31 Oct 2005
Texas Pastor Electrocuted During Baptism

Shocking news! But I wonder ... the article states that the woman getting baptized was not hurt, but did she go ahead with the ritual, or did she take the hint?

AP - A pastor performing a baptism was electrocuted inside his church Sunday morning after grabbing a microphone while partially submerged, a church employee said.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Small US units lure Taliban into losing battles

Interesting article on the tactics the Army employs against an elusive and persistent, if ill-trained and equipped enemy.

How the strategy works, and how it may have weakened the Taliban movement's effectiveness as a military force - for now.

(link) [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Sony DRM Installs a Rootkit?

This dude is truly a Windows guru - I doubt that I could've managed to follow the trail as throughly as he did and get everything back to normal. Fortunately, there's a simpler solution. Don't buy DRM'd music or software.

SysInternals.com guru Mark Russinovich has a detailed investigation of a rootkit from Sony Music. It's installed with a DRM-encumbered music CD, Van Zant's "Get Right with the Man". (Mmmm, delicious irony!) The rootkit introduces several security holes into the system that could be exploited by others, such as hiding any executable file that starts with '$'. Russinovich also identifies several programming bugs in the method it uses to hook system calls, and chronicles the painful steps he had to take to 'exorcise the daemon' from his system.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 4 comments | permanent link

30 Oct 2005
Sustainable agriculture: Canadian institute offers definition, recommends tax

Unbelievable! The way to promote sustainable agriculture is to tax it? Do these people not realize that only the large farms they're trying to coerce into sustainability will have the time and expertise required to apply for whatever new subsidies are offered under this program? And they're only apparently planning on giving half the tax back to farmers in any event:

The 7% GST alone on grocery store sales would generate an estimated $3.3 billion annually, still a considerable sum if only half of it were to be dedicated to supporting economic viability measures for farmers linked to sustainability goals and objectives.

It wouldn't surprise me to see big Canadian farmers support this wholeheartedly: what better way to finish off the family farm than to tax it to death?

Applying a levy to groceries to help farms transition to sustainable practices and using immigration policy to bolster rural communities are among several major recommendations in a landmark discussion paper on achieving sustainable agriculture, published by the Agricultural Institute of Canada on the eve of AIC's annual meeting (Quebec City, Nov. 6-9). The paper says as farmers' incomes whither, small farms vanish, rural communities decline and megafarms mushroom, major consequences are underway for future environmental conditions and food safety.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Comfortably Numb 

Hello?
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?
Come on, now.
I hear you're feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain,
Get you on your feet again.
Relax.
I need some information first.
Just the basic facts,
Can you show me where it hurts?
There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'.
When I was a child I had a fever.
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I got that feeling once again.
I can't explain, you would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.
Ok.
Just a little pinprick.
There'll be no more ...Aaaaaahhhhh!
But you may feel a little sick.
Can you stand up?
I do believe it's working. Good.
That'll keep you going for the show.
Come on it's time to go.
There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'.
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.

-- Pink Floyd

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

Writebacks Are Formatted

I think I've finally figured out how to force Blosxom to format your comments correctly, without forcing you to enter HTML tags for paragraphs and line breaks... the <PRE> tag has more attributes and options than I realized. You can set a manual style within the tag, as well as a width. This allows the comments to pass through directly, with your formatting intact, and not make the whole page too wide to be displayed at a standard resolution. Nifty trick ... I've been writing HTML for years and I didn't know your could do that! Which is why I never bothered with <PRE> - who wants to see monospaced Courier text mucking up the look of their carefully crafted page?

This will also help me automate the posting process - although getting used to it may make me crazy for a while, as I'm so used to typing <P> and <BR>. We'll see how it works out.

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

Michael Barone: Spurning America

Not sure I agree with all of his conclusions, but an interesting look at the role of tradition and history in the political life of the United States, and an explanation of why so many of our "cultural elites" seem to be "anti-American". Fascinating stuff, really.

