iStalkers coming to a computer near you

We've all heard the stories. People robbed by burglars watching their statuses on Facebook or Twitter. Objects stolen after being located on Flickr or Picassa. Checkins from Yelp or Foursquare telling thieves when it is safe to steal. We've all been warned. But most of us thought, "It takes so much work to use these tools, the odds of me being targeted are minimal."

But the odds just got a whole lot worse. Under the guise of "raising awareness", a student has invented "Creepy", a tool to aggregate geolocation data and pinpoint any target in space and time. It has been released for Windows and Linux, and is coming soon for Mac. It may be time to consider locking down your social networking accounts. Especially if you have children, or live alone.

"Everything is location aware these days. Your mobile phone has a GPS receiver, your social networking platforms want to know where you are," Kakavas warned. "There is the category of users who sacrifice their own privacy for exhibitionism. I don't agree with them but at least they do it consciously, and they have to bear the consequences. Then there are the people who share sporadically some of their information, thinking that it can't go wrong.

"The above two categories are the ones who need to be 'scared' and understand what someone with malicious intentions can do with their publicly-shared information, no matter how much they think they share. Lastly there is the category of people who might not know exactly what geo-tagging is, and clicked 'allow' in the 'Twitter app wants to use your current location' prompt without really paying attention. Those users need to be educated, warned about the potential risks and to become aware."

Kekavas admits that the release of the tool might prove unsettling, with many likely to view it as an invasion of privacy despite its use of publicly-available information. "They are right, it is unsettling," he confesses, "but they need to understand that what is unsettling is the fact that they give out that much private information, not the fact that services like Creepy can aggregate this information.

I needed a Muppet fix!

Codices older than the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Jordan's Department of Antiquities is claiming a new archeological find that may provide Christian writings older than the Dead Sea Scrolls. How old? Possibly within a few decades of the Crucifixion.

They seem almost incredible claims - so what is the evidence?

The books, or "codices", were apparently cast in lead, before being bound by lead rings.

Their leaves - which are mostly about the size of a credit card - contain text in Ancient Hebrew, most of which is in code.

If the relics are of early Christian origin rather than Jewish, then they are of huge significance.

Of course, the Jordanian claims should be taken with a grain of salt. They have a vested interest in this discovery being huge. But it is still exciting.

Lent Reading: Quote of the Day 19

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Meditations on the Cross, the chapter entitled "Ecce Homo" (Behold the Man) based on John 19:5

God does not love some ideal person, but rather human beings just as we are, not some ideal world, but rather the real world...

While we try to outgrow our being human, to leave the human being behind us, God becomes a human being, and we must recognize that God wants us, too, to be human beings, real human beings...

Whoever despises human beings is despising that which God loved, and, indeed, is despising the very form of the incarnate God.

Do I hate the fallen-ness in me, or do I hate myself? Am I despising the very thing - the very people - God loved and died for?

Are heroes born or made?

In the wake of Japan's earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear failures, we're seeing that every culture and age has its heroes. It raises the question of how societies produce heroes. Are heroes the product of some genetic anomaly or is heroism something that is taught?

Heroism and compassion are not genetic traits, says sociologist Christine Carter.
As part of her online parenting class at raisinghappiness.org, Carter teaches parents how to raise children to become heroes.
“Kids are more likely to intervene in a situation if they believe their parents expect them to help,” Carter says. “Speaking out when someone is cheating or being bullied in the schoolyard — these are situations when someone decides not to be a bystander. That’s part of the heroic imagination, teaching children there is often a time when they know something bad is going to happen before it happens,” Carter says.

Lent Reading: Quote of the Day 18

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Meditations on the Cross, the chapter entitled "Treasures of Suffering" based on Romans 5:1-5

Those who acknowledge that they view suffering and tribulation in their own lives only as something hostile and evil can see from this very fact that they have not at all found peace with God. They have basically merely sought peace with the world, believing possibly that by means of the cross of Jesus Christ they might best come to terms with themselves and with all their questions, and thus find inner peace of the soul. They have used the cross, but not loved it. They have sought peace for their own sake. But when tribulation comes, that peace quickly flees them. It was not peace with God, for they hated the tribulation God sends.

Do I love the cross of Christ, or do I love the "perks" that come from it? Am I willing to accept whatever God sends, however He sends it?

What can the air in Seattle tell us about the Fukushima nuclear reactors?

Science is a wonderful thing. Not only does it give us fun gadgets and fascinating theories, but it also allows us to draw highly-accurate conclusions about events happening far, far away. Since the earthquake in Japan, a team at the University of Washington at Seattle has been testing air filters from university buildings for radioactive particles. Their results have allowed them to gauge exactly where the real threat comes from Fukushima Diachi. Even though, they are approximately 4800 miles apart.

