Novelist Anne Rice says she's leaving Christianity
July 30th, 2010 by Noah
NEW YORK – Anne Rice has had a religious conversion: She's no longer a Christian.
"In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control," the author wrote Wednesday on her Facebook page. "In the name of ... Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."
Rice, 68, is best known for "Interview With a Vampire" and other gothic novels. Raised as a Catholic, she had rejected the church early in her life but renewed her faith in recent years and in 2008 released the memoir "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession."
In a telephone interview Thursday, Rice said she had been having doubts for the past two to three years. She was troubled by the child abuse scandals in the church, and the church's defensive reaction, and by the ex-communication of Sister Margaret McBride, a nun and hospital administrator who had approved an abortion for a woman whose life was in danger.
"I believed for a long time that the differences, the quarrels among Christians didn't matter a lot for the individual, that you live your life and stay out of it. But then I began to realize that it wasn't an easy thing to do," said Rice, speaking from her home near Palm Springs, Calif. "I came to the conclusion that if I didn't make this declaration, I was going to lose my mind."
Rice said she is a Democrat who supports the health care legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama and believes gay marriage inevitably will be permitted throughout the country. Although no longer part of any denomination, she remains a believer and continues to read theology and post Biblical passages on her Facebook page. She has no immediate plans to write about her leaving the church and will continue with her metaphysical fiction series, "Songs of the Seraphim."
Rice will not be taking up vampires again, but she said she is a big fan of the HBO series "True Blood," enjoyed the first two "Twilight" movies (she has yet to read any of the Stephenie Meyer novels) and is interested in seeing her most famous character, the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, return to the screen.
"We're in talks about it," she said. "But then we've always been in talks about it. Hope springs eternal in California."
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Charlie Louvin and Simone Felice health notes
July 29th, 2010 by Noah
By Bruce Sylvester
Serious health notes (one of them encouraging) for two Americana performers of very different generations: Charlie Louvin (surviving member of the astounding 1950s country duet, the Louvin Brothers) and Simone Felice (formerly of upstate New York’s The Felice Brothers and now of The Duke And The King).
Simone talks about recovery from heart surgery (and a problem he’d long been unaware of) on Facebook. Go to The-Duke-and-The-King, hit “Notes,” and look for his June 23 posting.
Charlie, who recently turned 83, had been enjoying a revitalized career as much younger alt/Americana musicians such as Lucinda Williams invited him to tour with them. On July 22 in Nashville, Charlie underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer. A July 24 email from countrymusicclassics said, “The surgery went well without any setbacks. Charlie is reportedly resting well.”
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Alleged MJ Love Child Surfaces -- Wants Money
July 28th, 2010 by Noah
A woman who claims to be Michael Jackson's illegitimate love child -- conceived when MJ was a minor -- has filed legal documents claiming there was a diabolical plot to cover up her existence ... involving murder, abduction and Diana Ross' sister.
The alleged MJ spawn -- Mocienne Petit Jackson -- has filed documents with L.A. County Superior Court claiming she will surely be in line for a serious inheritance check ... if a judge will give the go-ahead on a DNA test.
Here's the story -- MPJ claims back in 1975, 17-year-old Michael Jackson secretly impregnated her mother Barbara ... who happens to be Diana Ross' sister.
MPJ claims when she was 9 years old, Katherine Jackson hatched a plan to "abduct" MPJ and send her to Belgium to protect Michael's "reputation." She claims all 7 of her abductors were later murdered.
Now MPJ -- who currently lives in the Netherlands -- has decided to come forward with her story ... so she can "formally claim my part of my father's inheritance." She also wants custody of MJ's kids so she can give them a "more normal life."
MPJ also claims she was diagnosed with Vitiligo ... so, there's that.
Calls to Diana Ross, Barbara Ross and MJ's camp have not been returned.
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Acid rain, which is a form of air pollution, currently becomes a subject of great debate because of widespread environmental damage for which it has been blamed
July 26th, 2010 by Noah
lt forms when oxides of sulfur (Si) and nitrogen ($5.) combine with atmospheric moisture to yield sulfuric and nitric acids, which may then be carried long distances from their source before they drop in the form of rain.The pollution may also take the form of snow or fog or fall down in dry forms.In fact,although the term "acid rain" has been in use for more than a century which is derived from atmospheric studies that were made in the region of Manchester,England, the more accurate scientific term would be "acid deposition".The dry form of such deposition is just as damaging to the environment as the liquid form.
The problem of acid rain originated with the Industrial Revolution,and it has been growing ever since.The severity of its effects has long been rec¬ognized in local settings, as exemplified by the spells of acid smog in heavi¬ly industrialized areas.The widespread destructiveness of acid rain,however, has become evident only in recent decades.One large area that has been studied extensively is northern Europe,where acid rain has eroded struc-
tures,injured crops and forests,and threatened life in freshwater lakes.In 1984,for example,environmental reports indicated that almost half of the trees in Germany's Black Forest had been damaged by acid rain.The north¬eastern United States and eastern Canada have also been particularly affect¬ed by this form of pollution;damage has also been detected in other areas of these countries and other regions of the world.
