Stephen C. Meyer Article added.

I discovered that the nefarious Dr. Meyer journal article, the one that caused such a dust up because the author argues for a specific thesis of Intelligent Design in it and another more nuetral scientist, Dr. Richard von Sternberg, published it in a Smithsonian hosted journal, which lead to reprisals against Dr. Sternberg. He has been vindicated for his role in this by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an independent federal agency.

You can now read the paper for yourself at the link. For a discussion on recent developments on the case, see here.

Christian Study Center List

I nostalgically added a list of Christian Study centers, found on several campuses all over the country including some Ivy League schools. They represent the evangelical ideal of the wedding of thought and faith and the intergration of Christianity with academic fields into an intergrated worldview.

I say nostalgic because it represents a shattered dream of mine to be part of such a thing but which now seems remote. I have not been able to really survive in academia. It is interesting to me that my adjunct work has brought me closer to other professors who show a like minded compatibility with me who are not christians and yet with whom I can have excellent conversations to all of our satisfaction. If there is anything left of scholarly work its what I do with these colleagues.

It also seems to me that I am in a stronger position being an MA holder with some doctoral work at a school like Syracuse University, than a Ph.D. holder with that degree from many a state university, even though I won't get the "big" money adjunctng with just an MA.

It reminds me of the Ph.D. holder I once met working in a bookshop whose career was essentially housepainting because he never got tenure. I have to admit that part of the issue was wanting to live. During so much of the time I was in doctoral work, I was also suicidal. It didn't seem worthwhile to risk my life for an advanced degree. At least that still haunts me.

Thank you "Tall Skinny Kiwi"

. . . who commented on my emergent church post and who has an interesting blog (now added to the role). Check it out.

A Comercial Quality Armitage RPG

With extreme humility and great mortification, I discovered that there is already available on line, an adaptation of the BESM game for the Armitage III setting. From the linked website:

"In 2001, Dan Grendell was contracted by Guardians of Orders to write a sourcebook about the Armitage III animes. Like many publishing projects, the book ended up not being printed. However, all is not lost, as fans of Armitage and the BESM game will be able to enjoy much of what would have been in the book here on the web."

The work at this site is substantially complete for the setting. There are character sheets for the main characters in both the OVA series and the Dual-Matrix movie. Also, the distinctive features and powers of the world are represented in the game additions. It would have been a professional package (it still is very professional) but is available on line.

The website also contains more detailed background to the original setting that you can use for the AOBG engine adapted setting that I posted here.