rants

2023-11-15

Profundus metallum

“A world without end is upon us
But time is in short supply ”
— from ‘Falling Back to Earth’ by Haken, from the album The Mountain (2013)

“You're receiving the gold of a better life
When you change yourself, you change the world ”
— from ‘Silvera’ by Gojira, from the album Magma (2016)

“...and how can I blame you
When it's me I can't forgive? ”
— from ‘The Unforgiven III’ by Metallica, from the album Death Magnetic (2008)

2023-04-16

Clichéd language that should be banned from academia (and everywhere, probably)

Tirades against any forms of “corporate-speak”, which only serve to make their writer or speaker sound insincere, as though they are trying to sell you something .

“going forward”
A phrase used, almost universally, as a tautology. For instance:
“The University's plan, going forward, is to...”
As far as I know, plans are always focused on the future. It's pretty hard to plan for the past.
“deep dive”
Usually used to impress on listeners/readers that the speaker (or writer) has made, or is is intending to make, a thorough investigation of something. Which is what we always do (I thought).

More to come.

2022-10-30

Active nonviolence calls us:

To learn to recognize and respect the sacred in every person, including in ourselves, and in every piece of Creation . . .
To accept oneself deeply, "who I am" with all my gifts and richness, with all my limitations, errors, failings and weaknesses, and to realize that I am accepted . . .
To recognize that what I resent, and perhaps even detest, in another, comes from my difficulty in admitting that this same reality lives also in me . . .
To renounce dualism, the "we-they" mentality. This divides us into "good people/bad people" and allows us to demonize the adversary. It is the root of authoritarian and exclusivist behavior. It generates racism and makes possible conflicts and wars.
To face fear and to deal with it; not mainly with courage, but with love.
To understand and accept that the New Creation, the building up of humanity is always carried forward with others. It is never a "solo act." . . .
To see ourselves as a part of the whole creation to which we foster a relationship of love, not of mastery, remembering that the destruction of our planet is a profoundly spiritual problem, not simply a scientific or technological one. We are one.
To be ready to suffer, perhaps even with joy, if we believe this will help liberate the Divine in others. This includes the acceptance of our place and moment in history with its trauma, with its ambiguities.
To be capable of celebration, of joy, when the divine presence has been accepted, and when it has not been to help discover and recognize this fact.
To slow down, to be patient, planting the seeds of love and forgiveness in our own hearts and in the hearts of those around us. Slowly we will grow in love, compassion and the capacity to forgive.

---paraphased in places, verbatim in others, from Rosemary Lynch and Alain Richard, Franciscan peacemakers
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/nonviolence-weekly-summary-2022-10-29/

2022-10-11

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  \__,_| |_|    \___|        \___|  \___/  |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_|  \__, | ( )
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   | |         | '_ \  | '__|  / _ \  | '_ ` _ \  | | / __|  / _ \             
  _| |_        | |_) | | |    | (_) | | | | | | | | | \__ \ |  __/             
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