Jesus Camp

This is a pretty shocking video. I am still trying to develop my feelings about this one, but initial impressions include hating brainwashing, and feeding children their belief. Take a look.

Here is a good review worth reading. This film was also reviewed in Friday's Wall Street Journal, found here.

Quote of the Day

Fortune favors the prepared mind.

- Louis Pasteur

NYC Health Department Proposes Ban on Trans Fats

Here's the article, folks.

Incredible...that's all I have to say. First it is the smoking, which I am slowly coming getting used to. Now, the big guys want to put restrictions on what we eat. Come on. I understand restrictions on drugs, but to carry the argument further, that ingesting trans fat is harmful and dangerous - that makes me mad. Don't let me be misunderstood...I do realize the harm in eating transfat, but that is a personal choice of the consumer. It is not the city of New York's position to set a decree making all of its citizens only eat healthy food. I hate it. Government interference with the oridnary man, I tell you, and its nothing but trouble.

And since we're on the topic, if you were wondering how fat you're state is, check this out:

Almost October...

And that means baseball playoffs. Below are several stats from the WSJ which talk about baseball's post-season play, from a television perspective.

New Technology at Keeneland Race Track

Men More Intelligent than Women?

According to a study, featured here, men's IQs are almost four points higher than women's. The top researcher John Philippe Rushton "says the finding could explain why so few women make it to the top in the workplace." I am sure that Larry Summers would have loved to use this study as support, before he was ousted from his presidency at Harvard. I have always thought girls seemed to be a little bit smarter, but some of that perception is probably based upon the fact that girls mature before men. I would be interested to see what further studies say about inter-sex intelligence. I would tend to doubt there would be much of a difference either way, but heck, who knows.

If This Doesn't Make You Mad

"UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush 'the devil' in a speech to the United Nations on Wednesday, making the sign of the cross in a dramatic gesture and accusing him of 'talking as if he owned the world'.

As was the case when Iran's Ahmadinejad spoke yesterday evening, the main U.S. seat in the assembly hall was empty as Chavez spoke. However, the U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told The Associated Press that a "junior note-taker" was present, as is customary "when governments like that speak."

What's the world coming to? And I mean that quite literally.

"IF"

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

ESPN College GameDay Selling Out

You'll find numerous websites and blogs with this headline or one similar, all over the internet today. College Gameday, is a traveling college preview show, which once used to set up shop on the campus of the biggest game of the day. It has now sold out and travels to wherever ESPN's sister network, ABC, is televising the ABC Saturday night game. Yesterday was a prime example. On a day which featured such titanic matchups as Auburn-LSU, Tennessee-Florida, and Michigan-Notre Dame, Gameday chose to go to the LA Coliseum, where Nebraska would be playing USC. How pitiful. ESPN has admitted their change in policy - I like to call it selling out - in a column that Gameday host, Chris Fowler wrote. Below is an excerpt. Find the entire article here.

For 13 seasons, the locations of the GameDay road shows have been editorial decisions based on the college football landscape. The basic principle was to (almost) always come from the site of the "biggest game," or occasionally, "the best story." Several times, we have visited the edge of the radar screen to pay tribute to the Mid American Conference's rise (at Bowling Green), the service academies (Air Force and West Point) or the tradition of the Bayou Classic.

Now, the philosophy has been rethought by upper management. For the first time, the competitive landscape of football programming is a frequent consideration. Serving the needs of ABC's new prime-time package of games is often a priority. The decision on GameDay's site is less a clear-cut "best game" philosophy now and is more complicated, made on a landscape where terms like "synergy" and "branding" live.

For other, more in depth blogs talking about this poor decision, see "Why Isn't ESPN College Gameday Crew at the LSU/Auburn Game This Weekend?"

or:
College Gameday is Officially Selling Out

A nice article from LSU, and here's a good college football blogger's post about it.

You can also read about ESPN on ABC here.

"I believe in Sewanee with all my heart. I do not know of any institution of its size in any part of our country which has done more for the cause of good citizenship than Sewanee has done. As an American I am proud of it; as a citizen I am grateful to it. It is entitled The University of the South, but it is much more than that; it is a University of all America, and its welfare should be dear to all Americans who are patriotic and farsighted, and therefore anxious to see every influence strengthened which tends for the betterment and enlightenment of our great common country."

— President Theodore Roosevelt, June 4, 1907

On the Rocks?

"People who consume alcohol earn significantly more at their jobs than non-drinkers, according to a US study that highlighted 'social capital' gained from drinking." That is according to this article. Here is some more " The study published in the Journal of Labor Research Thursday concluded that drinkers earn 10 to 14 percent more than teetotalers, and that men who drink socially bring home an additional seven percent in pay."

