23 Jan 2005
Mix of Quake Aid and Preaching Stirs Concern

And who could not have predicted this, given the President's proclivity for "faith-based" charity?

Reports of missionaries proselytizing in tsunami-hit regions spur concerns that U.S. good will may be undermined by resentment.

(link) [NYT > Home Page]

Update: Villagers furious with Christian Missionaries

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Hey, reverend. Let's do lunch!

What a disturbing thought: your employer hiring preachers to counsel (or convert?) their employees. I noted that one of the firms featured in this piece was Pilgrims Pride. I wonder if they figure they can counsel away employee guilt over this kind of corporate mandated behavior? Incidentially, their founder is a well known enviromental scofflaw, as well as animal torture kingpin. He's also a "Christian businessman". Here's how he responds to criticism of his business practices:

Bo Pilgrim, a born-again Christian, responds that his critics don't understand him or his business. "Whatever people say negative about me and the company, that is their problem, not mine," he told the local magazine, Texas Lake Country, in 1999. "They did Jesus just the same way, and he said just dust off your feet and go on down the road."

On almost any day of the week, Chris Hobgood can be found strolling the halls of the headquarters of HomeBanc Mortgage in Atlanta, chatting up employees in his low-key way. He asks them about their families, their work, then listens intently to their answers. "If you ever need anything," he usually says, "please let me know."

(link) [U.S. News & World Report]

00:00 /Asatru | 1 comment | permanent link

Low-bandwidth Net Radio

Fascinating and very clever! This could really give a boost to all kinds of audio over IP technologies, not just Net radio.

Slate has an article about Internet radio stations that use the aacPlus codec from XM satellite radio instead of MP3. Some of the ones they link to sound pretty good even at 24 kbps.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link