The first comes from the amount of iodine-131 and tellurium-132 which are both short-lived with half lives of 8 and 3 days respectively. That indicates that they must have come from fuel rods that were recently active rather than from spent fuel...

Finally, there are a huge number of possible breakdown products from nuclear fission in a reactor and yet the Seattle team found evidence of only three fission product elements--iodine, cesium and tellurium. "This points to a specifific process of release into the atmosphere," they say.

Cesium Iodide is highly soluble in water. So these guys speculate that what they're seeing is the result of contaminated steam being released into the atmosphere.

If you thought the Comcast merger wouldn't affect you...

...you were naive. Despite promises to encourage competition, CBS is pulling Showtime content from Netflix as of this summer to put it exclusively on Comcast's XFinity service.

Amid an emerging rivalry between traditional pay TV operators and rising star Netflix Inc., CBS Corp.’s Showtime pay TV service confirmed Wednesday that back seasons of current original series such as “Dexter” and “Californication” will not be available on Netflix's streaming service as of this summer.

Instead, CBS will offer them to subscribers who pay for Showtime through Comcast Corp. on Comcast's Xfinity TV platform.

Luckily for me, I don't follow either of these shows. But it is only a matter of time before Comcast begins drawing more and more online content under their exclusive control.

16% of USA Radiation Monitors Offline for Japan Nuclear Crisis

So far, the nuclear crisis in Japan has posed little threat to the shores of the United States. While traces of radiation have been detected, carried by the winds, none have neared life-threatening or even health-threatening levels. But the disaster has showed up something important - the American radiation-monitoring system may not be adequate for our own disaster. 16% of all detectors were offline for the disaster.

In California, home to two seaside nuclear plants located close to earthquake fault lines, federal officials said four of the 11 stationary monitors were offline for repairs or maintenance last week. The Environmental Protection Agency did not immediately say why the monitors were inoperable, but did not fix them until several days after low levels of radiation began drifting toward the mainland U.S.

About 20 monitors out of 124 nationwide were out of service earlier this week, including units in Harlingen, Tex. and Buffalo, N.Y. on Friday, according to the EPA.

While the failure rate is scary to say the least - especially in an age where we fear dirty bombs and/or suitcase nukes - this served as a good test of the system. Now, we have a chance to fix the problem, rather than letting the problems languish for lack of attention.

A Speech on Libya

Peggy Noonan is one of many Conservatives (and many anti-war Liberals) demanding President Barack Obama explain the military action against Libya. They argue that the president's informal and scattered remarks are counter-productive. Let me suggest the below as a possible speech, based on what I have picked up from my own reading.

This is my own creation, done with a minimal amount of research. Please forgive my amateurism. And yes, I do suspect this is what is going on in the President's mind. Although, I am not sure he'd choose to be this brief. ;-)

Good evening.

I come before you tonight to talk about the hardest duty of any president - sending men and women into battle to protect the interests of the United States of America. Combat should never be entered into lightly, and the lives of our soldiers should always be held dear in the minds and hearts of all Americans. We should never spend blood and treasure without urgent need and compelling national interest. And we should always seek the counsel and assistance of our allies.

In February, inspired by events in Yemen, Egypt, and elsewhere, the people of Liyba rose up against the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi. They successfully seized control of large, economically powerful portions of their country and they have held their positions against relentless assaults from the increasingly desperate dictator. The Libyan people have made it clear that they want freedom from Mr. Gaddafi. At the same time, it now appears the tyrant is willing to do anything to eliminate this opposition, including the annihilation of civilians. If we wish to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, there is an urgent need for action.

Muammar Gaddafi has long been an enemy of the free world and the United States, on particular. In 1981, he threatened the assassination of President Ronald Reagan. In 1988, he ordered the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. And he has continued to fund and encourage terrorism against Americans around the world. He has proved himself to be a foe of America, and a foe of all free peoples.

A broad international consensus has formed that Mr. Gaddafi's actions are intolerable. Even the Arab League - normally opposed to any action by Western powers in the Middle East - has called upon the international community to protect Libyan civilians. On March 17, the United Nations established a no-fly zone over the nation of Libya, and passed a resolution calling upon member nations to protect his civilian population.

In light of this urgent need, compelling national interest, and unanimous voice of our allies, I have given order to our commanders in the region to work with our allies - most prominently Britain, France, and Germany - to do what is necessary to protect civilians from this brutal dictator. This will include the creation of a no-fly zone, the reduction of Mr. Gaddafi's offensive capabilities against allied air forces, and the bombing of front-line positions to establish a perimeter around civilian positions.

Let me be clear. I have not taken this action lightly. And American lives will not be at risk in this engagement any longer than is necessary. I expect the American leadership in this operation to last weeks, not months. We will pledge ongoing aid and training to ensure civilians remain safe. But we will not expend a drop more American blood than is necessary.

