Vatican Forgives John Lennon

Ken AshfordGodstuffLeave a Comment

Beatles_white_album Nice, if not a little late.

But more importantly, I don't think he said anything which requires forgiving.  When Lennon said that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, Lennon wasn't, as the Vatican claimed this weekend, "boasting".  He was just stating a "fact" — perhaps an arguable one at the time — but certainly a supportable fact, to wit, the Beatles were more popular and "meant more" to teenagers in American than Jesus.

In my opinion, Lennon's assertion was true at the time.  Why forgive someone who was speaking a truth?

P.S.  White Album is 40 years old.  "Revolution 9" hasn't grown on me, but the rest is still solid.

Princeton Prop 8

Ken AshfordSex/Morality/Family Values3 Comments

Sometimes satire does a better job than anything else.

There is a growing movement at Princeton University by a number of students who wish to preserve the traditional definition of "sidewalk".

The Princeton Proposition 8 campaign aims to secure the definition of Princeton University sidewalks as a means of pedestrian transit for sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate students, faculty, staff, and other members of the university community, but supports the elimination of the right of freshmen to walk on sidewalks.

Only walking on sidewalks by sophomores, juniors, and senior students is valid or recognized at Princeton.

Why no freshman?

The students emphasize that they are not "froshophobic" and that some of their best friends are freshmen, but they maintain that freshmen on the sidewalk degrade the sacred institution of sidewalks, and jeopardize the validity of upperclassmen's own perambulation. It also makes some of them uncomfortable.

The students are forming a demonstration, which has featured signs, chants, and original music, has collected almost 500 signatures for a petition in support of Princeton Proposition 8, including those of many professors and even University President Shirley M. Tilghman. A video report of the protest produced by the University's 'Daily Princetonian' has received 21,000 views on YouTube in just two days.

Well played, Princetonians.

You Remember How They Used To Say That Things Would Go On Your “Permanent Record”?

Ken AshfordCrime, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

In one case, it's frighteningly true.

Georgia law tries to keep sexual offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a child-care facility.

Noble idea.

The problem is what Georgia deems a "sex offender".

Wendy Whitaker was 17, a sophomore in high school.  And one day, she performed consensual oral sex on another sophomore.  The other student was 16, five months shy of turning 17.  They were caught.  Wendy was charged with the crime of sodomy under Georgia law.  She pled guilty and had five years probation.

Because Wendy, at age 17, had engaged in a sexual offense with a minor (the 16 year old), she has to register with Georgia's "sex offender" database.

Wendy is 29 now.  She's never has engaged in any sexual crimes since then.  In fact, Georgia modified its "sex offender" laws in 2006, adding a "Romeo and Juliet" clause.  The "Romeo and Juliet" clause basically states that teenagers of like age who commit sodomy are not required to register as sex offenders. 

But that clause was made retrooactive only to 2001.  Wendy's "act" took place twelve years ago, in 1996, so she must register as a sex offender for life.  That means her face will be on the internet for life as a "sex offender", she is required by law to notify all her employers, etc.

And, as stated, she can't live within 1,000 feet of a school, child care facility, pools, gyms, or other places where minors congregate.

Wendy is married now.  She and her husband have a house within 1,000 feet of a child-care facility.  She believed it was okay, because there is an exception for homeowners (basically, it is unconstitutional for the government to take your property, even if you are a registered "sex offender", and Wendy's name is on the deed).

Long story short, there is a 29 year old woman in Georgia who is facing eviction – on Thanksgiving no less — because twelve years ago she gave a blowjob to a fellow high school student.

Something went wrong with the system, I would say.  The Southern Center for Human Rights is on the case.

The Georgia sex offender law is extreme in other ways, too.  It prohibits church volunteering in any form.  It prohibits registrants from giving full voice to their faith by singing in the church choir, playing the piano, or reading scripture before a church congregation.  Stupid.  Even for a real sex offender (which Wendy Whitaker is not), I'm not so sure it is a good idea to isolate them from the rehabilitative influence of faith-based organizations.

Georgia needs to look at this.

Oxford Word Of The Year: “Hypermiling”

Ken AshfordEnergy and Conservation, Popular Culture3 Comments

Annoucement here, from the New Oxford American Dictionary.

I actually know this word, because I actually do this.

"Hypermiling" is defined as "an attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s car and one’s driving techniques."

I do this all the time, and I expect most hybrid drivers do.  When you get below a certain mph, the gas engine cuts off and the battery takes over.  (Technically, the battery assists the engine at higher speeds, but you can't tell).  So when I drive into my neighborhood, with smaller streets and children playing, I like to lift my foot off the pedal just enough to turn off the engine.  And I silently glide through the streets and down my driveway.

