text:
The Culture of Video Games

Video games are no longer the culturally empty electro-blocks and easy-to-swallow impulse receptacles that once defined them during their formative years. Instead, as the technology that shapes them as vehicles of variable interaction has evolved over time, their ability to straddle more complex cultural lines and more nuanced processes of thought has accelerated to a point that qualifies them for more serious consideration. Indeed, part of my original motivation for writing these articles grew out of my own despair at the lack of critical discussion video games were being subjected to.

Video Games: From this.

Without wishing to get tied down in debates surrounding the empirical prerequisites for what constitutes ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ forms of art and culture, I want to suggest that video games have reached what I would consider a significant threshold of cultural relevancy that qualifies them, if not to be accepted, then at least to be considered for what they bring to the cultural table. While the trend for games to absorb and incorporate more traditional cultural influences such as cinema and literature has certainly contributed to this ongoing development, I think the real reason for this evolving shift toward ‘legitimacy’ is much simpler, and more universal. That is, interactive games have reached a position of thematic and reflexive maturity that allows them to frame, extrapolate and mythologize upon the cultural wellspring of the human frailties; a process generally shared by all serious cultural outputs. As cinema discovered for itself very early on, prolonged durability as a medium depends not so much on the precise technical particulars of your craft (the raw technological ‘thrill’ of moving pictures as a spectacle in and of itself faded extremely quickly) but in being able to readily address the spoken and unspoken tensions, aspirations and fears of a emotionally perceptible audience. It is this quality that renders film culturally and epochally specific, in a sense inseparable from the context of native time and space; where its thematic scope is rooted to and rises out of a certain cultural milieu which is then reabsorbed by that same body in the form of material consumption.

Interactive games of the more serious type have been gradually moving closer to this form of cultural dynamic. At their very best, their themes and stories extrapolate from a complex and multifaceted socio-political fabric and repackage themselves as compelling, hyper-real cyber realities. The original Deus Ex and Fallout 3, for instance, are both essentially groundbreaking titles not simply for what they were able achieve technologically, but also for their acutely relevant channels into socio-political discourse intensely specific to both time and space. This is not to suggest these titles are necessarily high-brow art forms, but that their thematic sensitivity to wider social predispositions and tendencies should cement them as works of serious cultural discussion.

Deus Ex: Raising the bar

One of the most groundbreaking early studies of cinema, conducted by German critic Siegfried Kracauer in From Caligari to Hitler identified what Kracauer argued was a direct psychological link between the prevailing themes and subject matter of post WW1, pre-Hitler German cinema and the subsequent rise of fascism in that country. Despite minor differences of surface, Kracauer suggested a whole body of films that not only reflected certain ‘authoritarian’ dispositions, but also thematically preempted the dramatic political and social changes that modern history now registers there. According to Kracauer these films exhibited a problematic moral duality that projected the pre-Hitler future of Germany as a binary pathway between wholesale tyranny, or a kind of primitive mob anarchy. This duality suggested, as Kracauer argued, that the German people had perhaps already psychologically ‘accepted’, at least on a subconscious or pre-subconscious level, the inevitability of, or even, the ‘natural’ procession toward a duly authoritarian state.

A Bleak German Future: Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927)

I refer to this example from cinema as I think it exemplifies the idea that certain forms of media are able to act as prescient markers for social and political trends and attitudes, something that I dare suggest we are now moving towards, if not in all video games, then at least a select few that represent a high watermark of cultural relevancy. That video games so often straddle the genre of science fiction is also significant. Science fiction, despite its fantastical excesses, tends to be the most socially and politically reflexive form of popular myth; a grand theatrical canvas where the hopes, fears and anxieties of the present are extrapolated and played out within a theoretical, hyper-realized future.

For instance, an entire thesis could be written for a game like Fallout 3 and what is a veritably rich textual and sub-textual layering of themes, symbols and metaphors. It potentially offers, in its broadest scope, a comprehensive treatise on the grand American neo-liberal experiment. By fiercely juxtaposing, for instance, the familiar iconography of America at its cultural and economic apex: the heady, sickly-sweet and nostalgia-bled 1950s, against the engulfing, inescapable backdrop of post nuclear fallout decay, it casts a certain tension and anxiety to the future of this great mythological American dream. Later, when we enter into a direct manifestation of this ideal in the form of a cruel virtual reality prison at Vault 112, there is a sense of uncanny repulsion at the ensuing scenes; that of an impossibly sanitized community of polite 1950s automatons going about their sterile pre-scripted lives, oblivious to their own psychological capture. It is telling that the gameplay that characterizes these moments becomes, in effect, a mission to disturb this polite social veneer via the calculated framing of adultery and the performance of various other social transgressions. It is as if the hero/player is being encouraged in these moments to take pleasure in this perverse social subversion, to break apart its very superficiality. Much like the original juxtaposition, the intended effect of these scenes is a further deconstruction of one of America’s most highly exalted cultural paragons: the typically American aspiration of 50s style suburbia and the picture-book nuclear family recast as a chiefly hollow and synthetic simulacrum of human (non)interaction.

Vault 112: Subverting the polite social veneer

Politics too are drawn with a similarly pessimistic tone and cynicism. The loquacious President ‘Eden’ who can be heard throughout the airwaves as the hero makes his way around the faceless derelicts and wastelands, is later revealed as a nothing more than a form of advanced artificial intelligence; a mathematical amalgamation of personalities, slogans and verbal-inflections of former American presidents (whose election we are told is a matter of state secrecy under grounds of ‘national security’). This display of grandiose political artifice emerges from within a Western culture where political speeches are readily dissected for their cunning rhetorical devices by an army of analysts and speechwriters, and then recycled back into ‘the system’ in the form of newly calibrated political speeches.

In Deus Ex, government bodies are not only cast as hollowed out entities, but also as sinister constructs engaged in bio-terrorist acts against the very citizens they are presumed to govern. Owing to its Cyberpunk influences, its primary dialogue is one between the nature of technology and the relationship it upholds with contemporary systems of power. Its commentary on state surveillance, for instance, is crystallized in the form of the hero, JC Denton, a high-tech covert agent, who is ‘nano-augmented’ with a built in cranial spy camera which broadcasts directly to UNATCO HQ (a kind of Orwellian international police force) in real-time and for official state observation and archiving. Thus, as the player performs various missions within the game world, they are repeatedly made aware of this all-seeing presence that, we are told, cannot be switched off. While simultaneously, agents from UNATCO HQ are able to appear within a personal eidetic display to comment, praise or condemn the player as they perform various actions. This randomized and often unexpected interjection of government agents into the player’s private visual space, combined with a narrative which develops directly in response to this act of digital intrusion, creates a subtle psychological tension that operates within the boundaries of virtual subjectivity. The effect of this complex diegetic arrangement is the creation of a kind of meta-ontology of systemic surveillance, one the player is compelled to operate under as they psychologically and subjectively engage within this morally ambiguous virtual world. In doing so, it actualizes a techno-driven re-conceptualization of the Panopticon; a technical construct designed to create a forced internalization of the very act of surveillance within the subject, described by its creator Jeremy Bentham as a “new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without example”.

