Links for 2009-11-30

"To the degree that I object to "New Atheism" (an ill-defined entity to which I am not entirely unsympathetic), my objection is to this precise aimlessness. By embracing Radical Honesty and railing against evidence-based communication strategy, they seem to be coming out against clearly stated goals, yet they complain when people refuse to treat them as a serious political movement. Sorry folks, but political movements have clearly stated political goals, and take actions with an eye (however skewed it may be) toward making those goals real. If the goal of New Atheism is more than pissing off anyone who isn't a New Atheist, it's time to talk about framing, message discipline, and dropping this attitude that "what works" doesn't matter."

"But this rasta always welcomed me, a little blonde boy with pale skin and a lot of questions, into the cottage with its thatched palm trees fixing the roof, somewhat, against some of the rain. He often had fish stew with thick, chewy dumplings, which he'd ladle out into a wooden bowl and share with me.

And this rastaman would talk. About the bible, about rastas, about my questions. About ital food, and how it was good for your body.

Locks were grown to signify rasta, he said. Because he'd taken the Nazerene vow: no shaving or combing the hair or beard. The other rasta had gone into the wilderness, like Jesus."

"If you do not have at least three modifiers* for every noun, you're doing it wrong. Some authors like George Orwell (1984, Animal Farm) have rules like "Never use a long word where a short one will do" and "If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out", but since Stephenie Meyer is apparently the golden standard for writing young adult literature these days, it's probably best to ignore Orwell and follow her example instead."

Over 1000 years in the future, the legacy of John Lennon, Paul McKenzie, Greg Harrison and Scottie Pippen remains.