OVO blog
Trevor Blake
P. O. Box 2321
Portland OR 97208-2321 USA
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OVO blog
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Trevor Blake: Flowers
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 Flowers by Trevor Blake. Portland Oregon USA. 25 July 2008. Labels: art, portland, trevorblake Trevor Blake: The Cyclists
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A google search for "portland bike fight" will reveal a species of tension in my fair city. I know this tension personally, having relied on bike / bus / foot since 1992 yet now my preferred means of transportation is being besmirched by others. It seems that Portland is far from the only city where this tension is happening, and I am far from the only person who doesn't care for it. What can be done about The Cyclists?
Labels: portland, transportation, trevorblake Trevor Blake on Books: Left for Dead by Beck Weathers
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Autobiography. Beck Weathers was part of the climb of Mount Everest described in the popular book Into Thin Air. Weathers was moderately prepared for the climb, but found himself in far over his head. Through acts of physical strength and an iron will, he survived. He wrote a book about it and now gives lectures on setting priorities in this life. What I learned from this book is sometimes your team will let you down but you have to keep going or perish.
Labels: biographic, books, trevorblake Trevor Blake: Christianity in the News
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To celebrate my one-thousandth post about Christianity, a round-up of Christianity in the news.
Killer dad said he had to 'get the demons' out 27-year-old grocery store worker who police say punched and kicked his 2-year-old son to death on a country road calmly told motorists who stopped at the scene that he had to "get the demons" out of the boy. Boy 'skinned and eaten' by his cannibal cult family Boy 'skinned and eaten' by his cannibal cult family after being held captive in a cellar. Autopsy: Easy treatment for teen who died in failed 'faith healing' A 16-year-old member of a faith healing church died of uremic heart failure caused by a stricture in his urinary tract. Dozens blinded in India looking for Virgin Mary At least 50 people have lost their sight after staring at the sun hoping to see an image of the Virgin Mary. "This is why I carry, even in church." Man kills two, injures 7 others, in church shooting. Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church had "just put out a sign this week which says it welcomes gays." Man Watching Steeple Ceremony Killed When Crane Collapses One of dozens of churchgoers watching a steeple being mounted on top of a newly constructed building in southwest Oklahoma City was killed when a crane collapsed on top of his vehicle. Cult Leader Says Lying Naked With Girls Is Religious Healing Practice In Ranton, New Mexico last Friday, Wayne Bent was indicted for inappropriately touching three minor girls while "lying naked" with them. Catholic school principal caught in public gay threesome The principal of a New York Catholic school was arrested Sunday after being caught naked with two other men on a vacant property. Registrar Who Won't Serve Gays Because of Religious Beliefs has Illegitimate Child Ladele is a single mother to a child born out of wedlock. So Ladele is so Christian that she can't possibly marry same-sex couples, but not so religious as to remain chaste until married. Sex abuse scandal flares as pope prepares for celebrations Broken Rites, a support group for victims of church-related sexual abuse, says that 107 Catholic priests and religious brothers have been sentenced in Australian courts on sex charges. Escaping the Amish The biggest negatives? -The rape, incest and other sexual abuse that run rampant in the community. Pastor convicted in Ponzi scheme Robert Jennings, 58, of Perris, and Henry Jones, 53, formerly of Marina del Rey, were convicted on mail fraud, wire fraud and securities fraud charges All of these articles were gathered by one person in his spare time over a short period of time using only English-language news sources. It is not unreasonable to suggest that there are many more articles to be found. Why does God sometimes allow / cause the death of those who worship Him? Why worship God if the reward is blindness or death? Is God good? What sort of moral authority do Christians have when they selectively ignore the dictates they would put on others? The abusive clergy listed here are mostly Protestant and appear to have acted in isolation. It is the Roman Catholic Church that has systematically protected abusive clergy from legal action under the guise of diplomatic immunity for decades. My means to lessen the number of those abused is to tear away the veil the abusers most successfully hide behind - religion. My means to lessen the number of those who make self-destructive choices based on fearful superstitions is to reason against and ridicule the root superstition - religion. Labels: christianity, religion Trevor Blake on Books: Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
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Some of the writing in this book is poor, and some of it has not aged well. There's nothing to do but state so plainly and up front. But.
