My Grandma passed away last week. We had her funeral today. After the service, the ladies from the Lutheran Church had sandwiches and casserole dishes of macaroni-&-cheese and crock pots full of baked beans for everyone.
It was a very Lake Wobegone kind of scene, and it made me homesick.
Grandma was a very nice lady, and it’s sad to see her go. I will do my best to honor her memory by continuing to enjoy some of the things that she enjoyed:
Bye, Grandma!
The Undead and Philosophy
It’s a collection of essays by various professional philosophers about the philosophical significance of zombie and vampire stories, with a few digressions into specials cases, like bioethics of the Frankenstein monster and the problematic case of the not-quite-undead “Infected” people from the 28 Days Later films.
Some of the topics I found most interesting were discussions of the ethical considerations between zombies and vampires. Vampires are fully self-aware, so staking them without due process is somewhat problematic from a human rights standpoint. Zombies, on the other hand, are not “people,” and can be dispatched without ethical consideration. This, of course leads to discussion about why zombies are not people in a way that vampires are, and what exactly does it take to be considered a “person.”
There are also a few essays on political philosophy, which I found interesting. During a zombie outbreak, should you adopt an “every man for himself” individualistic strategy, or band together in more communitarian groups? The Romero films explore these themes in some depth.
Framing the obscure ideas of philosophy in terms of pop culture is a great way to make philosophy accessible to non-academics, and The Undead and Philosophy
Like the rest of the series, the book is not available for Kindle, which burns my ass to no end, but nevertheless, I give it 4 Jihadis out of 5.
If you want a taste of what the book is like, you can read Wayne Yuen’s essay on “The Bloody Connection Between Vampires and Vegetarians” online for free. It’s probably a representative sample of what the rest of the book is like.
Well this is just fucking great.
Obama creates faith-based office with wide mission
Before signing the order in the Oval Office, Obama told a prayer breakfast it would show not favoritism to any religious group and would adhere to the strict separation of church and state.
Uh, forcing me to tithe to faiths I don’t believe in shows favoritism to those faiths. Giving government monies to religious groups is the very definition of violating the separation of church and state.
I really hope that Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is getting some loot out of this.
Don’t ride your bike on the sidewalk in New Jersey, or the pigs will beat the shit out of you.
Reason #5,673 to stay the hell away from Jersey.
Anyone with any kind of aesthetic sense knows that a sloping top tube is an abomination.
I really hope President Obama can do something about the value of the Dollar vs. the Yen before we’re all riding around on mixtes.