The theory here, is that those who drink, increase their social capital, building up relationships, and consequently more contacts, which inevitably leads to a greater paycheck. I sure would like to examine their methodology. Sounds plausible in theory; however I am skeptical as to the validity and accuracy of this "study." That being said...who wants a cold one?

Quote of the Day

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity"

- Someone awesome

Katie Couric, while interviewing a Marine sniper, asked, "What do you feel when you shoot a terrorist?"

The Marine shrugged and replied, "Recoil."

Word of the Day

erudite \AIR-yuh-dyt; -uh-dyt\, adjective:
Characterized by extensive reading or knowledge; learned.

In front of imposing edifices like the Topkapi Palace or Hagia Sophia are guides displaying Government-issued licenses. Many of these guides are erudite historians who have quit low-paying jobs as university professors and now offer private tours.
-- "What's Doing in Istanbul", New York Times, February 23, 1997

Joke Time

Recently a routine police patrol was parked outside a bar in
Canon, Georgia.

After last call the officer noticed a man leaving the bar so
intoxicated that he could barely walk. The man stumbled around the
parking lot for a few minutes, with the officer quietly observing.

After what seemed an eternity and trying his keys on five different
vehicles, the man managed to find his car which he fell into.

He sat there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons left the
bar and drove off.

Finally he started the car, switched the wipers on and off (it was a
fine, dry summer night) -- flicked the blinkers on, then off a couple
of times, honked the horn and then switched on the lights. He moved
the vehicle forward a few inches, reversed a little and then remained
still for a few more minutes as some more of the other patron
vehicles left.

At last, the parking lot empty, he pulled out of the parking lot and
started to drive slowly down the road. The police officer, having
patiently waited all this time, now started up the patrol car, put on
the flashing lights and promptly pulled the man over and carried out
a breathalyzer test.

To his amazement, the breathalyzer indicated no evidence of the man
having consumed any alcohol at all! Dumbfounded, the officer said,
"I'll have to ask you to accompany me to the police station. This
breathalyzer equipment must be broken."

"I doubt it," said the truly proud redneck...
"Tonight I'm the designated decoy."

Woman With Perfect Memory Baffles Scientists

This is pretty remarkable. I don't really know what to make of this. Here is the article, with a nice little excerpt below.

Give her any date, she said, and she could recall the day of the week, usually what the weather was like on that day, personal details of her life at that time, and major news events that occurred on that date.
One day when he asked her out of the blue if she knew who Bing Crosby was.

"I wasn't sure she would know, because she's 40 and wasn't of the Bing Crosby era," he says.

But she did.

"Do you know where he died?" McGaugh asked.

"Oh yes, he died on a golf course in Spain," she answered, and provided the day of the week and the date when the crooner died.

TV Reporter Gets Beaten

This is a San Diego news reporter who was beaten up pretty badly while trying to do a story on a real estate scam. A man and wife just get out of their car and start fighting this guy. You can read all about the story here. However, I suggest you click here and you can watch the whole thing on video. This is seriously one of the funniest things I have seen in a very long time.

Ah...So Money Does Buy Happiness

According to this article in today's WSJ, anyway. This article in a way rebuts an older article doubting the impact that money has on one's happiness. Some of this new article's reasoning is as follows:

Top doctors and fresh vegetables help you keep healthy, and they cost money. Hiring a house-cleaner leaves means less fighting with your spouse, and household help costs money. A ski trip with your college friends strengthens those bonds, and it costs money. Giving to charity feels good, and it costs money.

Word of the Day

tintinnabulation

n : the sound of a bell ringing; "the distinctive ring of the church bell"; "the ringing of the telephone";

"the tintinnabulation that so volumnously swells from the ringing and the dinging of the bells"
--E. A. Poe

Having Brothers Increases Gay Probability?

A WSJ aricle reports a study that suggests a correlation between boys with older brothers and homosexuality. Below is an excerpt:

A study released this week tracing some instances of male homosexuality to the "older brother effect" is more than another entrant in the race to find the biological roots of sexual orientation. The mechanism it points to fits with emerging research on the powerful effects of conditions in the womb.

The theory dates to 1996, when scientists reported an odd correlation. For each additional older brother that a boy has, his chance of growing up to be gay increases by one-third. The correlation doesn't explain all homosexuality -- many of the estimated 7 million gay men in the U.S. have no older brothers, and most younger brothers are straight. But if the conclusion is right, a rough calculation shows that "about 1 million American men are gay or will grow up to be gay because their mother had sons before them," says psychologist S. Marc Breedlove of Michigan State University, East Lansing, who studies sexual orientation.

Quote of the Day

A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier. That is why Chippendale is famous.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe