to hear: you don't like your body much? Have sex earlier, that'll help.
Thanks Brooke, but haven't you got something else to do?
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