24 Feb 2004
EU suspends US poultry imports

First Delaware, now Texas. This is spreading, and judging from what I've seen in the press, it's spreading under the radar of those who should be concerned.

A bird flu outbreak in Texas prompts Brussels to impose a total ban on live poultry and egg imports from the US.

(link) [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Offshoring to India: A not so simple path

Good!

Sending tech jobs overseas hasn't been as easy as some firms believed.

(link) [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Despite confinement, crop genes can spread fast to wild

This is the real danger with GM crops - not that they'll poison people. Don't think some "harmless" new organism can wreck havoc? Ask the Austrialians about rabbits ....

With the slim chance that farmers will stop planting crops containing genes from other organisms, researchers have started to develop strategies that trap these foreign genes, reducing the risk that they'll spread to wild relatives. But an investigation by scientists shows that these containment strategies can quickly fail.

(link) [Science Blog]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

My Daughter's Walk

My eldest daughter is taking off on an adventure this July, raising money for a good cause in the process. This cause has something of a special place in our hearts, as my mom (Rhiannon's grandma) is a breast cancer survivor. We've seen this disease up close and personal, as it were, and prefer not to see it again.

Of course, the idea of raising money involves getting folks to donate it (Dad can't do it all) so please give her page a visit and pass on a donation, if you're able.

00:00 /Home | 2 comments | permanent link

Room and Board for Pedophiles

I understand that their theology demands that they "love the sinner", but it's this going a bit far? These priestly abusers have not only committed felony offenses, they've violated a sacred trust placed in them by the parents of their victims.

Of course, I'm sure their God has forgiven them for fondling and raping the little children put into their charge, so who's the Pope to do any different?

What a crock! Hopefully, this'll turn into the PR disaster that the church so richly deserves.

A report on child sexual abuse that the Vatican released today found fault with and challenged American bishops' zero tolerance policy of seeking to remove from ministry any Roman Catholic priest who has abused a child.

(link) [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Questions

Kathryn, over at A Mindful Life seconded this:

Paul Pearsall, a psychoneuroimmunologist, says that no real therapy can begin until the therapist understands how the client will answer three ultimate questions. These three questions are, why was I born, what is the purpose of my life, and what will happen to me when I die?

If a person can answer those questions, why would he or she need therapy? If questions were cliches those three would be "the real deal", "where the rubber meets the road" and "the last great gig in the sky". Far from being the point where "therapy" can begin, I'd say they define the point of full realization: that point when we can (at least partially) comphrend the human condition.

Most folks never even ask the questions, however, much less answer them. And most of the time when they are asked and answered, it's with a mish-mash of incoherent, contradictory, reguritated theology, given forth with little or no thought to it's logical implications.

It's also a perfect opportunity for me to regurgitate some theology.

Over the next three days, I'll take on each question, one at a time. Might post'em here, might just be a link here to a new place on my main writings page.

For those reading this who aren't heathen, perhaps it'll shed some light on our world view, and for those who are I promise a slightly different take. Heathen theology is very much a personal matter right down to it's core: we are without benefit of "scripture", and without even the advantage of omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent deities.

This means that every heathen has a slightly different take on things, so these musings should not be taken as "canonical" in any sense of the term. I think I could get a good portion of heathens to go along with them, however, as these questions are less about "theology" and more about "spirituality": they're at the top of the religious food chain. These are the questions that eat the rest of our respective faiths, or lack thereof, for lunch.

Stay tuned ...

00:00 /Asatru | 3 comments | permanent link