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The Flatland Chronicles for Friday, June 9 2006. Yeah, it's been months since I felt like writing.
JOURNAL. Antic Panic in The Disquieting Damozel. In the interval, everything has changed. For one thing, everything I was worrying about then about turned out to be true. Hurricanes! Global warming! Katrina and its aftermath! Government surveillance and domestic wiretapping! Corruption in high places! Rumsfeld! Anne Coulter! The threat of serious personal illness!
But I'm feeling much better now, regardless! Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, the world seems again to be an improvable place and I am happy once more that I live in "interesting times."
FOR A CURRENT DIGEST OF ALL TOPICS FOR "THE FLATLAND ORACLES," CLICK HERE [recommended]. This link will take you to the main page for this log, which will link you to the table of contents for each category. The following is a daily log of entries, organized in reverse chronological order.
NOTE: FOR A COMPLETE CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING of all the postings in each of these categories, click the "Table of Contents" for the category (see links on the right). Much easier than scrolling through all these items.
Previously: September 2005
Digest for 18 September 2005
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THERE BY THE GRACE OF GOD GO THOSE OTHERS PART 3: AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS EMPATHY, BUT IT'S JUST TOO HARD. When there's not enough money in the world to give someone back what they've lost, what can you give? And how do you go about it? Even after years of training, I usually find that it's just too hard and that constant practice just makes it harder. In The Heretic's Handbook.
Digest for 17 September 2005
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THERE BY THE GRACE OF GOD GO THOSE OTHERS PART 2: THE DEMANDS OF CHARITY. What does a Christian owe to the poor? (No, the answer isn't "Nothing!" or even "Government-sponsored benefits.") Whatever help you can give, yes, but that ain't all. What's the hardest part of Christian charity? PICK ONE-- The greatest of these is (a) Voluntary Donations to your chosen recipient; (b) Involuntary donations through your increased tax bill; (c) Pity; (d) Compassion; (e) Empathy..... (HINT: It's the one that brings you not self-satisfaction or self-pity, but grief and terror). In The Heretic's Handbook.
Digest for 16 September 2005
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BILL MAHER'S CLOSING SUMMATION FROM LAST WEEK'S REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER. In Versus.
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WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, EDWARD R. MURROW? A NATION TURNS ITS LONELY EYES TO YOU.... At just the right moment, a George Clooney film about a journalist who 'spoke Truth to Power'. In Versus.
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'AMAZING' 'REVELATIONS' IN THE MAINSTREAM PRESS. DID THEY GET IT WRONG THEN OR HAVE THEY GOT IT WRONG NOW? All of a sudden, they are turning on W like a pack of angry dogs. Yep, it's a feeding frenzy. I'm told I should be glad about the restoration to the press of its 'courage.' Oh, is that what we're calling it? In Versus.
Digest for 15 September 2005
- FRIENDLY AND UNFRIENDLY GHOSTS. My husband Don claimed to be able to see or sense both sorts. And since his death, I get the impression sometimes that he's pretty persistent himself. Yes, I know. Absurd, yes? In Love in the Time of the Internet.
Digest for 10 September 2005
- DELIVER US, BILL MAHER. In the ages when speaking truth to the king was considered treason, that job has always fallen to the jesters. Under the cap and bells, Bill Maher is and has been one of the bravest men in America---and he is certainly the funniest. In Versus.
- CRY HAVOC AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR! ON THE SAYINGS OF ANN COULTER. Res ipsa loquitur. See Versus.
- EPILEPSY. IT'S LIKE THIS: BZZZZT! As disabilities go, it's not the worst---it's even sort of interesting. But having seizures is definitely weird. In The Disquieting Damozel.
Digest for 9 September 2005
- CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS GET IT RIGHT! Ann Coulter won't be speaking at Harding University. Thank God someone remembered to remind conservatives what Christ's message actually WASN'T. See The Heretic's Handbook.
Digest for 7 September 2005
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I KNOW YOU ARE, BUT WHAT AM I? The Washington Times, grandly mixing sinister animal attributes, has the 'venomous vultures' of the left in its crosshairs. But you know the philosophy: 'When under scrutiny, distract attention by calling names!' In Versus. Also in your local playground.
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THE GHOST IN THE IMAGE. PHOTOGRAPHY & MEMORY. Photographs reflect the past more effectively than a videocamera ever can or will. It's a sort of magical recapture, not only of the moment, but of everything that preceded and followed it. And if the photographer is long gone, of the world as it presented itself to that person. In The Disquieting Damozel.
Digest for 6 September 2005
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T'S ALL WORKING OUT SO WELL FOR THEM! Barbara Bush makes a false step following a 'tour' of shelter facilities, because I'm she couldn't possibly have meant it the way it sounded. Surely. In Versus.
Digest for 5 September 2005
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WITHOUT A HITCH. Christopher Hitchens gets a well-earned bollocking from Juan Cole of Salon.com and from me, a beribboned gift basket of FOR CHRIST'S SAKE SHUT UP, HITCH. Link + brief commentary. See Anglo-Saxon Attitudes.
- MEASURE FOR MEASURE: HOW MUCH CHARITY CAN I AFFORD? When you're a bystander, far from affluent, and one of nature's misanthropes, how do you make yourself reach out? I'm having the same trouble as the rest of the people I know balancing grace against fiscal and psychic realities. Should I be trying to? In The Heretic's Handbook.
Digest for 3 September 2005
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HEROIC DOCTORS OF NEW ORLEANS---AND THEN THERE'S DOCTOR ZED. Medical professionals are among the heroes of the New Orleans disaster. And then there's Dr. Zed. Hey, Dr. Zed has to make a living too. Why pretend otherwise? I discuss it in The Disquieting Damozel.
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"WALK ME OUT IN THE MORNING DEW, MY BABY." Salon.com, as always, rushes fearlessly in to the breach. Joe Conason, Tim Grieve, Aaron Kinney, and Alan Wolfe talk back. So do I, in Versus.
Digest for 2 September 2005
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HIJACKING MY RELIGION PART 2---FIGHTING BACK AGAINST THE CHURCH OF CHRIST WITHOUT CHRIST: WHY SECULAR HUMANISTS NEED LEFT-LEANING GOD-BOTHERERS LIKE ME. You're not going to convince them that they're wrong to be religious---but we might succeed in chipping away some of their complacent belief in their own righteousness or their conviction that Jesus wants them all for sunbeams. In the Heretic's Handbook
Digest for 1 September 2005
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HIJACKING MY RELIGION. As is amply reflected in statements concerning Katrina now coming from the invariably-wrong so-called "Right," and particularly from the so-called "Right"-wing so-called "Christians," the practice of "Christianity" has little to do with Christ or his teachings. Note to nonChristians everywhere who are learning from this a broad contempt for Christianity: that's not what he said. In my sublog, The Heretic's Handbook.
Digest for August 2005
Digest for 28 August 2005
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COMMUNITIES & THEIR SOULS. ORLANDO. What happens to a city that loses its center? Will Orlando's survive? Can a place that didn't use to be a place ever become one? Mr. Rumcove discusses urban planning, urban sprawl, the two Floridas, and a lot of links. Sort of an essay. In The Rumcove Papers.
Digest for 26 August 2005
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WENDY MCELROY, STOP MAKING SENSE! OH, WAIT. The Foxnews 'Feminist' regularly smacks down the sloppy thinking of liberals like me. Guns! Spongebob! Political correctness! She takes them all on. In Versus.
Digest for 22 August 2005
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FLIP-FLOPPING: WHY RIGHT-WINGERS THINK IT'S A BAD THING. Intelligent people "flip-flop" whenever they get new data that doesn't support their initial premises. How did the so-called Right manage to convince us that this is an insult? In Versus.
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HOW DONNE MISSED THE POINT. It's not your own dying you need to be worried about. Trust me. I know. In The Disquieting Damozel.