America is a mighty force for good in this world. For peace. For security. We desire all people to be free. We will protect our friends, and punish our foes. We will not waste the blessings we have been given.

Thank you. And God bless America.

A Moment of Peace and Stillness

Definitely feel like after the last few weeks, I could use a moment to catch my breath. I suspect the same is true for most of us. And a reminder that the world is bigger than our little frantic corner of it.

This is NOT a photo I took. Click thru to get back to the original photographer on Flickr.

Lent Reading: Thoughts on Day 14

Today's readinf was from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Meditations on the Cross, the chapter entitled "Judas" based on Matthew 26:45-50.

No quote today - there was no single pithy sentence or phrase that captured the thoughts triggered by today. My own summary might be "Jesus is SO MUCH the King of Kings, that Satan could only harm him by using one of His own."

If you look through the gospels, the people or the Jewish leaders or the pharisees try to kill Jesus again and again. But each time, he walks away unharmed. The fact is that Jesus, as God incarnate, is ultimately invulnerable to any outside force. (Even Death, ultimately, is powerless as on the cross "Jesus gave up his spirit". It could not be taken from him.)

And yet, Jesus had to die in order to save us. So, Satan is given an instrument for that task, without being given the power directly. Jesus delegates to the Twelve - and later to his disciples in general - Power to cast out demons, heal the sick, and do miracles. It is THIS power - his OWN power - that can harm him. And ultimately, that is the tool Satan uses. He enters Judas, and uses that delegated power to betray Jesus and hand him over to earthly authorities. And those authorities - also empowered only by God - hang Jesus on a cross.

We, given the gift of free will, tend to underestimate the sovereignty of God. But the fact is that His absolute Sovereignty and our Free Will are not in conflict. God let's us choose, but has created the universe to channel our free choices to his freely chosen ends. Even the end of his own death on a cross.

Religion will NOT become extinct, but thanks for playing

A new study has been making the rounds, and generating a lot of chatter online. It claims that religion may be going extinct in 9 countries, which many commentators use as evidence that belief in God overall is on the way out. The same methodology was used previously to predict the extinction of traditional languages in favor or various trade languages like English.

Dr Wiener continued: "In a large number of modern secular democracies, there's been a trend that folk are identifying themselves as non-affiliated with religion; in the Netherlands the number was 40%, and the highest we saw was in the Czech Republic, where the number was 60%."

The team then applied their nonlinear dynamics model, adjusting parameters for the relative social and utilitarian merits of membership of the "non-religious" category.

They found, in a study published online, that those parameters were similar across all the countries studied, suggesting that similar behaviour drives the mathematics in all of them.

And in all the countries, the indications were that religion was headed toward extinction.

There is no doubt that religious affiliation and practice is on the decline in many secular democracies. The last study I read indicated that only America among the Western states remains vibrant religiously, but noted that affiliation with organized religion is still on the wane.

But the fact is that while religions wax and wane with time, they (1) serve useful social functions in perpetuating ethics and providing hope in adversity, and (2) there seems to be a primal human desire for God. It is likely while religion was on the wane during the boom years of the 90s and early 2000s (which is most of the data being studied now), that as adversity was on the rise post-9/11 and in the time of tsunamis, people will be turning back to religion for comfort and a reminder that there are truths larger than ourselves.

Man can I relate!

From YehudaMoon.Com.

Coming Around to Nuclear Power...Because of Fukushima?

And from the original moonbat himself! The world just gets weirder and weirder.

Photos of Afghanistan Atrocities Horrify

We have been in Afghanistan far longer than the Russians were, and there is no end in sight. President Obama came into office in hopes of getting us out of Iraq and Afghanistan, but 3 years in we're still there.

Sometimes it takes a true shock to convince people to change the status quo. A rogue team of soldiers that photographed the atrocities they committed may be the catalyst. Warning: Photos on the attached article are deeply disturbing. And there are many more that remain unpublished for now.

It is feared that these pictures - which show the aftermath of the murders at the hands of a rogue U.S. Stryker 'kill team' - could be even more damaging as the trials of the 12 accused men are currently under way in Seattle...

Army officials attempted to keep the photographs under wraps as part of the war crimes probe fearing it could inflame feelings at a time when anti-Americanism in Afghanistan is already running high.

In their statement, the U.S. army said the photographs depicted 'actions repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States Army.

A Cell Tower in the Palm of Your Hand

Alcatel-Lucent has come up with an interesting and perhaps game changing invention. It is a cell data transmitter that is roughly the size of an old Rubik's cube. The company has been able to put the technology for 2G, 3G and 4G networks together in one device so that cell phone companies can maximize coverage. Each cube covers about 2 city blocks. The cubes can be stacked for areas needing better bandwidth. They can also be installed almost anywhere, so this will be a great idea for college campuses and sports stadiums. They will also work well for rest stops and may actually encourage drivers to stop to use their smart phones as they will know they can get better coverage at the rest stop.