Tarzan of the Apes contains one set of answers for some important questions. What is natural for men? What does civilization offer us, and what does it take away? How do we relate to others who are weaker than us? Who is fit to rule, how do they aquire and keep their position? Tarzan of the Apes also contains some fine fighting, between man and beast and between men. Tarzan acts in accordance with Nature. Tarzan doesn't have any religion or politics. When it is time to follow, he follows. When it is time to lead, he leads. When it is time to kill, he kills. No remorse, guilt, second-guessing, shame, anger - just doing what is Natural. Sometimes Tarzan takes what he wants, and the fact of his ability to do so is the justification for having done so. This, the first of many Tarzan books, is my favorite in the series. Tarzan of the Apes. Tarzan of the Apes annoted by Kenneth Fuchs. Wikipedia entry. Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. Labels: books, trevorblake Trevor Blake on Books: The Boy-Man by Tim Jeal
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A biography of Lord Baden-Powell (22 February 1857 - 8 January 1941) and a history of his greatest achievement, the Boy Scouts.
In most of the world you can be a girl Boy Scout (see FAQ at Scouting for All). You can be in prison for robbery, rape, or murder and still be a Boy Scout. But heaven help you if you try to be an atheist Boy Scout. The Boy Scouts of America aren't vague about this ban either - they expressly state that no atheist can be a Boy Scout. The Boy Scouts is a private organization, and I think it is reasonable to allow them to exclude whoever they want. I think it is a private affair that the Boy Scouts - the British original - allows atheists to join while the Boy Scouts of America does not. But in doing so, the BSA should not have access to tax-funded schools or tax-funded public lands, as our taxes are not supposed to support private organizations that discriminate. But is the Boy Scouts of America is a private organization or is it a recruiting arm of the Mormons? Nearly 10% of the members of the Boy Scouts Advisory Council live in Salt Lake City; Mormons are less than 2% of the U.S. population but make up 21% of the Boy Scouts. The Salt Lake Tribune reports: "If the Boy Scouts of America is forced to accept gays as scoutmasters, the LDS Church will withdraw from the organization and take more than 400,000 Scouts with it." As late as 1974, Mormon BSA troops reserved leadership positions for white men only. All of this nonsense is at a distance from what Lord Baden-Powell set out to do with his Boy Scouts. Read The Boy-Man and find out for yourself. Trevor Blake: Chocolate Cake
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 Chocolate cake. Portland, Oregon USA. 22 July 2008. Five minutes from preparation to serving. Recipe. Labels: food, trevorblake
Trevor Blake: Steamagineer
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 An enraged steamagineer gives the business to a robot president. Public domain, as has been most of my work for more that twenty years. The difference between this idea / image and most of my work is that the option exists to purchase it on a mug or t-shirt. Labels: art, commerce, fight, transportation, trevorblake Trevor Blake: Sentenced to Death
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According to the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, the Islamic Republic of Iran is considering a revision of their laws to sentence anyone promoting apostasy, heresy or witchcraft on the Internet to lashes, life in prison or death.
Trevor Blake on Books: The Mighty Atom by Ed Spielman
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 Biography of Joseph L. Greenstein, "The Mighty Atom." A real life Popeye. Clean living, feats of super-human strength, willing and able to get in a scrap with dozens of much younger men and whip their candy asses, and he even ate his spinach. He could drive nails into a 2.5 inch wooden board and bend horseshoes with his bare hands. Not one man of any age reading this blog is as fit as he was in his 80s. There is nothing worthy of the Mighty Atom online, you'll have to track down a copy of the book. I was a fool for selling my copy considering how rarely it shows up for sale and how much it costs when it does. This book helped me understand how crushingly difficult life used to be for the average man only a few generations ago, and what a great deal of hard work over extended periods of time could accomplish in the realm of physical self-improvement. [Book Exerpt] [Wikipedia] [Mighty Atom, His Philosophy of Health] [Entry at "Old Time Strongman"] [Google Books] Labels: biographic, books Trevor Blake: The Reign of Terror
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Wikipedia: "On 14 July [1789], the insurgents set their eyes on the large weapons and ammunition cache inside the Bastille fortress, which also served as a symbol of tyranny by the monarchy. After several hours of combat, the prison fell that afternoon." So began the French Revolution, which included The Reign of Terror.
