Can snails swim?

I know that snail mail moves along at its own pace. But I wonder, do these snails have to swim across open water, in the event of severed political relations between 2 countries? Specifically, is there any rational explanation for the fact that in my mailbox yesterday, I received a postcard from Cuba...which was sent to me by a travel companion while I was still in Cuba 385 days ago? If it takes this long for a card with 8 words, how long would an actual letter take? Can't they send bags of mail periodically with the Americans who come to Cuba via Mexico, Jamaica or Canada? Since there is no postmark, perhaps the snail had to evade the coast guard and sneak ashore in Georgia or something.

"social Darwinism as sport"

It is NOT just a game. The beautiful game is, in fact, allegory for so many of the world's problems, foreign policies and love affairs that it baffles me as to why the US uses ping-pong diplomacy in the 70's and wrestling diplomacy in the 90's as yardsticks of innovative statecraft.

The Chinese are in crisis. Not because of the pollution threatening to "tarnish" their image during the Olympics, but because their very essence is in question. This is the country that is the driving force behind much of the world's illegal poaching - Tigers for their bones; Rhino for their horns; Buffalo for their testicles. And now, they are questioning their manhood because of their dismal performance on the soccer field. The recent elimination from 2010 World Cup competition, due to a defeat by Iraq, doesn't help.


If only India took athletics a bit more seriously...

Disclaimer: What you can find on my bookshelf

LOL, LQTM or ostrich pose?

I am so flabbergasted, I don't even know what reaction to have. I'm normally a proud Marylander. Its public schools have done me well; all hospitals are required to accept any patient, insured or not; everyone wants to Save the Bay; that old ship permanently parked in the Inner Harbor served to interdict slave ships before the Civil War. Good things, right?

But, all good things must come to an end. Or, at the very least, be tarnished beyond the repair of the bar-keeper's friend. Such is my reaction to the recent news that the Maryland State Police spent 2 years in covert operations against its own citizens, in an effort to root out terrorist threats. As a fact, that wouldn't be too bad. Until you ask...which citizens? Well, the citizens targeted were members of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, protesters against the death penalty, and other pacifists. PACIFISTS. Who is the last Quaker terrorist that anyone has ever heard of?

Imagine, if you will, the undercover MD Police officer...crew cut, wide brimmed goofy looking hat, swagger...attending meetings of the non-violent war protesters at Red Emma's. Yes. This really happened. More than once. Learning, wisely, that the male officers perhaps weren't the most covert operatives, they sent a female - named "Lucy" - who attended meetings, said nothing, and reported on the proceedings of the next organic food bake sale to raise money for bus transport to other non-violent anti-war protests.




Seriously. And, if anyone knows the Quaker pacifist with whom I have the most interaction...you can understand why I find this so darkly humorous. What happens if a member of your dissertation committee is impugned for pacifist activities?

A climate change conspiracy

Conspiracy theories are always fun, aren't they? One imagines a group of over-intoxicated flannel wearers sitting around comparing pistol sizes, and wondering why the ice fishing season has shortened to a week, or whether the fact that Brittney got ugly is a plot by American Idol to up viewership. I mean, do people really have time to sit around and think about UFOs and who killed JFK?

Apparently, some people figure that conspiracy theories can work towards the greater good. This clip is about a recent law suit filled by a village in Alaska against 20 major oil companies, led by Exxon-Mobil. The village of 400 native Alaskans is being washed away, because the rising temperatures are resulting in more fierce storms that sweep across their island, without being broken by ice. The ice isn't forming anymore.

And, according to this lawsuit, the oil companies are liable...not because they caused the increase in the atmospheric temperature...but because they engaged in a conspiracy theory to block evidence of climate change.




Does anyone think that the legal system is going to solve our problems? Has suing big tobacco for health care costs incurred by the various state medicaid programs really changed American risk behaviors? And if it has had a minor effect here, what about the rest of the world?

the goofy white dude

Really? Someone sponsored a goofy white dude to dance around the world? And I can't get someone to sponsor my research? Where is the justice?



I suppose I should have thought of it first. Kind of like modern art. I mean...would Mondrian be famous if someone didn't decide that squares and lines were revolutionary?

Really? A philosopher? Clearly modesty is not one of your virtues

Perhaps these are your thoughts when viewing the transition. Perhaps not, since you don't look at the blog unless I harangue you into it, like I do with my parents. But, a little justification is in order.
1. I like my title, and am looking for ways to make it fit.
2. An Aristotelian philosopher, according to that great source of Wikipedia, is a way of looking at things scientifically - where you develop conclusions based upon facts and observations. Fitting, isn't it?
3. Apparently, Aristotle liked to walk around while he pontificated - some of my most random ideas occur in this way as well.
4. There is a peripatetic axiom. Also discovered at Wikipedia. My inner nerd appreciates being associated with an axiom.

The Peripatetic axiom is: "Nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses" (Latin: "Nihil est in intellectu quod non prius in sensu"), care of Thomas Aquinas, who believed that the existence of God could be proved through reasoning.

5. If what I say provokes you to argue with me, I will be pleased.