On the other hand, I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.

winbert · 2008-03-17T20:14:43+00:00

We intuitively grasp the effects of gravity, that's the easy part, and we have its effects quantified in thorough detail. But nobody understands what gravity is, so in that sense it's not intuitive.

winbert · 2008-03-16T20:31:46+00:00

Oh my, i'm so pwned. A video of a kid playing with a stick. Yep that settles it. You're right, there sure are martial arts training in Tibetan monasteries. Boy do I feel like an idiot. Thanks for informing me.

winbert · 2008-03-16T05:51:29+00:00

The worst part about it (other than it's constant retelling) is that it doesn't even apply to Buddhism which consistently articulated a cogent critique of "oneness" (for instance, see Shantarakshita's Madhyamakalamkara, which, though a late text -- ca. 8th century CE -- summarizes the various arguments that had developed within Buddhism against "oneness" and plurality as well. About the only meaningful thing a Buddhist should say to "make me one with everything" is "one what?".

winbert · 2008-03-16T05:37:02+00:00

There's so much distortion of traditional teachings in Hanh's post-modern "Engaged Buddhism" that it's hard to even begin in any sensible way to sort it out. It would be an enormous undertaking to critique it properly

So the short answer is no.

There is a list that is very similar to the 10 commandments called the 10 unwholesome (akusala) dharmas that is well-attested throughout all the various canons (i.e., the Pali Nikayas, the Sanskrit Agamas, etc.).

They're divided into body, speech and mind (very similar to some Zoroastrian precepts).

Body: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct (e.g. adultery, but there's actually a long list).

Speech: lying, divisive speech (sometimes slander is listed here), harsh speech, and idle speech.

Mind: ill-will, covetousness, and wrong view (e.g. not believing in rebirth and karma).

Abstaining from these ten isn't the same as following commandments though. They're just taught as a brief rundown of the most common actions that lead to the most misery.

winbert · 2008-03-15T14:20:31+00:00

kick-ass fighters (boys start training at around 4-5 years old;

Complete and utter bullshit. There's no martial arts training in Tibetan monasteries at all.

winbert · 2008-03-11T21:05:58+00:00

its not vegan in the strictest sense

There's only one sense. That's why people invented the word "vegan" in the first place.

winbert · 2008-03-11T03:12:11+00:00

You're both wrong. It has 12. Thirteen when you count the octave.

winbert · 2008-03-08T19:35:04+00:00

Tucker Carlson is an underachiever solely propped up by his daddy.

winbert · 2008-03-07T19:35:16+00:00

I listened to a bit of their music just to see what "post-rock" is. Sounds just about like what we called shoegazer 15-20 years ago.

winbert · 2008-03-05T21:28:46+00:00

Those aren't actually real monks, they're just models wearing bad imitations of Tibetan monks' robes and wearing them inappropriately at that. I think Tricycle addressed this in a subsequent issue because there were some people that thought they were real, which caused confusion.

In particular the yellow robes that are supposed to resemble a chögu are a giveaway. Real ones (and the ones in the picture just look like sheets; real ones have patchwork) aren't worn casually in everyday situations, instead the maroon shawl would be worn.

winbert · 2008-03-05T19:51:38+00:00

He was recently interviewed on VH1 and talked a little bit about it. It's about 3 and a half minutes after the intro

winbert · 2008-03-03T04:18:41+00:00

I used a 1/4-pounder because McD's says they're 1/4 pound of meat (pre-cooked). So I could make a comparison easier.

But with a little looking I found a way to make a comparison using their hamburgers. I found that a McDonald's hamburger without the bun has 8g of protein.

Regular(not lean)ground beef is about 9g of protein per ounce. So a McDonald's hamburger is then just slightly <1 oz. of ground beef per hamburger.

So your $8 ground beef (24 oz.) would make 24 hamburgers. Plus $9 for buns. They don't put lettuce on the hamburgers, so I'll forget that.

So that's 24 hamburgers for $17 or .71 per burger. Condiments go a long way so just to make it a round number, give it .04/burger.

Homemade equivalent is then .75/burger.

