20 May 2004
XXXchurch Wants No More XXX

I've always been somewhat amazed by the whole Christer doctrine of "thought = action". I remember hearing Jimmy Carter quote the Bible in a Playboy interview:

"I try not to commit a deliberate sin. I recognize that I'm going to do it anyhow, because I'm human and I'm tempted. And Christ set some almost impossible standards for us. Christ said, 'I tell you that anyone who looks on a woman with lust has in his heart already committed adultery.'
"I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something that God recognizes I will do--and I have done it--and God forgives me for it."

By the same logic, thinking about punching somebody out is the same thing as actually punching them. Is thinking about eating a hamburger identical to actually eating one?

Put into an anthropological context, this is sympathetic magick - but of course, Christianity hates magick, as it's all of the "Devil"!

Two young Christian ministers set up the XXXchurch to stop people from watching porn and engaging in self-gratification. Their edgy approach has won a lot of attention, but no love from fellow Christians. By Julia Scheeres.

(link) [Wired News]

00:00 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

Chip off the block

Welcome to Mr. Rodgers's neighborhood - where the only folks that matter are the shareholders:

It is immoral for any CEO not to run his company in the best possible financial way for his shareholders. I used to hold Kerry's naive view of the "all American" company, meaning all jobs in America. That was a foolish mistake on my part, and it cost my shareholders a lot of money, until I moved our entire assembly and test operation and several hundred jobs offshore in 1992.

But how far does this fiduciary duty extend? Apparently, at least in the mind of most corporate management, it covers the next quarterly profit and loss statement, and to Hel with the "longer term", now defined to be anything over 6 months!

I find that incredibly short-sighted. And, so, apparently, do a bunch of other folks - and not just the "loony Left":

It would sound like socialism if it weren't coming out of the mouths of Republicans. "The generation of people that are running corporations today," Eric explains, "all they give a damn about is what happens in the next 90 days to their stock price and when that window is going to be when they're going to jump out and pull that parachute—who cares what happens five years from now?" He's not talking about protectionism. He's talking about creating an economy that can survive the next generation. "Running a company based on shareholder wealth is a collapsible scheme! It's a short-term scheme! It's not a sustainable scheme."
Don offers an example: "What happened to the tax rebates? Everyone went to Wal-Mart and got a DVD that was made in China, which created no jobs. Thus: a jobless recovery."
Maybe it's because I'm from the Midwest, but I find the views expressed by the "conservatives" from the Rock River Valley to be much more in tune with my own views, rather than the "corporation is everything" attitude expressed by one of the captains of high tech.

Cypress Semiconductor's outspoken CEO, T.J. Rodgers, sounds off on everything from stock options to Larry Ellison.

(link) [CNET News.com]

Attention Wal-Mart Voters: Lost Jobs and Military Funerals Haunt Bush in the Heartland

(link) [The Village Voice]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Shrimp farms 'harm poor nations'

I don't think we'll ever learn anything: there's nothing inherently "wrong" with aquaculture, but look at the methods they're using to accomplish the "maximum output":

The damage is being caused by pollution and by clearing of the vegetation to make way for new farms. Chemical pollutants used in the process include antibiotics, fertilisers, disinfectants and pesticides, which could be harming human health as well as the environment, the report's authors say.

I wonder if folks chomping down at their local seafood bistro understand that the stuffing in "stuffed shrimp" may be anitbiotics or fertilizers?

Growing consumer demand for shrimp is fuelling an environmental crisis in some of the world's poorest nations, according to a new report.

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

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Ouch!

This has to be one of the most scathing "reviews" of a movie that's not even been released yet that I've ever read. It's also screamingly funny in it's own right. Some memorable lines:

[Episode I and II have ] two of the most soul-killingly dull storylines ever put on film. I mean, really — I’ve seen more interesting films on sandwiches I left in my fridge too long.
While you’re at it get rid of Natalie Portman, who as Queen Amidala has all the regal presence of a mallrat shopping at her local Fashion Bug.
In many ways, “Phantom” and “Clones” were the answer to the unasked question “What would the director of ‘Plan 9 From Outer Space’ have done with a talented effects crew and a $200 million budget?”

Read it and laugh!

Can ‘Star Wars: Episode III’ be saved? Fire Lucas, fire Christensen and resurrect Ed Wood from the grave.

(link) [MSNBC]

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Indiana First With Computerized Grading

I gotta wonder how well this really works. The online demo is, of course, available only to teachers and requires an extensive registration process, so there's no really independent evaluation available. But still ...

Grading essay's is one of the most mind numbing things a teacher has to contend with, and if this system really is workable, it'd be a boon to that profession, no doubt. On the other hand, if the system is as good as claimed, it should seriously be considered for the Turing Test.

Chances are, however, that the system is merely an expanded grammer and spell checker, and cannot really judge content at all. In this case, using it might be a positive disservice to those students who depend on teacher feedback to gain new skills.

Computerized grading has been talked about previously, however, the New York Times reports that Indiana has become the first state to grade high school English essays by computer. The computerized grading process, called 'e-rater', uses a 6-point rating scale and uses artificial intelligence to 'mimic the grading process of human readers'.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link