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December 30, 2004

Gone Flat

As I was riding home last night, enjoying the warm-ish winter twilight, I flatted around 28th and Smallman Streets. No problem, I thought. I hopped off my bike, walked up to the sidewalk, and got to work. As I dug through my took pouch, I noticed I was missing two key components of this pit stop -- tyre levers. Instantly, I knew I was stuck -- I could not possibly get the front tyre off without them (the bead is so tight, I actually have trouble with tyre levers, so bare hands were out of the question). Nothing left to do but sheepishly call Jen and ask for a ride....

I only hope I've broken the spell of multiple flats -- for whatever reason, they tend to come to me in bunches. At least I have one more spare tube. It might be time to invest in a better set of tyres with a kevlar belt.

December 29, 2004

Misplaced Efforts?

It seems some geeks and tech-heads have banded together to help restore internet connectivity to areas hit by the tsunami. While this sounds noble, isn't it true that the people most effected by the tsunami and the earthquake are least likely to have been connected (as in connected to the internet) in the first place? Are these people just helping the vacationers and foreigners? Perhaps I'm all wrong here, and 80% of the population of the portion of Asia was struck by this disaster are active online, but if I'm not, it seems to be a bit of waste of resources given the magnitude of suffering at the moment.

Speaking of Public Intellectuals...

Given the amount of discussion generated on Gideon Strauss' site about the concept of public intellectuals, I find it fitting to mention Christopher Hitchens' eulogy to Susan Sontag, public intellectual, who passed away this week.

December 28, 2004

Christians Fighting for Liberty (of all kinds)

Christian lawyers in the ACLU?

This is interesting, and presents a potential dilemma for Christian lawyers. I guess my first question would be -- can a Christian work at the ACLU and work strictly within the religious liberty department? I assume there could be cases would could require a Christian to work for something that is soundly against biblical values. Most Christians/conservatives believe the ACLU to be a communist organization bent on destroying Christianity and everything that is good with this country, but stop and think for moment. Thanks to watchdogs like the ACLU, Christians are free to preach the word of God, free to gather and worship, and free to believe what they wish. Rewind roughly two thousand years. The first members of Christianity were routinely imprisoned, tortured, or killed for preaching the word of God. Sure, there are plenty of roadblocks for postmodern Christians, but generally those roadblocks, at least here in the United States, don't involve putting one's life at risk to simply worship.

This is a bit of chicken/egg problem. Many Christians want our government to reflect their beliefs, and govern based on them. You may call this a theocracy, but it may or may not be a theocracy, depending on the practice. But, I digress. So, do Christians simply try to inflitrate government, and influence policy to reflect Christian theology/faith? Or should Christians work bottom up -- that is, changing culture one piece at a time, changing people's hearts by sharing the Gospel with them? If you choose the latter path, the ACLU, love them or hate them, is an important part of the equation. Christians have to operate within the idelogical framework of the Constitution (like it or not), and an organization like the ACLU prevents anyone from stepping on our Constitutional toes. Unfortunately, Christians have to watch the ACLU fight for others who stand against Christianity, but that is the price that has to be paid for liberty and equality. These groups can say what they will about Christianity (or anything else), but they cannot infringe on our right to worship, pray, and spread the Gospel.

December 27, 2004

Tragedy

The news coming from Asia about the amount of destruction caused by a tsunami is staggering. Slate had this bit of information this morning:

The Los Angeles Times online initially used the term "tidal waves" (as did TP), but as the Wall Street Journal explains in a tsunami Q&A, these waves weren't caused by tides. Rather, Sunday's tsunami was spawned when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the worst in 40 years, ruptured the sea floor deep below the Indian Ocean. An Italian scientist says the earthquake was so powerful that it disturbed the Earth's rotation.

The last sentence is particularly amazing. And a few other interesting, and shocking, notes:

As the WP points out in a separate article, the tragedy could have been attenuated by early-warning systems like the ones that exist for the Pacific Ocean. After the earthquake, it took the tsunami an hour to get to Thailand and 2.5 hours to get to India and Sri Lanka. American officials wanted to warn the countries but had no way of doing so. Moving people a mere three hundred yards inland could have saved thousands of lives.

December 26, 2004

New Music

Challenger

Excellent electro-noise pop.

Reforming Capitalism

Reading: Capitalism and Progress by Bob Goudzwaard.

The book traces the foundations of capitalism through the philosophical trends beginning with the Renaissance. I'm not through the book yet, so:

a) don't ruin it for me.
b) if I assume too much on the part of Goudzwaard, don't be too upset at me.

