My Mind Outside My Mind

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been posting much on here. It's not for lack of things to say, but I've found I prefer conversation over coffee or a beer to texted chatter. Nor is it for a lack of things frivolous and profound across these nodes and networks; it is a black hole of knowledge, ideas and inspiration.

Rather, I have found a better method, a method that saves me hours and augments my memory and my education in ways I could not have dreamed of before.

I use Google Reader as my jaws, esophagus and digestive tract, and my shared items are the sludgy droppings percolating in my subconscious, fertilizer for the mind.

It's an assault of anything that strikes my fancy; ideas that enliven me, tales of despair, comedic gems and many others.

The range and volume will be too much for many people, so I apologize in advance. But if this compost heap is of use to you, please take some for your own mind-garden.

Netflix regarding corporate culture

A well made, intriguing exploration of Netflix corporate culture. Worth checking out.

Culture

View more presentations from Reed Hastings.

Last 3 Books

So Mark Chu-Carroll, whose blog (Good Math, Bad Math) I read regularly and strongly recommended, infected me with Tor's book meme. The gist is thus:

What were the last three genre books that you purchased? Why did you purchase them? And do they feel comfortable together?

Of course, I can hardly resist such a blog meme, particularly as I have only just this week made three fine acquisitions.

1. Neal Stephenson - Anathem: Ostensibly about some sort of future-world monastic order charged with the preservation and protection of knowledge, this book intrigues for three reasons. First of all, the book's futurist monasticism reminds me of A Canticle for Leibowitz, one of my favorite science fiction novels of all time. Secondly, I only this year was introduced to Stephenson's work in the form of Cryptonomicon, a fantastic foray into cryptography, World War II history, data havens and alternative currencies. What the writing lacked in style it made up for in the conflux of ideas and the depth of insight that Stephenson expressed. Finally, I have been working on my own work, which relies on similar tropes as Anathem. I would, quite frankly, prefer to be aware of synonymous memes before I outwork my own, lest a cryptomnesia of some sort overtake me. I have not yet begun reading it, as the other two books have jumped the queue.

2. Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: I have heard nothing but accolades for this work, and have been looking for a new novel to read aloud with my wife. As her favorite novelist is Nicholas Sparks, and mine is tied between Dostoevsky and Tolkien, finding common ground has posed some difficulties. We have read the first chapter, and so far have restrained ourselves from issuing a verdict. The prose is comical, emulating Austen but with a cadre of magicians instead of Victorian socialites. Nevertheless, the themes of magic and academia yield quite variant responses; my wife is not impressed, I'm willing to explore further. We'll give it to the end of chapter 2; if it fails to arouse my wife's interest, I shall complete it in solitude.

3. Douglas R. Hofstadter - Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid: I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Put down whatever you are doing, race to the nearest bookseller and pay whatever they ask. Lock yourself in a room and do not emerge until you have finished this book. Reading GEB has molded my mind into a mobius strip, and I could not have asked for a better result.

Do they work together? I think so, but I can't answer that well as this juncture.

Wrestling with responsibility for foreclosures

Matthew 18:23-35 (New International Version)

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents[a] was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.[b] He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

I attended the vigil last Monday night. On hearing about the vigil, I trusted the reports of some close friends and came. I honestly do not know what justice is or means, or what right action is for this particular situation.

But I do know that there are some significant areas for action for followers of Christ. Mark Van Steenwyk of Missio Dei is currently working on setting up a structure to manage homelessness using the church, and I would love to see this take effect.

Below are a number of articles as well as video of the vigil; attached here for posterity more than anything else.

Twin Cities IndyMedia Reports: [1], [2]

Minnesota Public Radio: [1]

Star Tribune Column: [1]

Minneapolis, MN - On the evening of August 10, 2009, a prayer and candlelight vigil was held in the front yard of Rosemary Williams home. Williams and supporters' round-the-clock sit-in continued into its fourth day. The prayer vigil expressed support from various Twin Cities religious communities for Rosemary Williams struggle against eviction and the broader struggle to end foreclosures and evictions.

