December 2009

Deity Makeover

Submitted by Virge on Mon, Dec 21, 2009 - 10:21
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I've been staring into the headlights of a fast approaching Christmas. I wanted to write a little seasonal verse but nothing worth writing has crossed my mind. Maybe it'll happen in the next few days.

In the meantime, here's a pastiche that I threw together for a comment on Making Light. (Not exactly thrown together, since it took me a couple of hours, but it's definitely not polished.) The topic under discussion was how fictional characters feel about the way authors manipulate them.

"You are old, Father Yahweh," the fabulist said,

Debt

Submitted by Virge on Sun, Dec 20, 2009 - 21:16
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I am a child of a western democracy and I've inherited the luxury of infrastructure and industry built on generations of unwitting exploitation of Earth's resources. For this I feel no guilt, but a sense of obligation to the rest of the world.

I want my government, the Australian government, to commit serious amounts of money to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the mitigation of the effects of climate change in developing nations. I understand that this will reduce my current prosperity. I reject the ignorance or greed that expects to enjoy the inheritance of a developed nation while denying the debt on which it was built.

Fixed login screwup

Submitted by Virge on Tue, Dec 1, 2009 - 22:30
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I found out what was causing login problems from the main login box. It wasn't Drupal being funky. It was one of my backward compatibility attempts -- trying to redirect old search index entries to the new URL mapping. Fortunately easy to fix.

Dennett - understanding the evolution of religion

Submitted by Virge on Tue, Dec 1, 2009 - 00:12
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It's a long talk, but it's good to see Dennett tackling questions like "How does a clergyman become an atheist but still remain a preacher?" and "Is it possible to go through a theological seminary and still believe in God?"

The Evolution of Confusion.