What has been most interesting so far is the case Goudzwaard makes for the distinctly humanist roots of capitalism. Many people like to associate the rise of capitalism with the rise of Calvinism, but Goudzwaard makes his case against that by tracing the gradual shift from a God-centered philosophy/society in the Middle Ages to a human-centered society by the end of the Enlightenment. While the fathers of modern free market economics, most notably Adam Smith, were deists, Goudzwaard points out that their watchmaker God was a not a direct influence on the rise of the free market economy. What was a greater influence was the increasing shift to faith not in God, but in human progress.

His points are well-taken. The Enlightenment was about throwing off the mantle of the Church, and belief in God, and embracing the power of humanity, and the promise of the progress humanity could achieve. While Calvin has done much in the redemption of labor, to claim that Calvinism and Puritanism have been driving forces in the development of the free market economy does seem to ignore history. But if Goudzwaard is right, what claim do we have for redeeming the institution of capitalism? Remember that I haven't the book yet, and Goudzwaard suggests he has an alternative solution for the ills that capitalism has brought with it. But, at the moment, based on his survey on the philosophical foundations of capitalism, how do we seek to redeem an institution that was the offshoot of a movement to marginalize Christianity?

December 23, 2004

Wittgenstein

I've always enjoyed reading Ludwig Wittgenstein. I spent several years at school focusing on him and his theories (and how they related to theology) -- due mostly to my advisor's interest in him -- and I read and re-read his work periodically. Today I found this entry on a Crooked Timber contributor's site, and realized it's been some time since I've read anything. Perhaps I'll dust off Culture and Value over the holidays.

I've always admired Wittgenstein as a philosopher, primarily because he always saw philosophy as merely a part of his life and world. Read through the Wikipedia entry, and you'll see that his list of accomplishments spans many disciplines. And his only work published during his lifetime was written while serving as a soldier during World War I.

December 22, 2004

Geek-Specific Humor

GridBag

If you've never done Java GUI programming circa 1999, don't even bother clicking on the link -- you won't get it. Otherwise, enjoy.

December 21, 2004

Many Things

Lately I've been unmotivated to write in the space. It's not that I haven't been thinking about things (there's been plenty of fodder provided by Gideon Strauss), it's that I haven't had the time or motivation to write coherent responses to those things. I have been collecting a reading list, however, and hopefully I'll make some progress on it during the holidays. Here's what's in the hopper:

* The Executed God. A Christian perspective on the lock-down culture in America.
* A long list of articles and books about the relationship between Christianity and Evolution (and specifically Darwinism). Lots of historical perspectives, too, tracing the development of Darwinism and the Christians responses to it. As a side note, this list was given to me by a friend who is a philosophy of science doctoral candidate at Pitt, with an emphasis on evolutionary/developmental theory.
* A book of essays by Herman Dooyeweerd.

That should keep me busy, and hopefully I'll be prodded into writing a bit more.

December 20, 2004

Cold Cruisin'

It's rather chilly here in Pittsburgh this morning (temperatures hovering around 0 degrees fahrenheit without wind chill), and we had a fair amount of snow yesterday. So, out of respect for my Steamroller, I fixed up the old singlespeed mountain bike this weekend and rode it to work through the snow and slush. The bike is currently geared at 32x16 (the traditional SS mountain bike gearing), so I wasn't exactly moving quickly. Hopefully the roads will clear up tomorrow and I can ride the Steamroller again. Perhaps I should sell the mountain bike and buy a beater fixie...

The Iron City Icepick

Saturday afternoon was the Iron City Icepick, the year's last alleycat. The winter storm held off for a few hours, and the weather was actually quite nice for a ride around the city -- temperatures around 40 degrees with little wind. The clouds even parted for a bit for a nice little sunset. The race wasn't as well attended as the previous one -- there were perhaps 25 people who started -- but a group of messengers made the trip from Philadelphia, and there were some new faces in the crowd of usual suspects.

The format was simple, and very messenger-like: you got one of two manifests when you registered, describing two pickups and deliveries. Once those were finished, you headed back to the start area (Duke's bar in Oakland) to get the other manifest. I started (as did most people) with the black manifest -- two pickups in Bloomfield, with deliveries in South Oakland and East Liberty. I was hanging with the lead group until the mayhem at the second pickup. I fell off the back of the first group, but stayed well ahead of the second group, meaning I'd probably spend most of the race alone. I lost time when I had some problems finding the South Oakland delivery -- the best reason to stay with the lead group, but I think I made some of that up when I swung back into East Liberty. After the delivery it was back to Duke's to get the pink manifest.

