Friday, June 13, 2008
Photo story link
This link via reddit shows how post-war life in Laos adjusts to artifacts of 'saturation bombing' - Vietnam's spillover.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Faithfully Unfaithful or Fatefully Faithful
Looks like talking about religion and faith is back in style again. Big name magazines have been devoting a large amount of space to faith (or its lack thereof). Maybe it is the coming elections or it is provoked by the creationist hordes insisting on riding roughshod over Darwinism or maybe it is just a pure reflection of our collective questioning in a world of galloping scientific progress undermining long held tenets... Whatever, some of the viewpoints expressed make for great reading.
From the Economist, a political bent to religiosity:
For politicians doomed to deal with religion, two lessons stand out—one principled, the other pragmatic. The principle is that church and state are best kept separate. Subsidized religion has seldom made sense for either state or church: witness Europe's empty pews. In some cases, separating the two is easy. In private, people can choose to believe that the world was created exactly 6,003 years ago, but teachers should not be allowed to teach children creationism as science. The state should not tell people whether they can wear headscarves, let alone ban “unauthorized” reincarnation (as China did recently in Tibet). The pragmatic lesson concerns those wars of religion. Partly because of their obsession with keeping church and state separate, Western powers (and religious leaders) have been too reluctant to look for faith-driven solutions to religious conflicts.
From the Wall Street Journal on the fact that a world sans religion would still abound in deceit, power mongering and selfish manipulations (the least analytical of the lot, read like an op piece but an interesting idea):
If there is one agreed-upon point in the current war of words about religion, it is that religion is a very powerful force. Perhaps you believe, with that vigorous atheist Christopher Hitchens, that "religion poisons everything"; or, with the Christian historian and sociologist Rodney Stark, that religion created modern science and ended slavery. Is religion powerful? I suppose it often is. After all, if people were not religious -- or, to take a Gibbonesque view of the matter, if people did not want to be thought of as so -- no one would use religious language to promote political or social or ethnic goals. That those seeking to acquire or keep power do use such language, and regularly, indicates that religion has influence. But the idea that without religion people would stop seeking power, stop manipulating, stop deceiving, is just wishful thinking of the silliest kind. Though it may seem ironic for a Christian to be saying this, it's time to talk less about the power of religion and remember instead the dark forces in all human lives that religious language is too often used to hide.
From the Atlantic on the shallowness and the paradoxical broadness (read secularity) of religiosity in Americans:
Americans are not only more religious than Europeans; they are more religious than the citizens of some Latin American countries. If proof is needed that religion will remain a dominant force in history for a long time to come, the fact that the world’s most affluent society is also well up among the faithful would seem to provide it. When the president says that his decision to invade another country was influenced by a call from God, or when school boards decide to include creationism in their curriculum, it appears safe to conclude that Americans are not living in the world envisioned by Marx or Freud. But one shouldn’t go overboard in describing American religiosity. For one thing, it is as shallow as it is broad: Americans know relatively little about the histories, the theological controversies, or even the sacred texts of their chosen faiths. The most important religious phenomenon in the United States, however, has nothing to do with the number of atheists. It concerns another trend that, like modernization, is changing the trajectories of religion worldwide: the creation and spread of a free religious marketplace, which partly (though by no means completely) revives religious devotion wherever it reaches, but also tends to moderate the religions offered within it.
From the New Yorker on the inefficacy of prayer and why a benevolent God (if he or she exists) permits suffering to carry on...
Antique and abstract it may be, but thinking about theodicy still has the power to change lives. I know this, because it was how I began to separate myself from the somewhat austere Christian environment I grew up in. I remember the day, in my late teens, when I drew a line down the middle of a piece of paper, on one side of which I wrote my reasons for belief in God, on the other my reasons against. I can’t remember the order of my negatives now, but the inefficacy of prayer was likely at the top. Here was a demonstrable case of promises made (if you have faith, you can move a mountain) but not kept (the mountain not only stays put but suddenly erupts and consumes a few villages). During my teens, two members of my parents’ congregation died of cancer, despite all the prayers offered up on their behalf. When I looked at the congregants kneeling on cushions, their heads bent to touch the wooden pews, it seemed to me as if they were literally butting their heads against a palpable impossibility. And this was years before I discovered Samuel Butler’s image for the inutility of prayer in his novel “The Way of All Flesh”—the bee that has strayed into a drawing room and is buzzing against the wallpaper, trying to extract nectar from one of the painted roses.