Lent Reading: Quote of the Day 10

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Meditations on the Cross, the chapter entitled "Suffering in Solidarity".

Christ avoided suffering until his hour had come; then, however, he went to it in freedom, seized it, overcame it. Christ - so scripture tells us - experienced all the suffering of all human beings in his own body and as his own suffering (an in comprehensibly lofty notion!), and took it upon himself in freedom...

Although we are not Christ, if we want to be Christians we must participate in Christ's own magnanimous heart by engaging in responsible action that seizes the hour in complete freedom, facing the danger...

Inactive "waiting-and-seeing" or impassively "standing-by" are not Christian attitudes.

When I avoid suffering, is it a logical avoidance of unnecessary pain, or is it a fearful act which shows more fear of pain than of God? Will I face the danger and seize the hour, when Godly suffering comes?

Do you have a "Go Bag" ready?

The disasters in New Zealand, Haiti, and Japan should remind us that disaster specialists recommend every person have a "Go Bag" ready to go at all times. A "Go Bag" is a suitcase packed with the essentials you might need if you had to leave your home suddenly in an emergency, including clothes, emergency supplies, and any information you may need to survive (i.e. contact numbers, photos of loved ones).

If you haven't taken the time. There is no time like the present.

A component of your disaster kit is your Go-bag. Put the following items together in a backpack or another easy to carry container in case you must evacuate quickly. Prepare one Go-bag for each family member and make sure each has an I.D. tag.

• Flashlight
• Radio – battery operated
• Batteries
• Whistle
• Dust mask
• Pocket knife
• Emergency cash in small denominations and quarters for phone calls
• Sturdy shoes, a change of clothes, and a warm hat
• Local map...

Economics, not philosophy, will end our oil dependence

We've known for decades that our dependence on Oil has a lot of downsides for us - pollution-producing extraction processes, Middle Eastern tyrants, risks of spills, the non-sustainable nature of oil stocks, etc. - and yet we've barely made a dent in changing over to alternative sources of energy. Even technologies like hybrid cars are merely more efficient, or trade off prices at the pump for prices at a central power plant. Philosophy and long-term self interest are not doing the job of moving us to a post-oil future.

What is? Simple economics. Pepsi has just announced a new plastic bottle produces NOT from oil, but from plant byproducts. And they didn't do it for philosophical reasons. They did it because PepsiCo produces hundreds of thousands of tons of plant waste every year on their food products, which they can reuse to produce packaging. Saving them millions.

The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans to also use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business.

The new bottle looks, feels and protects the drink inside exactly the same as its current bottles, said Rocco Papalia, senior vice president of advanced research at PepsiCo.

"It's a beautiful thing to behold," he said. "It's indistinguishable."

Lent Reading: Quote of the Day 9

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Meditations on the Cross, the chapter entitled "Truthfulness".

The truthfulness Jesus demands of his disciples is self-denial that does not conceal sin. Everything is visible and clear.

Precisely because truthfulness is concerned first and last with uncovering human beings in their entirety of their being, in their iniquity before God...

Do I really understand how naked I stand before God, that He is fooled by nothing and that everything will one day be known?

Too little, too late?

From Townhall.Com. Are we really ready to take a deep breath and do what is needed, when it's hard?

Lent Reading: Quote of the Day 8

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Meditations on the Cross, the chapter entitled "God's Love for Human Beings".

The peace of Jesus Christ is the cross. The cross, however, is God's sword on this earth. It creates disunion...

God's love of human beings on the one hand, and human beings' love of their own kind on the other, are much too dissimilar. God's love of human beings means cross and discipleship, and yet precisely as such is means life and resurrection. "Those who lose their life for my sake will find it" (Matt. 10:39)

Do I love like God, or do I love like human beings? Am I embracing His love, or looking for Him to love me like humans do?

We've entered a time of Heroes

There are days when the disaster in Tokyo is overwhelming. And then there are moments that bring it into sharp relief. Like, for example, this quote regarding the rescue workers trying to bring the Fukushima nuclear reactors back under control.

"They need to stop pulling out people—and step up with getting them back in the reactor to cool it. There is a recognition this is a suicide mission," the official said.

Let's not let up praying for the workers and their families. Even if their heroism successfully saves the reactors, it is likely they will not live to see the first anniversary of the Earthquake.

Lent Reading: Quote of the Day 7

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Meditations on the Cross, the chapter entitled "Worldliness".

Without or against the proclamation of the cross of Christ, there is no realization that the world is god-less, without God, and has been left to itself by God. Rather, what is worldly will always try to satisfy its unquenchable longing for deification.
(Emphasis his)

What in my life tries to deify itself, because it stands alongside the cross of Christ instead of below it? Am I idolizing (i.e. turning into an idol) anything or anyone?