Presidio Modelo: A Panopticon Inspired Prison

The social relevancy of these titles is tacitly woven yet maintains a direct psycho-active link to many of its unspoken, symbolic tensions. The thematic appropriateness of Deux Ex, for instance, is confirmed in hindsight when viewed through the lens of post-9/11 angst, where its uncanny prescience cements itself as a significant cultural artifact. Consider briefly the techno-fears and anxieties that are drawn so heavily upon here prior to this horrific event, that in many ways now find themselves manifest within physical and psychological reality. The basic narrative framework, that of a devastating terrorist attack against New York City, prefigures an international crackdown on ‘global terrorism’ and an ensuing, indiscriminate curtailment of individual liberties. More eerily, artwork included within the game also shows the Twin Towers markedly absent from the distinctive Manhattan skyline. While the physical parallels to 9/11 are striking, the psycho-social echoes between fiction and reality also suggest a more dynamically rooted interplay. Indeed, that a significant cultural subset now subscribes to grand conspiracies of government involvement in 9/11, for instance, would appear to directly mirror Deus Ex’s own sinister portrayal of shadowy government agencies actively plotting against their own citizens. Its comprehensive treatise is a systematic layering and exploration of the grand act of political conspiracy, locating it not only as mere theme, but at the very core of its ideological drive. It urges the notion that for as much as this is the product of creative choice, it is also a form of reverberated and diffuse mass-cultural response. While I do not wish to prescribe a sense of legitimacy to such conspirational views, it is important to note what is a form of authentic social and political tension, one that would, in this instance, appear to represent a muted and dispersed anxiety in the nature of contemporary political agency at root of the body politic. An animus, in effect, that attaches itself as a form of collective psychological undercurrent in the Kracauerian sense, and finds itself re-manifest through the highly stratified channels of mass production and popular entertainment.

What becomes notable within these titles when taken together is their apparent mirroring of a similar moral dualism to the one characterized by the pre-Nazi Germany films discussed by Kracaeur – that of the ideological juxtaposition between a world defined via anarchy or tyranny. In Fallout 3, for instance, the player must choose whether to cooperate with the shadowy ‘Enclave’ (the de-facto ‘government’ and fascistic overseers of the Capital Wasteland) by helping ‘purify’ the remaining population with aid of the FEV virus; or, assist in securing the ‘Fountains of Life’  – a clean water supply free from toxic radiation that would ensure the survival of all within the Wasteland; a future which ideologically rejects the Enclave and the promised ‘stability’ of centralized government. In Deus Ex, similarly, the player must decide whether to ally themselves with shadowy global entities who seek to control the world through advanced cybercratic means, or else, destroy the ‘Global Communications Hub’; an action which would – the game informs us – plunge civilization into a new ‘dark age’, effectively crippling all form of structural government.

In each case, the narrative structure of these titles can be seen to accelerate toward a kind of thematic ‘polarity’ where the individual must decide, essentially, between a world of liberty underpinned by chaos, or conversely, a world of order governed via tyranny. As players, we are positioned as dynamic agents occupying a transitional space in and between each of these binary points, where ‘completion’ of the game involves the performance of tasks that fall ambiguously within either side of this complex ideological spectrum. In some instances, players must perform certain ‘quests’ without explicit knowledge of their precise ideological footprint. A mission to hunt down an ‘evil’ character, for instance, will often reveal a far more sinister plot which, in turn, implicates the very individual(s) that assigned the original mission; a kind of ideological reversal where the ‘evil’ character becomes, in essence, an ally in pursuit of a far greater ideological threat. Such reversals are often nested like Russian dolls to the point where all ideological foundations are rendered systematically hollow, as merely temporal points which serve to highlight the subjectivity inherent within all moral reality.

Tough Decisions: In Fallout 3, a mission to cure a horrific disease depends upon the kidnap of an innocent.

The ideological dualism on display within these titles represent not isolated cultural events, but an emerging pattern or myth within the domain of the video game – one which forms the basis for some of its most popular and endurable outputs. That some of the most successful and influential titles of the last two decades – games such as Half-Life 2 and Final Fantasy 7 also heavily incorporate this same dualism into their narrative framework, confirms the presence of a form of emerging cultural mimesis. Together with Fallout 3 and Deus Ex, the significant economic success of these titles should be seen, I would suggest, as an indication of an active psycho-social channel, in the Kracaeurian sense, between media object and consumer subject; one which, in its heavily codified form, is able to speak to the popular techno fears and desires internalized by the mass video gaming audience. Indeed, it is their thematic relevance to this cultural milieu that has not only secured their economic success, but also cemented them as a form of modern ‘cyber myth’ that underpins the subconscious political fabric of this emerging cultural subset. Like the films of pre-Nazi Germany, the mass production and consumption of such inimical ideological binaries suggests a form of psycho-social tension within the boundaries of the political conscious, one which draws upon an ambiguously circumscribed moral aesthetic and broadly inflected iconographic array to express many of its unspoken anxieties.

However, the event or consumption of such forms should not be viewed automatically as a kind of fascist predilection or tendency. On the contrary, it demonstrates an anxiety and distrust toward all forms of structural authority, and of any attempts to naturalize or make legitimate its own branded ideology.

  1. October 16th, 2010

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text:
Public Officialese

“Gov. Blagojevich has said – repeatedly – he doesn’t view himself as a target in the ongoing federal corruption probe that has tarnished his tenure and left him with historically low voter-approval ratings,” the Sun-Times reports.

“So why is he arguing for the same rights as a criminal defendant in a court bid to block the release of most of the federal subpoenas his administration has received?”

A) It’s part of a class project to earn a missing credit from law school.
B) The subpoeanas would reveal he is not only Public Official A but Public Official X, Y, and Z as well.
C) If he closes his eyes and screams “You can’t see me!” he can’t be a target.
D) Just a thought exercise.

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text:
LCD TV Protector. Design Note 25

SIMAGEometimes you need a simple circuit to protect the Electronic gadgets like LCD TV from voltage fluctuations. Normal domestic power supply is 230 volts at 50Hz in most countries. But this voltage may not remain steady and may go as high as 250 volts or as low as 180 volts. Complaints in the distribution transformer, operation of heavy current appliances like flour mill, welding machine etc in the nearby places can cause severe voltage fluctuations in the lines. A good stabilizer with Buck / Boost facility can solve the problem, but still it is interesting to make this circuit and it costs less than Rs.100.It cut off the power supply to the gadget connected when the voltage increases above 230 volts and decreases below 200 volts.

