more philosophy

Poetry Is a Destructive Force
by Wallace Stevens


That's what misery is,
Nothing to have at heart.
It is to have or nothing.

It is a thing to have,
A lion, an ox in his breast,
To feel it breathing there.

Corazon, stout dog,
Young ox, bow-legged bear,
He tastes its blood, not spit.

He is like a man
In the body of a violent beast.
Its muscles are his own. . .

The lion sleeps in the sun.
Its nose is on its paws.
It can kill a man.

Sing, lonely toadfish

Toadfish Song May Help Heal Humans

The love song of the lonely toadfish is giving scientists new insight on fighting human muscular diseases.

[...] The toadfish, which can be found in the North Pacific from California all the way to Alaska, makes the humming sound by vibrating a set of sonic muscles on its air bladder 6,000 times a minute for more than an hour at a time, an amazing combination of speed and endurance. The human heart, by contrast, beats about 60-80 times a minute.

That kind of muscular capability could lead to clues on fighting human muscle diseases, such as the weakening disorder nemaline myopathy, says Kuan Wang of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

fragments, 12/18/03

12:42 p.m.

Altering one's brain alters reality.

8:52 p.m.

Organic knowledge. That's the good stuff.

9:25 p.m.

A human being is a force of nature!

9:48 p.m.

What if life and death are simply field reversal?

That makes reincarnation make sense.

Spiritual Journal, 12/11/03

Of course. Christ and Demeter are one.

(no subject)

'Til Politics Do Us Part': Gender Gap Widens

[...] Highly educated men and women increasingly view the political world in dramatically different ways: Men are mostly Republicans, women are predominantly Democrats. A modest gender gap among Americans who don't have college educations balloons for those with a college degree or more.

The political divide between college-educated men and women has been growing for a decade. And the trend has become more important as the number of women getting undergraduate and postgraduate degrees has surged.

"Highly educated women are a new Democratic base, almost to the same extent as union voters and ethnic voters," says Democratic pollster Geoff Garin. Meanwhile, Republicans have made gains among all blue-collar workers, especially men.

The result: The stereotypes of the two political parties - Democrats as the party of the working stiff, Republicans as representing those with money in the bank - no longer fit. Each party has become a more complicated coalition in which social issues and "values" are as much a unifying force as traditional bread-and-butter concerns.

my favorite American century

Events Which Influenced and Shaped the United States, 1800-1899

Some interesting bits:

1800: Horse-drawn railroads go into use in Eastern United States (early 1800's).

1802: Napoleon proclaims himself emperor.

1803: To get money for war, Napoleon sells Louisiana Territory to U.S.

1803: Atomic theory first published.

1810: Census counts 7,239,881 persons in United States.

1828: Noah Webster publishes American Dictionary of English Language, Apr 14.

1835: U.S.A. becomes debt free (briefly) for only time in history.

1864: In God We Trust put on American coins for the first time April 22.

1892: Pledge of Allegiance published. Changes made in 1954.