If only Mel Gibson had Internet access...
"The Notes emphasize that because the Church and the Jewish people are 'linked together at the very level of their identity', an accurate, sensitive, and positive appreciation of Jews and Judaism 'should not occupy an occasional or marginal place in Christian teaching', but be considered 'essential' to Christian proclamation."

New Scientist - Crops 'widely contaminated' by genetically modified DNA
"Until now concern about GM contamination has focused on cross-pollination in the field. But the authors guess that much of the contamination has arisen from a failure to keep GM and traditional seeds apart during manufacture and distribution."

I am trying to keep an open mind about GM foods and don't dismiss them out of hand based upon the science and theory, but the troublesome thing about them, aside from the lack of adequate testing, is the fact that human beings are in charge of these things. Some slight human error in handling this stuff can cause havoc for a long time and for a LOT of people.

Powell's Books - The Awakening of Zen by D T Suzuki
"But this much I think we can say, that Zen is a kind of self-consciousness. I see a table before me. I know I am the one who sees it, and I am fully conscious of myself experiencing the event. But Zen is not here yet, something more must be added to it, or must be discovered in it, in order to make this event of seeing really Zen. The question is now: what is this something? It is in all likelihood that which turns my eye inside out and sees itself, not as a reflection, but as a kind of superself which is hidden behind the moral and psychological self. I call this discovery spiritual self-consciousness. No amount of explanation will bring you to this form of self-consciousness. It unfolds itself from the depths of consciousness. No hammering at the door from outside will open it -- it opens by itself from within."

It's What's For Dinner (Harpers.org)
Yum!

American Splendor
My new favorite movie of 2003. How Paul Giamatti failed to get nominated for a Best Actor Oscar is beyond me.

MITCH ALBOM: Hasek out for season; Cup chase falls to Cujo
This must be the most delicate groin in history. I mean, late in the NFL season this year Ram's DT Brian Young went down with a TEAR in his groin muscle and returned about 3 weeks later! Unbelievable.

Higher Medicare Costs Suspected for Months (washingtonpost.com)
So let me get this straight. You say that the new drug bill will make Medicare 'more competitive' with private insurers, then you say that since you now think more people will sign up for the private insurance instead of Medicare, the cost of the bill will go up 25%. Explain to me again what you mean by 'more competitive'. Uh, Senator Kennedy, what was the part of this bill you found so appealing?

ESPN.com - NFL - Warner apologizes for faith remark commotion
What I find most disturbing in all this is the fact that Warner apparently had no idea that anyone was LISTENING to what he was saying as he "preached". He cannot come out of this looking like anything resembling "good". If he was exagerrating during his sermon then he offends those he was preaching to. If he wasn't, then he offends those he has to work with.

USA Vanguard - This is how Bush supports our troops

First post

Hello everyone...er...maybe that should be ANYone.

Just a brief post to explain myself. I am just a run-of-the-mill PC programmer with no axe to grind, no leftist/centrist/rightist agenda, nothing to sell and nothing to gain by posting anything here. But as I have gotten older I have found that when I am confronted by things that just don't quite seem right, I want to be able to write it down somewhere and let someone else know.

Basically, that is the idea here. Which, if you have read Llinas' book (see "About" to the left), is the reason for the title. As my thalmocortical vortex comes across something odd, it blogs.