The vigil showed the growing support for Rosemary Williams in the face of her eviction last Friday after months of struggle. Within an hour of her eviction, community members and activists reclaimed her house. Williams and supporters have occupied the house since then, under threat of arrest, demanding that GMAC open negotiations with Williams so she can stay in her home.

Nicaragua: Unfinished Revolution

Fantastic, 4-part documentary from Al-Jazeera.

Non-Violence

I'm not going to attempt to capture the torrent of thoughts on the subject that I've had over the last several months. I will, however, express my dissatisfaction with the verbiage associated with pacifism/non-violence/etc. The best alternative phrasing I have found comes from David Dark's The Sacredness Of Questioning Everything:

ethical innovation in communal resistance

What do you think of it?

And on a related note, he posits:

Dramatization is the way of nonviolent confrontation. It makes people see their evasions of conscience.

Peace to you

Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome

Full Track available! All the pieces are in place for your listening pleasure:
[FLAC]
[MP3]

For those trying to piece the puzzle together, here's some help:

Audio & Image files are slowly being found, and uploaded.

I've added direct access to the stems on Mediafire.

A spreadsheet for ordering the .wav files is available here, and is updated as new stems arrive. Feel free to add insight if you are able - I have opened up editing on this spreadsheet. If abused, I will lock it again, so please be considerate.

THE SPREADSHEET!


The key for sorting the audio files seems to be this text:

On February 4, 1974, the 19-year-old Hearst was kidnapped from the Berkeley, California apartment she shared with her fiancé Steven Weed by a left-wing urban guerrilla group called the Symbionese Liberation Army. When the attempt to swap Hearst for jailed SLA members failed, the SLA demanded that the captive's family distribute $70 worth of food to every needy Californian — an operation that would cost an estimated $400 million. In response, Hearst's father arranged the immediate donation of $6 million worth of food to the poor of the Bay Area. After the distribution of food, the SLA refused to release Hearst because they deemed the food to have been of poor quality. (In a subsequent tape recording released to the press, Hearst commented that her father could have done better.) On April 3, 1974, Hearst announced on an audiotape that she had joined the SLA and assumed the name "Tania" (inspired by the nom de guerre of Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider, Che Guevara's comrade). On April 15, 1974, she was photographed wielding an M1 Carbine while robbing the Sunset District branch of the Hibernia Bank at 1450 Noriega Street in San Francisco. Later communications from her were issued under the pseudonym Tania and asserted that she was committed to the goals of the SLA. A warrant was issued for her arrest and in September 1975, she was arrested in a San Francisco apartment with other SLA members. While being booked into prison, she listed her occupation as "Urban Guerilla" and asked her attorney to relay the following message: "Tell everybody that I'm smiling, that I feel free and strong and I send my greetings and love to all the sisters and brothers out there." In her trial, which commenced on January 15, 1976, Hearst's attorney, F. Lee Bailey, claimed that Hearst had been blindfolded, imprisoned in a narrow closet and physically and sexually abused. The claim that her actions were the result of a concerted brainwashing program was central to her defense. (Hearst's actions have also been attributed to Stockholm syndrome.) Bailey also argued that she had been coerced or intimidated into taking part in the bank robbery. However she refused to give evidence against the other captured SLA members. This was seen as complicity by the prosecution team. Hearst was convicted of bank robbery on March 20, 1976. She was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment, but her sentence was later commuted to seven years. Her prison term was also eventually commuted by President Jimmy Carter, and Hearst was released from prison on February 1, 1979, having served 22 months. She was granted a full pardon by President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001.

The thread on Patrol Mag has a lot of theories and new information coming up on it.

Derek Webb links:

.com | .net | wikipedia | myspace | twitter (away) | twitter (active)