I wonder whether that’s just an accident, or whether that phrase was just “in the air,” whether the same story was used by multiple news outlets… or what!
Dec 232013
Nov 262013
Although I grew up on the east coast, I was unaware of this cultural and political divide: “On the east coast, they have slaves, and they believe in slavery and made in china. but on the west coast and the new west coast, we don’t believe in that. We believe in the union, and that’s what we are.” Also, I’d like to know more about these “vegetable trees.” No, really!
Really though, I’d like to know what the heck she smoked before this meeting… so that I can avoid that substance like the plague.
Nov 112013
I received the following message — with the subject of “comment on responsibility and luck, praise and blame” — via email a bit ago. Thinking that it referred to my new book — Responsibility & Luck: A Defense of Praise and Blame — I tried to read it.
Honestly, I didn’t get very far. By all means, try for yourself… perhaps you’ll do better than me.
———- Forwarded message ———- From: Jay Chawla Date: Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 8:20 PM Subject: comment on responsibility and luck, praise and blame
whenever a person sins, god punishes them. intellectually, men tend to respond to prompt and clear punishments, and to severe punishments. sometimes, god punishes promptly and severely. that is up to god, not man. jesus said that the victims of the random tragedy/disaster were no worse than other men; but do not sin so that the same does not happen to you. the wages of sin is death, and life is purchased by jesus on the cross.
if a person shoplifts and is very careful and clever, then in most contexts the person will not be caught. but sometimes the person will be ‘unlucky’ and be caught, be reported, be prosecuted, and be punished under criminal law. that is bad luck. but just because it usually takes bad luck to suffer tragedy from shoplifting does not mean one should do it. god punishes all theft.
if you get really drunk and drive at twice the speed limit past intersections where cars might come out in front of you, then you have sinned. if you suffer the tragedy of killing someone, that is bad luck. but god punishes all sin; and sometimes he inflicts tragedy, even if not outwardly connected to any particular sin, as in the case of a collapse of a tower people happen to be in at the time. (but the engineers sinned!)
the hebrews do not assign themselves any responsibility towards gentiles except through false laws constantly rewritten and bypassed and ignored by themselves (and they selectively enforce those laws.) but god requires love of man from all those who he will not destroy in hell. and even the jews who do not constantly work to make their actions good for all men cannot be protected by law — they will go to hell. however, god generally does not inflict prompt tragedy on them, just as he does not inflict prompt tragedy on satan. but god does punish satan (cursing him to lick the dust, promising to cast him down to earth, into a pit, into hell, to make him beneath even those he abused) and god does punish the jews occasionally, even severely, and even the jews fear those mysterious forces that seem to be jealous of the lives of gentiles, those inexplicable forces, those forces which cannot be understood by reasonable jews.
god is no respecter of persons, and god gives heaven to those who bear fruit for him, who trade for his gain, who have oil for their lamp, who have faith to make his seed grow, who love him. and god punishes all, and god pays the price on the cross for those who take up their cross and follow him. jesus does not violate the law, the whole law, but he offends the jews.
the jews know that there are some things that must result in death. they include gathering firewood on saturday, usurping the priesthood, being a gentile, and worshipping any god other than the physical jewflesh (as jesus did). every man has an understanding of law, and only those who follow jesus understand the whole law, and they know that all praise is for jesus, that all things god does are just, that all harms that befall man are his own responsibility, and that there is no such thing as luck — only the will of god. the christian takes responsibility to bear his cross and do the will of god, and is given greater responsibility. all others take responsibility for themself, and they go down to hell. luck cannot deliver, nor can it deny.
Um… WUT?!?
Sep 262013
I’ve been receiving increasing amounts of spam via Facebook. Most of it is unremarkable, but this was extra creepy:
EEEK! I’ll be keeping my eyes open now! As one person commented, “It puts the lotion in the basket.” Yup, it has just that feel.
Aug 212013
I get the best crazy… even in phone calls. To wit, the phone just rang from an unknown number from Oregon.
Me: Hello?
Him: Is this the he-sigh-eh residence?
Me: It’s the Hsieh residence.
Him: Really? But the name is H S I E…
Me: Can you get on with what you want to talk to me about?
Him: Oh, I don’t want to talk to you.
And… then he hangs up on me.
WTF, people!
Oh, and apparently, it is a scamming number.
Jul 092013
Although it’s only July, I feel pretty confident claiming that this Washington Post column by Robert J. Samuelson is the most ridiculously stoopid thing I’ll read all year: Beware the Internet and the danger of cyberattacks. It begins:
If I could, I would repeal the Internet. It is the technological marvel of the age, but it is not — as most people imagine — a symbol of progress. Just the opposite. We would be better off without it. I grant its astonishing capabilities: the instant access to vast amounts of information, the pleasures of YouTube and iTunes, the convenience of GPS and much more. But the Internet’s benefits are relatively modest compared with previous transformative technologies, and it brings with it a terrifying danger: cyberwar. Amid the controversy over leaks from the National Security Agency, this looms as an even bigger downside.
No, it doesn’t get any better. No, it’s not satire. So I’ll let Captain Picard “speak” for me:
Apr 112013
Today is WTF Day, a holiday that I created a few years ago in response to some inordinate amount of WTFery on that day. I don’t remember what happened that day, but I put “WTF Day” on my calendar, so here we are!
On this grand holiday, do not indulge in any WTFery yourself. Also, please avoid becoming the victim of other people’s WTFery. Instead, pop the popcorn and laugh at the WTFery of others from afar.
Here’s my favorite WTFery of the day:
I’m not sure what I enjoyed more… the driver’s screaming like a little girl on seeing the cost of the ticket … or the police officer calmly telling the man that he would cite him for littering if he didn’t pick up the papers dropped in that hissy fit.
Oh, and be sure to whisper a prayer to the WTFairy, with suitable awe and reverence, lest she rain extra doses of WTFery upon you over the next year!
Mar 272013
I was quite floored by this email that I received on Sunday:
A friend summarized it thusly:”First, I will insult you, then I will compliment you (I think??), then for my final trick, I will ask you for advice! =/ ” Yup, that’s about it.
I tell ya, I get the best crazy emails! No, I don’t invite further crazy by replying.
In a similar vein, here’s a question recently submitted to Philosophy in Action’s Queue:
Whew! As if that’s not bad enough, it was submitted three times… and I deleted all three.
Finally, one more bit of WTFery posted to Philosophy in Action’s Facebook Page:
WUT?
Nov 202012
I saw this flyer at a bar north of Denver a few months ago:
I hope — I really hope — that someone posted that as a joke.
Aug 022012
Our local 9News posted this awesome picture on their Facebook page, with the caption: “On Friday, 9NEWS viewer Cherie Morris took this picture from the window of her home on the Florida Mesa south of U.S. Highway 160.”
Wow, just wow.
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