Discourse

Dear All, in late Spring 2008 the first issue of "Media Discourse: The Theory and Practice of Mass Communications" (in English) was published. The issue is dedicated to the theme of Expressions of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

In what had the potential for an interesting and profound Instant Meggenger conversation on the election, I did what I normally do, and turned it silly: Leon - If Hillary doesn’t get the nomination, a lot of folks are gonna vote McCain just to keep a black man out the White House…What’chu think they gon’ do [...]

The inescapable words of anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera have now extended beyond the bounds of just our fair nation. The Americans For Truth head has given an interview with the Brazilian publication Enfoque Gospel, in which Pete, who is credited...

Predator Press [LOBO] As a 4-year blogger, I've spent the last several months aggressively seeking new ways to shamelessly whore my stuff. I don't know about the rest of you, but the bottom line is that I'm a writer, and my goal is to get paid writing somewhere; therefore, I have to balance whoring with the generation of copious amounts of this schlock on a consistent basis.The end result is a lot of a product of bare minimum quality, which I'm proud to say I excel at. Occasionally, this has made me a little zealous to get on board with "the next big thing". As you may already know, I'm not much of a "commenter", and generally this is key in any blogger's success. I try. I swear I do ... but I just don't have it in me. Before today, if you saw any one of my various little avata

Happy Purim!!   I am writing this as my fast for the fast of Esther is almost concluded as I will soon break-the-fast and make my way to Synagogue to fulfil one of the five mitzvoth of Purim, to hear the Megillah of Esther being read. We all know of Purim. But do we know of the Holiday of Nicanor, which for a time was more important than Purim to the Jewish people? Read on to learn, please.   The fast of Esther is on the 13th of Adar and unlike  most of our holidays and holy days, this fast does not start at sundown the evening before the day. It started at dawn today. And it ends at sundown of the day of 13th. Of course, we understand, that when sundown comes on the 13th, the 14th of Adar begins, and hence Purim begins.   The Fast of

Since we love our readers here at NerdwithSwag, and want to showcase the recent contributers, heres a few of the wittiest/funniest/most relevant comments and their authors… 1.) The Digital/Analog Clock Gives Your Crib’s Wall A Retro Look… (Video) booyah_saki: That is bad ass! I want it so I’ll never be late to another AA….ahem…”staff” meeting again. 2.) The [...]

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL : TALMUDIC DISCOURSE: PASSOVER, EXODUS, MOSES' SPIRITUAL AWAKENING    Shalom Talmudim:   It has been posited that the whole of Genesis is to lead our people to commit the sin against their brother Joseph, to eventually get the clan of Israel, into Egypt, and into slavery. This slavery would eventually have them yearn for liberation and acceptance of Torah.   Hence Moses, a Levite son of the Israelite clan, with an Egyptian name, grew up in the house of Pharaoh, as a prince of Egypt. The Torah has to have him have an national  awakening and identify with his people. Hence the verses of Exodus 2:11-15, has Moses refer to his fellow Israelites as ''brethren'' twice, and for the first time Moses actually sees their burdens and suffering.

  Activists and supporters of various tarai parties stage a demonstration at Janaandalon Chowk in Biratnagar on Friday welcoming Thursday’s agreement reached between the government and the United... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: TALMUDIC DISCOURSE: PASSOVER AND THE AFIKOMAN   Shalom:   "Today, we are used to the idea that the afikoman is a piece of matsah thatis standing in for a piece of the Passover sacrifice of lamb.  Whenthe Temple stood, groups would buy into shares of lamb and everyone in the group would eat a portion as the last thing they tasted during the Passovermeal. In the Yerushalmi Talmud, however, we have several alternative definitions:What does the term afikoman mean?'Rabbi Simon said in the name of R. Inanini bar R. Sisay:  Kinds of musicplayed as entertainment after dinner.Rabbi Yochanan said: Kinds of sweet things eaten after the meal to whetone's thirst for further drinking. Samuel said: For example, the mushrooms and pigeons of Hananiah b

Translating naturally involves the transporting (carrying-over) of cultures to and recuperated by specific target reading constituencies.  These constituencies have at their disposal established systems of representation, with norms and conventions for production and consumption of meanings vis-à-vis people, objects and events. These systems ultimately yield a master discourse through which identity and difference are marked [...]

