Newspaper reporter

June 22, 2010 under curios

Newspaper reporter, meet police detective.

Police detective, meet… “Facebook Murder“.

Trust me, a day will come when we will look back at Newspaper Headlines that use such phrases… and they will appear horribly hackneyed and dated.

Why? Because a day will come when public consciousness will evolve and we will recognize that Facebook is not really special or exciting and that a murder occurs between two people. We will appreciate that an insult is just an insult and that a “Facebook insult” is just a silly phrase that no-one ever uses any more.

But that is not this day.

Today we’re still bedazzled by the newness and the shine, and we still think that because someone used the internet to call someone else a big fat stupidhead that it merits special attention.

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What you say?

June 21, 2010 under curios, technical

Does not compute.

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Are things better now?

June 15, 2010 under theology
What? Then Now Winner
Clothes Animal skins, horsehair Fuzzy fleeces, blue jeans NOW
Houses Caves, huts, villas Villas, condos, skyscrapers NOW
Weapons Clubs,swords,bows Tanks, satellite defence systems NOW
Science Humours, Flat Earth, Alchemy Relativity, String Theory NOW
Philosophy Aristotle Wittgenstein THEN
Being Good Men were pretty awful Men are pretty awful Everybody loses

People are amazing and we’ve advanced in close to everything we do. But why is it that we fail miserably when it comes to the single most important thing we could possible achieve?

If we could just be good – we wouldn’t need elaborate clothes, houses, weapons or science… and we wouldn’t be tormented philosophically.  Solving this one problem would solve all our other problems.

And yet, if the current world order is any indication – it seems to be the very last thing on our list of things to achieve.

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The Happy Bible Moron – stay away from him?

June 11, 2010 under theology

Some of the darndest searches lead to my blog. WordPress shows me who finds my blog by searching, and also what they were searching for in order to get here.

Today’s search was,

“does the bible say stay away from moron”

I’m gutted that I’m writing this post after the fact; this is a fabulous question and I’d have loved it if my blog could have provided a useful answer to the unknown seeker.

This is such a great question! “Does the Bible say, ‘Stay away from moron?’”

Well… Does it? What does the Bible say about morons?

Exhibit A:

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. — Proverbs 13:20 (NIV)

Short Answer – Yes! Case closed?

I’m not so sure. The book of Proverbs is pretty hard on fools, but if you read the verses in proverbs condemning fools… they all have a certain flavour. A Biblical fool is one who is willfully ignorant.

Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. — Psalm 107:17 (NIV)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. — Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)
A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil. — Proverbs 13:9 (NIV)
Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright. — Proverbs 14:9 (NIV)

On the basis of these verses, Biblical foolishness is something very specific. A fool is one who says, in his heart, “There is no God.” A fool is someone who willfully commits to destructive, self-centered behaviour, regardless of the evidence and of the wisdom against it.  A fool is born of rebellion; a fool is one who is set against God and wisdom because they know what’s best and they will have it their way. A fool is dangerous.

But that’s not what we mean when we call someone a moron. Acting stupidly is something we all do. A moron is a simple person, and while a Biblical fool might well be simple, they have an intent that goes beyond simplicity.

The Bible does not say, “Stay away from moron.”

When I think of staying away from a moron, I think of something I do because I despise them or look down upon them. This is the opposite of what Jesus means when he says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

But when I think of staying away from a fool, it means not endorsing or embracing logic that leads to destruction.

So no, O Mystery Internet Seeker. The Bible does not say, “Stay away from moron.”

Be the moron that all the fools laugh at.

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y i r bad at blogging

June 9, 2010 under metablogging

To run a popular blog, you need focus.

I’m not talking about the kind of focus required to sit down and write a post. Although you need that, too.

Let me rephrase – to run a popular blog, you need to have a focus or theme that ties your posts together.  Readers need to have an idea of what they will see on your blog before they visit, otherwise they won’t visit.

It’s very simple. Let me use myself as an example. When I surf the web, I go to sites where I know what I will be getting. When I want to read the news, I go to BBC news. When I want to look at interesting random sites, I go to blogs about interesting random sites. When I want to read about theology, I go to websites and blogs about theology.