Digest for 21 August 2005
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I KID BILL MAHER, SORT OF. Does the admirable Bill Maher see any inconsistency between his rants against gluttony and the rants of the right against some of those other so-called 'deadly' sins? In Versus.
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QUAKER MEETING . If God ever does speak, how can you expect to hear him if you aren't listening? In The Heretic's Handbook.
Digest for 19 August 2005
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ADULT EDUCATION. Nicholas (back in school after a 20 year hiatus) makes the Dean's list for the third consecutive term, despite his lifelong aversion to algebra. I reflect on the value of a liberal arts education. Click to go to The Disquieting Damozel .
Digest for 18 August 2005
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NO ORDINARY PROFILE. THE TALENTED MR. R. In The Rumcove Papers, I introduce the talented Mr. Rumcove, my personal guru for all things currently English. Many links to trenchant/mordant English comedies and to information about Sarfend-on-Sea!
Digest for 17 August 2005
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CHAOTIC SIMPLICITY. After my first meeting with a clerk from the local Quaker meeting, I started thinking about what it means to live a simple life. Can you have simplicity with a lot of colors in it? My favorite painters are Matisse and Kandinsky. In my Heretic's Handbook.
Digest for 16 August 2005
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TEA. HOW IT HAPPENED TO AN AMERICAN. We drink it when we're sick as an aid to cramp. The English are different. How I became addicted. In Anglo-Saxon Attitudes.
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'INFINITE AND UNFORESEEN.' THE QUAKERS, THE CATHARS, T.S. ELIOT AND ME. My first entry in my new category that's all about religion. A secular humanist afflicted with Christ-consciousness. I didn't want it to happen, but there it is. In The Heretic's Handbook.
Digest for 15 August 2005
THE BELIEF-O-MATIC. If you suspect you're a member of the wrong religion, or that you might unbeknownst to yourself be an atheist, check out the belief-O-matic at Beliefnet.org. It will set you straight. No obligation to convert! I discuss it in The Disquieting Damozel.
Digest for 14 August 2005
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LOVE IN MIDLIFE--HOW TO FAIL AT FINDING IT. The men she was interested in weren't interested in her. The men who were interested in her just weren't good enough. BONUS SONNET FOR THE DAY: 57. In Love in the Time of the Internet.
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OVERTURN THE CONSTITUTION IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! Destroy Separation of Powers! Eliminate Checks and Balances! The Religious Right's Proposals for Ending 'Judicial Activisim.' Be Afraid. Be VERY afraid. In VERSUS.
Digest for 13 August 2005
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'A MODICUM OF BLOOD, SHED DELIBERATELY & CAREFULLY HUSBANDED.' GHOST STORIES---TREAT THEM GENTLY. I talk about my search for the best ghost stories of all time and the criteria (courtesy of M.R. James) that distinguish an effective ghost story. Includes some recommendations for the curious. In Just Eat the Damn Peach.
Digest for 12 August 2005
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HE LIVES UPSTAIRS. HE'S NEVER MENTIONED. With one or two exceptions, all of the English people I’ve personally encountered seem to regard God as if he were a slightly senile Uncle who lives in the attic and whom you must keep around out of common decency until he’s gone but whom you never to mention, also out of common decency. In The Anglophile's File.
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The Accidental Tourist who attempts Celestial Navigation. WHY I LOVE ANNE TYLER'S NOVELS. In Just Eat the Damn Peach.
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CHRISTIANITY' VERSUS CHRISTIANITY. I reflect on Bill McKibben's article in the August 2005 Harper's Monthly, THE CHRISTIAN PARADOX: How A Faithful Nation Gets Jesus Wrong. Christianity (as opposed to 'Christianity') is hard. No wonder we're basically a 'Christian' nation. In The Heretic's Handbook.
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THE GLARING GAME (PART 2). A comment on my previous protest against the English propensity for using the glare as an instrument for social control induces further reflection. In Anglo-Saxon Attitudes.