It wasn't much different than the black -- a pickup and delivery in Bloomfield, a pickup in South Oakland, and delivery at Dee's Cafe in the South Side. Bloomfield went quickly, and at the South Oakland pickup quickly as well, but I knew I'd lose some time getting to the South Side, just because I wasn't sure of the most efficient path. The trip there did provide one of the nicest moments ofthe race -- riding across the mostly dark Birmingham Bridge after dark, with the city glowing all around. The ride back to Duke's was hard, as expected, but I survived and was soon on my way back to Duke's.

Final score? I finished eleventh, which has been my best finish so far. I know I could have cracked the top ten had I stayed with the lead group, but, oh well, and at least I managed to keep the second group behind me.

December 17, 2004

Speaking Too Soon

I jumped the gun a bit when I listed Subaru's WRC team for next season -- Mikko Hirvonen had yet to be signed, and today, Subaru announced that Chris Atkinson would share the second works car with Stephane Sarrazin. Atkinson will drive the loose surface events, with Sarrazin piloting the Impreza on the sealed surface events. Hirvonen will likely sign a one-off deal with Ford/M-Sport, driving a 2003 spec WRC Focus for most of the season.

December 15, 2004

Something to Look Forward To

Antithesis has an interesting splash page at the moment, and I love their warning at the very bottom.

Public Intellectuals and the Neocalvinist Tradition

Gideon Strauss has opened a great discussion about the current crop of public intellectuals and his desire to see three (!) neocalvinists on the list in the very near future. The discussion is well worth a look.

Being There

Derek Melleby has started a series on necalvinism, and that got me thinking. Neocalvinism seems to be a distinctly academic adventure, with the loudest voices being professors and other involved in higher education. In fact, Derek quotes Byron Borger's thoughts on the subject, and he hammers home one of the goals of neocalvinism:

we need to re-think the inner structures of each academic discipline which shape each area of life.

So then, does this mean that I've missed the boat? I've got no access to those academic, or, should I say, I've got no access to change them. So where does that leave me? Am I not a neocalvinist because I'm in the private sector? Am I something else entirely? But Borger also describes the reformational aspects of neocalvinism this way:

A word coined to describe a new brand of Calvinists who take the ideas of the Protestant Reformation beyond theology and abstract debates about the nature of the atonement and church life and rather seek to bring about Christian cultural change and social transformation.

While philosophical change does often come from the ivory tower, it's also easy for the debate to become abstract, even when the topic is transforming culture. Utlimately, culture has to be changed, and that takes more than academicians to bring about that change. And, of course, one of the founders of neocalvinism, Abraham Kuyper, was more than just an academic -- as Derek points out, he was a pastor, the president of a university, the editor/publisher of a national newspaper, and the prime minister of the Netherlands. While Kuyper was a brilliant intellectual who's lectures and papers did brings about a change in the philosophical landscape of his country, he was also out in culture, applying his thought to his actions.

This, of course, opens a whole different discussion -- what should neocalvinism look like, out in the wild? We like to see the great Christian struggle with the secular world as some sort of battle, and while sometimes it is, it doesn't always need to be. Often though, the battle involves nothing more than being there, doing our thing, being a part of culture in a positive way (much like Kuyper was). Philosophical change without postive action will result in nothing more than interesting reading for future generations.

December 14, 2004

Winter Wonderland

We had our first real taste of winter yesterday and today, with about of inch of snow on the ground here in the city. That made for an interesting ride to work on skinny road tyres and nice coating of fresh snow on the road. I should begin to rebuild the singlespeed mountain bike very soon, just to save the Steamroller from getting too abused by salt and slush. I will say, however, that despite the occasional squirelly-ness thanks to my tyres, I did feel much more in control with the fixed gear.

December 10, 2004

Silence

I tried yesterday (really I did) to break the silence in this space, but my workstation crashed rather ungracefully while I was writing a post. So well.

There have been several things I've been pondering this week, and I don't have long entries for any of them. But I'll mention a couple:

1. Gideon Strauss has a post about evangelicals and politics. One of the more interesting links in Gideon's post is to an article by William Stuntz ("Faculty Clubs and Church Pews"). Stuntz hits upon a kernel of truth here:

I don't think my liberal Democratic professor friends like this state of affairs. And -- here's a news flash -- neither do most evangelicals, who regard helping the poor as both a passion and a spiritual obligation, not just a political preference. (This may be even more true of theologically conservative Catholics.) These men and women vote Republican not because they like the party's policy toward poverty -- cut taxes and hope for the best -- but because poverty isn't on the table anymore. In evangelical churches, elections are mostly about abortion. Neither party seems much concerned with giving a hand to those who most need it.

2. Matt Chester also talks about finding common ground between the political aisles. He also includes the following quote from Charles Bowdon:

"We are an exceptional model of the human race. We no longer know how to produce food. We no longer can heal ourselves. We no longer raise our young. We have forgotten the names of the stars, fail to notice the phases of the moon. We do not know the plants and they no longer protect us. We tell ourselves we are the most powerful specimens of our kind who have ever lived. But when the lights are off we are helpless. We cannot move without traffic signals. We must attend classes in order to learn by rote numbered steps toward love or how to breast-feed our baby. We justify anything, anything at all by the need to maintain our way of life. And then we go to the doctor and tell the professionals we have no life. We have a simple test for making decisions: our way of life, which we cleverly call our standard of living, must not change except to grow yet more grand. We have a simple reality we live with each and every day: our way of life is killing us."

I don't know much of anything about Bowden, and it has a bit of a Tyler Durden-esque tone to it, but it's also an accurate description of our society.

Also, a bit of rally news. Subaru has signed Stephane Sarrazin to share the second works Impreza with Mikko Hirvonen. The factory rosters are now set for season:

Subaru
Petter Solberg
Mikko Hirvonen/Stephane Sarrazin

Peugeot
Marcus Gronholm
Markko Martin

Citroen
Sebastien Loeb
Francois Duval

Ford
Toni Gardemeister
Roman Kresta

Skoda
Armin Schwarz
Janne Tuohino/Jani Paasonen/Alex Bengue

Mitsubishi
Harri Rovanpera
Gilles Panizzi/Gigi Galli

December 07, 2004

WRC Rosters Nearly Complete

Mitsubishi announced the signing of Harri Rovanpera today. Rovanpera will contest all 16 rounds of the championship next season. Mitsubishi management said the Gilles Panizzi and Gigi Galli will share the second Lancer, with Panizzi running all of the sealed surface events and selected gravel events. There is also a possibility that a third car will run in certain events.

The only remaining question for driver lineups next season is the second seat at Subaru, though it's widely expected that the team will retain Mikko Hirvonen.

December 03, 2004

More WRC News

Ford announced today that Roman Kresta would join Toni Gardemeister and drive the second works Focus for the 2005 campaign. Kresta previously split his time between a third works car at Peugeot and a Bozian racing privateer Peugeot. The only team with a seat remaining is Mitsubishi, and that is expected to be filled by both Harri Rovanpera and Gianluigi Galli (with Rovanpera driving the loose surface events and Galli on sealed surfaces).

December 02, 2004

Some Things

First, there's an interesting discussion taking shape on Gideon's site. When he orginally posed his question about virtue and state, I had started to respond to it here, but couldn't quite get my thoughts in order. This discussion should help.

Also, Fr. Jape has two interesting posts that are worth reading.

Also, of local interest, Pittsburgh city government is fighting among themselves about a financial recovery plan. In case you don't know, the city is in DEEP debt (currently, they are $77 million below what they need to cover the 2005 budget), mostly thanks to very poor decisions by the mayor and the city council. At this point, there isn't a pleasant solution to this problem, and no one seems to be willing to make a concession or two to right the ship.

December 01, 2004

The Fight Begins

Mother Nature has decided to throw some truly bad weather my way for the ride to work today. The wind kicked up quite a bit last night, and before I left I was looking at 30mph winds with gusts up to 45mph. The rain had held off though, so at least I would be dry.

The ride was an adventure, though not as bad as expected. The wind was typically at my back or in my face the whole way, so I wasn't too concerned about getting blown over. There were times, however, when I would just stop moving forward. Literally. There was also the occasional moment with flying debris heading toward me. Generally it was just in the form of trash, but there was also a garbage can that threatened to take me down as well.

In other news, the WRC team rosters are beginning to take shape. Skoda announced yesterday that Armin Schwarz would drive the first Fabia, and the second factory car would be shared between four youths: Janne Tuohino, Jani Paasonen and Alex Bengue. Each showed glimpses of promise last season during limited factory programmes, so this should be a fine start to Skoda's return to the WRC full time. Also, Peugeot has announced the signing of Markko Martin to drive the second 307 behind Marcus Gronholm. As I've said before, this is a curious move by Martin, given that Peugeot has only one year left in the WRC, and typically Gronholm doesn't work well with teammates who can challenge for rally wins (as evidenced by his strained relationship with Richard Burns). As it stands now, there are two open seats for the upcoming season -- one at Ford and one at Mitsubishi (assuming, of course, that Subaru will sign Mikko Hirvonen for another year). The biggest names on the market without a factory drive at the moment are Colin McRae and Harri Rovanpera. While McRae has admitted to speaking with Ford, he hasn't confirmed that anything is in the works. Rovanpera could help either team, though Mitsubishi will probably sign either of the younger drivers who shared the second Lancer last season.