When I hit a website that does not fit my current frame of mind or train of thought… I close it. Quickly.

I do not click on its links. I do not look at its about page. I just close it. Why? Because I have a sense, or a feeling, of what it is I want to see, and the website does not match that feeling.

I already know what it is I want to look at before I go surfing for it on the net.

A popular blog is generally predictable. Even if it’s a blog about, “Random interesting stuff”. Because a good blog about “Random interesting stuff” will consistently post “Random interesting stuff”. When I go there, I know what is there will be random, and I know what is there will be interesting. And I’m okay with that, because that’s what I’m looking for. That’s why I’m visiting.

But if I can’t categorize a blog, and if I don’t know why I’m visiting it… eventually I’ll ask the question, “Why  am I visiting it?” and then… I’ll stop visiting.

Consistency is the way to get repeat visitors.

As an example, one of the posts on my blog that gets the most hits is, “Portentious.” Why? Because I’m #5 on Google for “Portentious”. It’s pretty fricken’ awesome.

But none of those visitors will ever return to the Happy Moron or visit any other page, because the Happy Moron is not an etymology blog. It’s not a word of the day blog. None of those visitors will ever look and say, “What an interesting site centered around this topic in which I have an interest, I must visit it regularly.”

To be frank, there is no topic. Unless it’s me. Which might be okay for my mom – Hi, Mom! – but it’s not going to generate any internet traffic.

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At least they know the right lie to tell

June 5, 2010 under theology

“Be all you can be.”

It was the slogan of the US Army for twenty years.

It’s a lie.

It’s a lie because what it means – what it intends to convey – is that the US Army holds the fullness of life and the secret of human existence.

But it’s the right lie to tell.

It’s the right lie to tell because it acknowledges a truth – that our lives are, in some fundamental way, incomplete. These words are not false words. They are true words.

These words are God’s words.

When Jesus comes and says, “I have come that you might have life”, isn’t this precisely what he means? That he is fulfilling God’s original creative intent – for us to be all that we can be?

God’s words can be attractive – they are God’s, after all, but in a human mouth they can be ugly.

It’s a shame that the US Army ruined this slogan in the public mind. It’s a great slogan for a church. Who knows – it might even get men back in the church!

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Why does this work?

June 2, 2010 under wholenessinreallife

The downfall story goes like this:

A Russian politician is beguiled into indiscretion by a pretty girl who ultimately proves to have:

  • A video camera
  • An ulterior motive

Says Mr. Yashin (from the linked BBC story),

“She was pretty and I fell for her and behaved like any single young person would.”

“I didn’t suspect anything until drugs and sex toys were brought out. Instinctively I felt something was wrong and left.”

But it was already too late. Enough embarrassing footage had already been filmed.

I think we’re all familar with the story. This story is incredibly old. This story is incredibly proven. This story was working long before there were ever Russians or politicians.

If you need leverage over a man… you need a pretty girl.

But why does this story of entrapment work? How come it continually plays out like this? I can think of a thousand postmodern, enlightened reasons why this absolutely, positively shouldn’t work. But it absolutely, positively does. And, in my heart of hearts, I believe it will never stop working.

Not on everyone, not in every instance… but it will always work in scale.

There are a few key elements needed for this story to work.

  • The man has to chase the pretty girl
  • The man has to do something shameful
  • The general public has to condemn the man

If the man stayed home that night – no story.
If the man and the girl feed cookies to the park ducks – no story.
If the public said, “Whatever” – no story.

But the evidence here says that there is a story, and the question is, “Why?”

Why are we willing to chase the girl (or the money, or the status)?
Why are we willing to do something indiscreet and shameful?
Why do we, as a public, condemn something in a leader that is so incredibly common?

Note – there’s at least one question that Mr. Yashin would disagree with here. He doesn’t see anything shameful in what he did. Interesting.

In any case, there is a mystery here to ponder.
It’s truly bizarre – if it’s wrong why did he do it, and if it’s not wrong, why is able to cause his downfall?

At the very least, we should be getting smarter about these things… and we’re not.

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