Monthly Archives: March 2007

Fun With Right-Wing Radicalism in Japan

Oh yeah, we definitely need this.I’m going to write as if the whole article were true. If it seems an extreme account to you, the one above, please leave comments and refer me to other sources.A acquaintance of mine who visits Japan regularly has noted that there seems to be a want by some to …

March 31, 2007 – 7:02 pm | By ashok | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Towards A Better Media: Blogging and Op-Ed

Instead of making grand pronouncements about how the Internet and technology are changing the way we take in and use information, perhaps we should recognize that there is a humility in specialization. For to specialize could mean that one becomes supremely arrogant (*ahem*), but it also means one can hold off on pronouncing on a …

March 30, 2007 – 9:50 pm | By ashok | Posted in blogging, media | Comments (1)

Just Some Links

Some very right-wing posts of mine at Irate Nation, if you haven’t seen them yet: “The Story of America” and “Does Technology Necessitate Changes in the Nature of Politics?” I wrote these and thought they were pretty polemical; now I’m kinda wishing I had saved them for this blog, as they explore a lot of …

March 30, 2007 – 5:12 am | By ashok | Posted in links | Comments (1)

Lies, Truth and Our Lives

Inspired by “The Departed.” Thanks to Joshua Rocks for listening to and critiquing these musings.Those related to us genetically know our worst tendencies, and think they know of what we are capable. Knowledge of one’s genesis and what came before should therefore allow one to control another, if one has such knowledge.It is against this …

March 29, 2007 – 6:04 am | By ashok | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (2)

Teaching Rationality: On Death Cab for Cutie’s "Lightness"

Lightness Death Cab for Cutie There’s a tear in the fabric of your favorite dress And I’m sneaking glances. Looking for the patterns in static They start to make sense the longer I’m at it. Ivory lines lead oo wha-ho, oo wha-ho Your heart is a river that flows from your chest through every organ. …

March 28, 2007 – 3:25 am | By ashok | Posted in music | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Regarding Love and The Birth of Art: On Keats’ "To Autumn"

To Autumn John Keats I. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and …

March 27, 2007 – 1:47 am | By ashok | Posted in keats, love, poetry | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Blogging – Too Much News? Too Many Questions?

This recent article about how a well-written blog has made the case against the White House and Justice Dept. for the firing of federal lawyers has me thinking about a more general issue: As blogging becomes an increasingly larger force in how we get and interpret the news, will news itself become more gossip-oriented, and …

March 26, 2007 – 8:17 pm | By ashok | Posted in blogging, media, politics | Comments (1)

Concentration

I’ve been reading poetry all day and listening to music, and I’ve been chiding myself until now for not working.Then it hit me: I haven’t really listened to any music in 2 weeks in Texas, or focused on any poetry, save for that poem by Blake Josh was kind enough to bring up.I have to …

March 25, 2007 – 8:53 pm | By ashok | Posted in personal | Comments (1)

And Things Are Good, I Think…

Written comps went well, and I’m looking forward to working on my Greek even though that language requirement has been passed.There is still a modern language requirement to deal with, which means I must work on my German and translate a bit daily, and there are oral examinations coming up soon.I want to thank all …

March 25, 2007 – 2:55 am | By ashok | Posted in personal | Comments (0)

The Efficacy of Law Via Reason

All quotes from St. Thomas Aquinas, Treatise on Law, can be found here. We have reflected before how law’s primary concern might be with the passions – that a law lasts depends on the sentiments people have toward it and what it represents; what a law does seems to involve the restraint of sentiment. Now …

March 23, 2007 – 11:57 am | By ashok | Posted in philosophy, politics | Tagged | Comments (0)