Posts
Friday, September 3, 2010
Reading Tutor Update
Earlier this summer I solicited advise from my "personal board of directors" about where best to apply my interest in tutoring adults learning to read English...
Based on several recommendations I've chosen the Minnesota Literacy Council for my training and probably a placement as a reading tutor. As I undertstand things the MLC is the authorized training body for volunteer tutors in Minnesota. I'll be attending their ESL Tutor and Reading, Writing and GED Tutor courses in October (the September sessions conflicted with my coursework for my final semester working on my Masters at Saint Mary's). Thanks again to everyone who took time to provide me advice and encouragement. I'll keep you posted.
The New Atheists as God's Prophets
I've mentioned in earlier posts that I find Michael Dowd, the author of Thank God for Evolution, a challenging character...
Michael Dowd, the author of Thank God for Evolution, is a proponent of a non-supernatural, science-based appreciation of the natural world, one that comes across as a sort of pantheism when expressed in religious language. He and others describes it as religious naturalism, which imagines humanity as "star stuff...the universe made manifest trying to figure itself out."
In eSkeptic last week there was an interesting paper examining how a modern scientific world view is sandwiched between traditional religious faith and new age religion. "Wiccans v. Creationists: An Empirical Study of How Two Systems of Belief Differ" by Raymond A. Eve, is a little dry, but it touches on an idea I've been musing on lately.
Imagine a continuum that runs from a "we used to burn people at the stake for that" religious conservatism to a New Age "whatever floats your boat" inclusiveness. Most conservative, Bible-believing Christian churches are inclined to accept nothing that contradicts their interpretation of their version of scripture (all the while enjoying the fruits of the scientifice method on daily basis). Liberal churches seem pleased to dispense with any sort of scripture that conflicts with their pursuit of modernity, but are also prone to indulge a new age credulity and intellectual relativism that comes across as all too post-modern. The current crop of atheists take great pride in their skepticism, critical thinking, and the scientific method; so much so that most sound as though they are prepared to dispense with poetry, myth, and aesthetics altogether. In doing so, all three groups skip over the incredible story the best of modern science has to offer.
Now I've listened to Dowd's sermon "The New Atheists as God's Prophets" and find it compelling in a way that I suspect the strongly religious, the fuzzily spiritual, or the new atheists are not going to grok. Dowd, and his wife, Connie Barlow, seem to be standing at edges of a progressive scientific world view, inviting the conservative Christian, the New Age "spiritual but not religious," and the angry atheist alike to adopt a new poetic, if not religious, perspective.
The approach is not without its limitations. Like most preachers, Dowd likes to hear himself talk. There is no sin in that I suppose (said the blogger), but the man can be cloyingly self-referential. Maybe I only notice because I'm listening to all his podcasts back to back to catch up. I wonder if a little editorial rigor would allow them to save some time and energy by publishing one website instead of four and producing one podcast instead of a scarcely differentiated three. Maybe Michael Dowd is just really excited about his message and he's simplifying it to repeatedly drive home the key points. Maybe it's just the woo-colored, evangelical-flavor of his presentation rubs me the wrong way.
I will keep trying.
photo courtesy of photos8.com (our friend Sam has a way with sunsets, no?)
Michael Dowd, the author of Thank God for Evolution, is a proponent of a non-supernatural, science-based appreciation of the natural world, one that comes across as a sort of pantheism when expressed in religious language. He and others describes it as religious naturalism, which imagines humanity as "star stuff...the universe made manifest trying to figure itself out."
In eSkeptic last week there was an interesting paper examining how a modern scientific world view is sandwiched between traditional religious faith and new age religion. "Wiccans v. Creationists: An Empirical Study of How Two Systems of Belief Differ" by Raymond A. Eve, is a little dry, but it touches on an idea I've been musing on lately.