Wikipedia: "The victims of the Reign of Terror totaled approximately 40,000. Among people who were condemned by the revolutionary tribunals, about [...] 6 percent [were] clergy [...] the clergy of the Roman Catholic church suffered proportionately the greatest loss. Another anti-clerical uprising was made possible by the installment of the Revolutionary Calendar on 24 October. Against Robespierre's concepts of Deism and Virtue, Hebert's (and Chaumette's) atheist movement initiated a religious campaign in order to dechristianize society. The program of dechristianisation waged against Catholicism, and eventually against all forms of Christianity, included the deportation of clergy and the condemnation of many of them to death, the closing of churches, the institution of revolutionary and civic cults, the large scale destruction of religious monuments, the outlawing of public and private worship and religious education, forced marriages of the clergy and forced abjurement of their priesthood. The enactment of a law on 21 October 1793 made all suspected priests and all persons who harbored them liable to death on sight." Critics of atheism will often claim Hitler was an atheist and thus atheism is wicked. Hitler was a Christian [1] [2] and so it is not atheism that must answer for what he did. Sometimes they will claim Stalin was an atheist and thus atheism is wicked. Stalin was an atheist but he committed his wickedness for socialism, not atheism. Strangely, I have never read a critic of atheism claim that the Reign of Terror was an atheist occurrence. It's true, and proof that atheism be used to wicked ends. What can be done to lessen the chance of that happening? Labels: atheist, christianity, socialism
Science Daily: Learning Suffers If Brain Transcript Isn't Transported Far Out To End Of Neurons
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Researchers have long puzzled over why a gene known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is crucial to the ability of neurons in the hippocampus to grow and connect to each other -- forming the basis of memory and learning -- produces two different transcripts, which then each fabricate identical proteins. In the July 11 issue of Cell, the scientists report the answer, and it has to do with transportation. They found that the longer of the two transcripts (messenger RNAs, or mRNAs) include extra sequences that "motor" molecules attach to, in order to move the information far away from the nucleus of the cell and toward the long, tree-like branches of the nerve cell known as dendrites. There, protein-synthesizing machines use that mRNA to produce protein that helps small protrusions (called dendritic spines) on these dendrites grow. [Article continues at link. Most of my readers will accept that the description of the biological process above, or something like it, is occurring in their own brains. But many of my readers will at the same time claim that there is a mind, or a soul, some essential part of themselves, an animating force. They will claim that consciousness is more than a biological process. The exact mechanism of consciousness is something we're getting close to understanding, while vitalism has always failed to provide us any evidence. Any evidence at all. I claim consciousness is a physical process that occurs in the body, primarily in the brain, involving chemicals and electricity and following the laws of physics. This claim has implications for the ideas of individuality and of free will. Perhaps I'm wrong. What do you think? - Trevor Blake]Labels: science
Robert Winnett: 'Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter'
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The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock. Mr Bush, whose second and final term as President ends at the end of the year, then left the meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Hokkaido where the leaders of the world's richest nations had been discussing new targets to cut carbon emissions.
