Review of On the Internet by Berkeley philosopher Hubert Dreyfus, who argues that the belief in the adequacy of interactions on the Internet shares the problems of Cartesian mind-body dualism. He invokes a number of (pre-electronic) philosophers, including Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and phenomenologists such as Merleau-Ponty, to argue for the importance of not leaving the body behind in interactions; he is especially concerned about distance learning over the net. Taking pains, however, to establish that he is no Luddite himself, he notes that he has recorded his lectures on .mp3 and even broadcast one of his courses on the web. Chronicle of Higher Education

Backstabbers — ‘In Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman, pioneering feminist Phyllis Chesler dares to talk about the ways women — including famous feminists — stab each other in the back.’ Salon. As a fan of the work of Carol Gilligan, I’ve always felt the feminist developmental theorists who have made much of the fact that women’s development conspires to accentuate the value of affiliation and embeddedness in relationships go a long way to explain a host of implications for male-female psychological differences. However, this never should have influenced social scientists to have blinders on about female-female aggression, or to discount the possibility of affiliative values in males. Now a veteran of feminist social science takes off her blinders, in a way.

Was this new U.S. postage stamp (the image is of an earlier version of the design) designed by Leni Riefenstahl, or what?

Atomic Apocalypse Barely Averted at the Davis-Besse Reactor CommonDreams

Peter Gabriel’s Passion — music from The Last Temptation of Christ — and his companion compilation, Passion Sources. One of the founts of contemporary worldbeat music and particularly appropriate today, showing how the emergence of Christianity in the Passion was firmly embedded in the timeless rhythms of the crossroads of three continents. Happy Easter, and an ongoing happy Passover.

Peter Gabriel’s Passion — music from The Last Temptation of Christ — and his companion compilation, Passion Sources. One of the founts of contemporary worldbeat music and particularly appropriate today, showing how the emergence of Christianity in the Passion was firmly embedded in the timeless rhythms of the crossroads of three continents. Happy Easter, and an ongoing happy Passover.