Imagine a continuum that runs from a "we used to burn people at the stake for that" religious conservatism to a New Age "whatever floats your boat" inclusiveness. Most conservative, Bible-believing Christian churches are inclined to accept nothing that contradicts their interpretation of their version of scripture (all the while enjoying the fruits of the scientifice method on daily basis). Liberal churches seem pleased to dispense with any sort of scripture that conflicts with their pursuit of modernity, but are also prone to indulge a new age credulity and intellectual relativism that comes across as all too post-modern. The current crop of atheists take great pride in their skepticism, critical thinking, and the scientific method; so much so that most sound as though they are prepared to dispense with poetry, myth, and aesthetics altogether. In doing so, all three groups skip over the incredible story the best of modern science has to offer.
Now I've listened to Dowd's sermon "The New Atheists as God's Prophets" and find it compelling in a way that I suspect the strongly religious, the fuzzily spiritual, or the new atheists are not going to grok. Dowd, and his wife, Connie Barlow, seem to be standing at edges of a progressive scientific world view, inviting the conservative Christian, the New Age "spiritual but not religious," and the angry atheist alike to adopt a new poetic, if not religious, perspective.
The approach is not without its limitations. Like most preachers, Dowd likes to hear himself talk. There is no sin in that I suppose (said the blogger), but the man can be cloyingly self-referential. Maybe I only notice because I'm listening to all his podcasts back to back to catch up. I wonder if a little editorial rigor would allow them to save some time and energy by publishing one website instead of four and producing one podcast instead of a scarcely differentiated three. Maybe Michael Dowd is just really excited about his message and he's simplifying it to repeatedly drive home the key points. Maybe it's just the woo-colored, evangelical-flavor of his presentation rubs me the wrong way.
I will keep trying.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Things We Learn At The Deer Rifle Sight-in (2005 Part Deux)
Once more into the breach...
I worked the second to the last deer rifle sight in day today. You guessed it, Remington selfloading rifles turned out in droves. About half were wearing see thru scope mounts (more on these abominations another time). None were shot well. The Browning BARs held their own, as did the Remington pumps. No Winchester 100 rifles but there was one 88 levergun. A couple guys with new Remington 710s were doing their best to shoot minute-of-buck at 200 yards. As usual the slug hunters with 20 bores shot better than those with 12 bores.
A large crew of Hmong hunters showed up with brand new Mossberg package guns, some in 20 gauge, others in 12. Several still had the oval blue and yellow logo sticker on the buttstock. My two clients eschewed the 25 yard line and started at 50. Within ten rounds each they had dialed in 50 yard zeroes and said "Good enough". It was interesting to coach through a translator. Each member of their family must be testing different ammo as one was using Federal Barnes coppers, another Winchester Platinum Partitions, another the ICBM-looking Hornady plastic-tipped jobs, and yet another was shooting a flatpoint full diameter hammer I'd never heard of before made by the Heavishot people.
I saw one Savage package gun break. It shot great for the son at the 25 but dad could scarcely keep them on the paper at 50. Turns out one of two screws holding the rear scope ring together stripped out giving the scope a sad case of the side to side wobbles. Back to the sporting goods store with less than a week before the opener.
Another father son team were working out with grandpa's old Remington M700. It shot okay but didn't feed very well and sometimes the bolt wouldn't go forward at all. We popped the floorplate latch to dump the rounds several times. The follower wouldn't come out very easily or go back in very easily. The bottom metal seems to stand a little proud from the stock. Then it became suddenly obvious. Sometime in the rifle's history someone had disassembled the rifle and put it back together with the magazine box in upside down. Yeah, you can do that...sorta. We set things right with many thanks from the owners and to the oohs and aahs of the gallery. This M700 was old enough that one has to turn the safety off to cycle the action so later, while the son fumbled to open the action, he touched off a round without intending to. Very exciting. Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on target!