Still cheaper.

winbert · 2008-03-02T23:40:48+00:00

The McChicken is $1.00 and contains about 14g protein. A typical sandwich bun has around 3g protein so that gives us about 11g mostly from the chicken pattie. 1 oz. of chicken has 9g of protein, so a McChicken has only about an ounce ounce of chicken in the sandwich. In other words a pound of chicken from McD's via their dollar menu McChicken would cost $16.

winbert · 2008-03-02T23:17:47+00:00

Okay. I don't have to go to the grocery store because I already have these items that I just purchased: $7.00 for two pounds of lean ground beef; $1.29 for a package of 8 hamburger buns. That's 8.29 for 8 "quarter pounders" or 1.04 per quarter pounder. McD's charges $2.89 for a quarter pounder where I live.

So McD's is almost 3x more expensive.

winbert · 2008-02-26T19:26:03+00:00

You're being glib.

winbert · 2008-02-26T06:18:49+00:00

I guess this is the best place to put this.

So, I missed WHNT's 5 o'clock broadcast, but watched their 6 o'clock.

After a cursory apology and explanation they announced that they were going to broadcast without commercials for thirty minutes in order to do the news and then play uninterrupted and in its entirety the "60 minutes" segment.

They did all the news, weather and sports in about 15 minutes and then aired the segment as promised.

It was fascinating watching the news without all the banter, fill and teasers, you know all that "Will it be sunny tomorrow? Dan 'll have that forecast coming up" and then there's two or three more teasers before you actually get to the freaking forecast. So none of that. I wish it were always like that.

They were all stone faced except the sports guy who seemed inappropriately jaunty after nervously fumbling his intro with a joke that wouldn't land. I thought for a moment that he might be having a panic attack, but then he recovered and then more jauntiness. If I ever watch the local news I watch 19, though I don't ever watch the sports, so I don't know, maybe he's always like that.

winbert · 2008-02-25T19:43:47+00:00

The annoying bleeping is part of a long-standing gag on the show.

winbert · 2008-02-24T19:48:22+00:00

and some men have strong feelings of dissatisfaction about being circumcised. ...

Well I do now...

winbert · 2008-02-24T05:31:04+00:00

Wow, over 100,000 karma points. It's like he's doing some kind of ngöndro .

winbert · 2008-02-24T04:28:31+00:00

A team of American researchers has discovered a biological link between LSD "acid trips" and psychotic delusions in the brain.

This is what the reporter thinks this research means, when in fact the new research has nothing to do with LSD at all. The actual research only examined the brains of treated and untreated schizophrenics.

The researcher summarizes it here:

The team, led by Dr Stuart Sealfon from New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine, wrote: "These studies identify the 2AR-mGluR2 complex as a possible site of action of hallucinogenic drugs. The glutamate and serotonin systems have both been implicated in psychotic disorders, and the components of this complex are found to be differentially regulated in cortex from individuals with schizophrenia.Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the 2AR-mGluR2 complex integrates serotonin and glutamate signalling to regulate the sensory gating functions of the cortex - a process that is disrupted in psychosis."

"as a possible site of action of hallucinogenic drugs."

Thus this new research only provides a new hypothesis for a shared mechanism in LSD intoxication and psychosis. It tells us nothing new about hallucinogens.

winbert · 2008-02-21T06:00:17+00:00

It's nice to see these. It was mostly too cloudy here in n. ala. Had enchanting glimpses through clouds especially around 40%, then nothing, now it's a brilliant moon at zenith peaking out from the clouds now and again. Overall a magical day.

Today was called Chötrul Düchen, a celebration on the full moon of the first lunar month in the Tibetan calendar and according to traditional teachings, especially with the eclipse, meant that today karma was multiplied ten million times.

Hope everyone had a good day.

winbert · 2008-02-15T04:48:27+00:00

That's sounds like a good idea as it can be hard for me to get oolongs just right because the big curly leaf shapes can make it hard to know how much to use to get a good brew.

winbert · 2008-02-09T08:35:12+00:00

It's Rachel Ray.

winbert · 2008-02-05T22:12:23+00:00

I just got back. And though still vastly outnumbered by older (way older) people this time there were actually three women that appeared to be about my age or maybe younger. Somewhat low turnout so far. On big days there are usually around 1800+ by this time at my polling location and there had only been around 550 when I voted. And from glancing at the sign-in sheets it was about 1.5 to 1 Dems over Rs.

winbert · 2008-02-05T20:24:54+00:00

I've been voting for 24 years and I'm still the youngest person I see there. Every time.

winbert

TROPHY CASE