Happy Father’s Day –

- to all the men out there raising honest, compassionate, inquisitive children. - to all the dads who aren't afraid to show their children how much they love them, all the men who model participation and positive values, good health and a passion to learn. - to the fathers who say no when they need to and who teach their children that mistakes are part of the journey; the dads who forgive, who tell stories and know how to laugh at themselves. - to every man who makes sure his children know, without having to ask, that he will be there for them, in form or spirit, whenever he is needed, for the rest of their lives. - and to the other fathers out there, somehow, may they learn how important their presence could be, and find a way to get there.

Continue ReadingHappy Father’s Day –

Sticker Shock

Back in the 1980's I learned that digital electronics always rapidly descend in price. Pretty much, if you bought a computer, disc player, or digital camera a month ago then the price would already be noticeably lower. But I recently was told (by Erich as he took the pictures here) that the camera he (and I) love to carry has increased in price since we bought them. I didn't believe him, so I looked it up at Pricegrabber.com and at Amazon. Amazon seems to show the real prices that the (lower) PriceGrabber links jump to. The exact camera that I bought for $160 from Amazon 7 months ago is now a whopping $358! Un-be-(expletive)-lievable. You may remember Erich and I raving about this little gem since he first bought his over a year ago. I shopped independently and at length to select the same camera. One odd feature of it is that it is available in a range of colors. I bought mine in Gold because it was the cheapest at the time, by $5. Now however, the price is about $180 in blue or brown, up to $358 in ... Gold! Apparently, this camera is now a hot item. Possibly one reason besides those we've mentioned on this site is that hackers have been at work. One can download uncertified "patches" to make this camera do even more amazing things. See Turn Your Point-and-Shoot into a Super-Camera at LifeHacker.com I feel that this is but another sign of our living in Interesting Times.

Continue ReadingSticker Shock

Making this the year of the Bible might make people read it

Some in Congress are pressing to make 2009 the "National Year of the Bible." As Politics Daily points out, such a pronouncement might encourage people to actually read the Bible before extolling its virtues. And lots of people do extol its virtues (93% of U.S. homes have at least one Bible). But do they read it? Polls suggest that it is not read often or well by millions of Americans:

A 2000 survey showed that even 60 percent of those chapter-and-verse-quoting Evangelicals thought Jesus was born in Jerusalem rather than Bethlehem. Similarly, a 2004 survey of high school students found that 17 percent thought "the road to Damascus" was where Jesus was crucified and 22 percent thought Moses was either one of Jesus' 12 apostles or an Egyptian pharaoh or an angel. Half of high school seniors also thought Sodom and Gomorrah were married . . . But before you pile on the slacker generation, consider that one in 10 of all Americans believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife, and 60 percent can't name five of the Ten Commandments.

But here's more:

Only three out of five Christians can recall the names of the first four books of the New Testament. Only half of the Christians polled correctly identified the person who delivered the Sermon on the Mount. And a full 42% of the Christians said that without the government's laws, there would be no real guidelines for people to follow in daily life.

And more:

A Gallup survey shows that fewer than half of Americans can name the first book of the Bible (Genesis), only one-third know who delivered the Sermon on the Mount (many named Billy Graham, not Jesus), and one quarter do not know what is celebrated on Easter. . . A 1997 Barna Research poll showed [that] eighty percent of born-again Christians believe it is the Bible that says "God helps them that help themselves."

These polls substantiate what I've been seeing and hearing. Many of the people who argue with me about religion (they come to my door a couple times each year) know almost nothing about the Bible. Most believers know absolutely nothing about the history of the Bible--how the Bible came to be the Bible. It's a truly fascinating story and there's no excuse that a Believer wouldn't know many of the details. See this post on Bart Ehrman setting for many quotes mistakenly attributed to Jesus. Consider, also, a book I am currently reading, Robert Wright's The Evolution of God, with makes a strong argument that Jesus didn't really say, "Love your enemies" or extol the Good Samaritan. These stories were inserted many decades after the crucifixion (e.g., see p. 260). I was raised Catholic and I know many Catholics (many of them good-hearted and thoughtful people). Almost none of them read the Bible with any familiarity. They hear passages on Sundays, but that's about it. I've spoken to dozens of serious Catholics who have no idea that there are any contradictions in the Bible and they freely admit that they don't read it on their own. So much for the "Word of God" among a large group (dozens) of educated and committed Catholics. If they really believed that the Bible was divinely inspired word of God, how could they possibly have time for anything else?