You need the following components
1. 0-12 volt 500 Milli Ampere transformer- 1No
2. IN4007 Diodes- 2 Nos
3. 470 uF 25 volt Electrolytic capacitor-1No.
4. 10 uF 25 volt Electrolytic capacitor-1No.
5. 10 K Pot / Preset – 2 Nos
6. LED Red – 5 mm -1No
7. LED Green-5 mm -1No
8. 1K ¼ Watt resistors – 4 Nos
9. 470 Ohms ¼ Watt resistor – 2 Nos
10. BC 548 Transistor – 2 Nos
11. 12 volt 200 Ohms, 2 Amps Relay – 1 No.
12. 2 Amps Fuse – 1 No.
13. Common PCB- Small Size-1No
14. Connecting Wires – 1mm gauge electric wire, Thin plastic wires.
15. LED Holder – 5 mm- 2 Nos
16. Plastic Switch box with 3 Pin Socket provision- 1No
Circuit working

Power supply to the circuit is derived from a 0-12 volt 500 mA transformer. Note that, only a half wave rectification using Diode D1 is done which is essential to achieve the result. That means, when the input voltage in the transformer Primary increases or decreases, a corresponding change occurs in the Secondary also which reflects in the circuit power supply. Capacitor C1 smoothes the power supply from ripples. Green LED indicates the Power On status. Circuit works on the basis of the switching action of T1 and T2. When the voltage level is normal (200 – 230 Volts), Transistor T1 remains off (as adjusted by VR1). This allows T2 to conducts because, it gets base bias through R4. The relay then triggers and connects the power to the load.

When the voltage rises above 230 volts, more current goes to the base of T1 through R2 and VR1which switches on T1. Since the base of T2 is connected to the Collector of T1, it goes to the ground potential and T2 turns off. Relay then turns off and power to the load cut off.

When the voltage decreases below 200 volts (as adjusted by VR2), both T1 and T2 turns off and relay cut off to break the power to the load.

How to set

You need a Variable AC power supply for precise high and low voltage settings. Don’t worry you can make a crude setting. Before connecting the Phase and Neutral lines adjust VR1 and VR2 to set the voltage. Assuming that the domestic supply is between 200-230 volts, just turn VR1 just the Relay and Red LED turns On. So when the voltage rises above this level , relay will turns off. Similarly, adjust VR2 also till the relay and Red LED turns On.
If a variable power supply is available, provide 240 volts in the transformer primary and adjust VR1 till relay and Red LED turns off. Then provide 180 volts and adjust VR2 till Relay and Red LED turns off.

Phase line from the Primary of transformer should go to the Common point of Relay. From the NO (Normally Open) contact of the relay, solder a wire which should go to the Right pin of Socket. Take the Neutral wire from the second primary wire of transformer which should go directly to the Left pin of socket. So when the relay triggers circuit completes. Ground can be connected to the Screw of Transformer.

You can use a 12 volt PCB relay to make the unit compact. It has 5 pins. On one side ,there are three pins. Middle pin is Common for connecting AC phase. The pins on either side of it are DC connections. You can connect either way round because it is the coil connections. Two pins on the other side are NC (Normally Connected- To the Common pin) and NO (Normally Open- Connects with Common pin when Relay energize. You can easily identify the NC and NO pins through Continuity test using Multimeter. Connect one probe to the Common pin and touch the other ones with second probe. The pin that gives continuity is NC. So use the other NO pin to connect with the Socket.

12 Volt Relay Pins

If you have an old Stabilizer case, it will give enough space to enclose the circuit and transformer. Moreover, you will get AC cord and Socket attached to it.

One response to “LCD TV Protector. Design Note 25


text:
Bread Board Power Supply. Start Up Project 18

1AFor a Hobbyist, Bread board is the common solder less circuit board to make the Prototype before assembling the circuit on the Etched PCB. We usually power the Bread board using Battery or DC adapter. It is a good choice to attach a Variable power supply permanently with the Bread board so that we can select any voltage for the circuit. For example some circuit requires 3V or 5V and some other circuits require 9V or 12 V. So by attaching the Variable power supply to the bread board, we can easily select the required voltage for the circuit. The variable power supply described here can provide 1.7 V to 13.75 V by adjusting the Pot. Let us see the Project.

You need the following components
1. IC LM 317 Variable voltage regulator – 1
2. 0.1 Disc capacitor – 1
3. 100 uF 25V Electrolytic capacitor – 1
4. 1K Resistor – 1
5. 10 K Pot ( Volume control Lin ) -1
6. 0-40V Digital volt meter – 1
LM 317 is the Variable voltage regulator IC that can give a variable voltage as low as 1.8V to less 1.5V than the input voltage. For example, if we give 30V as input, the output voltage can be adjusted from 1.8V to 28.5V. The output voltage is controlled by a resistor connected between the adjust pin and output pin ( R1 ) and another resistor between the Adjust pin and ground ( R2 ). The formula for selecting the output voltage is

1.25 (1+ R2 / R1) where 1.25 is the reference voltage at the Adj pin. If you use a variable resistor in the place of R2, you can vary the voltage to different levels from minimum to maximum.

Here the circuit uses 1K resistor as R1 and a 10K pot as VR1 ( R2 ).Input voltage is 15V DC.
So the maximum output voltage will be
1.25 ( 1 + VR1 / R1 )
1.25 ( 1 + 10,000 Ohms / 1000 Ohms ) = 13.75 V.

Input voltage to the Variable power supply can be from 9V battery or a 15 V 500 mA Adapter.

If a Digital voltmeter is connected at the output , it is easy to see the output voltage . In the circuit, a Mini digital volt meter is used at the output. It has three wires. Two wires (Red and Black) for its own power and a Third wire ( Blue or White ) for taking output voltage for the display. So the Meter will display the exact output voltage. Remember, the power for the Voltmeter should be tapped from the Input volt. The third wire should be connected at the output of the circuit.

One response to “Bread Board Power Supply. Start Up Project 18

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text:
Cissne, et al v. Knight

Case Number: 2:2005cv01317
Filed: May 3, 2005
Court: Arizona District Court
Office: Phoenix Division Office
Presiding Judge: Earl H Carroll
Nature of Suit: Labor: E.R.I.S.A.
Cause of Action: 29:1132 E.R.I.S.A.-Employee Benefits
Jury Demanded By: None

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United States of America v. Maricopa, County of et al

Filing 27

MOTION to Continue All Case Matters by Joseph M Arpaio, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Text of Proposed Order)(Dowell, Leigh)

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text:
Monday, October 22, 2012

It's a Frida thing......