Wordle art created from text in the above post 
From the Economist, a political bent to religiosity:
For politicians doomed to deal with religion, two lessons stand out—one principled, the other pragmatic. The principle is that church and state are best kept separate. Subsidized religion has seldom made sense for either state or church: witness Europe's empty pews. In some cases, separating the two is easy. In private, people can choose to believe that the world was created exactly 6,003 years ago, but teachers should not be allowed to teach children creationism as science. The state should not tell people whether they can wear headscarves, let alone ban “unauthorized” reincarnation (as China did recently in Tibet). The pragmatic lesson concerns those wars of religion. Partly because of their obsession with keeping church and state separate, Western powers (and religious leaders) have been too reluctant to look for faith-driven solutions to religious conflicts.
From the Wall Street Journal on the fact that a world sans religion would still abound in deceit, power mongering and selfish manipulations (the least analytical of the lot, read like an op piece but an interesting idea):
If there is one agreed-upon point in the current war of words about religion, it is that religion is a very powerful force. Perhaps you believe, with that vigorous atheist Christopher Hitchens, that "religion poisons everything"; or, with the Christian historian and sociologist Rodney Stark, that religion created modern science and ended slavery. Is religion powerful? I suppose it often is. After all, if people were not religious -- or, to take a Gibbonesque view of the matter, if people did not want to be thought of as so -- no one would use religious language to promote political or social or ethnic goals. That those seeking to acquire or keep power do use such language, and regularly, indicates that religion has influence. But the idea that without religion people would stop seeking power, stop manipulating, stop deceiving, is just wishful thinking of the silliest kind. Though it may seem ironic for a Christian to be saying this, it's time to talk less about the power of religion and remember instead the dark forces in all human lives that religious language is too often used to hide.
From the Atlantic on the shallowness and the paradoxical broadness (read secularity) of religiosity in Americans:
Americans are not only more religious than Europeans; they are more religious than the citizens of some Latin American countries. If proof is needed that religion will remain a dominant force in history for a long time to come, the fact that the world’s most affluent society is also well up among the faithful would seem to provide it. When the president says that his decision to invade another country was influenced by a call from God, or when school boards decide to include creationism in their curriculum, it appears safe to conclude that Americans are not living in the world envisioned by Marx or Freud. But one shouldn’t go overboard in describing American religiosity. For one thing, it is as shallow as it is broad: Americans know relatively little about the histories, the theological controversies, or even the sacred texts of their chosen faiths. The most important religious phenomenon in the United States, however, has nothing to do with the number of atheists. It concerns another trend that, like modernization, is changing the trajectories of religion worldwide: the creation and spread of a free religious marketplace, which partly (though by no means completely) revives religious devotion wherever it reaches, but also tends to moderate the religions offered within it.
From the New Yorker on the inefficacy of prayer and why a benevolent God (if he or she exists) permits suffering to carry on...
Antique and abstract it may be, but thinking about theodicy still has the power to change lives. I know this, because it was how I began to separate myself from the somewhat austere Christian environment I grew up in. I remember the day, in my late teens, when I drew a line down the middle of a piece of paper, on one side of which I wrote my reasons for belief in God, on the other my reasons against. I can’t remember the order of my negatives now, but the inefficacy of prayer was likely at the top. Here was a demonstrable case of promises made (if you have faith, you can move a mountain) but not kept (the mountain not only stays put but suddenly erupts and consumes a few villages). During my teens, two members of my parents’ congregation died of cancer, despite all the prayers offered up on their behalf. When I looked at the congregants kneeling on cushions, their heads bent to touch the wooden pews, it seemed to me as if they were literally butting their heads against a palpable impossibility. And this was years before I discovered Samuel Butler’s image for the inutility of prayer in his novel “The Way of All Flesh”—the bee that has strayed into a drawing room and is buzzing against the wallpaper, trying to extract nectar from one of the painted roses.
Wordle art created from text in the above postWednesday, June 11, 2008
Hosannas to the Egalitarian Internets
We live in a confession based culture. Most people share just about every intimate detail that can be thought up and dish it out on blogs, magazines and online newsgroups. The book ‘Naked’ by David Sedaris is a perfect example of what might be dubbed as ‘vicarious literature’. Add to that a new genre called anonymous confessionals. Post Secret was a big hit in this category. A new company creatively named Glass Door has taken this a step further. This web site collects company reviews and real salaries from employees of large corporations and companies and displays them anonymously for all members to see.
