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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Thomas Bushnell, BSG's LiveJournal:
| Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 | |
| 8:47 pm | a prerequisite for biblical scholarship modern biblical scholarship is a weird thing. some of the people who do it aren't religious believers. this is a new thing, and in many ways, it's a particularly good thing. it keeps the religious believers honest when they talk about the texts. :) on the other hand, all of them--whether believers or not--share a sort of respect for the text, an interest in entering into the world-view, even the psyche, of the writers, a desire to see the world as they do, and a general sympathy with them. and, indeed, not just a sympathy for authors, but a sympathy for communities, for religion, for the kinds of folks who write these kinds of texts. and that, i think, turns out to be necessary. it's not religious faith that's necessary; rather, it's a kind of basic sympathy with the project. it's reasonable to have a distanced suspicion of the text, but only to a point. at some point, suspicion of the text impedes the ability to read it, and the result is bizzare and unfruitful interpretation. this is especially so when the suspicion of the text arises from some external concern. if a suspicion of religion, or a rigid marxist analysis of class, or an ossified world-view prevents seeing things in a new way, then texts as challenging as the bible are going to be impossible to enter. this isn't unique to the bible or other religious texts. i think it is shared by the classics of philosophy, or epic poetry, and certain sorts of novels too. it's why i can understand and resonate with theravada buddhist literature, even as i am not a believer in that context, and by contrast, why some people dominated by a master narrative understanding hostile to religion may be unable to understand any of them. |
| Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 | |
| 11:56 am | NLDS ends The Phillies won again tonight, ending their NLDS against Colorado, with Philadelphia up 3-1. The NLCS begins Thursday as Los Angeles hosts Philadelphia; the ALCS on Friday with New York hosting Los Angeles. |
| Monday, October 12th, 2009 | |
| 12:10 am | Game Three The Dodgers won Saturday, and the Angels and Yankees won Sunday. That ends those three series 3-0. Philadelphia beat Colorado, so they are up 2-1 in their NLDS. The American League Championship Series begins Friday, with New York hosting Los Angeles. |
| Saturday, October 10th, 2009 | |
| 2:03 pm | ALDS game two The leaders won again in each series Friday. So now it's New York over Minnesota 2-0, and Los Angeles over Boston 2-0. |
| Friday, October 9th, 2009 | |
| 10:58 am | Series advance The ALDS between Boston and Los Angeles opened with LA beating Boston; series stands 1-0 Los Angeles. In the NLDS, Colorado won, tying with Philadelphia 1-1, and Los Angeles defeated St. Louis again, putting them at 2-0 and within striking distance. |
| Thursday, October 8th, 2009 | |
| 11:44 am | Series start ALDS Game One, New York defeats Minnesota, series stands 1-0 New York. NLDS Game One, Philadelphia beats Colorado, series stands 1-0 Philadelphia; and Los Angeles defeats St. Louis, series stands 1-0 Los Angeles. |
| Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 | |
| 8:19 pm | Magazines Gourmet magazine is dead. This is very sad. |
| 7:01 pm | And that's it Finally, the matchups are settled with Minnesota's nail-biting victory over Detroit. Tomorrow, the New York hosts Minnesota in the ALDS; and in the NLDS, Philadelphia hosts Colorado and Los Angeles hosts St. Louis. |
| 6:40 pm | Yankees make their election New York has chosen to play in ALDS schedule A to nobody's surprise. |
| 12:32 am | libertarian paradise In the libertarian paradise of the future, you know, the one with capitalism run amok, what will become of the homeless? Colin Ward writes, "One of the characteristics of the affluent world is that it denies its poor the opportunity to feed, clothe, or house themselves, or to meet their own and their families' needs, except from grudgingly doled-out welfare payments." [emphasis in original] Once, back Locke was sure that rampant capitalism could still leave "as much and as good" of the land and natural goods for all, it seemed natural to suppose that the poor could still have a bit of land and a small farm. I think it was, even in Locke's day, more fantasy than reality. What would society look like if we did the minimum: guaranteed to the homeless the resources necessary to feed, clothe, and house themselves, by their own labor? |