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ADVICE FOR BRIDES PLANNING BIG WEDDINGS: DON'T. The conventional standardized wedding that your parents will spend half their income to pay for isn't really that much fun or that memorable. Good advice that no one will ever take. But at least I put it out there. In Love in the Time of the Internet.
Digest for 11 August 2005
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FLATLANDS (STRICTLY AMATEUR) PHOTOGRAPHY SAMPLER. I offer a compilation of photographs from Northern Florida at The Disquieting Damozel.
Digest for 8 August 2005
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THE GLARING GAME. The English---including my husband and my mate Rumcove---can deploy the glare as a weapon of precision. I'm helpless against it. When they don't get what they need, why won't they just say so? In Anglo-Saxon Attitudes.
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THE BARBARIANS AT OUR GATES ARE US. Reflections on the Death Penalty, criticism of the so-called Christian right, and the duty to oppose it. In The Heretic's Handbook.
Digest for 7 August 2005
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FLATLAND PHOTOGRAPHY AND 'THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE COMMONPLACE.' Better living and enhanced vision through landscape photography. A tribute to North Florida color and light. In 'The Disquieting Damozel'.
Digest for 5 August 2005
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A PROPER GALLOWS LAUGH REQUIRES A STIFF UPPER LIP. Let's hope the British aren't going to let the tragedies of the last two months impair their gift for trenchant comedy. In 'Anglo-Saxon Attitudes'
Digest for 3-4 August 2005
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IT'S JUST NOT THAT SIMPLE. Reflections on He's Just not that Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. Love in the time of the internet at Love in the Time of the Internet.
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LOVE IN THE TIME OF THE INTERNET SONNET FOR THE DAY: SONNET 36. If concealment's a condition of the affair, it might be love, but is it worth the expense? Shakespeare knew the answer. At Love in the Time of the Internet
Digest for 2 August 2005
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FALSE NOSTALGIA. Yearning for something (but I don't know what), reminiscing about the past (but it never happened). In The Disquieting Damozel.
Digest for July 2005
Digest for 19 July 2005
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THE FLATLAND TAROT. My friend's unique approach, some speculation on the nature and purpose of divination, vegetable soup, and a quotation from the Gospel of Thomas. At The Disquieting Damozel.
Digest for 18 July 2005
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CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (CHILDREN'S EDITION) --The Fresno police arrest an 11 year old girl for throwing a stone at a boy who admits to pestering her on charges of felony assault. Article at bbc.co.uk. Discussed in Versus.
Digest for 16 July 2005
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LEGISLATION VERSUS PERSUASION: YOUR OPINION IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME! One man's mission to ban on the 'morning after' pill at Wisconsin Universities: because it's easier to legislate than to persuade. See Versus.
Digest for 13 July 2005
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ENGLISH PLACENAMES: THE CIRENCESTER PROBLEM. In Anglo-Saxon Attitudes" I say what I have to say about last week's tragedy in London and move on to the nagging problem of English place names, specifically the Cirencester problem.
Digest for 6 July 2005
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THAT'S TELEVISION WITHOUT PITY. A site where you can feel calmly superior for talking about television. Who'd have thought it? THE OFFICE (UK)---ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES. How watching The Office (UK) can improve your morale. Both in Just Eat the Damn Peach.
Digest for 5 July 2005
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[1] SUFFERING FOOLS GLADLY: THE CONSOLATION OF MOCKERY. [2] I DON'T LIKE YOU EITHER. How is the Right so wrong? Let me count the ways. One of my dearest friends characterized this rant as 'strident.' You have been warned. In Versus.
Digest for 4 July 2005
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DON'T PUT OUT MORE FLAGS! Where's the patriotism in hanging it out in the rain and leaving it there till it's ragged, torn, and faded? Why is it patriotic to have frayed and torn little flags flapping in the wind atop your giant SUV? There's a powerful metaphor in the torn and faded flags that people nowadays hang up and forget. My mom's crusade. My dad's convictions. It takes more than a flag to make a patriot, even on the 4th. In Versus.
6:04:17 PM 
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