Continue ReadingMaking this the year of the Bible might make people read it

U.S. Supreme Court: no federal right to review DNA evidence

Here's the context: 240 convicted felons have now been proven to be totally innocent thanks to analysis of DNA evidence. Many states have enacted laws giving prisoners the opportunity to obtain DNA analysis of critical evidence used at their trials in years past. The U.S. Supreme Court has now ruled, however, that there is no federal constitutional right to DNA evidence that could exculpate a convict.

The Supreme Court said Thursday that a convicted rapist has no constitutional right to test biological evidence used at his trial in Alaska years earlier, leaving it to the states to decide when prisoners get access to genetic evidence that might prove their innocence . . .

Dissenting liberal justices and advocates for prisoners who seek genetic testing complained that the court is penalizing a small group of inmates who lack access to a simple test that would conclusively show their innocence, or reaffirm their guilt.

Here is the full opinion, District Attorney's Office v. Osborne. Justice John Roberts (supported by the Court's conservatives) wrote the majority opinion, concluding both of the following:

A) "DNA testing has an unparalleled ability both to exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty." and

B) If you were convicted in one of the handful of states that aren't willing to analyze the DNA evidence of your case, you're screwed. Case over. Too bad for you. Why? Because it would mean more work for the federal judiciary.

Way to go, Justice Roberts. You are compiling quite a track record of refusing to look out for the oppressed and powerless. And see here and here. For more information, visit Project Innocent.

Continue ReadingU.S. Supreme Court: no federal right to review DNA evidence

Socialist Saturday in the park

Yesterday I was riding in a cab driving by Hakim, a young man who came to the U.S. eleven years ago from Kenya. During the cab ride to downtown KC, we discussed the many businessmen who treat professional sports like a religion. Many of them spend several thousands of dollars per year for the privilege of showing up several times per week to watch millionaire-athletes play games while eating $6 hotdogs and drinking $8 cups of beer. The conversation then turned to some of the many things one can do without spending much money, as well as many alternative ways to spend the $4,000 you might spend to watch a package of baseball games over the course of a season. Hakim works to support his family here in the United States, but he sends an extra $200 per month to Kenya each month, which fully supports his widowed sister and her three children. Hakim is also going to school to learn computer programming. He was a thoughtful and enterprising fellow and I really enjoyed our conversation. I continued thinking about money and healthy ways of spending discretionary time this morning at the Tower Grove Farmer's Market, in Tower Grove Park, near my home in St. Louis, Missouri. But then it struck me that there was a lot of ugly low-priced socialism going on all around me. You see, the government runs the park, inviting families to come swim in a big fountain and shop for food directly from farmer-vendors, no corporate middle-men and no heavy-handed corporate sponsors taking control of the natural ebbs and flows of those who attend (though a few good-hearted local businesses pitch in to make the event possible). I took the following photo of the many socialists splashing in the fountain (I tweaked it with Photoshop, trying to make it artsy and also because I wanted to obscure the identities of the folks in the photo. BTW, feel free to click to enlarge the image). fountain-rendered-as-sponge-drawing As I drove to the park on a government-paid road, I had passed a government-paid (socialist) police officer. It occurred to me that this sort of socialism is not unusual. There is both a socialized fire department and a a socialized library near the park, as well as many socialized (public) schools. Then, to exacerbate the situation, Steve Albers showed up, unpaid, to provide live music (disclosure: Steve is my brother-in-law). Steve, who is an excellent blues musician but a confused capitalist, decided to put out a bucket for cash donations--all of it to go to the organizer of the market so that it could hire out other local professional music acts on future weekends. Image by Erich Vieth Bottom line: a government operated park, no heavy-handed corporate sponsors, free music, free fountain, donations for future non-profit endeavors. People self-organizing without the assistance of any corporate mascot, without anyone telling them how to have fun. Lively and thoughtful conversation everywhere. Children spontaneously dancing, with dedicated parents nearby. Tall trees, fresh air and the recurring thought that this is what life is really about. Ubiquitous healthy food. The honest and spontaneous power of the grass roots--people choosing to be the people they are. I'm hearing Chicago's "Saturday in the Park" as I write this. I've seen the dour faces of the people who attend high-priced "fun" at corporate entertainment, while slurping their $8 beer. They are people who are barraged with advertisements all over the stadium, and they are constantly being told when to applaud by a corporate-sponsored scoreboard and PA. Image by Erich Vieth They are carefully searched on the way into the stadium to make damned sure that they don't bring in their own alcoholic drinks (oh, year, 12% of this expensive and unnecessary new stadium was constructed using taxpayer money). I can guarantee that the fun per dollar spent was much higher today. That's my thought for this morning: that we don't need to be told how to have fun by big corporations. We are better off spending next to nothing creating our own low-priced entertainment.

Continue ReadingSocialist Saturday in the park