Porn.com

I bet you didn't know that porn is passionately popular on the Internet.

_ _ _

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of a fast internet connection must be in want of some porn.

While it’s difficult domain to penetrate — hard numbers are few and far between — we know for a fact that porn sites are some of the most trafficked parts of the internet. According to Google’s DoubleClick Ad Planner, which tracks users across the web with a cookie, dozens of adult destinations populate the top 500 websites. Xvideos, the largest porn site on the web with 4.4 billion page views per month, is three times the size of CNN or ESPN, and twice the size of Reddit. LiveJasmin isn’t much smaller. YouPorn, Tube8, and Pornhub — they’re all vast, vast sites that dwarf almost everything except the Googles and Facebooks of the internet.

[...]

The internet really is for porn.

-- Sebastian Anthony at ExtrmeTech.com

Porn.com

I bet you didn't know that porn is passionately popular on the Internet.

_ _ _

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of a fast internet connection must be in want of some porn.

While it’s difficult domain to penetrate — hard numbers are few and far between — we know for a fact that porn sites are some of the most trafficked parts of the internet. According to Google’s DoubleClick Ad Planner, which tracks users across the web with a cookie, dozens of adult destinations populate the top 500 websites. Xvideos, the largest porn site on the web with 4.4 billion page views per month, is three times the size of CNN or ESPN, and twice the size of Reddit. LiveJasmin isn’t much smaller. YouPorn, Tube8, and Pornhub — they’re all vast, vast sites that dwarf almost everything except the Googles and Facebooks of the internet.

[...]

The internet really is for porn.

-- Sebastian Anthony at ExtrmeTech.com

The Gospel of Mark

I came across some interesting etymological notes on the Gospel of Mark, and thought it worth keeping for Easter. I like this argument for the indirect challenge to imperial Rome.
_ _ _

The opening line of the Gospel of Mark is a direct challenge to Rome: "beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mk 1:1). "Good news" (euangelion in Mark's Greek) was a term used to describe an imperial victory. The first Christian evangelist is saying, not so subtly, that the real good news hasn't a thing to do with Caesar.

Rather, it has to do with someone whom Caesar killed and whom God raised from the dead. And just to rub it in, he refers to this resurrected Lord as the "Son of God." Ever since the time of Augustus, "Son of God" was a title claimed by the Roman emperor. Not so, says Mark. The authentic Son of God is the one who is more powerful than Caesar.

-- Father Robert Barron at RealClearReligion.org

The Gospel of Mark

I came across some interesting etymological notes on the Gospel of Mark, and thought it worth keeping for Easter. I like this argument for the indirect challenge to imperial Rome.
_ _ _

The opening line of the Gospel of Mark is a direct challenge to Rome: "beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mk 1:1). "Good news" (euangelion in Mark's Greek) was a term used to describe an imperial victory. The first Christian evangelist is saying, not so subtly, that the real good news hasn't a thing to do with Caesar.

Rather, it has to do with someone whom Caesar killed and whom God raised from the dead. And just to rub it in, he refers to this resurrected Lord as the "Son of God." Ever since the time of Augustus, "Son of God" was a title claimed by the Roman emperor. Not so, says Mark. The authentic Son of God is the one who is more powerful than Caesar.

-- Father Robert Barron at RealClearReligion.org

Christianity in America Today

The New York Times has a special Easter edition this morning, and Ross Douthat gives us an interesting note on the Christianity of our top three presidential contenders this year.

_ _ _

Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum all identify as Christians, but their theological traditions and personal experiences of faith diverge more starkly than any group of presidential contenders in recent memory. These divergences reflect America as it actually is: We’re neither traditionally Christian nor straightforwardly secular. Instead, we’re a nation of heretics in which most people still associate themselves with Christianity but revise its doctrines as they see fit, and nobody can agree on even the most basic definitions of what Christian faith should mean.

-- Ross Douthat at The New York Times

_ _ _

We are an uncertain and doubtful age, aren't we? But we are still needy.

Christianity in America Today

The New York Times has a special Easter edition this morning, and Ross Douthat gives us an interesting note on the Christianity of our top three presidential contenders this year.