OK, I decided the only way I'm gonna get to blog today is if I steal 10 minutes out of my crazy morning.  Every day of every week lately seemed to be crammed full!  But, I am grateful that I've had a little bit of time to paint even if I haven't made time to blog about it!
You might remember that I mentioned wanting to devote a small canvas to Frida.  I did pages for Lisa's traveling journal based on Frida, and enjoyed it so much that I had to do a canvas of her too.  So heeeere's Frida:
I'm actually close to being finished- sorry I didn't manage to share the "in process" pictures this time.  I really, truly am working to get back to my regular bloggity routine!  I miss you guys!
Anyway, I need to soften the moonflowers and "de lime" the leaves, make them a tad more turquoise-y.  And I think I'll be pretty much done and ready to list Frida in my Etsy sop.  For anyone who's interested, the canvas is 6" x 6", will be priced at $69.00 and yes, it's hung on the diagonal.

Netty said...

Loving your take on Frida and hope you get a bit more painting time soon. Annette x

Scarlet said...

That Frida is paint her the way she painted herself, so you must really be in tune with the artist. Thanks for sharing.

Tracey Fletcher King said...

it already looks great and so with finishing touches it will look amazing... and hope you get back to blogging soon... you have been missed Sistah!!!!

Lisa DiNunzio said...

She is simply gorgeous, Stephanie. I love the shrine-feel to this painting and the creative diagonal hang. Moon flower of my favorites.

Jaime Haney at said...

OOoooOO! I just shared your Etsy post on FB. It looks fabulous Stephanie! I love the diagonal hang and moon flowers too! Must be something us "sistah's" have in commone ;)

xx Jaime
I moved my blog peoples

An'Angelia Thompson said...

She's great, Stephanie! I'm a bit of a Frida junkie so she put a smile on my face :o)


text:
DR. BOLI CAN now be found at drboli.com, where he continues to enrage and delight readers in approximately equal proportions.

Published in: on January 29, 2014 at 3:07 pm  Leave a Comment

ON PATRIOT DAY we all feel patriotic,
Wrap every surface in red, white, and blue,
Wave flags with fervor bordering on psychotic,
And make inspiring speeches all day through.
We show our country how much we adore her
So we won’t have to lift a finger for her.

Published in: on September 11, 2012 at 4:45 am  Comments (2)

Published in: on September 10, 2012 at 5:16 am  Comments (2)

Published in: on September 9, 2012 at 10:55 am  Comments (1)

Movie of the Week: “Dance Apocalypse” (2008). A group of teenagers from a poor neighborhood struggle to save their beloved strip mall from an evil developer who wants to tear it down and build a dance academy. Check local listings for times.

Published in: on September 8, 2012 at 10:23 pm  Leave a Comment

The famous cabinet meeting at which President Lincoln read Artemus Ward’s “Outrage in Utiky,” to the great amusement of everyone but Stanton.

SOME DISCUSSION HAVING passed among our correspondents as to who might serve as Secretary of War in a Harding administration, it may interest readers to know that Harding is reported to favor Mr. Edwin M. Stanton, who has already served in that position under the late Presidents Lincoln and (Andrew) Johnson. Our informant says that Harding is impressed with Mr. Stanton’s gravity of demeanor, citing the case of the Cabinet meeting of July 22, 1862, at which Lincoln read Artemus Ward’s “Outrage in Utiky,” producing riotous laughter among all present except Stanton. President Lincoln then favored the cabinet with the first reading of his Emancipation Proclamation, but Stanton did not laugh at that, either. Mr. Harding believes that a man who can hear “Outrage in Utiky” without so much as a smile must be either very serious-minded or very mean-spirited, and both of those qualities are desirable in a Secretary of War.

Published in: on September 7, 2012 at 9:39 pm  Leave a Comment

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Published in: on September 6, 2012 at 10:42 pm  Comments (6)

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Spiro T. Agnew gave a speech last night that one correspondent described as “full of incoherent alliteration.” Agnew, who has been dead since 1996, strayed so far from his stated topic (“The Presidency of the Senate as a Source of Supplemental Income,” according to the program) that some observers have begun quietly raising questions about his health.

A Fringe Party delegate from the Mexican War Streets was ejected from the convention for throwing bar peanuts at a Dispatch correspondent, whom he repeatedly called a “Yuppie freak.”

It appears that a whole batch of marshmallows purchased by Irv’s Bar and Grill may have gone bad, as several purchasers of multiple chocolate marshmallow martinis have complained of dizziness, disorientation, nausea, and slurred speech.

Tonight’s eagerly anticipated acceptance speech by Warren G. Harding has been postponed until at least midnight, following a worrisome confrontation between police and a dangerous protester or lunatic outside the convention venue. According to a police statement, a man identifying himself only as Irv, who is on the FBI list of known convention troublemakers, was demanding entry to the convention venue, and became belligerent when he was stopped three blocks away. The man is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 190 pounds, wearing an “Irv’s Bar & Grill” T-shirt. He is being held for psychological evaluation.

Published in: on September 5, 2012 at 10:13 pm  Comments (1)

OUR CORRESPONDENT REPORTS that most of the past 48 hours at the Fringe Party convention have been taken up with the dull but necessary business of compiling a party platform. Among the more important planks discussed:

RESOLVED: That the Fringe Party shall stand for good things and against bad things. Accepted with an amendment specifying that the good things shall not be inordinately beneficial to the poor.

RESOLVED: That the problems facing America today are attributable mainly to immigrants: specifically, to Miss Yekaterina Ivanevna Perovski, who smells up Point Breeze with her strange cabbage-based cookery, and Mr. Randolph Tang, formerly of Hong Kong, whose perfectly manicured lawn makes the rest of Spring Hill look bad. Accepted with an amendment adding that the enumeration of certain immigrants is not to be construed as implying that other immigrants do not smell just as bad.

RESOLVED: That matters of public policy ought to be decided on the basis of the best evidence available. Rejected with some violence.

RESOLVED: That America is the best country in the world, and that Americans are the best people in the world. Accepted by unanimous vote.

RESOLVED: That this country has been run into the sewer by the current governing powers and the lazy shiftless layabouts who voted for them. Accepted by unanimous vote.

RESOLVED: That any statement of opinion looks more impressive with the word “RESOLVED” in front of it in capital letters. Still under debate at press time.

Published in: on September 4, 2012 at 10:29 pm  Comments (2)

From last night’s opening remarks by Wm. Gondola Shedd, Allegheny County Registrar of Dog Licenses and General Secretary of the Fringe National Convention, held at Irv’s Bar and Grill in Hazelwood.