Industrial emissions have been blamed as the major cause of acid rain. Because the chemical reactions involved in the production of acid rain in the atmosphere are complex and as yet little understood, industries have tended to challenge such assessments and to stress the need for further studies;and because of the cost of pollution reduction,governments have tended to support this attitude.Studies released by the US government in the early 1980s,however,strongly indicated industries as the main source of acid rain,in the eastern US and Canada.
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War may be a natural expression of biological instincts and drives to-ward aggression in the human species.
July 23rd, 2010 by Noah
Natural impulses of anger, hostility, and territoriality (^IRMS65^ctt)are expressed through acts of violence. These are all qualities that humans share with animals. Aggression is a kind of innate (^^69) survival mechanism, an instinct for serf-preservation, that
allows animals to defend themselves from threats to their existence.But.on the other hand,human violence shows evidence of being a learned behavior, j In the case of human aggression, violence cannot be simply reduced to an instinct. The many expressions of human violence are always conditioned by j social conventions that give shape to aggressive behavior. In human soci¬eties violence has a social function: It is a strategy for creating or destroying forms of social order. Religious traditions have taken a leading role in di¬recting the powers of violence. We will look at the ritual and ethical (it$§ _h W ) patterns within which human violence has been directed.
The violence within a society is controlled through institutions of law. The more developed a legal system becomes,the more society takes respon¬sibility for the discovery,control,and punishment of violent acts. In most
tribal societies the only means to deal with an act of violence is revenge. I
i Each family group may have the responsibility for personally carrying out |
judgment and punishment upon the person who committed the offense. But in legal systems,the responsibility for revenge becomes depersonalized and diffused .The society assumes the responsibility for protecting individuals from violence. In cases where they cannot be protected,the society is re¬sponsible for imposing punishment. In a state controlled legal system, indi¬viduals are removed from the cycle of revenge motivated by acts of vio¬lence , and the state assumes responsibility for their protection.
The other side of a state legal apparatus is a state military apparatus. While the one protects the individual from violence,the other sacrifices the individual to violence in the interests of the state. In war the state affirms its supreme power over the individuals within its own borders. War is not simply a trial by combat to settle disputes between states;it is the moment when the state makes its most powerful demands upon its people for their commitment, allegiance, and supreme sacrifice.Times of war test a communi¬ty's deepest religious and ethical commitments.
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A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading
July 22nd, 2010 by Noah
It is remarkable first foi what it contains: the range of news from local crime to international politics ,from sports tc business to fashion to science, and the range of comment and special features (4^-^) a: well, from editorial page to feature articles and interviews to criticism of books, art, theatre, and music. A newspaper is even more remarkable for the way one reads it: nevei completely, never straight through, but always by jumping from here to there, in and out, glancing at one piece, reading another article all the way through, reading just a few paragraphs of the next. A good modern newspaper offers a variety to attract many different readers, but far more than any one reader is interested in. What brings this variety together ir one place is its topicality < Bt ^ -l±), its immediate relation to what is happening in youi world and your locality now. But immediacy and the speed of production that goes with 11 mean also that much of what appears in a newspaper has no more than transient (4SL &) value. For all these reasons, no two people really read the same paper: what each persor does is to put together, out of the pages of that day's paper, his own selection and sequence,his own newspaper. For all these reasons, reading newspapers efficiently, which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need but without wasting time, demands skill and self-awareness as you modify and apply the techniques of reading.
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Darius & the Clouds
July 21st, 2010 by Noah
You can never have too much sky. You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky, and sky can keep you safe when you are sad. Here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful. Still, we take what we can get and make the best of it.
Darius, who doesn't like school, who is sometimes stupid and mostly a fool, said something wise today, though most days he says nothing. Darius, who chases girls with firecrackers or a stick that touched a rat and thinks he's tough, today pointed up because the world was full of clouds, the kind like pillows.
You all see that cloud, that fat one there? Darius said, See that? Where? That one next to the one that look like popcorn. That one there. See that. That's God, Darius said. God? some-body little asked. God, he said, and made it simple.
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Family Week At Omega Institute Fortifies Bonds
July 20th, 2010 by Noah
Looking to spend quality time with your family this summer while also exploring your own interests? The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck may have just the right solution. From Aug. 8-13, Omega hosts Family Week, a program that allows parents and their children the opportunity to enjoy time together as a family, as well as time apart to pursue individual interests.
"Family Week is a lovely idea of a family vacation in a holistic setting," said Carol Donahoe, Omega's assistant director of programming. "There's a real feeling of family and community."
Throughout the year, the Omega Institute offers a number of educational programs for personal development. During Family Week, a special schedule is created that offers a variety of workshops for adults and children. Adults can choose from workshops such as "Whole Foods Cooking for the Family" and "Everyday Dharma," while the kids get to choose from different camps such as "West African Drumming & Fabric-Making" and "Little Forest People." The family meets for meals and enjoys the evening's entertainment with each other.