(You didn't miss the Day 6 quote. I didn't post one. The reading didn't lend itself to excerpt.)

Debit Card Rules WILL Affect You

My employer is apoplectic over the so-called "Durbin Rule" that passed as part of Chris Dodd's banking legislation. But when I try to talk to normal folks about it, their eyes glaze over. So, I was thrilled to see that BusinessWeek has up the first really good summary of the issue, and why the average American should care.

Framing brawls about money as essentially consumer issues is a time-honored tactic in Washington. However, the debit-card fee issue is primarily a conflict between big business and big banks. Up for grabs is $16 billion in annual revenues. That's the amount merchants collect—at an average of 44 cents per debit-card swipe—and turn over to banks. Retailers have been complaining for years about the hefty fees. The fight is reaching a crescendo as an April deadline nears for the Fed to decide what is a "reasonable" fee, as required under last year's Dodd-Frank financial regulation law. "This is a battle between the large retailers and the large banks," says Clifford Rossi, executive-in-residence at the University of Maryland's Center for Financial Policy, who has done financial industry-sponsored research on swipe fees. "The voice lost in the shuffle is the consumer's."

Here's the bottom line:

1. If the new 12-cent cap on Debit Card transactions is enacted, you may see cheaper prices at retailers. BUT you will lose free checking, rewards programs, and possibly free debit cards altogether.

2. If the new 12-cent cap on Debit Card transactions is NOT enacted, you may see prices rise at retailers. BUT you may also see them starting to refuse to accept Debit Cards from some providers.

Either way, your life just got a lot more complicated in the name of "consumer friendliness".

Why is nuclear hysteria on the rise in Japan...

...even as the risk of meltdown is falling? New Scientist has the scoop and it proves yet again that it's not the problem you expect that gets you - it's the one that you didn't realize was coming. Or the one caused by a complex series of unlikely events.

The pools are housed on the top floors of the reactor buildings. Spent fuel rods are transferred to them as soon as they come out of the reactor itself, and are kept under water to cool them down and trap the radioactive material within them. Once they have cooled down enough, the rods are then transferred to outdoor pools for long-term storage.

It is the pools inside the reactor buildings that are causing the problem. Two of the reactor buildings - 1 and 3 - have lost parts of their roofs, thanks to the hydrogen explosions that have taken place over the last few days. While these explosions apparently did not damage the reactors within, they have left the pools exposed to the outside air.

Operation LeakS accuses Bank of America of Mortgage Fraud

I hate to publicize info before it has really been vetted, but you'll be hearing about it elsewhere. So, best to refer our readers to a reasonable analysis of the recent Operation LeakS release of Bank of America e-mails related to the mortgage meltdown.

The exchange centers on requests by Balboa employees to have document tracking numbers purged from Balboa systems so that they no longer correlate to specific loans.

At one point in the emails, a Balboa employee states that the request to purge information is an 'unusual' one and will require 'upper management approval' before they can move forward...

One of the leaked emails claims that Balboa was knowing hiding foreclosure information from federal auditors.

If the accusation is true - that a Bank of America manager requested loan information be destroyed and hidden from auditors, then this is explosive. But it's just as likely we're only hearing one side of the story.

Lent Reading: Quote of the Day 5

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Meditations on the Cross, the chapter entitled "Discipleship & the Cross" based on Mark 8:31-38 (Jesus rebukes Peter for rebuking him).

Just as Christ is Christ only in suffering and rejection, so also are they disciples only in suffering and rejection, in being crucified with Christ...

The mediation of this inalienable truth to the disciples, however, begins, strangely enough, with Jesus once again giving his disciples complete freedom. Jesus says: "If any want to become my followers." That is to say, this is not self-evident even among the disciples themselves. No one can be coerced, nor can it be experted of anyone; rather: "If any," despite despite all of the other offers made to you, still want to become my followers... So once again, everything depends on one's decision. (Emphasis his)

While I remain firm in my belief of the sovereignty of God, He clearly has placed our fate in our own hands. We must choose Christ. The choice is not thrust upon us. Will I continue to choose Christ, even after I have chosen the first time and then later realized all of the other ways I can live?

(By the way, you didn't miss the Day 4 quote. I didn't post one. The reading didn't lend itself to excerpt.)

Happy π Day!

Happy π Day, my friends. Today is 3/14, which math geeks have dubbed the day to celebrate everyone's favorite irrational number.

(Graphic is not original to me, but from here.)

The "Nuclear Rennaisance" is over

As the Middle East has destabilized and British Petroleum dumped thousands of tons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, nuclear-power advocates were seeing a sudden rise in interest in building new, safer power plants. The idea was that modern Nuclear Power was far safer than the days of 3 Mile Island or Chernobyl, so America could power herself without Mideast Oil and without fear of Meltdown. But news of as many as 6 reactors failing in post-tsunami Japan including one which is probably in the middle of a partial meltdown has likely doomed this nascent movement toward energy independence. After all, what politician or regulator is going to approve a new power plant (even a modern, safer one) with smoking radioactive ruins across the Pacific Ocean?