MY FELLOW DELEGATES, ladies and gentlemen, patriots all:

As I gaze out on your smiling faces, smiling with eager anticipation, or whatever it is, I am reminded of the story of the Irishman and his Jewish sister. But this is not the time for idle pleasantries. We are a nation in crisis, and only firm leadership can lead us firmly. Through the crisis, I mean. Esther, another chocolate marshmallow martini, please. Leadership is not born; it is made, I suspect in a factory in Indonesia somewhere. The Fringe Party is not the largest political party in America, but it is unique in the depth of talented leadership it possesses. It is also unique in that its delegates are all pairs of twins, which I am prepared to swear on a stack of Bibles was not the case when I walked in here. What’s up with that? Esther, another please. Good lord, there are two of her, too. In short, although I believe I may have skipped over something here, it is time for us, the true Americans, to take back America from those other Americans. If they’re through playing with it. And in conclusion, I would just like to say that this sounded a whole lot more coherent in front of the mirror last night. Esther, do you think maybe these marshmallows have gone bad?

Published in: on September 3, 2012 at 10:21 pm  Comments (1)


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Watchman's Teaching Letter #120 April 2008

This is my one hundred and twentieth monthly teaching letter and completes my tenth year of publication, which I had pointed out in my last lesson that it would. I never dreamed ten years ago that my mailing list would reach 2450 by this time (2318 by E-mail plus 132 by regular mail). And in all of that time, I have not deviated one whit from Two Seedline doctrine, nor have I promoted even a shade of universalism, but hold a very strong non-universal position. Universalism is Satan’s agenda, not Yahweh’s, and those who fight against Two Seedline doctrine help Satan’s cause. Today, I would estimate that 99.999% of the people are following Satan’s agenda! That leaves very few who are on Yahweh’s side!

In the last lesson (#119), we discussed how in places in the LXX, the translators mistakenly rendered Phoenician as Canaanite, a horrible misinterpretation. While in many cases the Septuagint is a valuable tool, yet in other places it can be quite misleading. The original Phoenicians were Israelites, not Canaanites! Therefore, the object of lesson #’s 119 and 120 is to identify, with the help of Paul’s teachings, just who were/are Israelites and who were/are Canaanites. Like the occasions where the Septuagint rendered “Phoenician” as “Canaanite”, there appears also to be a problem with Joshua 2:1, where the famous Rahab is said to be a harlot. But again, this may also be a faulty rendering from the Hebrew into the Greek. And again, this may have come about by the Septuagint translators. In the A.V. this passage says at verses 1-3: 1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. 3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.”

Adam Clarke seems to have a better handle on this passage than other commentators. We need to know something of his background to qualify what he has to say: Adam Clarke was born at Mobeg in County Londonderry, Ireland, date not entirely certain, though his mother reputedly claimed 1760 while his father said 1763. His father was of English extraction, studied at the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and his mother was Scottish. Adam, as a boy, was dull, failing again and again, upon which his teacher told him that he should be a beggar all his life, to jeers from his classmates. This awoke him from his lethargy, and something snapped within him, and saying within himself, “shall I forever be a dunce?” he speedily resumed his task without missing a word. From this he became fond of reading. He then became interested in such works as the Eclogues and Georgics of Virgil, versifying the Psalms of David and other portions of the sacred volume. He soon conquered the whole of the heathen mythology and biography. Of Littleton’s Classical Dictionary he made himself complete master. Later he began to study astronomy and philosophy, believing them to be an aid to religion. He then became influenced with the Methodist sect and gradually worked himself into the ministry. In 1782 he preached his first sermon with a favorable impression from John Wesley. During a three-year appointment in the Norman Isles, he devoted all his spare time to the study of the Hebrew of the Old Testament, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Syrian Scriptures, the Latin Vulgate, and the Septuagint, as found in Walton’s Polyglot, a copy of which he purchased for ten pounds. In 1788, Adam married Mary Cooke, who outlived him one year, and by whom they had six sons and six daughters.

Thus Adam became accomplished in several languages, the Greek Classics, and much history. While he was blind to his Identity as an Israelite, when he declares the meanings of various words one can be quite confident that he has them right. In his Commentary On The Bible, Adam Clarke has the following to say about Joshua 2:1-3, volume 2 of 6, pp. 10-12:

“NOTES ON CHAP. II, Verse 1. Joshua sent two men to spy secretly] It is very likely that these spies had been sent out soon after the death of Moses, and therefore our marginal reading, had sent, is to be preferred. Secretly – It is very probable also that these were confidential persons, and that the transaction was between them and him alone. As they were to pass over the Jordan opposite to Jericho, it was necessary that they should have possession of this city, that in case of any reverses they might have no enemies in their rear. He sent the men, therefore, to see the state of the city, avenues of approach, fortifications, &c., that he might the better concert his mode of attack.

A harlot’s house] Harlots and inn-keepers seem to have been called by the same name, as no doubt many who followed this mode of life, from their exposed situation, were not the most correct in their morals. Among the ancients women generally kept houses of entertainment, and among the Egyptians and Greeks this was common. I shall subjoin a few proofs. Herodotus, speaking concerning the many differences between Egypt and other countries, and the peculiarity of their laws and customs, expressly says:

Εν τοισι αἱ μεν γυναικες αγοραζουσι και καπηλευουσι· οἱ δε ανδρες κατ᾽ οικους εοντες, ὑφαινουσι. ‘Among the Egyptians the women carry on all commercial concerns, and keep taverns, while the men continue at home and weave.’ Herodotus in Euterp[ê], c. xxxv. Diodorus Siculus, lib. i., s. 8, and c. xxvii., asserts that ‘the men were the slaves of the women in Egypt, and that it is stipulated in the marriage contract that the woman shall be the ruler of her husband, and that he shall obey her in all things.’ The same historian supposes that women had these high privileges among the Egyptians, to perpetuate the memory of the beneficent administration of Isis, who was afterwards deified among them.

“Nymphodorus, quoted by the ancient scholiast on the Œdipus Coloneus of Sophocles, accounts for these customs: he says that ‘Sesostris, finding the population of Egypt rapidly increasing, fearing that he should not be able to govern the people or keep them united under one head, obliged the men to assume the occupations of women, in order that they might be rendered effeminate.’

“Sophocles confirms the account given by Herodotus; speaking of Egypt he says:–

Εκει γαρ οἱ μεν αρσενες κατα στεγας

Θακουσιν  ἱστουργουντες· αἱ δε ξυννομοι

Τα ᾽ξω βιου τροφεια προσυνουσ᾽ αει.

                                         Œdip. Col. v. 352.

“‘There the men stay in their houses weaving cloth, while the women transact all business out of doors, provide food for the family,’ &c. It is on this passage that the scholiast cites Nymphodoros for the information given above, and which he says is found in the 13th chapter of his work ‘On the Customs of Barbarous Nations.’

