An Enlightened Lynch

Director David Lynch, speaking to a group of NYU students, and quoted by Timothy Gunatilaka in the October 21 (2005) issue of Entertainment Weekly:

If you have a golf-ball-size consciousness, when you read a book you'll have a golf-ball-size understanding. But if you can expand that ball, then you read with more understanding ... [Meditation] turns up our light. And like a lightbulb, we can enjoy the inner peace but also spread it—that's the key to world peace.

Apparently, he was serious. Since September, he's been touring East Coast campuses touting meditation-based curricula (he goes west in November). A transcendental meditator for 32 years, Lynch hopes to raise $7 billion to endow seven universities of world peace. Other links for 'University of World Peace' (but I don't know if they are part of the same project that Lynch is pushing):

• US Peace Government Helps Launch University of World Peace
• Permanent Peace: Safeguard the World

Friday Pet Blogging | Window Gazers

I admire through a piece of cut purple glass the sun in its nimbus of glistening light: it will shadow nicely between the amethyst folds in the goddess's spreading skirt.

From "The Buddhist's Window," a poem by Beth Houston. Read the full piece in the Spring 1998 Literary Review. We've covered a few serious, and some not so serious, topics this week. But we now return to the one thing that unites most, if not all, Prophet or Madman visitors: photos of adorable orange cats. Today's photos are courtesy of Mrs. Brainwise ...

"Window Shopping"

We're still haveing a few problems with the boyz and their, um, plumbing. And it is affecting our sleep and general well-being, so I can only imagine how it is actually affecting them as well. Milo seems to be having the most trouble right now, but we're not certain if it is a behavioral issue, or a physical ailment. Fortunately, he does not seem to be in pain. In fact shortly after showing any kind of symptoms, he acts as though nothing out of the ordinary just took place. But going through all of their problems is almost worth it for moments like these, when they are so darned cute. They almost look meditative in these photos ... even though I know they are hankering after the little birdies.

This pic is from the other week, but I love it, and Milo could really use your positive thoughts right now.

Please stand by for the standard Pet Blogging Closer:

The Modulator has a compilation of today's pet posts from other bloggers. Previous Milo & Otis appearances on Prophet or Madman are indexed here (and might be updated soon) ... just in case you missed one. And do keep your eyes peeled for the next installment of the Carnival of the Cats, served fresh every Sunday.

Fishering for an Answer

Fisher DeBerry (Photo: Scripps/Rocky Mountain News)

OK. by now, most folks have heard -- or read -- Air Force Academy football coach Fisher DeBerry's comments following a 48-10 loss Saturday to Texas Christian University. After Texas orchestrated the Academy's first loss this season, DeBerry blamed his team's woes on a lack of minority players. Yes, DeBerry said that his school needs to recruit faster players, specifically pointing out that TCU had more African-American players than the Academy did and that those players ran a lot faster than his Falcons players did. When asked to elaborate, he said:

"It just seems to me to be that way, that Afro-American players can run very, very well. That doesn't mean Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well.''

Shocking words, eh? So shocking, in fact, that many folks are saying DeBerry's words, in the year 2005, are nothing short of a racist statement. Well, damage control has commenced. AFA reprimanded Mr. DeBerry. And yesterday, no doubt at the behest of his employers, DeBerry offered a (non-)apology, saying that he was sorry if anyone was offended by his remarks. But who exactly should be offended? No, really, I want to know. Is DeBerry a racist hayseed (sorry, his accent didn't help him at all), or is he merely stating the obvious? One way of looking at this is to say that DeBerry was complimenting Black athletes, although in an admittedly awkward fashion, and debasing White ones. I mean, he pretty much implied, 'I lost this game because I got too many White guys on this team, and they can't play as well as Black athletes.' So, maybe he should apologize to the White suburban couch potato, who is lamenting his lack of credentials for a sports career. On the other hand, touting the positives of Black athletes tends to paint an overly broad picture. And, some folks would say, this praise sends a controversial message, and it could be construed as saying: 'Hey, you guys make great athletes, but you suck at everything else.' And blaming a loss on the lack or presence of a particular minority on either side of the scrimmage line is probably missing the point. So, who's right? Any comments?

Lite Nite

Every October, a time-honored tradition is observed: Avengelidiots complain about Halloween! This year is not too different. We have a Bishop who is saying that "Hallowe'en is becoming too 'Pagan' to be celebrated by good and decent Christians." Oh, what are good and decent Christians to do?? Why, create their own holiday: Lite Nite. Get the details over at the Wildhunt Blog.

Don't Give Guns to Doctors

I don't know who authored it, but I recently received this dis-arming piece of information...

