Thursday, March 27, 2003As a follower of an ancient religion that is slowly reconstituting itself, despite great odds, I was dismayed by the Taliban's destruction of the Buddha statues in Afghanistan in early 2001. I saw these priceless works of antiquity in something of the same light as I see the Sagas from Iceland (for the Buddhist, of course). Reflections of faith from across the ages. But I wondered - where was the expression of outrage? Oh, to be sure, there was a "tempest in a teapot" kind of wailing that went up, but nothing like the prolonged gnashing of teeth that accompanied the destruction of Native America religious sites by the Park Service several years ago. And no outpouring of art from our esteemed arts community, always ready to slam Catholics for their stance on gays, for example.
This explains alot ...
It's a question of relative fear, of the (perceived or real) difference between facing an angry Catholic activist and an angry Muslim one. "Christians can take it," Anderson said.
10:18:30 PM
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I wonder how much it cost the National Cancer Institute to figure this out?
Low-income black smokers light up to relieve stress [Science Blog]
Uh, doh! I also gotta wonder about this little gem from the study:
Smoking rates among black high school students, particularly young men, have increased 80 percent in the past decade, compared with a 28 percent increase among white students.
You mean with Joe Camel gone, and all the money seized from the tobacco companies for anti-smoking "education", and all the price increases for cigarettes that smoking rates are still going up? Hmmmm.... is that the clue phone I hear? WILL SOMEBODY IN WASHINGTON PLEAST GET IT!!!!
The only way you'll ever even come close to eliminating tobacco use is prohibition. That's worked real well in other areas, for instance, marijuana. Nobody smokes pot 'cause it's illegal, right?
Maybe, just maybe, the government should spend less money telling people not to smoke cigarettes, and more money fixing the things that (according to this study) making smoking attractive: like infrastructure repairs, job and education programs, housing, healthcare, etc. I'm not holding my breath waiting for this to happen - it's apparently beyond the governments collective grasp to understand. But I can guarntee you that they'll fund a follow-up study ....
12:14:11 PM
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If this find is accurate, it could be a very big piece of news indeed. We're talking about human religious impulses from over a quarter of a million years ago - about, oh, say 5 to 10 times longer than previously suspected.
...the axe could be the first evidence of ritual behaviour and symbolism in a human species... We conclude it could be from a funeral rite.
2:20:45 AM
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Geez - I thought the US Congress was a bunch of thieving scoundrals, but they apparently can't hold a candle to Mexico.
This would be possibly the WORST copyright law on record, anywhere. Good grief!
12:20:57 AM
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