Tim Wise has many things to say on the topic of racism in America. His analysis is deft and competent, I reprint the introduction to his essay “Getting What We Deserve? Wealth, Race and Entitlement in America” for the benefit of the education of my readership. Educational purposes aside, many
Continue readingAuthor: The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses: OWS and Social Conformity – The Fear of a Different Model
Reflect on how the people involved in the OWS are framed and then consider this lecture by Allan Watts. Filed under: Politics, Social Science Tagged: Counter-Culture, Normative Attitudes, OWS, Sociolgy
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Oh hey, Socialism good for business – Social Safety Nets and Business Start-Ups
Grabbed from Sociological Images – Again, more evidence that egalitarian policies are good not only for people, but for business. “George W. Bush did not really say, “The problem with the French is that they have no word for entrepreneur.” But that statement does fit with the American tendency to view our country as […]
Dead Wild Roses: You Conform more than you know – Theramin Trees Tackles Conformity
Think of yourself as strong willed? An outlier? I bet you’re not The psychology of group interactions is fascinating, and Theramin Trees explores historical and more recent research on the topic.
Filed under: Science Tagged: Conformity…
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Qualia Soup – Of Objectivity and Oughtness
Do you still think there are absolute morals? QS may persuade you otherwise as he tackles the arguments for god based on the existence of morality. As a side benefit he also does a wonderful job of explaining the is/ought problem. Grab a coffee as this vid weights in at 17 minutes, but I assure […]
Dead Wild Roses: White Privilege – Tim Wise
Acceptable and unacceptable topics of the debate today.
Filed under: Politics, Racism Tagged: Politics, Primer for White People, Racism, White Privilege
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Friday Classical Music Interlude – Verdi Requiem – Dies Irae
Throughout the work, Verdi uses vigorous rhythms, sublime melodies, and dramatic contrasts—much as he did in his operas—to express the powerful emotions engendered by the text. The terrifying (and instantly recognizable) Dies irae that introduces the traditional sequence of the Latin funeral rite is repeated throughout for a sense of unity, which allows Verdi to […]
Dead Wild Roses: Ahoy! – Shipwreck Casserole for the masses.
A little change up from the usual Thursday post. Shipwreck casserole is one of my favourite foods to eat and prepare. It is a balanced one dish meal. Ingredients: 2 medium onions 1 cup of thinly sliced carrots 3 medium potatoes 1 lb hamburger, uncooked (or 1/2 and 1/2 with ground pork) 1/2 cup […]
Dead Wild Roses: Noam Chomsky on OWS
This is all repost folks. The article from alter.net is long, but clearly written and provides a great deal of context as to what OWS is and what it needs to do to continue its success. Do you want to actually understand some of what OWS? is about? Make the time and read this article. […]
Dead Wild Roses: The Battle for Womens’ Health & Modernity – In the US?
You would think that contraception would be a fairly straightforward issue. Women need reproductive autonomy and choice when planning their family. Of course, once the religious get involved things rapidly go down hill. Articles like the following should not have to be written… “PRCH (Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health) supports the recent recommendation […]
Dead Wild Roses: Willing to Bet on Your God? – Choose rationality instead.
Betting on infinity is a tough choice to justify. Pascal tried and failed… will you?
Filed under: Ethics, Religion Tagged: god, infinity, Religion, theramin trees
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Other chairs available, O provider of kibble…
Occupy the Living Room Chair, coming to a comfy seat near you! Filed under: Humour Tagged: 3 cats, Cute, Kittens, Occupy Armchair
Dead Wild Roses: Evil Evolutionists! – The Hobby Horse of Creationism
It is always funny to watch people try to argue against evolution without actually knowing what evolution is. Constructing straw men to beat down, making appeals to ignorance and arguments from incredulity seem to be the game plan for most arguments of the religious against well established scientific fact. The Living Dinosaur makes a great […]
Dead Wild Roses: The OWS movement and the Media
The long winter in Canada and the United States is going to challenge the OWS movement. Living in a tent sucks at the best of times, but add snow and cold temperatures to the mix and the proposition becomes quite untenable (at least to my delicate tastes). I hope that the organizers of the OWS […]
Dead Wild Roses: The Friday Classical Music Interlude – Vivaldi – Winter.
I think winter has finally arrived for me. Listening to the radio, they were talking about -16 degree windchill and snow at the International Airport. Today, I may have to put the shorts away. Although I am not ready to concede to closed toe footwear yet. In light of such momentous weather news, let’s start […]
Dead Wild Roses: The CBC’s 75th Anniversary – Part of What Canada Is.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is an integral part of Canadian culture. Canada’s national broadcaster helps bring the nation together and provide a common media space for Canadians to interact and share their ideas together. Canadians are so very lucky to have a public broadcaster to provide a voice of relative sanity in the cluttered media […]
Dead Wild Roses: OWS – Media Bias at its best.
Liberal viewer does his usual exemplary job of describing the media. Faux News never fails to deliver when it comes to making sure that the interests of the people are marginalized and put forth in the worst possible light. The OWS movement has brought new life into the economic debate in the US opening […]
Dead Wild Roses: Ignorance is Strength – A view through the looking glass of “Conservative christian Thought”
I promised myself I would not do this again, but it happened anyways *sigh*. I went back to Usneakydevilu’s blog and perused the articles there. Bad move, I’m guessing my SIWOTI gnome needs feeding and wanted the *full* buffet style treatment. I am aware of the nuclear grade delusion running front and centre there, but […]
Dead Wild Roses: Relativism – Obscuring the Line between Shite and Shinola – Terence Mckenna
Mr.Mckenna on relativism and how it makes us into polite but foolish people. I see the religiously addled beginning to froth thinking perhaps that once we get rid or relativism we can get back to the unctuous vapidity of absolute morality…no no kiddies, what we are talking about here is moving debate back toward rational […]
Dead Wild Roses: Patriarchy – Killing Women Near You
Patriarchy offers so many yummy selections of shit sandwich for women. Rape culture, sexism, inequality are hallmarks of the patriarchal construction of our society. The implicit nature of Western patriarchal norms have nothing on what is going on in cultures where said norms are firmly entrenched in the bedrock of society. Modern medical technology coupled […]