[Article continues at link. I would prefer a world leader who understands and practices discretion, at minimum. Instead, we have a fool and a tyrant. - Trevor Blake] Labels: fascism
Trevor Blake: Another Form of Expression
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 "All my life I have been acutely aware of a contradiction in the very nature of my existence. For forty-five years I struggled to resolve this dilemma by writing plays and novels. The more I wrote, the more I realized mere words were not enough. So I found another form of expression." - Yukio Mishima, in Paul Schrader's film Mishima. Collage by Trevor Blake. Labels: books, fight, film, trevorblake
Randi Kaye: Atheist soldier sues Army for 'unconstitutional' discrimination
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[Army Spc. Jeremy] Hall said he met some atheists who suggested he read the Bible again. After doing so, he said he had so many unanswered questions that he decided to become an atheist. His sudden lack of faith, he said, cost him his military career and put his life at risk. Hall said his life was threatened by other troops and the military assigned a full-time bodyguard to protect him out of fear for his safety. [...] Two years ago on Thanksgiving Day, after refusing to pray at his table, Hall said he was told to go sit somewhere else. In another incident, when he was nearly killed during an attack on his Humvee, he said another soldier asked him, "Do you believe in Jesus now?" [...] He also said he missed out on promotions because he is an atheist. "I was told because I can't put my personal beliefs aside and pray with troops I wouldn't make a good leader," Hall said.
[Article continues at link. I have a strong personal interest in soldier cults such as Sol Invictus, the Mithraic mysteries and (most recently and especially) the Tatenokai. But it should go without saying that what I am interested in and knowledgeable about are not necessarily what I consider good. I am dead against a Christian military in the United States (or anywhere else). Atheists should not need bodyguards. The military has much more important uses for its men and materials than providing bodyguards for atheists. Any religious discrimination in the military should be dealt with swiftly and harshly, including discrimination against the non-superstitious. And to the soldier who says surviving an attack is proof of Jesus I ask why Jesus caused / allowed that attack to occur in the first place. If Jesus can use Muslims practicing Islam to serve His purposes then there is no particular reason to value being a Christian over being a Muslim as they are working toward the same end. - Trevor Blake] Labels: christianity, fight, islam, theocracy
Gary D. Robertson: NC Catholics seek to expand policy advocacy
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RALEIGH, N.C. - The Roman Catholic Church unveiled efforts Wednesday to expand its influence in state government through a new advocacy organization that hopes to tap into North Carolina's growing Catholic population. [...] The group will survey candidates for federal and legislative offices on issues including the death penalty, abortion and same-sex marriage. Results will be presented through a Web site and diocesan publications.
[Bishop Peter Jugis of the Diocese of Charlotte] read a statement Wednesday signed by him and Burbidge supporting a bill that would allow a statewide referendum to amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage in North Carolina. Nearly 70 of 120 House members have sponsored a bill that would limit marriage to the union of one man and one woman. "We will place our considerable resources regarding this institution at the disposal of all those interested in supporting this proposed bill," the statement read. [...] Evangelical Christian groups that have been working on faith-related issues for years at the General Assembly are excited about seeing increased Catholic involvement because they agree on faith and morality, despite doctrinal differences. "I think it's a great day for North Carolina that Catholics have gotten into this fight," said the Rev. Mark Creech, a Baptist minister with the Christian Action League of North Carolina. [Article continues at link. Unstated in the article is the blindingly obvious fact that the Diocese of Charlotte has publicly renounced its claim to non-profit status by engaging in politics. Then again, if there's room at the trough then pigs will not hesitate to feed. Belly up, Bishop Jugis. Rev. Creech welcomes you. Keeping same-sex couples from enjoying the rights and responsibilities of marriage is important - far more important than doing something about the abuse, inappropriate touching, contributions to child delinquency, anal rape, oral rape, threats to children and the use of the confessional to silence clergy abuse victims happening in your very own diocese. You clearly have the high moral ground, as do the leaders of the Christian Action League. - Trevor Blake] Labels: christianity
Brian Murphy: US removes uranium from Iraq
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The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program - a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans. The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" - the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment - was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions. [...]
