Noteworthy entries.

Father of two charged in child poisoning case

ASSIMULATED PRESS Regency, Alabama - A prominent business owner is being charged in the poisoning and near death of his two children. Alabama Child Protective Services was notified when the children of prominent Regency land developer Ian Oda were brought into Eden County General Hospital convulsing and showing other signs of poisoning. When questioned about what had happened, Mr. Oda explained that the children, Alex 7 and Elizabeth 6, had ingested poisoned food that he had warned them not to eat. “I told them the rules and they disobeyed me. This is their fault.” Police and CPS agents were dispatched to the Oda home where they found an elaborate fenced-in playground which had been built specifically for the children. Neighbors reported that they had seen the children enjoying themselves and running naked around the playground for several days before the incident. Food, snacks and beverages were scattered throughout the area. However, some of the treats had been laced with strychnine and piled all together at the base of a large apple tree. Further complicating matters was the news that a former employee of Mr. Oda had been seen talking to the children shortly before they arrived at the hospital. Mr. Levi Natas had been overheard telling Elizabeth that the poisoned snacks were actually the tastiest snacks of all and that their father was hoarding them for himself. Mr. Natas had worked for Mr. Oda's company for many years but had a falling out and been let go under contentious circumstances in 2004. Mr. Natas then started his own rival company in Regency and has been notorious for trying to undermine many of Mr. Oda’s construction projects. When questioned about the incident Mr. Oda said, “Oh yes, I saw Mr. Natas talking to Elizabeth. I saw everything. My living room window overlooks the playground. But the children knew the rules. That was the only pile of snacks I had asked them not to eat.” Mr. Oda faces charges of reckless endangerment. Although the children have recovered, Mr. Oda stated to police that they are no longer welcome in his home, will never be allowed back into the playground, and that their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will also never be allowed to play there. In a prepared statement which Mr. Oda dictated to one of his assistants while the assistant was asleep, he proclaimed, “I have an employee that can clean up this mess. I promise I will send him. But it may take a few thousand years before I get around to it.”

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Fair To A Fault: Secularist Chastised For Bashing Religion In School

The next time someone says to you that religion is under attack by the courts in the schools because of the separation clause, consider this high school history teacher who has been found guilty of insulting Christians in class.

James Corbett, a 20-year teacher at Capistrano Valley High School, was found guilty of referring to Creationism as “religious, superstitious nonsense” during a 2007 classroom lecture, denigrating his former Advanced Placement European history student, Chad Farnan.

The problem with this is that, basically, Mr. Corbett only told the truth, and appears to have talked almost exclusively about Creationism, not Christianity. The judge made the immediate connection between the two, however. U.S. District Court Judge James Selna's claim that he can find "no secular purpose" in Corbett's statements is either thick-witted or disingenuous---it would seem to be a teacher's job to point out to students something that is, well, idiocy. However, I expect an appeal on this, because it is also clear that the judge in question has something of a bias here. But it's instructive---rather than take the idea of Creationism as what it has lately been packaged, namely Intelligent Design, and examine it as a claim of "science" as its advocates insist it is, Selna understands immediately that this is a bogus proposition. That, in fact, Intelligent Design is a religious idea in a new wrapper. Corbett's dismissal of Creationism can only then be an attack on religion. Which, by the letter of the law, is a violation of the separation clause. Those who advocate against secularism and insist religious ideas have no defense in this modern state should look at this as an example---not in their favor, because it still won't allow for the introduction of religion into public schools---of the fact, oft-stated, that the Constitution requires even-handed exclusions. Secularists can't even say nasty things about a bogus idea that has only association relevance to religion. You can't even bring it up to say it's wrong. Personally, I do think this is a bit idiotic, but---what's that old phrase---it is fair to a fault.

