Sadly, few seem able to think loudly enough. And, as Dr Blackmore points out, there are other problems, as well… Read more

BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON A Meditation on Our Heart’s Longing A Sermon James Ishmael Ford 17 October 2010 First Unitarian Church Providence, Rhode Island Text By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down, and we wept when we remembered Zion. In the midst of it all we hung our harps upon the willows. They that carried us away captive required of us a song. They wanted us to sing of joy. “Sing to us,” they demanded, “one of... Read more

Among the more startling things in hearing of Barbara Billingsley’s death today was that she was ninety-four. Time does pass. And the passing seems to be getting faster… For me it seems that it was only yesterday she was the world’s mom. Well, middle America’s mom… I couldn’t find a Leave it to Beaver episode that suitably featured her, but I did stumble upon this… Read more

It is gruesome. For more go here. Thank you, Danny, for the pointer! Read more

Wikipedia informs us that thanks to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day in 1582 does not exist in the history of Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Seeing that reminded me of how looking for something else at Snopes.com, I learned of the internet rumor that NASA found a lost day in time… The former lost day is of course simply the product of ordering a calendar. The later a pitch for biblical literalism. Lost days are interesting things.... Read more

Okay, I liked what I saw of the new PBS God in America series… What I didn’t like was what I didn’t see… What they showed was well researched and interesting. But it didn’t show the range of American religion and in fact gave an ultimately false view of American religious history. For instance, the foundations of the Republic are found in the Enlightenment, deism, and the foment that birthed American Unitarianism. Except for a reference to the watchmaker’s god... Read more

The great singer, not the Zen teacher… A pure voice. A loss… Read more

Ed Wood was born on this day in 1924. Arguably the worst filmmaker ever, his memory should be honored among those glorious failures, who most of us are more closely related to than the great and famous… Read more

John Lennon should have turned seventy today… Should have Could have Would have So, it is for all of us… Read more

The Nobel prize for Peace goes to Chinese dissident and democracy activist Liu Xiaobo who currently languishes in prison for that work. The text of the citation from Norway, published at the Washington Post: The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace.... Read more