Apropos the whole, "ZOMG, muslims taking over the country" argument, a little perspective. Also, Little Italy here in Cleveland is just one of the many conclaves (Little Slavia, Croatia, Moscow, etc) here where I live. And lets not forget the Amish. (pointed at from Dan) And I'll also remind you of the whole "We gotta make English our National Language before we all have to learn Spanish/Japanese/Chinese," hysteria. Fear, it's a powerful motivator for short term gains.
My own industry brushing up its image. I'm an ink-on-paper kind of guy. Don't get me wrong, I also love the intertubies. I was an internaut before there was a web ("Gopher, Everett?" "No thank you Delmar, part of a gopher would only arouse my appetite, but not bed her down."). And I'm really jonesing for an iPad or Touch, but paper is such lovely tech (yes, paper is high-tech, so is ink, btw). Our brains (as in all human brains) respond to it in a fundamentally different way than it responds to a screen. And, no, acquaintance with the substrate isn't an issue here, it's a part of our visual cortex and how it processes signals. e-Ink was supposed to change the game, but we're finding out it didn't bridge the gap as much as we thought it would. Your eyes are quite the high-definition scanning device, even if our visual perception is lower rez.
Also, using the web to generate more paper waste. Well, not really. Actually it's a pretty interesting idea, a great marketing tool, and a fab service. All designed to sell Neenah Paper (because once you proof it on the paper, of course you're going to buy that paper).
Of somewhat relevance to my recently penned short "Grace," the Brain Coprocessor. I haven't had time to read the whole article, but, yeah, my story talked a lot about that, including a brain to external computer interface. In the story, no necessarily such a good thing. (kind of a bookmark to myself to finish reading it at a slower pace - grokked from Jay Lake).
Also, thinking of my short stories, LolThulhu. Bwahahaha. (grokked from Stewart Sternberg, I believe).
Well, we all can't be perfect. That's an article on some Tea Party candidates (or, "supported by the Tea Party") and their connections to government spending, as in, the money they have received from the government and taken credit for.
4 comments:
Not understanding how Little Italy compares to Halakhah, but maybe I'm missing something? Is there a private law system running in my favorite Cleveland dining neighborhood?
Don't forget Parma on the west side.
Do the Amish also have a religious court system?
My debate team is applying for a grant to convert to a paperless computer system from a very heavy, over 5,000 sheets of printed material system this year. We're hoping this will reduce our paper/printing costs (and shipping for out of state tournaments) in the long run. I like paper better, easier to track an argument on paper than on a screen, but I'm old and cranky that way.
Anonymous Cassie
Hey Cassie, yes, it's called Catholic Law, although it's rarely referred to that now (you may want to research the late 1800's and the prejudice against Catholics in America). Much of Little Italy's life is completed in the shadow of the Church. We normally don't think of the differences between the religions, or that going to the priest to resolve family issues, blessing for weddings (under Catholic Law, several of my friends aren't considered married as far as the church goes), even to adjudicate contract/business agreements as strange, much of what people like to think of Sharia Laws in the US fall under these same purview.
Plus, my main point is about assimilation and to show that assimilation has never been as rosy as some people like to point out. "They don't want to learn English"... well, yeah, I've had friends whose parents refused to learn English and instead speak Greek, Russian, German, Croatian, Slavic, Spanish at home. "They all gather in communities..." well, see the original post. "They follow their own laws..." well, they're still under US law jurisdiction, but there are several communities that follow their own law, but we call them "customs."
And the Amish also follow the rules of their Bishops, even to the point of excluding the Sheriffs and handling illegal activities and their punishment within their community (not to mention they things most people know about, such as acceptance of technology, clothing, food, who marries whom, etc). It's really only when the Amish are being preyed upon by outside forces that our regular law enforcement gets involved. Most sheriffs offices have agreements with the various communities as to when they'll come in. Some communities are more tightly controlled than others (depending on the Bishops). You may remember the kerfluffle over getting the Amish to have both lights and reflective tags on their buggies (and some communities still refuse to have them - even though it is state law).
And again, most of what we call "custom" and "social norms" are part of those "religious court systems", it's just it's a part of our "normal" culture so we don't think of it that way.
Catholic law? You mean canon law?
AC
Actually I mean Papal Law in some circumstances (that is, a bishop can also be considered a Vatican Ambassador and is entitled to some legal status as such), but much of what I'm talking about isn't considered "law" these days (especially in America), but "custom." It does, however, have the weight of law within the Church.
You can also look at an extension of this "law" in how the state handles marriages.
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