Guns & Doctors Statistics on DOCTORS: (courtesy of the U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services) The number of doctors in the U.S. is 700,000 Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year are 120,000 Accidental deaths per physician is 17.14% Statistics on GUNS: (courtesy of the FBI) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000 (yes that's 80 million) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500 The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.001875% So statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners. Remember, guns don't kill people, doctors do. FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR. Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!! Out of concern for the public at large, I have withheld statistics on ATTORNEYS for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical help.

I cannot verify the information. A search on Snopes comes up with zilch. But I do know that I am far from the first person to post it.

Those Offensive Piggies

According to an Australian Associated Press story in The Age [www.theage.com.au], British banks are banning a time-honored symbol of thrift and saving because, they say, it just may offend Muslims. They're giving the boot to those nasty old Piggy Banks. That's right, freaking piggy banks. Halifax and NatWest banks will no longer give piggy banks to children or use them in their advertising. Their reason: "Muslims do not eat pork, as Islamic culture deems the pig to be an impure animal." So, from this dietary restriction, the banks have made a great leap in logic to believing that little hollow ceramic pigs will be offensive to one who follows the injunctions of the Q'uran (Koran). And some folks support this move. Salim Mulla, secretary of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, says, "This is a sensitive issue and I think the banks are simply being courteous to their customers." Courteous? Since when is full-blown idiocy a courtesy??? Others, I am happy to say, view the move as political correctness gone mad (mad I tell you!), and I agree. One sane voice in this debacle comes from Khalid Mahmoud, the Labour MP for a Birmingham seat and one of four Muslim MPs in Britain, who says:

"We live in a multicultural society and the traditions and symbols of one community should not be obliterated just to accommodate another." 

Wow, that's so good I could feature it as a Quotable. To Mr. Mahmoud and his supports Prophet or Madman says: Amen my Muslim brother of another mother! Fight this idiotic application of political correctness!! 

Read the full story (without my ranting) here.

Gospel According to ... Anne Rice?!?

I have to agree with The Heretic ... I didn't see this coming either. I've never actually been a fan of her writing, so this news doesn't affect me at all. But I suppose I can understand how all those Goth Girl fans might be feeling about this ... um ... reversal. I mean, if Neil Gaiman suddenly converted to the Mormon church, gave up writing his fine, occult stories, and decided to devote his potent pen exclusively to ... oh, I don't know ... exploring the depth of wisdom in the LDS teachings on exhaltation, I might be a tad miffed, too. Actually ... I'd probably just gripe for a few minutes and then move on to another writer. So, get a grip girls!

And Speaking of Leaf Blowers...

...this is what happens when you apply a leaf blower to a bonfire. The frightening this about this photo gallery is that it was posted by a guy who is doing biomineralization research as a graduate student at Cal Tech. His IQ must have been pretty high before purchasing that leaf blower (see previous blog entry) ... although there is no indication that it was his leaf blower ... perhaps he was just an avid obersever. And I did give a pass to folks doing transportation research. Perhaps I could extend that pass to bored graduate students.

Photo from Cody Z. Nash's Gallery

Suburban Border Wars

Today's offering from Wiley's Non Sequitur is more true than funny, but it still gets a chuckle out of me. And it raises a hackle or two. You see, this comic clearly illustrates something about suburbanites that I declared years ago: Every idiot who buys a leaf blower should be given a bumper sticker or t-shirt with the phrase: I bought a leaf blower, so my IQ just dropped 40 points! Folks who purchase a leaf blower for transportation research are, of course, excluded. But seriously, what is the fascination with these noisy, smelly instruments of hellish torture? I have seen guys spend 15 minutes or so trying to move one single leaf from the middle of the yard. Bend over and pick up the damn thing, you moron!! Is all that noise and wasted gasoline worth the time and effort you 'saved'?!?! Particularly when the wind -- or that other leaf blowing moron from next door -- is just going to blow some of those leaves right back to where they started. Which is precisely the subject of today's strip. Since ucomics.com's strips are free to view for only a week or so, I've archived this one at my site. So if the above link does not work, just click the snipped image below to view the funny:

I realize that there are much more pressing topics and issues in the world right now. But I am sure that the rest of the blogosphere is handling them quite well. I will try to get to some of them myself, but (if you'll pardon the paraphrase of a popular song lyric):

"It's my blog and I'll rant if I want to!"

Quotable | Present Moment

When we are mired in the relative world, never lifting our gaze to the mystery, our life is stunted, incomplete; we are filled with yearning for that paradise that is lost when, as young children, we replace with words and ideas and abstractions -- such as merit, such as past, present and future -- our direct, spontaneous experience of the thing itself, in the beauty and precision of this present moment.

-- Peter Matthiessen, Author (both fiction and non-fiction) and ordained Buddhist Priest. Here is a NY Times summary of articles and book reviews.