Sunday, December 11, 2011
Ate half of a chocolate-almond-coconut cookie. Laundry. Washed the car windshield with soap scum remover. Breakfast: 2-egg mexican scramble, 2 hash browns, 2 slices of toast with butter. Today I read Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Human Rights Day speech, delivered on December 6, 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland. This was a milestone speech in the history of the worldwide LGBT struggle for equality and respect, clearly and precisely stating the problem, the rationale for this statement, and the steps humans need to take to begin correcting these injustices. My only disappointment is the paragraph containing "...rarely are cultural and religious traditions and teachings actually in conflict with the protection of human rights." Although this statement is probably technically true in the context of all the world's religions in all of history, I suspect that today's dominant religions are indeed in such conflict. This speech implies that religion is part of the solution, but it intentionally overlooks the truth that religion is also a very significant part of the problem. In the long term, either religions and their followers will be forced to adapt and evolve according to what we now refer to as human rights or humans might need to choose to leave such antiquated teachings behind in the march toward creating a richer, more peaceful, more enlightened, and more rational world. Clinton says that progress starts with honest discussion, but even an honest discussion will degenerate quickly when people cling to irrational ideas and behaviors. Humans must move its global culture toward one that disavows practically all actions based on irrational thinking. Our progress will be much slower until that happens. Indeed, a summary and analysis of the United States government's rational and irrational actions in the past 12 years would likely be mostly embarrassing, making Clinton's speech seem both powerful and empty at the same time. Watched The Adjustment Bureau on Netflix DVD with Patrick. Snack: stovetop popcorn with basil pesto. I added the basil pesto with the oil and popcorn and it pretty much all burnt. Patrick said he could taste the pesto in the popcorn, but I couldn't. Next time I'll try melting butter, mixing the pesto with it, pouring it on top after popping, then shaking the popcorn with the butter-pesto mixture. The Adjustment Bureau is an interesting thought experiment—a philosophical amuse bouche. Not the action thriller it seems on the surface (and on the DVD box cover), it's really a love story with a dash of science fiction and fantasy. It's decent enough to watch once, but it fails at its conclusion because nothing relevatory is revealed. Its ending doesn't explain why it ends the way it does; it simply does despite what you have learned earlier in the film. This film is like an earnest, more romantic, less impressive kid brother of The Matrix. Another round of laundry.