| Monday, October 5th, 2009 | |
| 12:24 pm | boston? Should I go to boston this weekend? Crucial determinating factor: someone who will go to the red sox game with me on Sunday. |
| Sunday, October 4th, 2009 | |
| 7:44 pm | no decision Both Minnesota and Chicago won their games tonight, so there will be the playoff Tuesday. That also means the Yankees have not yet declared whether they will be in the A or the B ALDS series. |
| 12:18 am | results almost all in Since last post, Boston has clinched the AL Wild Card, and Los Angeles clinched the AL West. Philadelphia got the NL East, and finally, Los Angeles beat Colorado for the NL West, giving Colorado the NL Wild Card. The NLDS matchups thus are St. Louis at Los Angeles and Colorado at Philadelphia. That leaves still to be decided the AL Central, which is a dead heat between Detroit and Minnesota. They each play their last game tomorrow, Detroit against the White Sox (79-82), and Minnesota against the Royals (65-96), with both leaders having home field advantage. If they remain tied, the one-game playoff will be Tuesday, in Minnesota. |
| Sunday, September 27th, 2009 | |
| 11:53 pm | the race is on New York beat Boston twice, and has clinched the AL East, and is guaranteed home-run advantage and choice of ALDS schedule. (They don't need to actually make their selection until the matchups are all determined, but they will surely choose schedule A.) With Chicago's loss Saturday to Kansas City (really? KC?!) they are out of the AL Central and the postseason. Likewise, with St. Louis' win over Colorado on Saturday, they clinch the NL Central. The Dodgers have clinched a post-season spot; only the Colorado Rockies could pass them for wildcard, but even then, they would simply trade places. In the American League, things look like this: New York has the AL East. Detriot leads the AL Central, but Minnesota is close behind. Neither has a chance at the wildcard. Los Angeles leads the AL West. Texas is a distant second both for the AL West and for the wildcard. In the National League: Philadelphia leads the NL East, with Atlanta a distant second. St .Louis has the NL Central. Los Angeles has clinched a post-season spot, and leads the NL West, with Colorado a distant second. The NL wildcard race is fairly tight between Colorado and Atlanta, with Florida, San Francisco, and Chicago barely hanging on. The races to watch then are the Detroit/Minnesota contest for the AL Central, and the Colorado/Atlanta contest for the NL wildcard. Making the former race particularly interesting is that Detroit and Minnesota begin a four-game series Monday. |
| Thursday, September 24th, 2009 | |
| 12:18 pm | Things shaping up Seattle lost, and Boston won, so Seattle is out of the AL West and the AL Wildcard races. |
| Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 | |
| 10:58 am | race tightens all round Tampa Bay lost, ending its wildcard and AL East hopes. Likewise, Milwaukee lost, dropping it out of the NL Central, and since Colorado also won, it is out of the wildcard too. Meavhile, with a victory last night over the Angels, the New York Yankees have clinched a post-season spot. |
| Sunday, September 20th, 2009 | |
| 10:32 pm | And another one down... Houston lost, dropping it out of the NL Central and NL Wildcard races. The New York Yankess have very nearly guaranteed their post-season berth; if they win one game, or Texas loses one, then the Yankees are guaranteed at least the AL Wildcard spot, if not the AL East division title. |
| Friday, September 18th, 2009 | |
| 9:09 pm | trickling in Cincinnati lost tonight, dropping them out of NL wildcard hopes, and any chance at the pennant. |
| 3:50 pm | badda bing, badda boom And Cleveland lost to Oakland, so they're out. |
| Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 | |
| 12:45 pm | two more out Boston won last night, ending the hopes of Oakland to make the AL wildcard. San Diego lost as well, ending their NL wildcard hopes. |