Update 6:02 am: A good summary of worst-case scenarios and an explanation of why Japan was unprepared for this nuclear crisis.

What are the #1 needs of the Tsunami survivors?

While aftershocks are still likely, we can hope that the immediate effects of the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan are over. What comes next? IO9 has a list of the harsh realities facing the survivors, and what is likely to be the first relief they will need. Ironically, the #1 need after tsunami is WATER.

The first long-term problem facing tsunami survivors and disaster responders is procuring water. A huge amount of salt water has swept over the freshwater delivery system that modern society has installed. Furthermore, septic tanks and sewage systems have often burst open. Chemicals and pesticides can render water undrinkable and unsafe for any kind of contact. The initial deliver of bottled water and an ongoing system of scrupulous water testing is a must for the affected areas.

Please continue to pray for Japan. And consider giving whatever you can to the relief efforts.

Lent Reading: Quote of the Day 3

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Meditations on the Cross, the chapter entitled "The Path of God" based on Luke 4:5-8 (Jesus temptation by the Devil).

As the Messiah of Jewish dreams, he could have liberated Israel and led it to glory and honor. His entry procession could have been that of he visible king of this world. What a remarkable man he was, a man to whom dominion over the world is offered even beore he begins his own work. And he is all the more remarkable in that he rejects the offer.

When am I too eager to accept any means to a good end, rather than making sure not only my goal is good, but also my path to the goal?

8.9 magnitude earthquake + tsunami rock Japan

Amazingly, so far only 32 people are reported dead. But there are sure to be more deaths, injuries, and suffering to come from this horrible disaster. Please consider donating to the Red Cross who will likely be first on the scene to help survivors.

The magnitude 8.9 offshore quake was followed by at least 19 aftershocks, most of them of more than magnitude 6.0. Dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the epicenter...

Even for a country used to earthquakes, this one was of horrific proportions. It unleashed a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland...

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 2:46 p.m. quake was a magnitude 8.9, the biggest earthquake to hit Japan since officials began keeping records in the late 1800s.
A tsunami warning was extended to a number of Pacific, Southeast Asian and Latin American nations, including Japan, Russia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Chile. In the Philippines, authorities said they expect a 3-foot (1-meter) high tsunami.

Forbidden?: Photographing Farms in Florida

Sometimes Law is all about Justice (with a capital J). But sometimes Law is all about petty overreaction. Consider, the case of a new bill SB 1246 written by Sen. Jim Norman (R-Tampa). The bill would outlaw taking photographs of any farm without the express written consent of the owner. Suddenly, beautiful agricultural vistas would literally be a felony.

But there must be a really good explanation, right? One having to do with National Security that clearly justifies this incredible violation of Free Speech and Press Right. Maybe not.

Simpson, president of Simpson Farms near Dade City, said the law would prevent people from posing as farmworkers so that they can secretly film agricultural operations.

He said he could not name an instance in which that happened. But animal rights groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Animal Freedom display undercover videos on their web sites to make their case that livestock farming and meat consumption are cruel.

Someone please tell Senator Norman to drop this travesty of a bill now. It is a bad idea on so many levels.

Lent Reading: Quote of the Day 2

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Meditations on the Cross, the chapter entitled "Back to the Cross" based on Matthew 17:1-9.

The message of the resurrection is there that we may obey the Lord Jesus in life. There is no abiding and enjoying the visible glory here. Whoever recognizes Jesus as God, must also immediately recognize him as the crucified human being, and should hear him, obey him.

How much of my faith is pure intellectual/philosophical, and how much do I actually translate into action?

Gulf Spill Dispersants Sickening Residents?

If there is anything that modern history has proven, it is the limits of human understanding. Every human solution seems to create new and interesting problems. The Gulf Oil Spill is no exception. While direct environmental damage appears to have been much lighter than the Exxon Valdeez spill, evidence is mounting that the chemicals used to prevent oil slicks - called "dispersants" - are ravaging the bodies of some residents.

Many of the chemicals present in the oil and dispersants are known to cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, kidney damage, altered renal function, and irritation of the digestive tract. They have also caused lung damage, burning pain in the nose and throat, coughing, pulmonary edema, cancer, lack of muscle coordination, dizziness, confusion, irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat, difficulty breathing, delayed reaction time and memory difficulties.

Further health problems include stomach discomfort, liver and kidney damage, unconsciousness, tiredness/lethargy, irritation of the upper respiratory tract, hematological disorders, and death. Pathways of exposure to the chemicals are inhalation, ingestion, skin, and eye contact...

