Check out this article. This paragraph is particularly interesting:
Peter Bjerregaard from Denmark’s National Institute of Public Health has noted that while Greenland’s suicide problem began in 1970, almost all the deaths involved people born after 1950—the same year that Greenland began its transformation from remote colony to welfare state, as the Danes resettled residents to give them modern services and tuberculosis inoculations. Hicks, the Canadian researcher, said the correlation is present in other Inuit societies as well.
This is what you get when you too-rapidly transform communal norms, traditions, and institutions. Conservatives rejoice!
ACORN, an advocacy group for community organizers, has become a big news item recently. They are being investigated for financial fraud as well as filing fake voter registrations for Mickey Mouse and the roster of the Dallas Cowboys.
I actually encountered an ACORN registration worker during the last presidential campaign. A young, cheerful 20-something rang my door bell and asked if I had registered to vote. I had not since moving to Pennsylvania and so I filled out the form that he provided. While filling it out Jay, the ACORN guy, asked if I wanted to see change in American politics. Apparently my grunt signaled agreement so Jay asked who I was planning to vote for come November 2nd. I told him John McCain. He asked if I really wanted to support someone who wanted to leave American troops in Iraq for “a hundred years.” I noted that the immediate context of that quote changed McCain’s intended meaning significantly. Jay promptly shook my hand and said goodbye.
Fast forward two months to two weeks before November 2nd. I still have not received my registration card. So I register in person. A week later my card comes in the mail.
Perhaps my cynicism is misplaced, but I suspect that if I had said I was voting for Obama my registration might not have gotten lost. Just a suspicion.
For Father’s Day this year I thought I’d list several things I learned from my Dad:
1. All truth is God’s truth. My dad is an analytical chemist. (more…)
Jess and I watched Defiance tonight. (more…)
Today I read an article on a humor website that poked fun at online, contributive encyclopedias by listing a number of bizarre wikipedia clones like “Conservapedia” and “Pagan Wiki.” [Parental Advisory: the article is frequently obscene.] Though the article was tongue-in-cheek, the impetus behind niche encyclopedias is quite fascinating. (more…)
Friends-Mourn-Jet-Crash-Victims.html
Dear Father,
I thank you for the grace you have given Dong Yun Yoon in his hour of need. May you comfort and encourage him as he undergoes a loss that I cannot even begin to comprehend. (more…)
A friend recently posted the following note outlining Senator Obama’s stance on the issues. (more…)
In my last post I noted that one of Sarah Palin’s weaknesses as a vice presidential candidate was her lack of experience. Sure enough, Democratic operatives and journalists have made Palin + inexperience = risky choice the dominant storyline. Republicans are also worried that McCain has handicapped his strongest line of attack against Obama. (more…)
When I was a kid I devoured science fiction. At the tender age of 7 or 8, my dad introduced me to his 1960s copies of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, a monthly magazine which published pure science fiction stories alongside actual scientific articles. To be honest I usually skipped over the hard science and dove into the worlds of Poul Anderson, Ben Bova, Robert Heinlein, Christopher Anvil, and of course Isaac Asimov. (more…)