“That the same custom prevailed among the Greeks we have the following proof from Apuleius: Ego vero quod primum ingressui stabulum conspicatus sum, accessi, et de QUADAM ANU CAUPONA illico percontor.– Aletam. lib. i., p. 18, Edit. Bip. ‘Having entered into the first inn I met with, and there seeing a certain old woman, the inn-keeper, I inquired of her.’

“It is very likely that women kept the places of public entertainment among the Philistines; and that it was with such a one, and not with a harlot, that Samson lodged; (see Judges xvi. 1, &c.;) for as this custom certainly did prevail among the Egyptians, of which we have the fullest proof above, we may naturally expect it to have prevailed also among the Canaanites and Philistines, as we find from Apuleius that it did afterwards among the Greeks. Besides, there is more than presumptive proof that this custom obtained among the Israelites themselves, even in the most polished period of their history; for it is much more reasonable to suppose that the two women, who came to Solomon for judgment, relative to the dead child, (1 Kings iii. 16, &c.,) were inn-keepers, than that they were harlots. It is well known that common prostitutes, from their abandoned course of life, scarcely ever have children; and the laws were so strict against such in Israel, (Deut. xxiii. 18,) that if these had been of that class it is not at all likely they would have dared to appear before Solomon. All these circumstances considered, I am fully satisfied that the term %1&' zonah in the text, which we translate harlot, [after the LXX translators and the N.T. authors], should be rendered tavern or inn-keeper, or hostess. The spies who were sent out on this occasion were undoubtedly the most confidential persons that Joshua had in his host; they went on an errand of the most weighty importance, and which involved the greatest consequences. The risk they ran of losing their lives in this enterprise was extreme. Is it therefore likely that persons who could not escape apprehension and death, without the miraculous interference of God, should in despite of that law which at this time must have been so well known unto them, go into a place where they might expect, not the blessing, but the curse, of God? Is it not therefore more likely that they went rather to an inn to lodge than to a brothel? But what completes in my judgment the evidence on this point is that this very Rahab, whom we call a harlot, was actually married to Salmon, a Jewish [sic Judahite] prince, see Matt. i. 5. And is it probable that a prince of Judah would have taken to wife such a person as our text represents Rahab to be?

“It is granted that the Septuagint, which are followed by Heb. xi. 31, and James ii. 25, translate the Hebrew זונח zonah by πορνη, which generally signifies a prostitute; but it is not absolutely evident that the Septuagint used the word in this sense. Every scholar knows that the Greek word πορνη comes from περναω, to sell, as this does from περαω, to pass from one to another; transire facio a me ad alterum: damm. But may not this be spoken as well of the woman’s goods as of her person? In this sense the Chaldee Targum understood the term, and has therefore translated it  אחחא פונדקיתא ittetha pundekitha, a woman, a tavern-keeper. That this is the true sense many eminent men are of opinion; and the preceding arguments render it at least very probable. To all this may be added, that as our blessed Lord came through the line of this woman, it cannot be a matter of little consequence to know what moral character she sustained; as an inn-keeper she might be respectable, if not honourable; as a public prostitute she could be neither; and it is not very likely that the providence of God would have suffered a person of such a notoriously bad character to enter into the sacred line of his genealogy. It is true that the cases of Tamar and Bathsheba may be thought sufficient to destroy this argument; but whoever considers these two cases maturely will see that they differ totally from that of Rahab, if we allow the word harlot to be legitimate. As to the objection that her husband is nowhere mentioned in the account here given; it appears to me to have little weight. She might have been either a single woman or a widow; and in either of these cases there could have been no mention of a husband; or if she even had a husband it is not likely he would have been mentioned on this occasion, as the secret seems to have been kept religiously between her and the spies. If she were a married woman her husband might be included in the general terms, all that she had, and all her kindred, chap. vi. 23. But it is most likely that she was a single woman or a widow, who got her bread honestly by keeping a house of entertainment for strangers.

“Verse 3. The king of Jericho sent unto Rahab] This appears to be a proof of the preceding opinion: had she been a prostitute or a person of ill fame he could at once have sent officers to have seized the persons lodged with her as vagabonds; but if she kept a house of entertainment, the persons under her roof were sacred, according to the universal custom of the Asiatics, and could not be molested on any trifling grounds. A guest or a friend is sacred in whatever house he may be received, in every part of the east to the present day.”

From Adam Clarke’s research here, we can plainly see that we may very possibly have a mistranslation from the original Hebrew into the Greek. It is not entirely the use of the original root, but a corruption of the sense in which it was originally written. And as Paul was influenced by the Septuagint at Hebrews 11:31, and James at 2:25, they too, innocently followed a flawed translation not of their own making!

The Bible Knowledge Commentary says at Deuteronomy 23:18: “The words for prostitutes here indicate that prostitution in general was in view, not specifically temple prostitution. The word for female prostitute is zoÆnaÆh and the word for male prostitute is keleb_ (lit., ‘dog’). A vow was not to be paid with money obtained from this sinful practice. The payment of a vow allowed an Israelite to express his gratitude for God’s gracious provision in his life. Therefore to use money God did not provide in order to pay a vow was insincere and hypocritical. No wonder it was detestable to the Lord. (Other detestable things included idolatry, offering sacrificial animals with defects, and dishonesty ... Lending and charging interest ...)”

If a male prostitute is a dog, a female prostitute would be a bitch. And had Rahab been a woman of ill-fame (a bitch), the Israelites would not have saved Rahab and her family alive, let alone allowing her to become the lineal ancestor of Yahshua Christ! This is the kind of activity one would expect from Canaanites! Had Rahab been this kind of woman, every Israelite prostitute after that (male or female) could have used Rahab as an excuse for their own ill-behavior! But rather, the Israelites were given instruction by Yahweh to stone all those living such a lifestyle.

From the Hard Sayings of the Bible, page 323, we read: “But what about the label put on Gomer? Must we regard her as a soliciting prostitute? No, the term used in the Hebrew text is too restricted to mean that. The Hebrew text does not say zônâh, as if it were the intensive form. Instead it uses the plural abstract form of the same word, zenûnîm, thus referring to a personal quality and not to an activity.”

At Joshua 2:1, The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge says in part: “... sent. or, had sent. Shittim ... to spy secretly ... even Jericho ... harlot’s house. Though the word {zonah} generally denotes a prostitute, yet many very learned men are of opinion that it should be here rendered an innkeeper or hostess, from {zoon,} to furnish or provide food. In this sense it was understood by the Targumist, who renders it, {ittetha pundekeetha}, ‘a woman, a tavern-keeper,’ and so St. Chrysostome, in his second sermon on Repentance, calls her ... by which the LXX. render it, and which is adopted by the Apostles, is derived from ... to sell, and is also supposed to denote a tavern keeper. Among the ancients, women generally kept houses of entertainment. Herodotus says, ‘Among the Egyptians, the women carry on all commercial concerns, and keep taverns, while the men continue at home and weave.’ The same custom prevailed among the Greeks ...”

 Once we understand that the word should have been “zoon” rather than “zonah”, we can begin to see that Rahab either owned or had a concession on a combination hotel and restaurant. The problem is, when we are reading, we sometimes overlook all that is being said. Let’s continue by reading Joshua 2:4-6: 4 And the woman (Rahab) took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: 5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. 6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.”

Well, what’s all this business about these “stalks of flax”? Wherever one can find stalks of flax, one will find linen and linseed oil not far away. These stalks of flax should tell us an important story, for it would suggest that Rahab’s family was in the business of manufacturing fine linen which would require growing, reaping by pulling the stalks up, roots and all, rippling or separating the seeds to make other products and obtain the lint, or flaxen fiber, from the boon or core of the stem. To obtain the lint, a steeping in water is required until the boon begins to rot, when it can be separated from the fiber by means of a scutching blade. It is next hackled, or combed, after which it can be spun into threads and woven into cloth. I’ll bet that Rahab had some of the finest bed sheets for her hotel and some of the finest tablecloths f class=span style=sans-serifor her restaurant! Not only that, but Rahab and her family would have been producing linseed oil used in painting and varnishing. Also an animal food called linseed cake which can be sold in solid cakes or meal. Other products are made such as oilcloth, painter’s ink, soft soap, and linoleum. Why else would there have been stalks of flax around?

In ancient times, sometimes when a woman’s husband died she had no means of making a living, but under the Israelite economy it was decreed that the needs of the widow would be provided for. This provision alone, if abided by, would remove the need of the widow from the necessity of resorting to harlotry. So there are two good reasons why Rahab was not a harlot in that sense of the Hebrew word. It appears from the text that she had a family who could provide for her, and a hotel business to help support her every need. Not only that, but it appears from the text that she was an excellent business manager, for she both helped devise a plan for the spies to get back across the Jordan river, and she was able to divert the king of Jericho from apprehending the spies. If one has ever had the opportunity of managing a business, they are familiar with the odd circumstances that occur occasionally, and how it takes a certain tact to deal with the various situations which come up when one is not prepared. But you will notice that Rahab had no problem, and was able to save both her family and herself.

Let’s now go to W.E. Vine in his Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old & New Testament Words under “to lie”: “Shakab also signifies ‘lying down asleep.’ The Lord told Jacob: ‘… The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed’ (Gen. 28:13). In Exod. 22:26-27 the verb denotes the act of sleeping more than the lying down: ‘If thou at all take thy neighbor’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down … [In what else] shall he sleep?’

Shakab can also be used to mean ‘lodge’ and thus refers to sleeping and eating. Israel’s spies lodged with Rahab: ‘And they went, and came into a harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there’ (Josh. 2:1; cf. 2 Kings 4:11).” Had Rahab been a harlot, she probably would have been poor – too poor to have afforded a guest room.

And lest we overlook the most important part of Rahab’s story, let’s read Joshua 2:18, which is after Rahab had asked the Israelite spies to spare her and her family when they came to conquer the city: “Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.”

Please notice that the line by which the spies were let down was made up of scarlet thread. Either it was solid scarlet or had a scarlet thread woven in it. Good Bible scholars will always instruct one to find the first mention anytime a new subject is introduced, so let’s go back to the first mention of a “scarlet thread”. It is found at Genesis 38:28-30: 28 And it came to pass, when she [Tamar] travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. 29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez. 30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.” What more evidence do we need to understand that Rahab was of the tribe of Zarah-Judah? Just how she and her family ended up in Jericho would be difficult to conjecture! Inasmuch as Joshua would have picked his best men for this mission to spy out Jericho, they would have immediately been aware of the significance of the scarlet thread, that it was an emblem of Zarah-Judah, and would have realized that Rahab was one of their own people. Had Rahab been a Canaanite whore, we can be quite sure that the spies wouldn’t have trusted her for two seconds! If Joshua’s spies couldn’t tell the difference between a hotel and a whorehouse, they wouldn’t have been very competent.

This puts an entirely different perspective on our story than one might imagine. For if Rahab were truly of the tribe of Zarah-Judah, and there can be little question that she was, then Yahshua Christ not only had the royal blood of Pharez-Judah surging through His veins, but also that of Zarah-Judah, and both of the twin brothers were royal. Isn’t it simply amazing how many times we can read these passages and not comprehend everything that is being said? Once we understand some of these things, we can determine just how far off base some of the various commentaries can be. For instance, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, on page 1065 says this about Rahab, in part: “Thus a Canaanite harlot became part of the lineage of King David out of which the Messiah came ...” Another comment is from Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament on Matthew 1:1: “Tamar was guilty of whoredom, yet God permitted her to be listed in the ancestry of Christ. Rahab was both a harlot and a foreigner. She was saved by her faith. Ruth was a Moabitess; and according to Deut. 23:3–6, she was excluded from the nation of Israel. Bathsheba was partner to David’s awful sin, yet God forgave her and permitted her to be one of Christ’s ancestors through Solomon. ‘Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound’ ...”

It is simply amazing how various commentators just delight in using the least valid reasoning to suggest that Yahshua Christ was somehow racially impure. You have just witnessed two cases in point. It’s like in a recent television program, where a liberal minister used the woman of Samaria at John 4:7-14 to support his erroneous theory on race. After reading the passage, he indicated that, with the woman of Samaria, Christ had broken the race barrier. Had he only examined the passage a little closer, he would have discovered that the woman of Samaria was actually an Israelite, for she said at verse 12, “Art thou greater than our father Jacob ...?” Therefore, Christ didn’t break any kind of a race barrier, but He enforced one, for it is very clear that the woman was an Israelite! That should also give us a clue to the racial background of the good Samaritan at Luke 10:33. These are simply two examples of a couple of Israelites who just happened to reside in Samaria at the time! There are even some in Israel Identity today who claim that race doesn’t really matter, while the truth is, race is everything, and only White Israelites can be Christians!

We can be assuredly certain that Yahshua Christ was 100% racially pure, with absolutely no admixture of any of the tribes of Canaan. That demands that every one of Christ’s ancestors were also racially pure! That means that Ruth was not a Moabite, nor was Rahab a Canaanite! The term “mulatto” means one of mixed-race. Mulatto is derived from the word mule. A mule is half horse and half donkey, therefore a mulatto is a half-assed person. And that is not swearing but stating a scientific fact. And as we travel around the country these days, we are seeing more and more half-assed people! The mexicans are half-assed people; the arabs are half-assed people; and the bad-fig-jews are half-assed people, but Christ is racially pure!