"While you get the opportunity to take a workshop you're interested in, you know that your children are in a basketball or photography camp having a great time themselves," Donahoe said.
Family Week was started 20 years ago by one of Omega's co-founders, Elizabeth Lesser.
"Elizabeth was raising her own children here at Omega and saw a need for this," Donahoe said. "It's one of those programs that people love and return to every year."
This year, the five-day program offers 12 camps total -- seven workshops for adults and five for children. The youngest age for kids to go to camp is 6, but there is also day care available for younger children.
"During the day both the parents and children have opportunities to take care of themselves and have fun," Donahoe said.
One of the children's camps is "New Visions Photography Camp" with Todd Shapera, a professional photographer and journalist. It is open to children from 8-13. This will be Shapera's fourth year teaching it. "It's not a technical class," he said. "It's about trying to see the world in new and different ways." Shapera helps the children look at ordinary things and see them in an interesting manner.
"It's very refreshing to see what the kids come up with," he said. "It's incredible, really."
Ellen Riley attended Omega's basketball camp for adults for many years. When asked to teach basketball camp for children during Family Week, she happily accepted. "I think Family Week is one of the most wonderful models I have ever seen," she said. "Everybody does his or her own thing for a bit, but then they come back together. The parents and kids just love it."
Riley's basketball camp is titled "Beyond Basketball," and includes basic drills and more. It is open for kids 8-12, many of whom return year after year. "It's all in the spirit of cooperation, camaraderie, fun and safety," Riley said. "It's a great kind of community. Families and kids grow up together."
Psychotherapist and expressive movement teacher Rachel Fleischman is teaching "Dance Your Bliss: Connect Motion with Emotion for Profound Healing & Joy," one of the seven workshops offered to adults. "I'm really excited to do Family Week," she said. "The climate of family week is immediate joy, and I'm very excited to be a part of that."
Fleischman also looks forward to helping people have fun while they heal. "I'm all about creating a safe space and assessing what each person needs in that space," she said. "I help people move out of their heads and into their bodies in order to heal."
Other workshops include, "Healthy Living From the Inside Out: Yoga, Walking & Self-Care" for adults, and "The Wayfinder Experience" for children. Family Week often has other little goodies; for instance, this year there will be a trapeze on campus that participants can sign up for.
"Family week is Omega at its most playful," Fleischman said. "It's really very rich, although every week at Omega is magical."
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In the 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events
July 19th, 2010 by Noah
They appreciated the tricky point that any major change can be stressful. Negative events like "serious illness of a family member" were high on the list, but so were some positive life-changing events, like marriage. When you take the Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not reflect how you deal with stress — it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you handle these events dramatically affects your chances of staying healthy.
By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow, the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women's magazines ran headlines like "Stress causes illness," If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events.
But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. Even if stressful events are dangerous, many — like the death of a loved one — are impossible to avoid. Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription (&h^f ) for staying away from opportunities as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never marry, have a child, take a new job or move.
The notion that all stress makes you sick also ignores a lot of what we know about people. It assumes we're all vulnerable (fllll^l) and passive in the face of adversity (j^iH). But what about human initiative and creativity? Many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental vigor than
they had before. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom and physical and mental strain.
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It is often claimed that nuclear energy is something we cannot do without
July 16th, 2010 by Noah
We live in a consumer society where there is an enormous demand for commercial products of all kinds. Moreover, an increase in industrial production is considered to be one solution to the problem of mass unemployment. Such an increase presumes an abundant and cheap energy supply. Many people believe that nuclear energy provides an inexhaustible and economical source of power and that it is therefore essential for an industrially developing society. There are a number of other advantages in the use of nuclear energy. Firstly, nuclear power, except for accidents, is clean. A further advantage is that a nuclear power station can be run and maintained by relatively few technical and administrative staff. The nuclear reactor represents an enormous step in our scientific evolution and, whatever the anti-nuclear group says, it is wrong to expect a return to more primitive sources of fuel. However, opponents of nuclear energy point out that nuclear power stations bring a direct threat not only to the environment but also to civil liberties.
Furthermore, it is questionable whether ultimately nuclear power is a cheap source of energy. There have, for example, been very costly accidents in America, in Britain and, of course, in Russia. The possibility of increases in the cost of uranium($il)in addition to the cost of greater safety provisions could price nuclear power out of the market. In the long run, environmentalists argue, nuclear energy wastes valuable resources and disturbs the ecology to an extent which could bring about the destruction of the human race. Thus, if we wish to survive, we cannot afford nuclear energy. In spite of the case against nuclear energy outlined above, nuclear energy programs are expanding. Such an expansion assumes a continual growth in industrial production and consumer demands. However, it is doubtful whether this growth will or can continue. Having weighed up the arguments on both sides, it seems there are good economic and ecological reasons for sources of energy other than nuclear power.
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