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Coincidences and curmudgeons

This past week has been quite a ride for me. Lots of good things, magic things, have been happening to me, over a background of physical pain and worry. I'll explain with two examples, two of many. On Saturday, my 10-year-old daughter (“JuJu”) was walking about the house constantly singing a song that sounded familiar. She explained to me that it had recently become one of her favorite songs, “Vida la Vida” by Coldplay. It was enchanting to see her so excited about a particular piece of music (and it really is a terrific song). After saying good night to my two daughters in their room, I went outside to walk the dog around the block. It was now 10 pm. Once outside, however, I saw and heard three young men with guitars and a drum walking along my street singing “Vida la Vida.” I ran upstairs to get JuJu out of bed so she could hear her new favorite song being sung by these three strolling musicians. It was just one of those things. I had never before seen anyone walking in front of the house strumming a guitar and I’ve lived in this house for 25 years. The music, the clear night, the perfect weather. The moment seemed almost orchestrated. Because I am a skeptic, however, I don't personify the reason why such moments sometimes happen. I simply enjoy them. Today, I had another unusual moment. I need to provide context first, however. I've been struggling with the symptoms of a pinched cervical nerve root for about two years. It has caused several periods of terrible pain in my back. I've seen a massage therapist, an acupuncturist who was a chiropractor, a sports medicine doctor, two surgeons and three physical therapists. Until three weeks ago, it seemed as though the problem, or at least the pain, might simply fade tolerably into the background, letting me get on with my life. "Not so fast!" Fate must've thought.

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Culture and Copyright in the 21st Century

On 24 March, 2009 Lawrence Lessig delivered the keynote speech, Getting the Network the World Needs, at the OFC Conference in San Diego, CA. This is a revision of a REMIX talk, distinguishing between parts of the 20th Century that were Read-Only and parts that were Read-Write. His brilliantly delivered thesis discusses how culture prior to the 20th century was essentially read-write, everyone consumed and created the culture interactively. During the 20th century centralization and control of media and distribution transformed our culture to a read only - where creation was almost exclusively the province of professionals and professional distribution channels (tv, movies, music). He then suggests that the 21st century brings the promise and the demand for building a read-write culture once more, and for moving far beyond the mash-up of the past decade. He also discusses the necessary legal and infrastructural changes needed to accommodate this changed reality. Warner Music has tried to serve a DCMA takedown, based on his inclusion of some music and media clips - despite the obvious and clear "fair use".

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A dude, a camcorder and Earth Day in St. Louis

I wandered around at this year's St. Louis Earth Day celebration with a camcorder to capture some of the many images and sounds. I boiled my raw video down into two short videos, each of them lasting about five minutes. The first one is the "fun" video--you'll see what I mean. I'm assuming that some of the scenes at Forest Park will give you a smile or leave you shaking your head. Free hugs, anyone? Or how about some sound therapy? And do consider the computerized body analysis administered to me by a chiropractic group working really (really) hard to sell me their long-term services. BTW, I took their test assuming that any legit test would pick up on a rather serious condition I'm dealing with--half of my left hand has gone numb and my left arm is at 1/2 strength due to a pinched nerve; it's so bad that I'm almost certain to have neck surgery in a few weeks. But the elaborate computerized scan didn't pick up on that major issue. I did learn that my gall bladder is in great shape, however. Editing down these videos, I was surprised at how much music one can hear at the festival. Musician Leslie Sanazaro, who has often promoted "green" issues, is featured at the end of this first video (a few months ago, I produced a three-part interview with Leslie). Enjoy! Now for the "serious" interview. Among all the people attending the fair were a few contractors who sell products and services that can really make a dent in the amount of energy used by your home. The first half of this short video features a firm (Home Green Home) that does elaborate energy audits for about $400. According to Marc Bluestone, up-front cost would be a bargain based on the amount of energy you can save (more than 20% of your energy bills). The second firm, Missouri Solar Living, installs solar equipment for water heating and electricity. You'll hear some compelling facts and figures, especially about solar hot water. Note: I don't know any more about these two firms than you'll see on this videotape, but I did enjoy meeting these guys at Earth Day and I appreciated hearing energy-saving information from two companies who are actually doing substantial work out in the field.

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