Project Gutenburg never ceases to amaze me with it skill at ensuring that classic materials are made easily accessable by the public. In a time when profits are more important then philanthropy and Pirates are once again the scourge of "The Man", they continue to upload 1,000's of books weekly.
When browsing, I noticed that several of their books have gone audio. Great news for the visually impared, young or busy (and lazy) sorts that can't take the time to whip out the ol' PDA for a few hours to read.
Now you can hear Nietzsche in German as it was intended ... or just in English if you'd rather know what the hell is going on.

Technology and geeks with OCD are an awesome combination!

As technology progresses, we become closer and closer to being able to engineer life forms (or portions of them) in order to serve us better. Biotechnologies will allow us to have organic computers, light bulbs grown in tubes and a wide array of other, no doubt, handy items.
Bio-mimetics and Cyberware are also on the very near horizon, but have the added advantage of being morally neutral; that idea of subjugating living creatures for our own use is often frowned upon by a significant portion of Western culture (I'm looking at you PETA). Granted, I'm not entirely on board with the idea either, especially when there could be other options (even riding horses makes me uncomfortable for that poor bugger that has to tote me around).

"Science is one thing, wisdom is another. Science is an edged tool, with which men play like children, and cut their own fingers." - Sir Arthur Eddington

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I know I'm a little behind on this particular story, but apparently the world's first vegan strip club has opened in Portland, Oregon.
The menu apparently is entirely entirely vegan and therefore environmentally, biologically and ethically sound (ok, that last one is more on an 'animal rights' sort of ethic). Personally, I'm impressed that a business can actually pull off an all vegan meal and stay ... well, in business. Now, you might think that a strip club may have a better chance then any other, and you might be right, but remember that Portland, Or. has more strip clubs per capita then any other American city.



It will cost you less then $500 to get from Toronto to Portland, anybody up for a weekend trip?

How can you live true and truly live when so much of our lives is based entirely on the fabrications of others?
Our parents teach us to lie when they force us to tell them we love them, well before we've learned the meaning of the word.
We lie to our children when we tell them there are no monsters in the world.
Our friends create a near cult-like devotion to propagating and validating the fantasies in which we're confined and still face us without remorse.
The general populace, moulds itself to suit it's own needs and feeds you only what you need to know to get what "they" want.
Worst of all, we change who we are for those we love and hide the truth to "protect" them (or appear more desirable).
Whether these acts are moral, ethical, just or simply uncalled for is not the focus of my quare verum ... at least ... not today. (My interpretations of these concepts tend to be hazy by most people's standards anyways)

How far into our past would we have to look to find out where our life ended and the sophism began?

Obviously, each would have to dissect their own closet of horrors to know for sure.

Would we even recognize *our* own, self-manifested lives, let alone our true selves when confronted by it without the lens of deceit and hallucination with which we bathe ourselves and are drenched by others?



Presuppositions of an actual "Line in the Sand" aside, is it possible to distil a man from the myth of himself, in which he perpetually drowns?


With permissions, I may post responses (contact button on right), should I get some well thought ones, you know, since my comments thing still isn't doing much.
(Also posted on The Mad Philosophers Guild)

A priori,
Z.