Army Special Forces Soldiers, as my U.S. News colleague Linda Robinson writes in her riveting book, Masters of Chaos, are very much aware of "the tradition of their military history." On the eve of a difficult mission, "more than one soldier went to sleep hoping that the next days would prove him a worthy member of that lineage." That's one reason the military maintains old units, so that soldiers will be motivated to match the deeds of those who came before and prove worthy to those who come after.

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

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

The Mystery of Philip Morris' Nicotine Inhaler

There's more than enough hypocrisy to go around here:

Cloaked in secrecy, the device was invented nearly a dozen years ago at a time the tobacco industry was vigorously denying that nicotine was addictive, internal company documents show.

They (the big tobacco companies) knew that nicotine was addictive ("our business is fundamentally that of supplying nicotine"), yet kept on denying the obvious in press release after press release. But it get's better:

Nicotine is a mild stimulant that helps some people to focus and relax when under stress. Although a crucial part of a deadly product, nicotine by itself is not very bad for most people, experts say.

A lot of the "tobacco activists" are less interested in public health than they are in simply keeping people from enjoying nicotine:

A nicotine inhaler probably would draw a mixed response, similar to the debate over offering clean needles to heroin users. Though some health professionals might object to any product that sustains nicotine dependence, many others say "clean" nicotine could be a powerful weapon in the fight against tobacco-related diseases.

And that's the clincher, for me: it exposes the anti-smoking activity of many crusaders for exactly what it is: another front in the War on Drugs. I don't think anyone could seriously claim that folks using one of these devices after a meal in public place would be exposing others to "second-hand nicotine", but just wait: shortly you'll start seeing studies linking nicotine use to real crime - robberies, murders, etc. After all, most criminals smoke, so the link is "obvious".

If you ever wondered how marijuana went from a harmless and useful plant in 1900 to a dangerous rape-inducing narcotic by 1935, just keep you eyes open: you're about to see the encore production, with the target this time being tobacco.

Los Angeles Times - Cigarette maker Philip Morris has developed an inhaler that could deliver a nicotine mist deep into the lungs, giving smokers a satisfying dose of the addictive drug without the carcinogens, gases and toxic metals that make tobacco smoke so dangerous.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

29 Oct 2005
Mainers Embrace Daylight Time Extension

I've discussed the advent of Daylight Savings Time here quite a bit in the past year, and I'm glad to report that we're not the only place with a time problem.

It's geography versus politics and economics: geographically, Maine needs to be on Atlantic Time, with no DST, year around, but network TV and a desire for economic coordination with the rest of New England have it stuck on Eastern Standard time, with a resulting early sunset.

We're in the reverse situation: when this change takes effect here, it won't get light until after folks have arrived at work and had their first coffee break! But, like like their collegues in Maine, Hoosier politicians have more important things to consider than simple geography: why, how can we keep jobs if we aren't on the same time as New York, all the time? Never mind that sleepy folks with their circadian rhythms seriously disturbed are less productive and more accident prone! The political solution is to disturb these biological rhythms twice a year, so that just as you begin to adapt to one time period, you get to switch to another!

Of course, the Feds have thrown a real ringer this week: they want to split up two adjacent counties in northern Indiana into different time zones. Which has Our Man Mitch in a tizzy, to say the least.

If jobs are the main concern, perhaps we should just switch to Bangalore time, since that's where a great many hi tech jobs seem to be heading. Alternately, we could pay a bit of attention to longitude and latitude and set our clocks to match the position of the sun ... what a concept!

AP - John Rossignol says: Let there be light. Who can blame him? The winter sun goes down earlier in the day in his northern Maine hometown of Van Buren than anywhere else in the continental United States.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

28 Oct 2005
The Mystery of the Green Menace

A fascinating bit on the history of a misunderstood drink. And a curiosity for shepherds, as well. Folklore has it that wormwood (the main ingredient of absinthe) got it's name by being a natural wormer for our ovine friends. And we have a small patch of the woody herb along the back fence - the sheep nibble at it but nobody else touchs it. And while we end up having to worm the rest of the livestock, the sheep have stayed intestinal parasite free while grazing here... so maybe the old wives knew something after all.