_ _ _

Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum all identify as Christians, but their theological traditions and personal experiences of faith diverge more starkly than any group of presidential contenders in recent memory. These divergences reflect America as it actually is: We’re neither traditionally Christian nor straightforwardly secular. Instead, we’re a nation of heretics in which most people still associate themselves with Christianity but revise its doctrines as they see fit, and nobody can agree on even the most basic definitions of what Christian faith should mean.

-- Ross Douthat at The New York Times

_ _ _

We are an uncertain and doubtful age, aren't we? But we are still needy.

Amazon

"When you sell books at a loss, by the millions, to corner the market, you're not interested in competing. You're interested in burying your competitors and then burying the shovel."

-- Richard Russo, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist

Amazon is playing hard with publishers, insisting on greater discounts, or else having their products removed from the site. And this is not the only story circulating on the arguably predatory tactics of the Internet behemoth.

Personally, I feel that I am in an awkard position, philosophically speaking. I generally do not care to side with savage capitalism, but, god, I do love the low prices on their books. For instance, recently, in a GoodReads newsletter, I came across a new novel, "Strange Flesh" by Michael Olson, about virtual reality and wilder sex, and I wanted it badly. This is a brand new novel, and Amazon is already able to sell the new hardcover for only fifteen dollars, but, better yet, I was able to order the e-version for the Kindle for only, get this, one-ninety-nine. Merry fucking Christmas to me!

But I don't know where this is going to end. In the long run, the development of monopolies does not bode well for the republic, for the welfare of the people. However, I am not going to be around for the long term, and I am ecstatically grateful to be able to get books practically for free.

Amazon

"When you sell books at a loss, by the millions, to corner the market, you're not interested in competing. You're interested in burying your competitors and then burying the shovel."

-- Richard Russo, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist

Amazon is playing hard with publishers, insisting on greater discounts, or else having their products removed from the site. And this is not the only story circulating on the arguably predatory tactics of the Internet behemoth.

Personally, I feel that I am in an awkard position, philosophically speaking. I generally do not care to side with savage capitalism, but, god, I do love the low prices on their books. For instance, recently, in a GoodReads newsletter, I came across a new novel, "Strange Flesh" by Michael Olson, about virtual reality and wilder sex, and I wanted it badly. This is a brand new novel, and Amazon is already able to sell the new hardcover for only fifteen dollars, but, better yet, I was able to order the e-version for the Kindle for only, get this, one-ninety-nine. Merry fucking Christmas to me!

But I don't know where this is going to end. In the long run, the development of monopolies does not bode well for the republic, for the welfare of the people. However, I am not going to be around for the long term, and I am ecstatically grateful to be able to get books practically for free.

Snoopy

It has been too long since we have heard from Snoopy.

_ _ _

Snoopy was inspired by Schulz’s childhood dog Spike, who first made his syndicated appearance in a drawing that Ripley’s Believe it or Not accepted for publication when Schulz was only 14. Snoopy’s name came—years before he existed—from Schulz’s mother’s request, as she lay dying from cervical cancer when Schulz was 21, that if they ever got another dog they should call him Snuppi, a Norwegian term of endearment.

Snoopy first appeared in Peanuts’ third strip, on October 4th, 1950, as a small, more or less normal puppy on all fours carrying a flower in his mouth which unintentionally gets watered by a girl leaning out of a window, thereby drenching Snoopy. Schulz always intended him to be a dog with essentially human intelligence, but his verbal expression was originally limited to thought bubbles filled with either exclamation points (as in this first appearance), question marks or ink-black scratch clouds of annoyance or despair.

On May 27, 1952, Snoopy had his first spoken thought. Charlie Brown tugs at Snoopy’s ears, saying “Kind of warm out today for ear muffs, isn’t it?”—at that period Schulz drew Snoopy’s ears like a steroidal German frau’s tight hair buns—and Snoopy, miffed, trots away in a huff, thinking “Why do I have to suffer such indignities?” Then five years later, on June 28, 1957, he walked on his hind legs for the first time. After that, once he was up on two legs, the sky—and, actually, outer space—was the limit.

-- Robb Fritz, "Moves Like Snoopy" at McSweeneys.com

_ _ _

Everytime I come across a piece like this, I feel tempted to purchase a volume of Peanuts and relive some of the wonder of childhood, but then I browse through a book or two, and I realize that it is a tad too simple. I guess you can only be a child once. Though, I can still wish for an adult version, and I don't mean X-rated.