More for Oxford:

Rather than aiming for good mileage or even great mileage, hypermilers seek to push their gas tanks to the limit and achieve hypermileage, exceeding EPA ratings for miles per gallon.

Many of the methods followed by hypermilers are basic common sense—drive the speed limit, avoid hills and stop-and-go traffic, maintain proper tire pressure, don’t let your car idle, get rid of excess cargo—but others practiced by some devotees may seem slightly eccentric:
• driving without shoes (to increase the foot’s sensitivity on the pedals)
• parking so that you don’t have to back up to exit the space
• “ridge-riding” or driving with your tires lined up with the white line at the edge of the road to avoid driving through water-filled ruts in the road when it’s raining

The American Automobile Assocation has issued press releases saying that certain hypermiling techniques are dangerous.  Like over-inflating your tires.  Yeah, ok.  That seems like a no-brainer to me.  Still, there is some blowback from the AAA criticisms.

Anyway, it may be less of an issue now, with gas prices under $2.00.  But I expect hypermiling to make a comeback.

Four other finalists for word of the year:

  • frugalista – person who leads a frugal lifestyle, but stays fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying second-hand, growing own produce, etc.
  • moofer – a mobile out of office worker – ie. someone who works away from a fixed workplace, via Blackberry/laptop/wi-fi etc. (also verbal noun, moofing)
  • topless meeting – a meeting in which the participants are barred from using their laptops, Blackberries, cellphones, etc.
  • toxic debt – mainly sub-prime debts that are now proving so disastrous to banks. They were parceled up and sent around the global financial system like toxic waste, hence the allusion

Time For A Civics Test

Ken AshfordPopular Culture8 Comments

You can take it here.  33 questions.

The average American scored 49%.

My score was 87.88%, but I'm kind of a civics geek.

According to this article, U.S. elected officials scored lower than the average American; they scored 44%.  We'll call that "the Palin effect".  Don't read the article if you're going to take the test — it gives away some of the answers.

Some further findings (SPOILER ALERT if you haven't taken the test):

Seventy-one percent of Americans fail the test, with an overall average score of 49%.

  • Liberals score 49%; conservatives score 48%. Republicans score 52%; Democrats score 45%.
  • Fewer than half of all Americans can name all three branches of government, a minimal requirement for understanding America’s constitutional system.

Earning a college degree does little to increase knowledge of America’s history, key texts, and institutions. The average score among those who ended their formal education with a bachelor’s degree is 57%, or an “F.” That is only 13 percentage points higher than the average score among those who ended their formal education with a high school diploma.

  • Only 24% of college graduates know the First Amendment prohibits establishing an official religion for the United States.

Officeholders typically have less civic knowledge than the general public. On average, they score 44%, five percentage points lower than non-officeholders.

  • Thirty percent of elected officials do not know that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence.

Project Palentir

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

The video below is a demonstration of a geographical representation program, showing Facebook activities worldwide in real-time.

Yeah, that last sentence was geeky.  So is the video.  But it is pretty awesome, too.

Obama Skips Church

Ken AshfordGodstuff, Obama & AdministrationLeave a Comment

That's the headline at Politco.

Look, can you blame him?  The president-elect had to leave his former church because some people didn't like that his pastor was an angry black man.  I'm sure it was in the news.

Besides, I'm sure he's busy with his Muslim socialist cabal.

It’s Gonna Be A Barnburner At The Ginginch Home This Thanksgiving

Ken AshfordSex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Not really.  They probably don't have Thanksgiving together.

But Candice Gingrich (Newt Gingrich's sister), an openly gay woman, has sent an open letter to her brother:

Dear Newt, 

I recently had the displeasure of watching you bash the protestors of the Prop 8 marriage ban to Bill O'Reilly on FOX News. I must say, after years of watching you build your career by stirring up the fears and prejudices of the far right, I feel compelled to use the words of your idol, Ronald Reagan, "There you go, again." 

However, I realize that you may have been a little preoccupied lately with planning your resurrection as the savior of your party, so I thought I would fill you in on a few important developments you might have overlooked. 

The truth is that you're living in a world that no longer exists. I, along with millions of Americans, clearly see the world the way it as — and we embrace what it can be. You, on the other hand, seem incapable of looking for new ideas or moving beyond what worked in the past. Welcome to the 21st century, big bro. 

I can understand why you're so afraid of the energy that has been unleashed after gay and lesbian couples had their rights stripped away from them by a hateful campaign.

