Pause

I'm talking a break from blogging. It's been awhile and I have little to zero motivation to write right now. Paz - Berkeley Rican

How not to improve your sex life

Using Pornography.

Two good articles on the pitfalls of pornography.

Noemi Wolf
The young women who talk to me on campuses about the effect of pornography on their intimate lives speak of feeling that they can never measure up, that they can never ask for what theywant; and that if they do not offer what porn offers, they cannot expect to hold a guy. The young men talk about what it is like to grow up learning about sex from porn, and how it is not helpful to them in trying to figure out how to be with a real woman. Mostly, when I ask about loneliness, a deep, sad silence descends on audiences of young men and young women alike. They know they are lonely together, even when conjoined, and that this imagery is a big part of that loneliness. What they don't know is how to get out, how to find each other again erotically, face-to-face.

So Dworkin was right that pornography is compulsive, but she was wrong in thinking it would make men more rapacious. A whole generation of men are less able to connect erotically to women—and ultimately less libidinous.

The reason to turn off the porn might become, to thoughtful people, not a moral one but, in a way, a physical- and emotional-health one; you might want to rethink your constant access to porn in the same way that, if you want to be an athlete, you rethink your smoking. The evidence is in: Greater supply of the stimulant equals diminished capacity.

Edward Marriott

How Not to Help the Poor

A Berkeley Birthday Present

This is for my peeps in Miami. Here's a present I got for my birthday in Berkeley. Communism is a commodity in Berkeley. I don't think I'll be wearing this hat when I return to la tierra prometida...Miami.

Using Power to Worship God

At Christ Church we began a series entitled: "gods." We are spending 10 weeks in the book of Proverbs, a book known as Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom literature. Specifically we are looking at various Proverbs over the coming weeks spending 3 weeks on power, then money, and then sex. We are calling the series gods, because our premise on money, sex, and power is this one: "As goods they begin, but gods they become."

Bart addressed "Abusing Power", I spoke on "Using Power" and he finished up the topic last week speaking on "Power in Community." This week Bart is preaching on "Abusing Money", next week will be "Using Money" and finish with "Money in Community."

Here's the Link to my sermon.

A Doomsday Real Estate Prophet for Miami

Here

White Guilt = Black Power

Shelby Steele on White Guilt
Shelby Steele on "Why Obama Can't Win"
Shelby Steele on the "Politics of Race"

Sexual Assaults at Burning Man

Burning Man is an annual art event and temporary community based on radical self expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. I have huge problems with Burning Man. But one growing concern is the rise of sexual assaults that occur during the 8 day event. Here's a link describing the problem.

Most of these assaults go unpunished (I could find only one article where one person was actually apprehended and convicted). Its very easy to make the case that when people exercise radical self expression and self-reliance its not only the Man that gets burnt, people are degraded in the process. But at least the organizers are finally making money as the event continues to grow.

Here's a quote from an SF Gate article citing the high number of sexual assaults that get reported at Burning Man in 2007. I wonder how many of these crimes will get reported in 2008?

"Perhaps most disturbing was the fact that deputies were inundated with calls reporting sexual assaults, the sheriff said. Deputies are investigating 11 alleged sexual assaults but have made no arrests, largely because of the difficulty of investigating crimes at Burning Man, Skinner said.

'In an urban environment, you can drive up to a suspect's address or workplace to interview him,' Skinner said. 'Out here, even if you know where a suspect is camping, he may never return to his tent, and may just leave the playa altogether.'

The sheriff said he'll work to see that more deputies patrol next year's festival. 'The victims out here have a right to a good, strong investigation,' Skinner said. 'And that's going to take more manpower.'

Gioia Pizzeria out of pizza today

One of our favorite pizza places (pay by the slice) in Berkeley was out of pizza because they were flooded with orders for whole pies. Apparently people in Berkeley wanted dinner delivered so that they could be glued to their t.v. sets to watch Barrack Obama's acceptance speech for the democratic presidential nomination. The day was monumental. The speech was good. It was as good as any presidential acceptance speech I have heard. What I loved most about this moment was watching the first African American accept his candidacy for president in such a non-monumental way. Barrack is a great politician, and every word was carefully delivered to put himself in contention to become the next president of the United States. McCain, who is also a great politician, will accept his party's nomination for president in a non-monumental way. I really enjoyed the country music that immediately followed Obama's acceptance speech. It was a beautiful heartfelt touch for the heartland. Politics does not discriminate. Politics is politics even in the most momentous and sacred of occasions.

Dr. Shadrach Meshach Lockridge - "My King"

Amen - http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/BTP/loc2.ram

General Jose Figueroa

General José Figueroa (1792 – 9 September 1835), governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835, who oversaw the secularization of the missions of California.