The Eternal Gaijin

There's a strange debate that's been starting up on between the Uncredible Halq and Pooflingers Anonymous . Over AD vs CE. As in 1968 AD or 1968 CE. Okay it's not a heated debate; more of a divergence of opinions. But it places the Halq on the same side as The Blue Site over the debate. And oddly it places me on the same side as a reality-dismissing paranoid on the issue. Now, keep in mind, I studied history and see the BC/AD thing as a bit of an artifact, but one that I don't really see the need to get rid of. I've never had any use for BCE/CE. For a couple of reasons. More on that in a minute. The Blue Sites point is the usual rant that any attempt to neutralize exclusive language or use some construction that is a bit more inclusive is an attack on Christianity. (apparently this is brought about as a reaction to this list at the Language Monitor ) The post then sort of devolves into the usual What-About-Our-Religion and the 10-Commandments-is-the-source-of-it-a...

I recently got 15/20 when recognizing fake smiles from real. I think I had hoped for better since I feel like I'm relatively sensitive to body language am fairly intuitive. You may find it interesting to try yourself. I find all of this interesting since reading How the Mind Works by Stephen Pinker as well as several books on management and such. The thing that's most interesting is the universality of it. All people recognize the same emotions the same way (despite what a lot of people will tell you)

Just trying to give any visitors a bit of an idea about what they're dealing with. Handholder You go out of your way to build bridges with people of different views and beliefs and have quite a few religious friends. You believe in the essential goodness of people , which means you’re always looking for common ground even if that entails compromises. You would defend Salman Rushdie’s right to criticise Islam but you’re sorry he attacked it so viciously, just as you feel uncomfortable with some of the more outspoken and unkind views of religion in the pages of this magazine. You prefer the inclusive approach of writers like Zadie Smith or the radical Christian values of Edward Said. Don’t fall into the same trap as super–naïve Lib Dem MP Jenny Tonge who declared it was okay for clerics like Yusuf al–Qaradawi to justify their monstrous prejudices as a legitimate interpr...

Reason needs work. A great post over at Pharyngula points makes that clear near the end. I've been watching the quality of public debate in the US decline since the Reagan years; I'm not old enough to remember Nixon. Some of the selections in the post highlight that everyone is trying to claim reason and right for themselves without realizing that with reason comes the acceptance that right has a chance of not being on your side. I wonder sometimes what this portends for us. In some ways the tone of political debate is declining, but I thinks there's still more room for middleground here. I hope.