Caffeinated Gonzo!

It is sad to hear that the great author Arthur C. Clarke has passed away.  Although he was 90 and lived a long fruitful and prophetic life, he will be missed.  Few have matched his accomplishments.

Rest in Peace.

Stories like this make me (almost) want to turn into a Republican…

[ S-h-u-d-d-e-r ! ! ... ]

Read: “Death of the father: British scientists discover how to turn women’s bone marrow into sperm” by Fiona MacRae in the online Daily Mail.

Quote:

“British scientists are ready to turn female bone marrow into sperm, cutting men out of the process of creating life.”

and:

“men could follow suit by using the technique to make eggs from male bone marrow.”

All this leaves me wondering what Freud would say and even more importantly how would Jerry Springer fans react when they discover that Billy Bob, isn’t the father of Bobby Sue’s baby, but rather he is the biological mother instead?

Oh the humanity!

Oh, well… in the future, at least this will save some of us money on greeting card purchases as Mothers Day and Fathers Day roll around.

A religious court in Afghanistan has sentenced a man to be put to death for downloading a document from the Internet. The man was accused of blasphemy after he downloaded a report criticizing religious leaders for their treatment of women. The harsh sentence handed down against a young 23 year old journalism student was recently upheld by the country’s rulers.

It’s wonderful to know that the “post-Taliban” Afghanistan has improved it’s human-rights record so much under the influence and presence of American and NATO troops over the past few years isn’t it?

It has been pointed out elsewhere that this appears to be a first in recorded history: “a death penalty for downloading.” Let’s hope that a certain industry’s lawyers are not paying attention and getting any bright ideas. Death penalty or not, this is the tip of an iceberg that only appears to be getting larger as the waters get colder.

Seriously: This is a scary precedent, no matter how you look at it and where you look at it from.

Fresh from the Department of Obvious Conclusions…

A recent study researchers at the Universities of Texas and Michigan concludes that

“‘adolescent gamers spent 30 percent less time reading and 34 percent less time doing homework’ than their non-gaming counterparts.”

This, according to story was reported on United Press International, refering to the original journal article in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

[ Read more about it here on Physorg.com ]

The only intelligent conclusion (err comment) I can make about this article is “well duh! I could have told you that.” Anyone who raises, teachs, knows, or even was a teenager in the past two decades could have told these researchers this information.

I hope that no one spent a heap of money funding this particular study. Aren’t there any endangered red-bellied seersucker tree frogs out there somewhere that need hordes of graduate students to spend their spare time counting and observing the behavior of their amorous mating pairs? Wouldn’t this make a better study for our beloved instutions of higher learning wishing to pursue Federal Funding?

Lets leave the study of the incredibly obvious to the politicians and statisticians at the Government Accounting Office where it belongs.

The largest military exercise conducted by the United States in Pacific waters since the Vietnam War, ended yesterday (June 24th, 2006). Designated Valiant Shield the large wargame was conducted by the United States Navy near Guam (in the Pacific Ocean) during much of June 2006. Elements of the Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard units participated actively. Official military observers from several countries also were invited including naval officers from Japan, Australia, South Korea, Russia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. This was also the first time observers from the People's Republic of China were allowed to observe U.S. wargames, a move hoped to foster greater military cooperation between the U.S. and the PRC.

[ Summarized from an excellent article on Wikipedia ]

See also the official Valiant Shield 2006 Website

Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Says

The Washington Post reports on a extensive new study on social trends that concludes that Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two decades ago. Whether you believe in all it's conclusions, this study gives one a lot to ponder.

Increasingly, America is becoming a fragmented society, where people are leading either by choice or by circumstance a solitary existence. Social networks appear for many to be crumbling, family connections and relationships for many either don't exist or are a shadow of what our expectations are.

Add to this a government whose policies push family responsibility on individuals ill prepared to deal with the consequences, while at the same time having pulled out from under their feet whatever social network or structure that might help them family succeed; both are done in the name of individual responsibility.

No wonder life is so uncertain.

Two Republican lawmakers announced yesterday that according to a recently declassified portion of a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center the United States has found more than 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003. The report continues on to assert more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered in the future.

The report prepared by DoD's National Ground Intelligence Center states that most of the chemical weapons and other WMD's in the count are thought to have been manufactured before 1991. Of the chemical weapons found, many contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent and can still pose a serious threat to Coalition troops and civilians in their unstable state.

Despite the reported existance of the dangerious munitions most privy to the details of the entire report have to date stopped short of calling the recently declassified information a vindication of the Bush Administration's justification for going to war.

Perhaps emboldened by the public's growing distaste for our country's involvement in Iraq, many Senators and other bolder critics of the administration question the timing of the declassification and publicizing of the report. Making this particularly suspicious to some is that it was released in an era that finds more and more documents being classified top secret (or higher) now more than ever.

Read more about this announcement in the story on FoxNews.com.

My parents grew up after World War II. went to high school in the late 1950's. My mother often told me that in "her day" students were routinely *told* what classes they were going to take and what career track they were to follow without being consulted themselves. Decisions about a student's future were decided early and according to the "wisdom and experience" of their high school counselors. Students were "tracked" according to their perceived potential for being college bound, a factory worker (a technical track), or being destined for example to be a  homemaker. Once you were tracked you were given very little opportunity to explore other options.

A modern version of tracking  is apparently on the rise. This version is a little different, but I have to wonder if it will bear some of the same results as my mother's experience.

Students in several states are now being encouraged and even required to choose a career path or major upon entering high school. This new movement is being touted in Florida and other states as a way to curb drop out rates and other ills in our educational system. Some of these kids are being pushed into making career choices as early as eighth grade. That's a bit early in my book.

What ever happened to using high school to learn about and explore career paths before deciding whether or where to go to college or tech school or burger academy?

My son is just now going into eighth grade. He still thinks operating forklifts and riding lawnmowers are the ultimate in career perks. Is this really the time for him to be making a choice in careers and education that could conceivably effect his lively-hood for the next 20, 30, or 40 years? I don't think so.

[ Found on ShoutWire ]

The Associated Press and others are reporting this morning that the National Guard has been ordered back in to New Orleans to patrol the streets. The AP goes on to report that the move is at Mayor Ray Nagin's request and was ordered by the State Governor Kathleen Blanco.

Initiated after a rash of recent killings in the city, the National Guard troops and a large contingent of State Police have been requested to augment local police force which has been seriously depleted since the arrival and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the city last year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Reality Isn't What It Used to Be : Theatrical Politics, Ready-to-Wear Religion, Global Myths, Primitive Chic, and O

by Walter Truet Anderson

Have you ever found a book just laying about, free for the taking, and actually read it? Such was the circumstance in which I stumbled across this book. Now I am beginning to wonder if my finding the book wasn’t as much an accident as some sort of experiment in postmodernism in itself. After all, ”Reality isn’t what it used to be.” My priest left this book in a box, in the tent where we hold Mass. On the box, with a handful of other books in it was a sign that said “free to take.” Was it really?

That is the question.

This was the last lonely book in the box when I found it. Was my priest trying to tell his flock something, something about the state of the world or did he really just want to make room on his bookshelf?

It’s an open question.

Aptly titled, the book Reality Isn’t What It Used to Be by Walter Truet Anderson, is very much like I suspect the circumstance in which I obtained my now dog-eared copy an exercise in social constructed reality. If you are open to the ideas it presents you will enjoy the read, as did I. If you aren’t into its premise you might find the ideas presented disturbing—Disturbing enough to contemplate using the book’s pages as a less than satisfying substitute for two-ply.

See more about Reality Isn't What It Used to Be …