The yellowcake issue also is one of the many troubling footnotes of the war for Washington. A CIA officer, Valerie Plame, claimed her identity was leaked to journalists to retaliate against her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, who wrote that he had found no evidence to support assertions that Iraq tried to buy additional yellowcake from Niger. A federal investigation led to the conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. [Article continues at link. If this article is correct, I was wrong: I thought there were no nuclear worries in Iraq. - Trevor Blake]
Science Daily: Children Overestimate Cute Animals In Rainforests, While Underestimating Insects And Annelids
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Edgar Turner and colleagues at the University of Cambridge investigated children's perceptions of rainforest biodiversity by asking young visitors to the University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge, UK to draw their ideal rainforest, as part of a competition, and found that while children have a sophisticated understanding of rainforest ecosystems, they tend to overestimate the relative numbers of some taxa (mainly "cuter" mammals, birds and reptiles) while underestimating the proportions of other, less charismatic taxa, such as insects and annelids.
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Richard Meyhew and Curt Brown: Court sides with church on its ban of autistic teen
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An autistic 13-year-old boy from central Minnesota won't be going back to his family's church anytime soon. Upholding a May 13 restraining order that barred the teen from the church, Todd County District Judge Sally Ireland Robertson has ruled that 6-foot-2, 225-pound Adam Race engaged in "repeated harassment" and was perceived as a threat by those attending services at the Church of St. Joseph in the town of Bertha. Robertson said that even though Adam "did not specifically intend to harass anyone," his conduct at church services was "objectively unreasonable" and included "repeated, disruptive or distracting acts, sounds, and gestures."
[Article continues at link. As anyone who reads the Bible knows, the Church of St. Joseph was only doing what Christians are supposed to do in banning Mr. Race. God punishes the wicked with madness. God commanded that anyone with any blemish not be allowed to attend worship. Jesus Christ orders us to keep Mr. Race out of church. If God wanted Mr. Race to know eternal salvation, He would not have made him autistic. Instead, Mr. Race was made by God for the purpose of experiencing eternal suffering in Hell. God decided long ago who was going to be going to Heaven and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Sounds cruel? That's what Christianity says. What do you say? - Trevor Blake] Labels: christianity, krankheit
Science Daily: Rare Plants And Endangered Species Such As Tigers At Risk From Traditional Medicine
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Two reports from TRAFFIC, the world's largest wildlife trade monitoring network, on traditional medicine systems in Cambodia and Vietnam suggest that illegal wildlife trade, including entire tiger skeletons, and unsustainable harvesting is depleting the region's rich and varied biodiversity and putting the primary healthcare resource of millions at risk. The results of field studies carried out between 2005 and 2007 found a significant number of Cambodians and Vietnamese rely on traditional medicine. Relaxation of international trade barriers, the impact of free market economies and complex national government policies have led to an increase in the demand and supply for flora and fauna used in traditional medicine. The growing illegal wildlife trade in the region is fuelled by the difficulty of sourcing prescribed ingredients, including parts, from globally threatened species.
[Article continues at link. Rather than blaming capitalism for the loss of these plants and animals, I'd blame superstition. There is no medicinal value to be found in a tiger skeleton. Keeping that superstition in circulation to honor cultural diversity is what's killing the tigers off. You can either have hurtful superstitious nonsense treated with respect or you can have tigers. You can't have both. Scientific criticism of these traditional medicines will save the lives of rare plants and animals. - Trevor Blake] Trevor Blake: X-Day 2008
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 For all we know, right now it might be 7:00 am on July 5th 1998. That's what I thought ten years ago today, the first time it was 7:00 am on July 5th 1998. But then there was a 7:01 am... Whatever day it is, however you celebrate it, happy X-Day from the Church of the SubGenius. Labels: subgenius Trevor Blake: Who Gets to be Kitsch, Who Doesn't
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Che Guevara ordered the execution of at least fifty and perhaps more than two hundred people while serving as a prison warden in 1959. All your revolutionary needs can be purchased at The Che Store. Joseph Stalin managed to murder or starve five to ten million Russians. There's a flocked plastic statue of Uncle Joe with your name on it. Mao Zedong is responsible for the death of seventy-seven million of his commrades. Sign up now for your plastic Mao bust.
I can think of another political leader who killed more than two hundred people, less than seventy-seven million people, and around the lower amount of five to ten million. But that political leader doesn't get to be kitsch. Perhaps the difference is that you have kill some people for the betterment of all people, not just your people. Then you get to be kitsch a generation or two later.
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