It's been celebrated as a muse and banned as a poison. Now an obsessed microbiologist has cracked the code for absinthe -- and distilled his own. By Brian Ashcraft of Wired magazine.

(link) [Wired News]

00:00 /Agriculture | 1 comment | permanent link

Denver Considers Easing Marijuana Laws

This almost belongs in 'Humor':

Even if possession of one ounce is legal, people would still have to illegally buy the drug, Sweetin [head of the Rocky Mountain Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration] said, and "people don't realize all that money goes to organized crime."

Well, of course it does! Why? Because marijuana is illegal! I'd love to hear Mr. Sweetin address the age old question: which came first, the chicken or the egg?

AP - The nickname Mile High City could soon have an entirely new meaning.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link

Some Thoughts on Heathen Funeral Rites

It has been my honor to serve as an officiant at several funerals. Heathen funeral rites can be remarkably different from the Christian rites, and the differences in our worldview and theology call for understanding and careful attention to detail. I'd like to share my experiences in crafting a Heathen funeral rite with others who may be called upon to serve the folk in this capacity.

At a Christian funeral the deeds of the dead are frequently not mentioned at all, or when they are, it's usually a very brief biography that summarizes dates and surviving family members. The rest of the homily is devoted to reassuring descriptions of the Christian afterlife, and to proselytizing those present so that they may share in this version of "eternal life". Here is a very basic difference in worldview: to a Heathen, the entire and complete purpose of memorial services are to remember the dead, and praise their worthy deeds. This builds remembrance, which is a core requirement for our version of "life everlasting":

Cattle die, kinsmen die,
one day you yourself will die;
but the words of praise will not perish
when a man wins fair fame.

Cattle die, kinsmen die,
one day you die yourself;
I know one thing that never dies -
the dead man's reputation.
Havamal 75-76

What I didn't realize until doing a bit of research for this article is that eulogies are specifically forbidden in Christian (Catholic) services - see this decree from the Archdiocese of Newark on the subject:

Eulogies, which extol the good qualities of the deceased or recall happy memories and past events whether delivered as a "homily" by the presider or a family member are never permitted in the funeral of a Christian.

This is the very core of a Heathen funeral: the gođi acts more as a mere "master of ceremonies" in leading the family and friends to a true remembering of the departed than as a homilist or teacher. It is not our duty to "convert" the assembly: it is our entire duty to give all due honor to the dead.

Grave goods are traditionally placed with the deceased in a Heathen rite: I placed a carved horn with my father for his journey to the Otherworld, and my wife insured that a small amber heart travelled with her mom. I usually arrange for this placement before the actual services, but it could be woven into the fabric of the rite as the family deems proper.

Since our focus is on the deceased, rather than on divine entities, Heathen funerals tend to be much freer of form than Christian services. When planning for a funeral, it is good to remember that these are nearly always gatherings of people with difference religions: a greeting and statement of purpose from the goði is wise:

Family, Friends and Kindred - attend now to my words! We are joined together in memorial to honor our fallen kinsman and friend. Open your hearts and do not let this moment pass you by, for life is fleeting and we are here together now! Let our deeds this day be written among the heavens that we may never forget [name of deceased].

I follow this simple opening with a prayer: this is something the assembled folk can understand, regardless of their personal beliefs. I sometimes use the quotes from the Havamal 75-76 as above, but the opening lines from The Lay of Sigdrifa work well:

Let us pray:
Hail to the Day, Hail to the Sons of Day
Hail to Night and its Daughter!
Gaze on us gently, grant us sitting here
Your blessings in our battles.
Hail to the gods, hail to the goddesses
Hail to the all-giving earth!
Wisdom and lore, as long as we live
Grant us, and healing hands

At this point the goði should introduce the family member who has been chosen to deliver the first remembrance - as many eulogies may be offered by family and friends as the immediate family feels appropriate and necessary. Often a favorite tune of the deceased is played to close this portion of the service.

In closing a funeral service a prayer is more or less an expected formality. I adapted a chant from The 13th Warrior, which was allegedly taken from Ibn Fadlan's manuscript of the Rus funeral:

There is an ancient prayer among our people, uttered by those facing death. Let your hearts feel their warmth as we pray:

Lo! there do I see my fathers.
Lo! there do I see my mothers,
my sisters, and my brothers.
Lo! there do I see the line of my people,
back to the beginning.

