Life is a Journey, Why Not Share it?

I joined MySpace in late 2003, only a few months after it was originally launched. I was a member when no one had heard of it, and there was just a small smattering of computer nerds on there. That account went unused for about two and a half years, while I waited for everyone else to catch up. Once MySpace became “cool” it also began to be somewhat useful to me. Indeed, I had friends with whom my only way to communicate was MySpace, I had not seen them in years, and they simply didn’t use e-mail, at least not very often. Well, my relationship with MySpace officially ended tonight when I canceled my account after reading these two articles (Article 1 , Article 2).

Some might call me paranoid, but after having a long relationship with MySpace, which admittedly has been dwindling lately, I have decided it is in my own best interest to terminate my account in order to safeguard my privacy and my intellectual property. I am still on FaceBook, for now, but sadly, I am certain it is only a matter of time before they strike a similar deal.

C’est la vie…

This video provides an interesting and insightful view on why people are so concerned with the spending plans of the Obama administration. Granted, the video does not account for projected repayments of TARP funds, which we have already seen the start of, but it does provide a good reason to be concerned and give real thought to how much we need to spend some of this money.

Why is it that religious zealots always give god credit for the good things, but never the bad? Seems one sided, don’t you think?

The story of Supply Side Jesus actually shares an important message we can all learn from. In the end it has what I would consider overall to be a “Pro-Christian” message, but more importantly, it demonstrates the hypocrisy and greed that has consumed American Christianity as a whole. Seemed to me that there would be no more appropriate day than Christmas to share such a video. Enjoy, Learn, Think!

Comments always welcome.

Recently, late night television show comic, David Letterman, admitted to having sexual affairs with multiple women on the staff of his program. Letterman’s indiscretions have stoked an ongoing conversation about just when is it okay to have relationships — sexual or romantic — with a colleague, especially a supervisor. National Public Radio host, Michel Martin talks about the legality and ethics of workplace relationships with Jennifer Kearns, an attorney who specializes in employment law; author Ruth Houston, a self-described “infidelity specialist” and Tracy Quan, a writer for The Daily Beast Web site. They tackle the subject of workplace indiscretions and the ethical / legal implications of something that happens in the civilian world, the government, and increasingly in the military as well.

Now destined to make its way across the Internet: a new (and highly subjective) list of the top 10 worst Bible passages, as suggested by readers of Ship of Fools and announced by the webzine’s editor, Simon Jenkins, at the recent Greenbelt festival. The list was reported first by the Telegraph and then made its way, via some cyberintermediaries, to Episcopal Cafe, where I spotted it. I chose verse translations from the New American Bible. Without further ado, the list:

1. “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. She must be quiet.” (1 Timothy 2:12)
2. “Go, now, attack Amalek, and deal with him and all that he has under the ban. Do not spare him, but kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and asses.” (1 Samuel 15:3)
3. “You shall not let a sorceress live.” (Exodus 22:18)
4. “Happy those who seize your children and smash them against a rock.” (Psalm 137:9)
5. “When the men would not listen to his host, the husband seized his concubine and thrust her outside to them. They had relations with her and abused her all night until the following dawn, when they let her go. Then at daybreak the woman came and collapsed at the entrance of the house in which her husband was a guest, where she lay until the morning. When her husband rose that day and opened the door of the house to start out again on his journey, there lay the woman, his concubine, at the entrance of the house with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, ‘Come, let us go’; but there was no answer. So the man placed her on an ass and started out again for home.” (Judges 19:25-28)
6. “And the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.” (Romans 1:27)
7. “Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. ‘If you deliver the Ammonites into my power,’ he said, ‘whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites shall belong to the Lord. I shall offer him up as a holocaust.’ … When Jephthah returned to his house in Mizpah, it was his daughter who came forth, playing the tambourines and dancing. She was an only child: he had neither son nor daughter besides her. When he saw her, he rent his garments and said, ‘Alas, daughter, you have struck me down and brought calamity upon me. For I have made a vow to the Lord and I cannot retract’.” (Judges 11:30-1, 34-5)
8. “Then God said: ‘Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you’.”(Genesis 22:2)
9. “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22)
10. “Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to those who are perverse.” (1 Peter 2:18)

What are your thoughts? Is the effort offensive? Instructive? Are there passages you would add to, or subtract from, this list?

If you are like me, and it is important to you to try to be as green as possible, than I am sure you are always thinking of new ways to recycle materials. I do my very best to try to separate every material that can be possibly recycled, so nothing goes to waste. Given the state of the environment and the economy, we really cannot afford to waste a thing.

One key to being as green as possible is to reuse (or re-purpose) everything you can. Recycling is great. It eliminates waste and helps protect the environment. However, recycling (in it’s modern form) also uses a lot of energy. It takes fuel oil to haul away your recyclables, when they get to the processing plant it takes more time and energy to sort the materials, pulverize them and restart their life cycles.

However, if you can find a way to reuse something (like a glass jar), you save all that energy. It doesn’t have to be hauled away, and we won’t waste energy destroying it, only to turn it back into another glass jar, or bottle. Furthermore, this can serve to help your frugality as well. Every need you can fill through re-use is a need (or want) you will not have to spend money to fill.

Items like glass jars can be used to store all manners of things, and can even be used to grow plants. Plastic water bottles can be used for all manners of projects, and everyone can make good use of a box. Why pay for these things when you certainly have mountains of them laying about. Save money, save the planet. It’s a true win-win.

Once upon a time, there was a milk man. The milk man would bring milk to your home in glass bottles. When he made a delivery, he’d pick up your old used bottles so they could be taken, sterilized and refilled. I really wish we had a service like that today. Think of how much money, and energy could be saved if there were some way to re-use the same containers for our most used products. Yes, this would raise it’s own economic challenges, but I suspect the environmental impact could be huge.

What do you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts.