Sunday, May 31, 2009

Vienna; Where you can enjoy fall weather in May!

Shitty weather

A man from Wien was upset the other day when it was actually warm...

warm the way one would expect in May...

He was complaining frantically about sweating!!

Oh my god!  Sweating!  How unpleasant.

And this cold November shit, when it's almost JUNE for crying out loud,
well,
when it's cold, he says "angenehm"

no, Wien is not a nice place....

Sunday, May 24, 2009

democracy in the university?

Over at the Leiter Reports
there is a link to an interview with the Professor of Philosophy John Perry.

Perry mentions the case of Rogers Albritton.  Albritton was widely
recognized as making a large contribution to his colleagues and students
although he did not publish.  In Perry's terms, (If I recall rightly),
Albritton made a contribution to the profession or to philosophy....

However, the people who run the universities don't like that.

What is striking about the way Perry tells the story is Perry's resignation
in the face of a system
where Perry and other scholars have so little power.

The Dean made an exception for Albritton.  But the Dean made it clear
that this could not be repeated.

Why not?  Perry doesn't ask that question or consider the question of the
Dean's authority? Why is the Dean's decision more important than the
decision of the faculty who will work with whoever they hire?  And why is the 
Dean better able to judge the consequences of hiring a given individual?
What special knowledge does a Dean have which allows him to overrule the
faculty?

Why are publications more important than teaching and collegiality?
Perry actually says that in doing research he relies on others to tell
him about what to read.

One possibility is that the people who run universities have a crude
capitalist mentality:  publications are like widgets and every factory
must have high output.

Perry didn't stop to even ask the question, and neither did his interviewer
(I've only watched the early part of the interview, so perhaps I missed
something.....)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

noise....noise...and more noise

Wien is a noisy city.
My neighborhood is noisy.

Today is a holiday, so one of my many neighbors in this congested area
is flooding the streets with their favorite music.

Not pleasant.

That's my Wien.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Religion as a Cause of Suffering

A religious fanatic of my acquaintance recently sent me this link


The article there seems to attribute amazing views to the Catholic Pope.

He seems to threaten us with the fear that any attempt to make the world more just will
inevitably lead to more Gulags.

Of course, I certainly don't believe that.

This is shockingly evil.  It justifies and condones misery and suffering around the world.

This version of religion is certainly extreme.


Friday, May 1, 2009

Honesty and Dishonesty about Torture

Alfred McCoy, the historian who has been studying and writing about the policy of US government
torture was interviewed at Democracy Now.

His honesty is in striking contrast to
the evasiveness and dishonesty of
Condoleeza Rice

SEE FOR YOURSELF AT DEMOCRACY NOW

May Day

Was struck by the following line over at the BBC website


"There is a growing perception that little has been done to protect the ordinary person's job and wages, while executives from banks bailed out by the government have enjoyed generous pay-offs and bonuses, she says." (She =Paris correspondent Emma Jane Kirby)

Well, this is not just a perception/ it's the truth. Such under-statement and indirection is a form of deception. It weakens the fundamental criticism in a dishonest way.

More accurate language would use what dictionary's call vulgar language:
We have been F***ED by our governments who are in league with wealthy financial institutions, governments who are
not, actually, democratic. The governments serve their interests--the banker's interests....

The article was titled
"Police Battle May Day Protesters"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8028237.stm


One might also question the framing of the events, the readiness to emphasize property damage, etc.--especially the tendency to blur the distinction between violence against persons and property damage by calling everything
"violence"....

That is, a more careful reading of the article would need to address these possible errors. I am only registering a suspicion
that there would prove to be distortion if one examined the article more carefully....