Red Rabbit

Red Rabbit from Egmont Mayer on Vimeo.

Melody Gardot: “Who Will Comfort Me?” on Letterman

Hammer Flash Mob Dancing Awesomeness

Robert B. Parker Origins: Spenser

Robert Parker's Spenser in a young adult novel? The adventures of Spenser as a 14 year old boy? Ooooookay...

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University - My Review

I finally got this book from the library after reading about it a couple of months ago and following the young author's Twitter and his fascinating blog.

Like Society Without Religion, The Unlikely Disciple tells the story of a society and an alien culture with very different religious ideas than the society I live in. Kevin Roose, however, is not a professional ethnographer, but a sophomore at Brown. Roose, a self-described agnostic was raised in a Quaker home. After a year at Brown, he decides to "study abroad" by enrolling as a transfer student at Liberty University (on leave from Brown).

Roose quickly gets involved in life at Liberty, joining the choir, playing IM softball, making friends, and dating (Liberty style - no kissing). He discovers that conservative evangelicals are people too, largely concerned about their grades, their love life, their techno-toys. With the exception of Roose's scary-crazy, potentially violent, homophobic roommate, no one actually seems unhinged.

Nonetheless, there's a lot that's wrong at Liberty. As Roose says:

"Absolute truth exists. At Liberty, unlike many secular schools, professors teach with the view that there is one right answer to every question, that those right answers are found plainly in the Bible, and that their job is to transfer those right answers from their lecture notes to our minds. It's a subtle difference in ideology, but it makes for big changes in teaching style."

I would argue that it's not so subtle a difference, but anyway. The point is that Liberty thinks it is the exact inverse of liberal secular schools, which, depending on who you ask, must either teach doctrinaire Communism or be a completely morally relative free-for-all. I.e., conservative evangelicals appear to know even less about secularists and mainline Christians than we know about them. Oh, and calling a place that discourages independent critical thinking a "university" is absurd.

Not all of our stereotypes of evangelicals are wrong. As Roose says, "GNED II is the class a liberal secularist would invent if he were trying to satirize a Liberty education. It's as if Brown offered a course called Godless Hedonism 101: How to Smoke Pot, Cross-dress, and Lose Your Morals." And everyone's first instinct in the face of adversity or difficulty seems to be to pray for help, rather than solve the problem. I have nothing against prayer, I rely on it myself, but at University, young people are supposed to learn problem solving and life skills to handle things outside the purview of Prayer. The chapel is packed right before finals.

"Say what you will about young-earth creationism... but there's something depressing about a credentialed, university-level scientist who freely admits that he wouldn't budge in his beliefs even if all the evidence in the universe contradicted one of his scientific theories."

He scoffs at one professor who argues the fossil record supports the Biblical creation story:

“Isn’t the appeal of young-earth creationism supposed to be its simplicity? If I say I don’t believe in evolution, can I get an A and skip the rest of the semester?”

Clearly, having a PhD in biology doesn't actually make you a scientist. Science is simply the idea that the best way to understand the world is via a rational, empirical process. No one who teaches at Liberty is allowed to hold this view.

So Roose discovers that (apart from his crazy roommate) nearly everyone at Liberty is nice, sincere, and wants to do good. He doesn't address thoroughly enough the issue that they're nice to him, because he appears to be one of them. Being nice to people in your group isn't much of an accomplishment. Nearly everyone wants to do good, but some people think this involves killing gay or black people, for instance.

It's sometimes hard reading, dealing with homophobia, Intellectually indefensible young-earth Creationism, guest speakers like Sean Hannity and Karl Rove, following a 46 page code of conduct that regulates every aspect of their social lives, occasional racism, and a lot of stories that sure didn't come up in the Quaker meeting he grew up in.

He left the experiment changed forever, the bonds he forms even inspire him to begin praying with a pal. He’s not completely convinced, but he says prayer sometimes helps. Now, back at Brown, Roose continues to nurture a nascent prayer life.

I believe true goodness comes from empathy, and realizing that those around you are people like you, whether or not they're in your group. True learning comes from reflection, study, and experiment that sometimes challenges your beliefs, not that which merely reinforces them. In that, Liberty clearly fails as anything but a propaganda mill and Roose realizes this, I think, much to his own regret.

This is his first book and his writing skill easily outstrips his age and experience level. It's a picture of American Evangelical Christianity painted by an outsider in the rarest of ways, with honesty, care and openness. For a while, The Unlikely Disciple was banned from Liberty’s bookstore. That decision has since been reversed by an advisory committee, though they did so with a small disclaimer above the display. Good for them.

This book is a great, truly engaging read, and does a good job humanizing conservative evangelicals for me. But it leaves me feeling sorry for Liberty students. However happy they are (and many of them are very happy, in between bouts of fearing hell and overwhelming guilt), they are emotionally and intellectually crippled by the school they both love and trust.

Spock, Obama, the Kwisatz Haderach, and decriminalizing evolution. It's a great time to be a geek!

The brilliant John Hodgman (@hodgman, Author, Daily Show commentator and PC in the Apple ads) headlined the 2009 Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner. Hodgman roasted the president for being a "nerd", referencing his place in popular culture and passion for comics (both Spider-Man and Conan) and science fiction (Star Trek and Dune).

