Pilgrim Notes

Reflections along the way.

Tag: Wars

NT Wright Sings Bob Dylan

David Williamson pointed me toward a podcast of NT Wright singing “Blowin’ in the Wind” as well as talking about Christianity, politics, and the role of faith in action. This podcast was from an empireremixed conference held in Toronto.

The Rise of Antibranding or Semiotic Disobedience

Yipes! As the power shifts to the people, brand owners are not the only ones generating mass messages about their brand. With the all the various social aggregators like YouTube, MySpace, blogs, and more, antibranding viral messages can travel faster than official brand messages through the culture.

New York Times (Agenda Inc. LiveFeed) presents an interesting story on the rise of semiotic disobedience.  This is the act of  subverting or reinventing a brand logo to give new meaning to the signifier.  NYT introduces a cool game that makes light of the poor service at Kinkos. Disaffected is a downloadable “anti-advergame” that allows players to experience the incompetence of Kinkos staff firsthand.

Tony Blair on the Middle East and the War on Terror

Just finished reading Tony Blair’s speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council delivered last Tuesday. Interesting read. Help me to understand his position on Iraq and the Middle East. Gave me some food for thought.

War, Middle East and a World Divided

Like the war in Iraq, it seems this war in Israel divides people all around the world. Reading the Iraqi bloggers on Global Voices Online, I found bloggers who believe this war must continue until Syria and Iran are also broken whereas other who feel Israel needs a stunning defeat to break their aggressive tendencies. Just like the Iraq situation, I read various opinions and see points by both sides. I am painfully aware of the de-personalization of humans on both sides, and yet what is the resolve? Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy believed that war is the natural state of man and that peace is a rhythm that must be created and maintained. Unfortunately, our world does little to even seek out this rhythm. Many of the voices I hear in Iraq and the Middle east often speak with war in the voice even when they advocate peace.

Violent spirits cannot bring peace. The pattern of peace is the cross. The true peacemaker doesn’t throw words like knives but lays down his life. But that’s another topic.

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