this flew by too quickly

The soup was good, as was the evening down in the city center. I’m out of here pretty early tomorrow, though.

what’s on for dinner

Red lentil and sweet potato soup. Should be delicious, though it will be spicy.

Oh yes, this may be the right moment to remind readers of the principle of this blog… My view is that prior to any distinction between different fields of subject matter, there is a more fundamental distinction between sincerity and bullshit.

Namely, we are all truly interested in any number of things, ranging from metaphysics, geopolitics, and engineering down to humbler-sounding things such as baby kittens, sports leagues, meals, daily travels, and so forth.

But along with expressions of genuine interest in such topics unfolding around us, it is also possible to strike poses, score points, position oneself at the expense of others, and generally pretend to be things that one is not. Ultimately this may be unavoidable– call it “original sin,” or call it “not that far removed from the chimpanzees yet.” While no one can claim to be totally free of Category 2 behavior, serious efforts can be made to prune it down and make more room for Category 1 behavior: simply talking about the things that truly interest you.

In any case, I try my best on this blog to talk about all the things that do interest me in the course of life, both major and minor. Once in awhile someone out there pretends to be annoyed that I’m posting on things like what I ate for lunch. Too bad. You wouldn’t be annoyed if someone told you that in person, so there’s no point in pretending to be annoyed when it’s mentioned in a blog, just for the sake of scoring critique points.

Realismus jetzt!

If you read German, there is THIS BOOK to keep an eye out for.

The editor is Tobias Huber (now finishing his Ph.D. at the University of the West of England). The Amazon page has only three authors listed, but if memory serves there are quite a few more than that, but I no longer remember who all is included.

My own contribution to the volume is the 1999 “Object-Oriented Philosophy” piece that can be found in English in Towards Speculative Realism. That’s the one they most wanted, probably because that was the debut piece for the term.

The publisher is Merve Verlag in Berlin, and the title means Realism Now!

There may be some follow-up seminars in Berlin in connection with this project, during calendar year 2012.

what we did today

Long walks through wooded areas and up hills. There were some household repairs to take care of, though, so it was all cut a bit short. Especially since we got a late start on the day, and then it threatened rain.

Heading to Oxford tomorrow, but first am doing a bit of consultation and a magazine interview before leaving London.

another one from Iran

Friday Prayers Leader Targets President’s Wife
via FRONTLINE: Tehran Bureau | PBS on 5/6/11

The public campaign to weaken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and heighten the authority of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei may have entered a new stage today. In depicting Ayatollah Khameni’s status as that of an infallible Imam, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sadighi, leader of Tehran’s Friday Prayers, even took a swipe at the president’s wife. “One of the cabinet ministers told me, we believe that if his Excellency (Supreme Leader) decrees the divorce of the president’s wife, the president’s wife will become haram (religiously forbidden) for him and the president will no longer be able to touch her,” Sadighi said in his sermon.

As our political columnist Muhammad Sahimi explains:

Friday prayer sermons all over Iran today were dedicated to the authority and power of Ayatollah Khamenei. The increasingly public rift between the two principlist camps has forced supporters of the Supreme Leader to rally around him and emphasize his power. In his sermon today on the University of Tehran campus, where the Tehran’s Friday prayer is held, Sadighi said,
“I was meeting some of the cabinet ministers, and surely all of them without exception are Shiites believing in Amir ol-Momenin [Imam Ali, the first Imam of the Shiites, cousin of the Prophet, and also his son-in-law] and emulators of Hazrat-e Agha [His Excellency, Ayatollah Khamenei], before being a government official. One of the ministers told me, ‘We believe that if His Excellency decrees the divorce of the president’s wife, she will become haram (religiously forbidden) for him and the president will no longer be able to touch her. That is how [the extent to which] we believe in him [Khamenei].”

Sedighi also said,

“We consider the Velaayat-Faghih [guardianship of the Islamic jurist, represented by the Supreme Leader] above and beyond the Constitution. The late Mirza-ye Shirazi ordered the boycott of tobacco in Iran, and there was evidence that Imam Mahdi paid particular attention to it. Had the Constitution recognized Mirza-ye Shirazi as the Supreme Leader? Shiism has always been this way. Shiites have always been and will always be led by the flag of Velaayat-e Faghih. When the Faghih of the era boycotted tobacco, he was living in Iraq, but his decree demonstrated the power of Velaayat in the world and terrified the enemies…”

Sadighi was referring to Ayatollah Sayyed Hassan Shirazi who issued a fatwa in 1890 for boycotting tobacco, after the Persian king, Nasser al-din Shah granted a tobacco concession to Britain that was protested widely by the people. Due to the boycott, the king had to cancel the concession and compensate the British company. But, unlike what Sadighi said, there was no constitution at that time, as Iran was ruled by absolute monarchy.

Sadighi also said, “Not only are the powers of the Velaayat-e Faghih and Hazrat-e Agha as the leader of the country absolute according to the constitution — Article 4 of the constitution is an umbrella for all the powers — he is also Marja’ Taghlid for millions of people both outside and inside the country. Thus, even without the Revolution and the constitution, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei would have been a Marja’ with millions of followers and, therefore, the most important person in Shiism.”

Laureano Ralon’s two latest interviews

With KARSTEN HARRIES

and LEE BRAVER.

I haven’t read them yet. Nor have I read Speculations Vol. 2 nor much of anything else in the last few days.

basketball

What would have been the odds that neither San Antonio nor the L.A. Lakers would even make it as far as the West Finals? But Dallas has the Lakers in a 3-0 HOLE IN THE WEST SEMIFINALS. It’s not how anyone expected Phil Jackson’s coaching career to end.

Meanwhile, I’m a bit worried by how easily Miami is handling Boston, especially given that Chicago is having problems with Carlos Boozer not at full strength.

No one really wants to see Miami win the championship, right? They’re the designated villains of the season, and we thought their disappointing performance in the regular season ended the risk of their winning this year. Looks like they could win it, though.

I still think LeBron is a nice guy. I just wouldn’t want to see him win it this season in particular after the way he broke Cleveland’s heart on national TV. Let him wait a few seasons, for karma’s sake.

sleep

The last time I slept until 11:30 in the morning was… I have no memory of when. I really must have needed it this time.

Big day ahead in London, though.