Snoopy

It has been too long since we have heard from Snoopy.

_ _ _

Snoopy was inspired by Schulz’s childhood dog Spike, who first made his syndicated appearance in a drawing that Ripley’s Believe it or Not accepted for publication when Schulz was only 14. Snoopy’s name came—years before he existed—from Schulz’s mother’s request, as she lay dying from cervical cancer when Schulz was 21, that if they ever got another dog they should call him Snuppi, a Norwegian term of endearment.

Snoopy first appeared in Peanuts’ third strip, on October 4th, 1950, as a small, more or less normal puppy on all fours carrying a flower in his mouth which unintentionally gets watered by a girl leaning out of a window, thereby drenching Snoopy. Schulz always intended him to be a dog with essentially human intelligence, but his verbal expression was originally limited to thought bubbles filled with either exclamation points (as in this first appearance), question marks or ink-black scratch clouds of annoyance or despair.

On May 27, 1952, Snoopy had his first spoken thought. Charlie Brown tugs at Snoopy’s ears, saying “Kind of warm out today for ear muffs, isn’t it?”—at that period Schulz drew Snoopy’s ears like a steroidal German frau’s tight hair buns—and Snoopy, miffed, trots away in a huff, thinking “Why do I have to suffer such indignities?” Then five years later, on June 28, 1957, he walked on his hind legs for the first time. After that, once he was up on two legs, the sky—and, actually, outer space—was the limit.

-- Robb Fritz, "Moves Like Snoopy" at McSweeneys.com

_ _ _

Everytime I come across a piece like this, I feel tempted to purchase a volume of Peanuts and relive some of the wonder of childhood, but then I browse through a book or two, and I realize that it is a tad too simple. I guess you can only be a child once. Though, I can still wish for an adult version, and I don't mean X-rated.

Hamlet (2,2) What Players Are They?

Whatever Hamletian ambiguity may exist in response to the arrival of the players, it is clear that there is in it a genuine joy for Hamlet as an obvious theater enthusiast, and this perhaps breeds a little creativity into his pressed and strained mind, a freeing up.

HAMLET

He that plays the king shall be welcome; his majesty
shall have tribute of me; the adventurous knight
shall use his foil and target; the lover shall not
sigh gratis; the humorous man shall end his part
in peace; the clown shall make those laugh whose
lungs are tickled o' the sere; and the lady shall
say her mind freely, or the blank verse shall halt
for't. What players are they?

ROSENCRANTZ

Even those you were wont to take delight in, the
tragedians of the city.

HAMLET

How chances it they travel? their residence, both
in reputation and profit, was better both ways.

ROSENCRANTZ

I think their inhibition comes by the means of the
late innovation.

HAMLET

Do they hold the same estimation they did when I was
in the city? are they so followed?

ROSENCRANTZ

No, indeed, are they not.

HAMLET

How comes it? do they grow rusty?

ROSENCRANTZ

Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted pace: but
there is, sir, an aery of children, little eyases,
that cry out on the top of question, and are most
tyrannically clapped for't: these are now the
fashion, and so berattle the common stages--so they
call them--that many wearing rapiers are afraid of
goose-quills and dare scarce come thither.

This debate about the children players can seem like an odd add-on, a contemporary news item thrown into what will become our foremost classical drama. At the end of this little semi-diversion, Shakespeare ties it back into the larger question, as Hamlet sees in this quirky turn of fashion the fickle nature of the common mind, which is an often sounded theme in Shakespeare’s plays:

It is not very strange; for mine uncle is king of
Denmark, and those that would make mouths at him while
my father lived, give twenty, forty, fifty, an
hundred ducats a-piece for his picture in little.

Hamlet reaches and lifts the amulets hanging from Rosencrantz’s and Guldenstern’s necks, containing their own tokens from Claudius, his picture in little. He disdainfully lets them drop and turns away, as he speaks his last line:

'Sblood, there is something in this more than
natural, if philosophy could find it out.

Then the trumpets sound for the arrival of the players.

Hamlet (2,2) What Players Are They?

Whatever Hamletian ambiguity may exist in response to the arrival of the players, it is clear that there is in it a genuine joy for Hamlet as an obvious theater enthusiast, and this perhaps breeds a little creativity into his pressed and strained mind, a freeing up.

