MSN Tech & Gadgets: "Blogs turn 10--

who's_the_father?"

. . . . . . . .

[Dave] Winer is a pioneer of Web syndication techniques and editor of Scripting News, which launched on April 1, 1997.He
boasts on his site that Scripting News "bootstrapped the blogging revolution"
and that it is the "longest
currently running Web log on the Internet." A decade ago, however, Winer
wasn't actually using the term "Web log," nor does he claim to have invented the
term. Winer did not respond to repeated requests for comment from CNET News.com
until after this article appeared. He replied in a post claiming "the first
blogs were inspired" by Scripting News.
[Jorn] Barger, a programmer, futurist and James Joyce scholar, is not
afraid to say, indeed, he's the guy who invented the term "Web log." In December
1997, he created RobotWisdom.com to
feature entirely bloggy collections of links to articles about politics,
culture, books and technology that he found interesting.

. . . . . . . . . . .

"The Hostile New Age Takeover of Yoga"

Slate's Ron Rosenbaum: "There's_nothing_worse_than_narcissism_posing_as_humility."

I've written before about the left-wing, aged-hippy attempt to take over my "Eastern_discipline" and what they've done with Native_American_"spirituality".

Yeesh. Yuck.

Sunday night update: Open_Source_Yoga_Unity, Baby! Fight the power!
Oh, and I'll thank all you long-haired hippy freaks in advance for staying the Hell away from Gelugpa . . .

Wadda we want? Free Tibet! When do we want it?

Now, baby! OK, just in that narrow sense, I am a bit of a hippy. I admit it. Sosume.

From Saturday's commemoration of Tibetan Peoples' Uprising Day at the Saint Paul Capitol.

Soka Gakkai propaganda alert

New York's Poughkeepsie_Journal has a puff piece today on
Soka_Gakkai:

Most are Asian immigrants, but an uncounted number are Western converts,
[co-chairman of religious studies at Naropa University, Paul] Stanley said.
"There are deep, historical 13th-century roots to Soka Gakkai. It's not a
21st-century fad. But transplanted to the West, you don't always get the heft,
context and resonance of history."

I suppose you could say the same thing about the "Legionaries_of_Christ": that because Pope John Paul II let them hang out with the Church for a while, they have "deep, historical roots". . . (they both go all the way back to the 1940s)

March 12th update: Man, Poughkeepsie is really pushing this cult:

Nichiren Buddhism is practiced by 10 million people in Japan and millions more
worldwide, according to Soka Gakkai International, the umbrella organization for
Nichiren Buddhism. U.S. centers are in New York and Los Angeles.

"umbrella organization for Nichiren Buddhism"?? After being excommunicated from Nichiren Shoshu? You mean like, "Legion of Christ" is the umbrella organization for all of Catholicism? Gee, I guess so. . .

The Boston Research Center for the 21st Century[adding this to my Soka front
group list], which promotes human rights, nonviolence and environmental ethics,
was founded in 1993 by the organization's Japanese president, [the second coming
of Nichiren himself!] Daisaku Ikeda.
The sect has critics, particularly in
Japan, where the organization is involved in politics [they run the "New Clean
Government Party"/Shin-Koumei-to]. In the United States, it's been viewed
askance for extolling materialism [kind of like Amway!] and this-world happiness
over other values.
But the organization's U.S. spokesman, Bill Aken, argues:
"It's not 'prosperity dharma.' We do think good fortune begins in your heart and
manifests itself in your environment." People who master inner wisdom and
compassion do better in the world, he said. Besides, "What's wrong with
prosperity? If you polish your inside, you can surely see it in your outer
manifestation."

Uh, nothing against prosperity, but don't you think Daisaku Ikeda is prosperous enough?

Sushi Cult Alert!

from Christianity_Today:

The Chicago_Tribune has
a long, in-depth exposé of Unification Church head Sun Myung Moon's connection
to and control of the American sushi industry. Moon and his church "created an
enterprise that reaped millions of dollars by dominating one of America's
trendiest indulgences: sushi," the Tribune reports. "Adhering to a plan Moon
spelled out more than three decades ago in a series of sermons, members of his
movement managed to integrate virtually every facet of the highly competitive
seafood industry. The Moon followers' seafood operation is driven by a
commercial powerhouse, known as True World Group. It builds fleets of boats,
runs dozens of distribution centers and, each day, supplies most of the nation's
estimated 9,000 sushi restaurants." Even Christian restaurateurs who don't want
to support Moon—who calls himself "humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord,
and True Parent"—say they have to use his company if they want to serve sushi.

"Tensuke" is apparently one of Moon's front groups. I don't know if this_particular_restaurant is one of his businesses, but it definitely employs a couple of Moonie employees.

This apparently is a problem in Oregon, as well.

June 2nd Update: Yep, SeaRanch's_"Tensuke" in the downtown Minneapolis skyway really is a Moonie_front_group . . .