A New Poem

This is dedicated to Johnny Cash. Perhaps someone can explain to me why. All I know is that I had listed to "I hung my head" earlier in the day.

When I was a little boy, a little boy,
a little boy,
When I was a little boy, they said I was a Hellion.

When I was a teenager, a teenager,
a teenager,
When I was a teenager, they said ‘twas just rebellion.

When I was a full grown man, a full grown man,
a full grown man,
When I was a full grown man, they put me in a jail.

When I was a dying man, a dying man,
a dying man,
When I was a dying man, they said I’d go to Hell.

When I looked at Jesus face, at Jesus face
at Jesus face,
When I looked at Jesus face I saw in him myself.

"The father, screaming for help, escaped the car as residents tried to extinguish the flames with blankets and water. But two young children and an infant died with their mother in the fire."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/

There is apparently *nothing* God will not allow on Earth.

Sorry to be that way, but there it is.

Whatever theologizing we do about it, it must be done in consistency with this apparent truth. Looking away will not make it go away.

Insane Philosopher

Um, I promise there's an explanation for this...kind of.

O boy!

I just got a facebook invitation from one of my students for this event:

"Global Orgasm for Peace Day: The mission of the Global Orgasm is to effect change in the energy field of the Earth through input of the largest possible surge of human energy. The intent is that the participants concentrate any thoughts during and after orgasm on peace. The combination of high- energy orgasmic energy combined with mindful intention may have a much greater effect than previous mass meditations and prayers."

I thought this had to be a hoax, but it appears to be the conceptual love-child of a pair of aging 60’s hipsters (it’s the only kind of conception resulting from sexual relations by such types) whose main website is http://www.globalorgasm.org/.

Here’s a snippet from their home page:

“The intent is that the participants concentrate any thoughts during and after orgasm on peace. The combination of high- energy orgasmic energy combined with mindful intention may have a much greater effect than previous mass meditations and prayers.”

And lest you think this is just a bunch of New Age mumbo-jumbo, there is a link to assure you that Quantum Field Theory shows that this project is based on the latest greatest science. After all, these guys aren’t anti-science like fundamentalists!

The event is supposed to come off on Solstice Day. Indeed, the website has a clock that counts it down to the second.

Now *that’s* romance! I’m supposed to be with the lover of my choice “ready to go” watching that clock and thinking about the fact that “there are two more US fleets heading for the Persian Gulf with anti- submarine equipment that can only be for use against Iran.” Maybe they should try this again on Saint Valentine’s Day!

Must...bike...

I'm going to be riding for the U of R in the Spring, so training begins now.

Bird Flu Flies the Coop

According to a report I just heard on NPR's Morning Edition, 2006 saw no (zero, nada, ziltch) deaths due to Bird Flu in the US.

On the other hand, there were deaths due to an alleged vaccine to prevent it.

As long as the "News" media is dominated by sensationalism this country will continue in its almost untouchable cynicism.

I think the information came from Lou Dobbs, of Foreign Policy Magazine.

Thinking Fast

So John Paul's loving sister Chesney (age 5) says today,

"Daddy do the little messages from our brains to our fingers move faster than the sun."

I blinked. "Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure they do. Most electrical things move much faster than large bodies, even fast ones."

"So there's something in us that moves faster than the sun," she says.

That's pretty flippin' awesome. I've never thought about the relative speed of body processes to celestial processes.

Sadly, turns out I totally mislead her. I would have thought nerve impulses went about as fast as other electrical signals (a bit slower because of the wetness, but still). After all it only takes the postassium channel membrane like 2 milli-seconds (0.002 seconds) to switch polarities and return. (link) And lightening can move at about the speed of light.

However, it looks like the sun beats nerve impulses by a huge margin. 220 km/s (NASA) vs. 130m/sec (OHSU).

Still, it's the validity of her reasoning and the creativity of the line of thought that counts, not my false--but, I maintain, rationally justified--premise I supplied.

I still wonder if there isn't *something* electrical in our nervous system which approaches the speed of light.

John Paul Dougherty Update: Most Common Activity