Since the onset of his symptoms, Doom has been dealing with ongoing internal bleeding, nose bleeds, bleeding from his ears, blood in his stool, headaches, severe diarrhea, two to five seizures per day, paralysis in his left leg and arm, and failing vision.

"A toxicologist that interpreted my blood VOC results told me they didn't know how I was alive," Doom explained. "My Hexane was off the charts, and I have 2 and 3 Methylpentane, Iso-octane, Ethylbenze, and mp-Xylene."

While I have great sympathy for those affected by this disaster, I will admit that I am shocked by the high number of people in this article who chose to go swimming in the Gulf during the disaster. Did they expect that there would be no consequences for swimming in seawater tainted by oil and chemical dispersants?

Lent Reading: Quote of the Day

Sean, who has largely left Mod-Blog for his own personal blog posting-wise, has put out a challenge to his friends. To read thru Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Meditations on the Cross over the season of Lent. I am not sure how each of us will share the journey with Mod-Blog... if at all. But I thought I'd start off with a "quote of the day" from the book. Something which got me thinking. Feel free to respond, react, and make fun of me in the comments.

What is the peculiar thing you are doing? The extraordinary - and this is the most scandalous thing - is something the disciples must do. It must be done - just like that better righteousness - and must be done visibly. [Emphases his]

Reminds me of James 1:22: "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

Can we STOP joking about prison rape?

Among the most disturbing trends in American comedies is not the growing incidence of groin kicks (common in even chidren's movies today). It is the fact that jokes about prison rape are now so common as to be expected in any movie or television show about jails or prisons. Recent studies, however, show sexual abuse in prison is no laughing matter. And even more surprising, a huge number of them are perpetrated not prisoner-on-prisoner, but guard-on-prisoner.

How many people are really victimized every year? Recent BJS studies using a “snapshot” technique have found that, of those incarcerated on the days the surveys were administered, about 90,000 had been abused in the previous year, but as we have argued previously, those numbers were also misleadingly low. Finally, in January, the Justice Department published its first plausible estimates. In 2008, it now says, more than 216,600 people were sexually abused in prisons and jails and, in the case of at least 17,100 of them, in juvenile detention. Overall, that’s almost six hundred people a day—twenty-five an hour.

It is time to stop trivializing this horrible phenomenon, and recognize it as a very, very bad thing. Convicts give up many of their rights when they commit a crime and are convicted. But ensuring basic human rights is something we should always do, because otherwise we are all dehumanized.

Using Marijuana Increase odds of Psychosis.

A new Dutch Study shows that those who used marijuana during their teenage and young adult years are more likely to develop Psychosis than those who do not. They are also likely to develop it at a younger age. Also, the more someone uses Marijuana, the greater the effects. Hopefully this will be the start of some good scientific studies to show people that marijuana is not a "harmless" as they think.

eBook publishers punish libraries?

There are advantages to eBooks - they are easily portable, can easily adjust their presentation, and assuming good backups they never wear out. There are also DISadvantages to eBooks - they require costly "reader" devices, they can report back usage to publishers/sellers, and if their chosen platform goes under, they quickly become useless. So, it is troubling when eBook publishers choose to undermine their own platform by limiting library lending of eBooks to simulate the wear-and-tear of physical books merely to preserve their existing business model.

HarperCollins has got wise to this: it has announced that US libraries will be allowed to lend ebooks only up to 26 times. Its sales president, Josh Marwell, believes that's only fair: 26, he claims, is the average number of loans a print book would survive before having to be replaced...[Two] librarians from Oklahoma took a random selection of five HarperCollins bestsellers from their shelves and showed they were all in perfectly readable condition. A pristine copy of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, borrowed 48 times, would have been needlessly re-bought, while Stuart Woods's Swimming to Catalina, still going at 120 loans, would be on its fifth, pointless reincarnation.

Whether the "26 loans" figure holds up or not, it is still a stupid idea. Libraries exist as a public good, and generally DRIVE demand for good books by creating and maintaining buzz among people who can't afford their own copy. And, as mentioned above, eBooks already have their own downsides over paper. We shouldn't have to pay MORE for less product.

Is our Middle East intellgence as bad as 9/11/2001?

After 9/11 happened, we were told one of the first things to be fixed were the weaknesses in our Mideast intelligence. We were told that lack of information sharing and lack of human intelligence had allowed Osama Bin Laden to operate freely, and large below the radar. Thus was born the "Department of Homeland Security". Ten years later, reasonable people are asking if anything has really changed, since all of the Jasmine Revolutions took us by surprise.

Did we have adequate intelligence of what was about to happen? The obvious answer is "no," across the board. The ensuing debate about why we were caught so flatfooted will undoubtedly reverberate over the next several months. We are not looking for predictions, but for more information for policy makers and less reliance on foreign intelligence services. Our dearth of human sources in the Middle East has been a problem for decades during many administrations. And what we need now are more resources and operations, not fewer.