“The things that change are not our real life. Within us there is another body, another beauty. It belongs to that Ray of Light which never changes.We must discover how to mingle with it and become one with that unchanging thing. We must realize and understand this treasure of truth. That is why we have come to the world." ~ M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen from his book Questions of Life, Answers of Wisdom Vol. 1the above quote reminded me Jesus Christ's saying from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas where he utter from his blessed lips: "Anyone here with ears had better listen! There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, his whole world is dark ... If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the Light, from the place where the Light came into being by Itself, established Itself, and appeared in their image.'. Video Discourses of BawaMuhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen was a revered Sufi mystic and saint fr

— In mayapadaprana@yahoogroups.com, “Achmad Zakaria” <achmad80@…> wrote: Bagaimanakah caranya agar manusia dapat menyadari kebenaran? Yaitu apabila ia dapat menyadari prinsip non-dualisme. Selama ia masih berkutat dengan dualisme (yaitu paham bahwa dirinya dan Sang Divine adalah dua entitas yang saling berbeda), maka selama itu pula, ia masih akan diombang-ambingkan oleh faktor yang saling berlawanan, yakni: kesenangan dan kesedihan, realitas dan non-realitas, dan sebagainya. Segala sesuatu yang eksis di alam semesta ini adalah milik Tuhan, namun manusia justru membayangkan bahwa dirinyalah sang pemilik atas segala hal dan sebagai akibatnya, ia terperangkap dalam konsep “milikku” dan “milikmu”. Padahal dalam realitasnya, kita diberi tugas untuk mengawasi harta kekayaan yang sebenarnya adalah milik Divine. Dengan perkataan lain, setiap orang harus memperlakukan dirinya sebagai pengawas atas kekayaan dunia ini. Sebagaimana seorang te

Today is the first day of my annual reserve duty or in-camp training with the Singapore Armed Forces. Once again I’ve somehow been drawn to be part of the advanced party with the officers and appointment leaders though I am just an NCO. Oh well… Just a little background for those unfamiliar with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and this in-camp training obligation. All able-bodied male citizens aged 18 or above have to serve in the Armed Forces for a mandatory period of 2 years (2.5 years in my time), after which they are discharged but are bound by law to report for duty and re-training every year till they are 40 years of age. Each training period can last up to 40 days by law. With the background out of the way, what was interesting was that I had a nice little discussion with some fellow Christians over lunch about Israel, particularly about the Israel Defense Forces. (more…)

    Lines Composed a Few Miles    above Tintern AbbeyBy William Wordsworth  (July 13, 1798)           Five years have past; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! and again I hearThese waters, rolling from their mountain-springsWith a soft inland murmur.--Once againDo I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,That on a wild secluded scene impressThoughts of more deep seclusion; and connectThe landscape with the quiet of the sky.The day is come when I again reposeHere, under this dark sycamore, and viewThese plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves'Mid groves and copses. Once again I seeThese hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little linesOf sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,Green to the very door; and wreaths of smokeSent up, in silence, from among the trees!With some uncertain notice, as might

These fascist liberals and globalists in Washington are mad as hell that the American people dared to challenge them. They know they would’ve gotten away with it if the American public was uninformed and in the dark. For the most part, the MSM on television stuck to the scripted talking points given […] More: continued here

CALL FOR PAPERSSpecial Issue of The Information SocietyonOpen Source and Public Sector: Discourse, Politics and PracticeGuest Editors: Jan Ljungberg, Magnus Bergquist and Anna Maria SzczepanskaIn the last ten years the Open Source (OS) and Free Software (FS) movement has come to challenge the norms and ideals, products and procedures of the dominant proprietary software industry. OS/FS represents a radically different logic within the field of software development. This logic is based on ideas that celebrate the rights of the user and informational freedoms and resist strong intellectual property laws and regulations. In addition to gaining ground in the commercial software market, the OS/FS-movement is also establishing itself as an interesting alternative for the public sector. Currently, discussions regarding OS/FS procurement and policy-making are taking place within governments and public sector organizations all over the world. The OS/FS-technologies advocates have promoted them

A CBC Radio One national debate on the decline of civility in Canada's public discourse. More than a question of discourtesy, the decay of the tenor of political dialogue diminishes the dignity of the nation itself. Hosted by The Current and Avi Lewis, and including Heather Mallick, Lainey Lui, and myself

I'm not going to use this person's name, lest I contribute to the festering whirlpool of attention this hate-addicted skeletal sound bite repository uses to harvest the souls of those naive Americans who would dare spend too much time obtaining political opinions from spewing heads on cable television who are paid to offend as many rational sensibilities as possible in 34 seconds. She doesn't

I Remember When I Lost My Mind… for PowersandMorrison.com Sunday, October 22, 2006. Nickelodeon explores the level of debate in America and how it affects kids in “NickNews with Linda Ellerbee: Cheap Shots and Low Blows: How Debate Turns To Hate” premiering Sunday, November 5 at 8:30 pm. In this photo, host Linda Ellerbee discusses the topic with kids. (PRNewsFoto/Nickelodeon,Lucky Duck/Nickelodeon) The urge for politicians to throw personal attacks at one another has now become an expected part of the election cycle. But these personal attacks mostly come from the supporters themselves and they get directly connected to the candidate. The campaign commercials we see on television are no longer called campaign advertisements, but “attack ads.” When two candidates debate they come out on stage, shake hands, thank each other for being there, and then they try to stay calm while they are attacking or under attack. Could anything be more fake in the political are

Just a small post as its quite late and I am le tired. Kingsley can often be found talking about a "Universe of Discourse" (just search his blog for "Universe of Discourse" and you'll find a few results), and this evening I've been pondering on the meaning and value of it. What ...