"This Isn't What I Voted For" (VIDEO)

I have to agree with Bill Maher. Bush was wrong and had horrible ideas, but he didn’t care. He shoved his ideas through. Obama has a mandate, a majority and popularity. Why isn’t he working harder for REAL healthcare reform and not some watered down version that will just help the insurance companies. Not to mention some of the changes to Bush Era rules that he’s recently backpedaled from. I wish Obama would disappear from TV for a while then come out one day and say: OK, this is what we are doing. I’ve tried talking to the other side and the only ideas they share are the same from the last 8 years. Screw this noise. These were the ideas and the values the American people elected and entrusted me to enact. I’m the President, dammit! (… or, you know, words to that effect)

Reflections Upon President Obama’s Speech to Muslim World in Cairo

I was watching Pres. Obama's wonderful Cairo speech. It was a very adult & well crafted address. It departed from negativity and swagger, but highlighted and raised the controversial and divisive joint concerns of: violent extremism in all of its forms; Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world; shared interest in the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons; democracy; religious freedom and women's rights.

Do not mistake this as part of some sort of "American apologist tour." Though as a Nation, it would certainly aid us and help us appear stronger and more mature and focused upon the 24/7 World stage. If only we could sincerely apologize for some of our recent actions that were so very, very contrary to our founding and guiding legal and moral principles.

Of course the real question is: Where will it take us from here? As the intellectual center of the "Muslim world", Cairo was a fairly ready audience, but how will it play in other areas? Real & symbolic positive actions are needed on all sides. Breaking the bonds of the small-minded and poorly culturally educated on ALL sides will not be an easy thing, but remains so very necessary for a safer, saner and more peacefully connected world.

Some lines from the speech:

"The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust.

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end.

The fear and anger that it (Sept. 11) provoked was understandable, but in some cases, it led us to act contrary to our ideals. We are taking concrete actions to change course.

Although I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible. Indeed, we can recall the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said: "I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be."

I know there are many - Muslim and non-Muslim - who question whether we can forge this new beginning. Some are eager to stoke the flames of division, and to stand in the way of progress. Some suggest that it isn't worth the effort - that we are fated to disagree, and civilizations are doomed to clash. Many more are simply skeptical that real change can occur. There is so much fear, so much mistrust. But if we choose to be bound by the past, we will never move forward. And I want to particularly say this to young people of every faith, in every country - you, more than anyone, have the ability to remake this world.

All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort - a sustained effort - to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings.

Elie Weisel Voices Words Many in the World Only Think

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA, GERMAN CHANCELLOR MERKEL, AND ELIE WIESEL AT BUCHENWALD CONCENTRATION CAMP

Weimar, Germany / June 5, 2009

Here, in it’s entirety, is Mr. Wiesel’s amazing words.

MR. WIESEL: Mr. President, Chancellor Merkel, Bertrand, ladies and gentlemen. As I came here today it was actually a way of coming and visit my father's grave -- but he had no grave. His grave is somewhere in the sky. This has become in those years the largest cemetery of the Jewish people.

The day he died was one of the darkest in my life. He became sick, weak, and I was there. I was there when he suffered. I was there when he asked for help, for water. I was there to receive his last words. But I was not there when he called for me, although we were in the same block; he on the upper bed and I on the lower bed. He called my name, and I was too afraid to move. All of us were. And then he died. I was there, but I was not there.

And I thought one day I will come back and speak to him, and tell him of the world that has become mine. I speak to him of times in which memory has become a sacred duty of all people of good will -- in America, where I live, or in Europe or in Germany, where you, Chancellor Merkel, are a leader with great courage and moral aspirations.

What can I tell him that the world has learned? I am not so sure. Mr. President, we have such high hopes for you because you, with your moral vision of history, will be able and compelled to change this world into a better place, where people will stop waging war -- every war is absurd and meaningless; where people will stop hating one another; where people will hate the otherness of the other rather than respect it.

But the world hasn't learned. When I was liberated in 1945, April 11, by the American army, somehow many of us were convinced that at least one lesson will have been learned -- that never again will there be war; that hatred is not an option, that racism is stupid; and the will to conquer other people's minds or territories or aspirations, that will is meaningless.

I was so hopeful. Paradoxically, I was so hopeful then. Many of us were, although we had the right to give up on humanity, to give up on culture, to give up on education, to give up on the possibility of living one's life with dignity in a world that has no place for dignity.

We rejected that possibility and we said, no, we must continue believing in a future, because the world has learned. But again, the world hasn't. Had the world learned, there would have been no Cambodia and no Rwanda and no Darfur and no Bosnia.

Will the world ever learn? I think that is why Buchenwald is so important -- as important, of course, but differently as Auschwitz. It's important because here the large -- the big camp was a kind of international community. People came there from all horizons -- political, economic, culture. The first globalization essay, experiment, were made in Buchenwald. And all that was meant to diminish the humanity of human beings.

You spoke of humanity, Mr. President. Though unto us, in those times, it was human to be inhuman. And now the world has learned, I hope. And of course this hope includes so many of what now would be your vision for the future, Mr. President. A sense of security for Israel, a sense of security for its neighbors, to bring peace in that place. The time must come. It's enough -- enough to go to cemeteries, enough to weep for oceans. It's enough. There must come a moment -- a moment of bringing people together.

And therefore we say anyone who comes here should go back with that resolution. Memory must bring people together rather than set them apart. Memories here not to sow anger in our hearts, but on the contrary, a sense of solidarity that all those who need us. What else can we do except invoke that memory so that people everywhere who say the 21st century is a century of new beginnings, filled with promise and infinite hope, and at times profound gratitude to all those who believe in our task, which is to improve the human condition.

A great man, Camus, wrote at the end of his marvelous novel, The Plague: "After all," he said, "after the tragedy, never the rest...there is more in the human being to celebrate than to denigrate." Even that can be found as truth -- painful as it is -- in Buchenwald.

Thank you, Mr. President, for allowing me to come back to my father's grave, which is still in my heart.

Remember Tiananmen

On June 3-4, 1989 hundreds, possibly thousands, of people were massacred in Beijing when their democracy protest was crushed by the Chinese state.

Love This Clip from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure

"There are thousands and thousands of uses for corn all of which I will tell you about right now."