If it turns out that after 10 years and multiple billions of dollars have been spent that we have no better understanding of the Middle East, then we have been deceived and a special prosecutor may be needed. At the very least, the Bush Administration needs to be called out for not delivering an effective intelligence apparatus to President Obama.

Banning photographers at accidents is a mistake

In the old days, the main danger of an accident was a rubber-necker (someone slowing way down to look at an accident). These days, the cell phone sniper is a much bigger danger, as people try to use their cell phones to grab an amazingly gory or dramatic picture of an accident scene. So, it is no surprise that some lawmakers want to ban photographs at car accidents. After all, isn't that the best way to force people to do the right thing, and spare families the trauma of seeing pictures of injured loved ones?

Nope. The fact is this law will be essentially unenforceable... except for cases where law already exist - where someone endangers someone else to get the shot by driving dangerously or getting in the way of emergency responders. And if anyone tries to enforce it, they are more likely to take energy away from the wounded in favor of punishing the stupid.

Let Free Speech win in this case. Forget these well-meaning, but foolish laws.

The most prepared person in the room wins!

A large portion of my job is helping to plan future projects, and come up with designs for new logic that will run for decades to come. It is tough when there are so many different voices in the room, each with their own perspective and priorities (for example, each developer wants to use the coolest new technology because it's fun, each manager wants to re-use existing stuff because it's cheap). How do I make sure it is my design that wins? As this article reminds us, it is by being the most prepared person in the room.

When they gathered at that first meeting to hash things out, Jefferson made sure to show up with meticulously prepared architectural drawings, detailed budgets for construction and operation, a proposed curriculum, and the names of specific faculty he wanted to import from Europe. No one else in the room was even remotely as prepared; the group essentially had to capitulate to Jefferson’s vision, and the University was eventually founded more or less in accordance with his plans.

Two of the most powerful forces in human nature are laziness and self-interest. While a man will argue himself until he's red in the face to defend his selfish point of view, he is unlikely to bother if anyone gives him the excuse to be lazy instead. Give a man a plan that is already fully-formed, and 99% of the time he'll go along with it.

Please, use this revalation only for Good. ;-)

February 10, 2012... a day which will live in infamy?

I have enjoyed every iteration of Star Wars - even Episode 1 - but I am not sure if I am ready for a 3D Star Wars. But ready or not, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is coming in 3D on February 10, 2012. Then again, maybe it will be the first film I see in 3D. We shall see.

The Post Office is broke... again

Why are Americans so worried about turning over control of our Health Care to the Federal Government? Because even the oldest Federally-controlled corporations - the Post Office - is dead broke. The postmaster reports that they will be out of money by October. If they can't get it right in in 236 years, what hope do they have to fix an already-broken health care system?

Donahoe said that as of Sept. 30 his agency will owe the federal government a payment of $5.5 billion to fund medical costs, in advance, for future retirees, and in November it will need to make a $1.3 billion payment for worker's compensation.

"The Postal Service will not have the cash available to make both of these payments. We need legislation this year to address that fact," he said.

If it does come down to crunch time, said Donahoe: "We will deliver the mail." Employees will be paid, as will suppliers, he said. "The thing we will not do is pay the federal government."

Without some important changes to the law the post office "cannot survive as a self-financing entity," Donahoe said.

Invented by a Mod-Blog Friend

Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater on collective bargaining

The budget crisis in Wisconsin has radicalized both Liberals and Conservatives on the issue of Collective Bargaining. While the Governor Scott Walker just wants to place limitations on the collective bargaining of government workers, some Conservatives are actually likening Unions to antitrust violations, implying that unions are inherently bad and actively harmful.

Labor unions like to portray collective bargaining as a basic civil liberty, akin to the freedoms of speech, press, assembly and religion. For a teachers union, collective bargaining means that suppliers of teacher services to all public school systems in a state—or even across states—can collude with regard to acceptable wages, benefits and working conditions. An analogy for business would be for all providers of airline transportation to assemble to fix ticket prices, capacity and so on. From this perspective, collective bargaining on a broad scale is more similar to an antitrust violation than to a civil liberty...

There is evidence that right-to-work laws—or, more broadly, the pro-business policies offered by right-to-work states—matter for economic growth. In research published in 2000, economist Thomas Holmes of the University of Minnesota compared counties close to the border between states with and without right-to-work laws (thereby holding constant an array of factors related to geography and climate). He found that the cumulative growth of employment in manufacturing (the traditional area of union strength prior to the rise of public-employee unions) in the right-to-work states was 26 percentage points greater than that in the non-right-to-work states.

While the current state of unions may be a problem, the fact is they into existence because of abuses by management. History is like a pendulum that oscillates between extremes. Let's not over-correct against the abuses of unions without recognizing their virtues.