Getting back to our purpose to show how Paul handled this Canaanite problem in his writing, let’s see what he wrote at Hebrews 11:30-31: 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.” Let’s now compare how William Finck translated this same passage in his The Letters Of Paul: 30 By faith the walls of Iericho fell, having been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the harlot172 did not perish with those who were disobedient, greeting the scouts with peace.” You will notice here that Finck has a note #172 for the term harlot, so let’s see what he says about it: “172. Some contend that the Old Testament Hebrew (Strong’s #2181) allows for Rahab’s having been some sort of ambassador, rather than a harlot. The Greek of the Septuagint, and use of the word πόρνη (4204) there, here, and at Jas. 2:25, allows for no such contention. ! has ‘Rahab, who is called a harlot’.”

There is positively no question that the language of the Septuagint is exactly as William Finck states, but did the Septuagint translators take from the Masoretic text a correct sense of the meaning of the word as Adam Clarke points out? I am sure that if William Finck discovers positive evidence of such an error in the future, he will add that to his note #172.

Let’s also compare what Paul wrote to that which James wrote at 2:24-25: 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?” I checked to see what the Dead Sea Scrolls might have on Rahab at Joshua chapter 2, but they only have portions of verses 11 and 12, not verse 1. So any evidence from that source is presently nil. But let’s see what Josephus has on the matter at Antiquities 5.1.2:

“Now when he had pitched his camp, the spies came to him immediately, well acquainted with the whole state of the Canaanites; for at first, before they were at all discovered, they took a full view of the city of Jericho without disturbance, and saw which parts of the walls were strong, and which parts were otherwise, and indeed insecure, and which of the gates were so weak as might afford an entrance to their army. Now those that met them took no notice of them when they saw them, and supposed they were only strangers, who used to be very curious in observing everything in the city, and did not take them for enemies; but at even they retired to a certain inn that was near to the wall, whither they went to eat their supper; which supper when they had done, and were considering how to get away, information was given to the king as he was at supper, that there were some persons come from the Hebrews’ camp to view the city as spies, and that they were in the inn kept by Rahab, and were very solicitous that they might not be discovered. So he sent immediately some to them, and commanded to catch them, and bring them to him, that he might examine them by torture, and learn what their business was there. As soon as Rahab understood that these messengers were coming, she hid the spies under stalks of flax, which were laid to dry on the top of her house; and said to the messengers that were sent by the king, that certain unknown strangers had supped with her a little before sunsetting, and were gone away, who might easily be taken, if they were any terror to the city, or likely to bring any danger to the king. So these messengers being thus deluded by the woman, and suspecting no imposition, went their ways, without so much as searching the inn; but they immediately pursued them along those roads which they most probably supposed them to have gone, and those particularly which led to the river, but could hear no tidings of them; so they left off the pains of any further pursuit. But when the tumult was over, Rahab brought the men down, and desired them as soon as they should have obtained possession of the land of Canaan, when it would be in their power to make her amends for her preservation of them, to remember what danger she had undergone for their sakes; for that if she had been caught concealing them, she could not have escaped a terrible destruction, she and all her family with her, and so bid them go home; and desired them to swear to her to preserve her and her family when they should take the city and destroy all its inhabitants, as they had decreed to do; for so far she said she had been assured by those divine miracles of which she had been informed. So these spies acknowledged that they owed her thanks for what she had done already, and withal swore to requite her kindness, not only in words, but in deeds; but they gave her this advice: That when she should perceive that the city was about to be taken, she should put her goods, and all her family, by way of security, in her inn, and to hang out scarlet threads before her doors [or windows], that the commander of the Hebrews might know her house, and take care to do her no harm; for, said they, we will inform him of this matter, because of the concern thou hast had to preserve us; but if any one of thy family fall in the battle, do not thou blame us; and we beseech that God, by whom we have sworn, not then to be displeased with us, as though we had broken our oaths. So these men, when they had made this agreement, went away, letting themselves down by a rope from the wall, and escaped, and came and told their own people whatsoever they had done in their journey to this city. Joshua also told Eleazar the high priest, and the senate, what the spies had sworn to Rahab; who confirmed what had been sworn.”

From this it would appear that Adam Clarke was on target. That indeed Rahab had an inn and a restaurant, and was well-to-do enough that she didn’t need to resort to harlotry! A footnote at Antiq. 5.1.2 says in part: “... Nor was Josephus himself of any other opinion or practice, as I shall remark in the note on Antiq. 9.4.3. And observe, that I still call this woman Rahab, an innkeeper, not a harlot; the whole history, both in our copies, and especially in Josephus, implying no more ...” Josephus himself uses the term “harlot” eight times, but not a single occurrence in reference to Rahab.


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tragedy of the commons

The Embassy Network is about building a commons (common resources to be used by all). With this, we have to be mindful not to fall prey to the tragedy of the commons*. *This is when people act according to their own interests in a way that is sub-optimal for the group, by depleting or degrading some common resource. (Of course, that usually ends up being bad for the individual in the long run!) E.g. leaving your cup in the sink means that you don’t have to wash it (yay!) but it degrades the common resource of a common space. The tragedy is that if we all act like this, we end up losing our lovely kitchen space to the detriment of the group.

**"Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest”

  • Hardin, Science, 1986

The comedy of the commons

There was much backlash from Hardin’s original suggestion that the tragedy of the commons was inevitable, as many commons have been successful throughout history. Before he died, Hardin admitted he should have called his article “The Tragedy of the Unmanaged Commons.” At the Embassy we don’t wish to manage each other or impose rules, so we implore our community to familiarise themselves with these ideas and to take these lessons on voluntarily 😃 There are many examples of the counter to the tragedy of the commons, whereby the value of a common resource is increased by the number of people using it. This is known as the 'comedy of the commons' (Carol Rose, University of Chicago Law Review, 1987).

Examples of comedy of the commons are things like Wikipedia - individuals contribute knowledge and content for the good of the community rather than extracting resources for their own personal gain. In doing so together, we generate an incredible, rich informational commons.

What does this mean for us as people attempting to build a flourishing residential commons? We must be aware of our tendency to deplete when we act for ourselves, and actively seek to contribute to the commons. This can take place in many ways, but to take the analogy of the cups in the kitchen, this means that we leave the kitchen not just in the same state that we found it, but in a better state than which we found it. We don’t simply wash our cup, we also wash the other cups that may be about, or wipe a surface down while we are there.

We’ve found that once we switch our mentality around these issues, it’s easy to make this part of your daily routine. While you wait for the kettle to boil, take a second to put the tea boxes back in the drawer, or wipe a surface down. Leave the space better than you found it, or how you wish you had found it!

If we can manifest these values in our minute to minute interactions, perhaps it will feed into other parts of our lives.

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