They call to me.
They bid me to take my place amongst them,
in the halls of the gods,
where the Faithful and True may live on....forever.

Hail [name of deceased]! Godspeed on your journey - we wish you well until next we meet! The rite is ended - the folk go on!

This is obviously nothing more than a mere sketch of a ritual - it's up to the officiant to "fill in the blanks". One thing to keep in mind is the range of opinion in the Heathen community about the afterlife, from living on in the mound as a family guardian to going to Asgard (or Hel), to reincarnation. The services should be adapted to reflect the beliefs of the deceased and the family as much as possible.

The graveside is the venue where we serve the arval ("heir-ale"). This acts as a "committal", parallelling the Christian rite. The arval (in the case of a child's funeral I substitute spring water or whole milk) is drunk as a toast to the departed, first by the heir, if any, followed by other friends and family. The format is very similar to a sumbel, with the main difference being the object of all of the toasts and boasts is the life and deeds of the deceased. When serving as goði, I open by reciting Havamal 75-76, then filling the horn with the invocation:

I pour the arval for [name of deceased]! Let his deeds be remembered that his folk may gain from his strength!

If I have a female assistant (and I try to) I hand the horn to her, who offers it to the heir. The horn is filled and carried as needed until all have remembered the dead, and the dregs are poured as a libation close to the grave.

I have performed this "Heathen committal" following Christian funerals when the heirs of the deceased are Heathen, usually with little or no resistance from the family or assembly. It helps in such situations to limit the ritual to those who understand and respect the desires of the heirs - otherwise you can get a bunch of boneheads praising Jesus for taking the dead to his bosom... not exactly a good way to relieve a Heathen's grief.

Death is a part of life, and as we grow as a community we will be staring it in the face more and more frequently. Our path does offer consolation to the grieving, and a properly constructed and executed funeral rite can go a long way towards comforting those for whom death has indeed been made real.

00:00 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

Bon Voyage: Wisconsin Cat Sails to France

And the family's worried about expenses? Ha! Sell the movie rights to Disney!

AP - When Emily the cat went missing a month ago, her owners looked for their wandering pet where she had ended up before — the local animal shelter. This week they learned Emily sailed to France.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Do stick shifts have a future? BMW's view

I've always preferred manual transmissions, as I feel they give me more control over a vehicle. I even managed to pass this on to my youngest daughter, who actually specified a manual when she bought her first new car. The salesman was amazed to see her hop right in and take off - it's not a skill many girls of her age (23) possess anymore.

I'm not sure how I'd take to a "clutchless" manual - or to paddles as shift levers. But, given the apparent trend, I'll probably get an opportunity to find out one of these days.

With the advent of new "clutchless" manuals, known by names such as Tiptronic or, in BMW's case, Sequential Manual Gearbox, some purists worry that the old stick- shift-and-clutch arrangement is headed for the finish line. The clutchless manuals, after all, offer almost the same advantages, allowing drivers to shift gears using a special mode on the automatic transmission lever. BMW's SMG also features Formula One-style shift paddles on the steering wheel.

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

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

27 Oct 2005
You Know What? Just Shut Up

It's not just the intentional bings, bleeps and buzzes - it's the background (ambient) noise, too. You have no idea how much you hear, even in supposedly quiet areas, like out here in the country. You have to go pretty far back in the back 40 to get away from it, and even then there are modern noises that simply cannot be avoided, like aircraft.

One of the things that struck the characters in the book Timeline about their arrival in the 14th century was the lack of ambient noise: no motors, no aircraft, no highway hum, fans, blowers, pumps. They found it somewhat disconcerting - I think I would find it most refreshing.

Incoming call ... ooooOOOOoooooo! TV dinner's done ... beeeeEEEp! There's just too much noise out there, and most of it is completely pointless. Commentary by Tony Long.

(link) [Wired News]

00:00 /Technology | 1 comment | permanent link