It is interesting to see what life really looks like at that much hyped about techno baby Google based on an anonymous confessional posted on this site (of course, nobody can vouch for the truthiness of such comments but I thought the Wisdom of the Crowds held more than a modicum of the real thing)
“Real life at Google has NOTHING to do with what you read in the papers. Management is mostly useless and doesn't know how to manage projects, let alone people. Folks like Marissa Mayer (who appears on every news magazine of the world) have 200+ people reporting to them. As direct reports. Also when you are not kissing your way up, you not only have no job progression or promotions, but you also will get ousted at some point. No matter if you are good or bad. In fact, most of the super intelligent people at Google are bitching because they are put on dumb jumps which make them feel undervalued and miserable all the time.”
Sites like these will pose a big headache for Investment Banking firms who typically make a big deal of the ‘pact of silence’ that accompany ones salary/perks. Will be interesting to see how this startup plays out.
It is interesting to see what life really looks like at that much hyped about techno baby Google based on an anonymous confessional posted on this site (of course, nobody can vouch for the truthiness of such comments but I thought the Wisdom of the Crowds held more than a modicum of the real thing)
“Real life at Google has NOTHING to do with what you read in the papers. Management is mostly useless and doesn't know how to manage projects, let alone people. Folks like Marissa Mayer (who appears on every news magazine of the world) have 200+ people reporting to them. As direct reports. Also when you are not kissing your way up, you not only have no job progression or promotions, but you also will get ousted at some point. No matter if you are good or bad. In fact, most of the super intelligent people at Google are bitching because they are put on dumb jumps which make them feel undervalued and miserable all the time.”
Sites like these will pose a big headache for Investment Banking firms who typically make a big deal of the ‘pact of silence’ that accompany ones salary/perks. Will be interesting to see how this startup plays out.
Surprising ourselves...
Thomas Friedman gets it right on America and Obamamania:
But every once in a while, America does something so radical, so out of the ordinary — something that old, encrusted, traditional societies like those in the Middle East could simply never imagine — that it revives America’s revolutionary “brand” overseas in a way that no diplomat could have designed or planned. I have no idea whether Obama will win in November. Whether he does or doesn’t, though, the mere fact of his nomination has done something very important. We’ve surprised ourselves and surprised the world and, in so doing, reminded everyone that we are still a country of new beginnings.
But every once in a while, America does something so radical, so out of the ordinary — something that old, encrusted, traditional societies like those in the Middle East could simply never imagine — that it revives America’s revolutionary “brand” overseas in a way that no diplomat could have designed or planned. I have no idea whether Obama will win in November. Whether he does or doesn’t, though, the mere fact of his nomination has done something very important. We’ve surprised ourselves and surprised the world and, in so doing, reminded everyone that we are still a country of new beginnings.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Inversions of Alternate Realities
The Chelsea based Daneyal Mahmood Gallery is developing to be a gallery that seems to consistently produce works that provoke. The oil exhibit (covered here) was genius. A new show combines a bit of art and science (a combination that we will see a lot over the coming years). This show features photographs from artist Justine Cooper who explores the world of million dollar anthropomorphic medical robots and mannequins used by doctors and surgeons (while honing their skills)… The following statement from the show sums it: “At a time when medical intervention can be so de-humanizing, when technology is criticized for removing us from reality, these images create a perverse inversion. The artist found that the personnel charged with the care of the mannequins had humanized these objects into subjects by naming them, dressing them in holiday attire and constructing a narrative through their care”.
An inversion of Second Life, I guess.
Below: 'Lamina', DNA LEDs acrylic and aluminum, 62" X8", 2008 (projection of the artists DNA on a kind of a circular lightbox). Intriguing self portrait - if you ask me. Apparently one can send in a saliva sample to the artist/gallery and get one of these custom made (of course, I am sure the cost will be in the thousands of dollars).
An inversion of Second Life, I guess.
Below: 'Lamina', DNA LEDs acrylic and aluminum, 62" X8", 2008 (projection of the artists DNA on a kind of a circular lightbox). Intriguing self portrait - if you ask me. Apparently one can send in a saliva sample to the artist/gallery and get one of these custom made (of course, I am sure the cost will be in the thousands of dollars).
Monday, June 09, 2008
At a local art fair
The weekend was unbelievably hot. Amidst the viscid humidity that accompanies the soaring mercury, we managed to sneak a quick visit to a local arts festival in nearby East Brunswick. I did not participate this year (had a good showing last year), but I did manage to catch up with a few local artists showing what they had accomplished over the ensuring time. Needless to say, I was happy to note that painting still flourishes, very nourished and cared for amidst the booths catering to silver jewelery, glass blowing and wood carving. Not that these other crafts are any less good, but one instinctively seeks out what is closest to one's heart. Suburban arts and crafts fairs are usually affairs in real life paintings of cats, dogs, people and like creatures, but this time I noticed that abstraction was making a strong showing at this festival. Most of the pictures I managed to take were of paintings, but one particular artist - a sculptor working in cast-off metal which was then whimsically welded caught my eye.
Paintings by Smadar A. Livne. Colorful abstractions featuring Jewish and Kabbalah themes using mixed media on canvas.
Sculptures by Michael Andrew Taylor. Fanciful sculptures using cast-off metal parts welded together. He even added painted spoons and forks for effect in some of the pieces. Part grungy, part outsider, part Chamberlain.
Paintings by Nicholas Skally. Mixed media abstractions by a collegue of mine. Has a lot of shows going on in the NJ, PA area. I hope he breaks it into the NY scene. As usual, his charming wife accompanied him while they patiently waited on curious visitors.
Paintings by Marina Ahunhahaeva. She seems to have so much potential in some of her works, but seems to spend a lot of it on simpler themes as is evident from her website. Well, we all need to make a living here, right. The batik style painting at the end was one of my favorites.
Paintings by Smadar A. Livne. Colorful abstractions featuring Jewish and Kabbalah themes using mixed media on canvas.
Sculptures by Michael Andrew Taylor. Fanciful sculptures using cast-off metal parts welded together. He even added painted spoons and forks for effect in some of the pieces. Part grungy, part outsider, part Chamberlain.
Paintings by Nicholas Skally. Mixed media abstractions by a collegue of mine. Has a lot of shows going on in the NJ, PA area. I hope he breaks it into the NY scene. As usual, his charming wife accompanied him while they patiently waited on curious visitors.
Paintings by Marina Ahunhahaeva. She seems to have so much potential in some of her works, but seems to spend a lot of it on simpler themes as is evident from her website. Well, we all need to make a living here, right. The batik style painting at the end was one of my favorites.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Friday, June 06, 2008
Greg Drasler at the Betty Cunningham Gallery
Even if the exhibition is long gone, I had some pictures from the New York based painter Greg Drasler's exhibition at Betty Cunningham Gallery which I was compelled to post. For some reason, I liked his paintings a lot. They did not look photorealistic, yet they did. They did not look like the sets of a period classic movie set, yet they did. They did not look Art Deco, yet they did. I know I did not make much sense there, but the choice of his subject matter, the execution and the colors just make for some kind of a haunting alternate reality.
Texas hold'em chronicles
In the continuing Texas hold'em series (first one posted here and more here), this is one on creationism.
From the Times: Starting this summer, the state education board will determine the curriculum for the next decade and decide whether the “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution should be taught. The benign-sounding phrase, some argue, is a reasonable effort at balance. But critics say it is a new strategy taking shape across the nation to undermine the teaching of evolution, a way for students to hear religious objections under the heading of scientific discourse.
Here are interesting viewpoints from the chairman of the Texas education board, Dr. Don McLeroy:
On Evolution: I just don’t think it’s true.
On Geology: Earth’s appearance is a recent geologic event — thousands of years old, not 4.5 billion.
On Religion: I believe a lot of incredible things. The most incredible thing I believe is the Christmas story. That little baby born in the manger was the god that created the universe.
Circle of Pietro Ricchi Il Lucchese (1606 - 1676), 'The Temptation of Saint Anthony of Padua', oil on canvas, 36" X 52"
From the Times: Starting this summer, the state education board will determine the curriculum for the next decade and decide whether the “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution should be taught. The benign-sounding phrase, some argue, is a reasonable effort at balance. But critics say it is a new strategy taking shape across the nation to undermine the teaching of evolution, a way for students to hear religious objections under the heading of scientific discourse.
Here are interesting viewpoints from the chairman of the Texas education board, Dr. Don McLeroy:
On Evolution: I just don’t think it’s true.
On Geology: Earth’s appearance is a recent geologic event — thousands of years old, not 4.5 billion.
On Religion: I believe a lot of incredible things. The most incredible thing I believe is the Christmas story. That little baby born in the manger was the god that created the universe.
Circle of Pietro Ricchi Il Lucchese (1606 - 1676), 'The Temptation of Saint Anthony of Padua', oil on canvas, 36" X 52"Thursday, June 05, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Migratory instincts
One could not get it more right than yesterday's NYT editorial on our immigration imbroglio.
A nation of immigrants is holding another nation of immigrants in bondage, exploiting its labor while ignoring its suffering, condemning its lawlessness while sealing off a path to living lawfully. The evidence is all around that something pragmatic and welcoming at the American core has been eclipsed, or is slipping away.
Every time this country has singled out a group of newly arrived immigrants for unjust punishment, the shame has echoed through history. Think of the Chinese and Irish, Catholics and Americans of Japanese ancestry. Children someday will study the Great Immigration Panic of the early 2000s, which harmed countless lives, wasted billions of dollars and mocked the nation’s most deeply held values.
A nation of immigrants is holding another nation of immigrants in bondage, exploiting its labor while ignoring its suffering, condemning its lawlessness while sealing off a path to living lawfully. The evidence is all around that something pragmatic and welcoming at the American core has been eclipsed, or is slipping away.
Every time this country has singled out a group of newly arrived immigrants for unjust punishment, the shame has echoed through history. Think of the Chinese and Irish, Catholics and Americans of Japanese ancestry. Children someday will study the Great Immigration Panic of the early 2000s, which harmed countless lives, wasted billions of dollars and mocked the nation’s most deeply held values.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Lissome Law department
As we move towards an era of more conservative courts, the threat of overturning Roe v. Wade becomes a clear and present concern. It is instructive to read what a former gynecologist has to say during the times when abortion was considered illegal.
Almost any implement you can imagine had been and was used to start an abortion — darning needles, crochet hooks, cut-glass salt shakers, soda bottles, sometimes intact, sometimes with the top broken off. Another method that I did not encounter, but heard about from colleagues in other hospitals, was a soap solution forced through the cervical canal with a syringe.
The worst case I saw, and one I hope no one else will ever have to face, was that of a nurse who was admitted with what looked like a partly delivered umbilical cord. Yet as soon as we examined her, we realized that what we thought was the cord was in fact part of her intestine, which had been hooked and torn by whatever implement had been used in the abortion. It took six hours of surgery to remove the infected uterus and ovaries and repair the part of the bowel that was still functional.
A paper by Richard Posner, a judge who sits on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and William Landes, a law professor at the University of Chicago estimateed that four of the five most conservative justices to serve on the Supreme Court since Franklin Roosevelt are currently sitting on the bench today. Full ranking at the end of this article:.
Francis Picabia, 'MI', oil and crayon on panel, 63" X 37", 1929 (from a Christie's auction booklet)
Almost any implement you can imagine had been and was used to start an abortion — darning needles, crochet hooks, cut-glass salt shakers, soda bottles, sometimes intact, sometimes with the top broken off. Another method that I did not encounter, but heard about from colleagues in other hospitals, was a soap solution forced through the cervical canal with a syringe.
The worst case I saw, and one I hope no one else will ever have to face, was that of a nurse who was admitted with what looked like a partly delivered umbilical cord. Yet as soon as we examined her, we realized that what we thought was the cord was in fact part of her intestine, which had been hooked and torn by whatever implement had been used in the abortion. It took six hours of surgery to remove the infected uterus and ovaries and repair the part of the bowel that was still functional.
A paper by Richard Posner, a judge who sits on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and William Landes, a law professor at the University of Chicago estimateed that four of the five most conservative justices to serve on the Supreme Court since Franklin Roosevelt are currently sitting on the bench today. Full ranking at the end of this article:.
Francis Picabia, 'MI', oil and crayon on panel, 63" X 37", 1929 (from a Christie's auction booklet) Monday, June 02, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
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