HAMLET

He that plays the king shall be welcome; his majesty
shall have tribute of me; the adventurous knight
shall use his foil and target; the lover shall not
sigh gratis; the humorous man shall end his part
in peace; the clown shall make those laugh whose
lungs are tickled o' the sere; and the lady shall
say her mind freely, or the blank verse shall halt
for't. What players are they?

ROSENCRANTZ

Even those you were wont to take delight in, the
tragedians of the city.

HAMLET

How chances it they travel? their residence, both
in reputation and profit, was better both ways.

ROSENCRANTZ

I think their inhibition comes by the means of the
late innovation.

HAMLET

Do they hold the same estimation they did when I was
in the city? are they so followed?

ROSENCRANTZ

No, indeed, are they not.

HAMLET

How comes it? do they grow rusty?

ROSENCRANTZ

Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted pace: but
there is, sir, an aery of children, little eyases,
that cry out on the top of question, and are most
tyrannically clapped for't: these are now the
fashion, and so berattle the common stages--so they
call them--that many wearing rapiers are afraid of
goose-quills and dare scarce come thither.

This debate about the children players can seem like an odd add-on, a contemporary news item thrown into what will become our foremost classical drama. At the end of this little semi-diversion, Shakespeare ties it back into the larger question, as Hamlet sees in this quirky turn of fashion the fickle nature of the common mind, which is an often sounded theme in Shakespeare’s plays:

It is not very strange; for mine uncle is king of
Denmark, and those that would make mouths at him while
my father lived, give twenty, forty, fifty, an
hundred ducats a-piece for his picture in little.

Hamlet reaches and lifts the amulets hanging from Rosencrantz’s and Guldenstern’s necks, containing their own tokens from Claudius, his picture in little. He disdainfully lets them drop and turns away, as he speaks his last line:

'Sblood, there is something in this more than
natural, if philosophy could find it out.

Then the trumpets sound for the arrival of the players.

PostSecret of the Week

I like how she's a realist.

PostSecret of the Week

I like how she's a realist.

Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace, the CBS reporter who became one of the nation’s best-known broadcast journalists as an interrogator of the famous and infamous on “60 Minutes,” died on Saturday. He was 93. [...]

A reporter with the presence of a performer, Mr. Wallace went head to head with chiefs of state, celebrities and con artists for more than 50 years, living for the moment when “you forget the lights, the cameras, everything else, and you’re really talking to each other,” he said in an interview with The New York Times videotaped in July 2006 and released on his death as part of the online feature “The Last Word.”

-- Tim Weiner at The New York Times

The man was still winning emmys at 89. I wouldn't mind having another forty years of reading and blogging.

As for "60 Minutes", like a lot of Americans, it was a staple of my news, until about the middle nineties, when I fell into a moderate depression and could not care much for the affairs of the larger world, not even to watch a news show. Then, when we got wired for the Internet, while my interest reawakened, TV news just seemed too slow and simple compared to the offerings on the Web.

( Read more... )

Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace, the CBS reporter who became one of the nation’s best-known broadcast journalists as an interrogator of the famous and infamous on “60 Minutes,” died on Saturday. He was 93. [...]

A reporter with the presence of a performer, Mr. Wallace went head to head with chiefs of state, celebrities and con artists for more than 50 years, living for the moment when “you forget the lights, the cameras, everything else, and you’re really talking to each other,” he said in an interview with The New York Times videotaped in July 2006 and released on his death as part of the online feature “The Last Word.”

-- Tim Weiner at The New York Times

The man was still winning emmys at 89. I wouldn't mind having another forty years of reading and blogging.

As for "60 Minutes", like a lot of Americans, it was a staple of my news, until about the middle nineties, when I fell into a moderate depression and could not care much for the affairs of the larger world, not even to watch a news show. Then, when we got wired for the Internet, while my interest reawakened, TV news just seemed too slow and simple compared to the offerings on the Web.

( Read more... )

The Crucified God

Sully gives us some more notes on Christianity on this Easter Sunday, and I think I will post a couple of them. In this first one, we have a Richard Niebuhr quote expressing what I consider to be be the allure of Christian thought: on the difference between worldly power and Christian power.

_ _ _

"[T]he thought of deity and the thought of power are inseparable. Deity must be strong if it is to be deity.