Home and dry, I will park my body armor in the closet until next year's festivities...
image courtesy of wikimedia commons
I worked the second to the last deer rifle sight in day today. You guessed it, Remington selfloading rifles turned out in droves. About half were wearing see thru scope mounts (more on these abominations another time). None were shot well. The Browning BARs held their own, as did the Remington pumps. No Winchester 100 rifles but there was one 88 levergun. A couple guys with new Remington 710s were doing their best to shoot minute-of-buck at 200 yards. As usual the slug hunters with 20 bores shot better than those with 12 bores.
A large crew of Hmong hunters showed up with brand new Mossberg package guns, some in 20 gauge, others in 12. Several still had the oval blue and yellow logo sticker on the buttstock. My two clients eschewed the 25 yard line and started at 50. Within ten rounds each they had dialed in 50 yard zeroes and said "Good enough". It was interesting to coach through a translator. Each member of their family must be testing different ammo as one was using Federal Barnes coppers, another Winchester Platinum Partitions, another the ICBM-looking Hornady plastic-tipped jobs, and yet another was shooting a flatpoint full diameter hammer I'd never heard of before made by the Heavishot people.
I saw one Savage package gun break. It shot great for the son at the 25 but dad could scarcely keep them on the paper at 50. Turns out one of two screws holding the rear scope ring together stripped out giving the scope a sad case of the side to side wobbles. Back to the sporting goods store with less than a week before the opener.
Another father son team were working out with grandpa's old Remington M700. It shot okay but didn't feed very well and sometimes the bolt wouldn't go forward at all. We popped the floorplate latch to dump the rounds several times. The follower wouldn't come out very easily or go back in very easily. The bottom metal seems to stand a little proud from the stock. Then it became suddenly obvious. Sometime in the rifle's history someone had disassembled the rifle and put it back together with the magazine box in upside down. Yeah, you can do that...sorta. We set things right with many thanks from the owners and to the oohs and aahs of the gallery. This M700 was old enough that one has to turn the safety off to cycle the action so later, while the son fumbled to open the action, he touched off a round without intending to. Very exciting. Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on target!
Home and dry, I will park my body armor in the closet until next year's festivities...
Friday, August 27, 2010
Speaking Truth to Power
Is not always appreciated...
It seems Army Col. Lawrence Sellin didn't much like what he encountered during his assignment as a staff officer at the NATO International Security Assistance Force Joint Command in Kabul, Afghanistan. So he wrote an Op Ed about it for UPI. Oops...not a resume enhancing maneuver. Needless to say his assignment has been terminated (gratefully not with extreme prejudice). It certainly looks like he violated some very clear standing orders against communicating with the media without submitting it to public relations in advance, but who among us has not suffered through a death by powerpoint presentation? Hopefully, Mr. Sellin will continue writing for UPI.
It seems Army Col. Lawrence Sellin didn't much like what he encountered during his assignment as a staff officer at the NATO International Security Assistance Force Joint Command in Kabul, Afghanistan. So he wrote an Op Ed about it for UPI. Oops...not a resume enhancing maneuver. Needless to say his assignment has been terminated (gratefully not with extreme prejudice). It certainly looks like he violated some very clear standing orders against communicating with the media without submitting it to public relations in advance, but who among us has not suffered through a death by powerpoint presentation? Hopefully, Mr. Sellin will continue writing for UPI.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Danger Room!
Been following the WIRED Danger Room blog off and on for a while now...
Subtitled "What's Next in National Security" the Danger Room has assembled a team of writers who are smart and smart-assed, serious and snarky. They love sticking it to dumb ideas hatched in the "homeland security space," but report on serious stuff too. Among other titles their sub-categories include Darpawatch, Less-Lethal, and Paper Pusher, Beltway Bandits, Politicians. What can I say? I have a soft spot for talented irreverence.
Subtitled "What's Next in National Security" the Danger Room has assembled a team of writers who are smart and smart-assed, serious and snarky. They love sticking it to dumb ideas hatched in the "homeland security space," but report on serious stuff too. Among other titles their sub-categories include Darpawatch, Less-Lethal, and Paper Pusher, Beltway Bandits, Politicians. What can I say? I have a soft spot for talented irreverence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)