Read the whole thing.

It’s A Control Thing

Ken AshfordConstitution, Courts/Law, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Orin Kerr asks "Why Do Conservatives Care So Much About The Courts?".  He notes that a public survey shows that:

When it comes to how they will vote in November, Republican voters say that the type of Supreme Court Justices a candidate would appoint is more important than the War in Iraq. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 44% of Republicans pick the economy as the top voting issue, 30% name judicial appointments, and just 19% pick the War in Iraq. . . . Just 7% of Democrats name judicial appointments as the most important of those issues.

We'll assume the premise that this means that conservatives care more about the courts than liberals.

But why is this so?

It is because, Kerr opines, social conservatives see the Supreme Court as a barrier to the political process.  If you look at the hot-button issues of the past several decades — civil rights, abortion, flag-burning, etc., a court victory for the liberal side essentially takes the controversy out of the political realm — whereas a court victory for the conservative side leaves it in the political realm, where social conservatives believe they have a fighting chance.  And court victories for the conservative side don't seem to happen much:

It's partly loss aversion, I suspect, and partly the fact that constitutional decisions are much harder to reverse than legislative ones. Whatever the precise reasons, the cumulative experience of this happening year after year, Term after Term, starts to really hurt. It becomes a sore point, a raw wound. I think that goes a long way towards explaining why conservatives care significantly more about the courts.

I think that's a reasonable thesis, and one to which many people could probably subscribe.

However, Kerr is lending credence to the fallacious notion that when courts decide a matter on a constitutional basis, they remove the controversy from the political realm.  Or, as the typical layman say whenever a court strikes down a law as violating, say, the First Amendment, "Tsk!  The court is legislating from the bench".

This always infuriates me, for this reason:  the people, through their representative legislatures, created the constitution through the political process (including, in my example, the First Amendment) and gave the court the power to strike down unconstitutional laws.

So while it is true that school prayer or segregation, say, weren't put to the ballot box, the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment were (i.e., they were ratified by the peoples' representatives).  And the Articles of the Constitution (also ratified by political process) give the courts the power to strike down laws which are unconstitutional.

I think the better explanation of why conservatives are interested in the courts is because, at least where social conservative lies, courts are better suited to compel the behavior of others, and "get at" the individual rights and behavior of others.

The decision to have an abortion, gay marry, use contraception, or pray in school — these are all things which individuals can do or not do, as they see fit; in other words, nothing inherently compels an individual to do those activities, or refrain from doing those activities.  But a favorable court decision can, for example, prohibit an abortion, nullify a gay marriage, ban contraception use, or compel prayer in school.  It ends the public debate about the issue.

In short, I think conservatives, at least social/religious conservatives, care more about the courts, because the courts, following the Constitution, tend to preserve and promote individual liberties which don't prescribe to some of the homogenous viewpoints of social/religious conservatives.  It's a control thing, basically.

Copernucus Found

Ken AshfordHistoryLeave a Comment

This is a story that appeals to me and maybe three other people:

Researchers said Thursday they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books. The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the universe.

I mean, they've figured it out because some of his hair fell out into a book!

Palin Blabs On As Turkey Gets Murdered

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

She went there to pardon a turkey, and we can assume that one getting slaughtered behind wasn't supposed to be the one intended to be pardoned.

Nevertheless, it's pretty grizzly (and consider that a warning)

I don't think there's any thing meta-analysis-wise to be said, save for the fact that she does seem to "invite criticism" everytime she steps in front of the microphone…

“The Most Horrible Day Of My Life”

Ken AshfordYoutube1 Comment

It was a pajama party for the girls, and they were going to watch the finals of American Idol. The two singers in the final were David Cooker and David Archuleta. The girls were all fans of David Archuleta.

David A. didn’t win.

 

To whoever dubbed this “the most horrible day of my life”, I have to tell you:

If that’s the case, consider yourself blessed.  I mean, really really blessed.

I mean, really really blessed.  Because, honey…..

You Are What You Blog

Ken AshfordBlogging, Personal2 Comments

Typealyzer ingests the contents of your blog, and based on that, does Myers-Briggs psychology test on the blogs author.

So this is me:

ISTP – The Mechanics

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generelly prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

Not bad.  I'm actually an INTP.  And the S-N is borderline.

Oh, and then there's this…

Brainblog

Good to know.

But like others, I wonder:

Methinks the web is getting too smart for its own good. Granted, my personality type probably isn't too hard to figure out even from a 30-second conversation, but it's a little unnerving that some heap of silicon can do it. If they can already do this, how long will it be before our robot overlords take over completely?