We meet the God of Jesus Christ with the expectations of such power. If his power be less than that of the world and he be at the mercy of the world, of nature, fate, and death, how shall we recognize him as God? Yet we do not meet this God...how strangely we must revise in the light of Jesus Christ all our ideas of what is really strong in this powerful world. The power of God is made manifest in the weakness of Jesus, in the meek and dying life which through death is raised to power. We see the power of God over the strong of earth made evident not in the fact that he slays them, but in his making the spirit of the slain Jesus unconquerable.

Death is not the manifestation of power; there is a power behind and in the power of death which is stronger than death.

We cannot come to the end of the road of our rethinking the ideas of power and omnipotence. We thought that we knew their meaning and find we did not know and do not know now, save that the omnipotence of God is not like the power of the world which is in his power. His power is made perfect in weakness and he exercises sovereignty more through crosses than through thrones."

-- H. Richard Niebuhr

The Crucified God

Sully gives us some more notes on Christianity on this Easter Sunday, and I think I will post a couple of them. In this first one, we have a Richard Niebuhr quote expressing what I consider to be be the allure of Christian thought: on the difference between worldly power and Christian power.

_ _ _

"[T]he thought of deity and the thought of power are inseparable. Deity must be strong if it is to be deity.

We meet the God of Jesus Christ with the expectations of such power. If his power be less than that of the world and he be at the mercy of the world, of nature, fate, and death, how shall we recognize him as God? Yet we do not meet this God...how strangely we must revise in the light of Jesus Christ all our ideas of what is really strong in this powerful world. The power of God is made manifest in the weakness of Jesus, in the meek and dying life which through death is raised to power. We see the power of God over the strong of earth made evident not in the fact that he slays them, but in his making the spirit of the slain Jesus unconquerable.

Death is not the manifestation of power; there is a power behind and in the power of death which is stronger than death.

We cannot come to the end of the road of our rethinking the ideas of power and omnipotence. We thought that we knew their meaning and find we did not know and do not know now, save that the omnipotence of God is not like the power of the world which is in his power. His power is made perfect in weakness and he exercises sovereignty more through crosses than through thrones."

-- H. Richard Niebuhr

Christian Humility

It is through giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, care to the sick, company to the lonely, shelter to the homeless, and clothing to the naked that we can find God and find the healing of which Delio writes. But it is not in our power that God resides, but our poverty and the poverty of others.

-- Kyle R. Cupp at Vox Nova

We are then given a quote by Ilia Delio, who has written on the Franciscan perspective on God.

_ _ _

What would the world be like if Christians actually believed in a humble God? If following a God of poverty and humility led them to abandon their opinions, prejudices, and judgments so they could be more open to love others where they are, like God? Francis went about the world following the footprints of Christ, not so he could look like Christ, but because they were the footprints of divine humility. He discovered that God descends in love to meet us where we are and he found God in the most unexpected forms: the disfigured flesh of a leper, the complaints of a brother, the radiance of the sun, in short, the cloister of the universe. The wisdom of Francis makes us realize that God loves us in our incomplete humanity even though we are always running away trying to rid ourselves of defects, wounds and brokenness. If we could only see that God is there in the cracks of our splintered human lives we would already be healed.

-- Ilia Delio, "The Humility of God"

Christian Humility

It is through giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, care to the sick, company to the lonely, shelter to the homeless, and clothing to the naked that we can find God and find the healing of which Delio writes. But it is not in our power that God resides, but our poverty and the poverty of others.

-- Kyle R. Cupp at Vox Nova

We are then given a quote by Ilia Delio, who has written on the Franciscan perspective on God.

_ _ _

What would the world be like if Christians actually believed in a humble God? If following a God of poverty and humility led them to abandon their opinions, prejudices, and judgments so they could be more open to love others where they are, like God? Francis went about the world following the footprints of Christ, not so he could look like Christ, but because they were the footprints of divine humility. He discovered that God descends in love to meet us where we are and he found God in the most unexpected forms: the disfigured flesh of a leper, the complaints of a brother, the radiance of the sun, in short, the cloister of the universe. The wisdom of Francis makes us realize that God loves us in our incomplete humanity even though we are always running away trying to rid ourselves of defects, wounds and brokenness. If we could only see that God is there in the cracks of our splintered human lives we would already be healed.

-- Ilia Delio, "The Humility of God"