Loyalists & Protesters unify to defend Egypt's museum

During a rebellion/revolution/riot/unrest, there are always debates over whether the crowds defying the government are thugs or heroes. And, as in the American revolution, sometimes the line between the two is a fuzzy one. For those wondering about the protesters in Egypt - and the police - there is an indication that both sides are full of men and women of conscience, as they worked together to defend the Egyptian museum from would-be looters. Even amidst societal chaos, they found common ground on true universal priorities.

When fire broke out on Friday night at the ruling party's headquarters, Khaled Youssef, an Egyptian film director who has made movies critical of government policies, issued an urgent call on the Al Arabiya television channel: "I am calling on the Egyptian army to head instantly to the Egyptian Museum. There is a fire right next to it in the party headquarters," he said in a report relayed by Reuters.

As the fire raged, would-be thieves started entering the grounds surrounding the museum, The Associated Press reported. But other young men, some armed with truncheons taken from the police, formed a protective human chain outside the museum's main gates. "I'm standing here to defend and to protect our national treasure," one of the men, a 40-year-old engineer named Farid Saad, told AP.

AP quoted 26-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim as saying that it was important to guard the museum because it has "5,000 years of our history. If they steal it, we'll never find it again."

Obesity is contagious

This is one study that will come as no shock to anyone who's tried to stay on a diet while hanging out with sugar-loving friends. They have found that having obese friends is likely to lead you into obesity as well.

The more obese friends you have, the more likely you are to become obese, a new study suggests. This confirms previous research that gaining weight may be socially contagious...

"We find that having four obese friends doubled people's chance of becoming obese compared to people with no obese friends," says Alison Hill, the study's lead author and a Harvard researcher.

About the rising incidence of obesity, she says, people have gotten better at gaining weight in recent years, but not at losing it.

David Rand, a Harvard research scientist who also worked on the study, says that the more obese people you have contact with, the more likely you are to become obese.

From my experience, the opposite is true as well - have a few friends working to lose weight or maintain their weight-loss makes you much more likely to be losing weight. Why? Simple - it's easier to exercise together, just as it's easier to pig out together. Whatever you make the center of your social calendar becomes central when you're craving human contact.

The Value of Life In a "Me First" Society

I was disturbed over the report of a temporary worker, Jdimytai Damour, at Wal-Mart who was trampled to death on Black Friday. I did not get a chance to blog about it at the time, but with more stories coming out, it appears to be even worse than I imagined. For anyone who has not heard about the incident, a temporary worker at Wal-Mart who was posted at the front door was trampled to death by a crowd that broke down the doors in order to get into the store for the Black Friday bargains.

So, Damour must have been older and smaller for this to happen, right? In fact, he was 34 years old, 6'5", weighing 270 pounds. Quoting Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey, "Literally anyone, those hundreds of people who did make their way into the store, literally had to step over or around him or unfortunately on him to get into the Wal-Mart store." Estimates were that the crowd was about 2,000 people. [see Wal-Mart Worker Trampled to Death Lacked Training, Attorney Says] Now, when a crowd of 2,000 people is all pushing in the same direction it is very hard to stop or you risk getting trampled yourself. If this had been 2,000 people running out of the store for their life, I would understand. Two thousand people pushing and shoving to get into a store? That's evidence of a "Me First" society and it cost a man his life.

Damour's coworker, Jimmy Overby, describes the account first hand. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too ... I literally had to fight people off my back." [See Wal-Mart Worker Dies When Shoppers Break Down Doors]

And if that's not enough of, "Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said." [See Police Reviewing Video to Identify Shoppers in Wal-Mart Stampede That Killed Worker] So let me get this straight, a man is TRAMPLED TO DEATH and you're upset because you're not getting your bargain?

While police are trying to review any video surveillance, it is difficult to not only identify people, but also figure out who is liable. [See Police Try to ID Shoppers in Wal-Mart Trampling Death Surveillance Tape]

Damour's biggest crime? "[He was] trying to shield a pregnant shopper from the throngs of bargain hunters pushing their way in." [See Lawyer: Family of Trampled Worker Sues Wal-Mart Over Death] That's right, Jdimytai Damour a 34 year old, 6'5", 270 pound man was crushed to death because he was trying to protect a pregnant woman from a crowd who had to have their bargain no matter what the cost.

Damour's siblings are suing different groups that they feel were responsible including Wal-Mart (Damour had no crowd control training). Sadly, the people who are really responsible will probably not even get caught.

To the family of Jdimytai Damour, we offer our condolences. The greed and "Me First" attitude that has taken over our culture is appalling.

I hope that this incident will serve as a wake-up to our society; however, I fear that stories like this will only become more and more common.

Soda vs Pop - the Debate Lives On

When I was a teenager, we had great fun playing a prank on our youth pastor who referred to carbonated beverages as "Pop", while we staid Northeasterners referred to them as "Soda." I was interested to find the map below, which quantifies which parts of the countries call carbonated beverages by different names. Most interesting to me is how it seems to follow the red-state/blue-state divide. Perhaps it is a sign of divergent cultures within the American continent. Click on the image below for the original article and a little larger map.

Progressives Wrestle with Evangelicals

A lot of people know that most of us here at Mod-Blog - a place dedicated to giving both sides of the issue - lean to the Right. How can a MODERATE blog be populated by people on one side of the spectrum? The answer has always been that we respect both sides, and try to tell both sides of the story. And not let either side get away with unexamined foolishness. And one area where a lot more engagement is needed is in the foolish "Red State vs Blue State" mentality in politics right now.

That is why it was nice to see this blog written by a Progressive Christian trying to reach out and understand Evangelicals. If those terms are unfamiliar to you, let me try and boil down the difference to its essentials. Progressives focus their faith around social action - especially around helping the poor. If anything gets in the way of that, it can be laid aside. Evangelicals focus their faith around the Bible, and its inerrancy and inspiration. If anything disagrees with the Bible, it can be laid aside. Now, both groups love Jesus, view the Bible as important, and want to help the poor and needy. But their different emphases lead to radically different priorities, methods, and allies. And perhaps most importantly, different cultures with different jargon. Ask an Evangelical and a Progressive what "God's Word" means, and you'll get a very different answer.

Click here for the blog author's attempt to lay out why he built the blog. He is a Progressive Christian who previously had been dismissing the Evangelical movement. I think his goal is the same as ours - to understand both sides and as much as possible bring them together... no matter what our own political leaning may be.