Sexting Anyone?

So it had to happen - any technology can be used for positive or negative. Turns out the great freedom that cell phones give each user, also allows teens to send nude pictures of themselves to each other, mainly girls to guys ...

"Some teens send the graphic photos of themselves to boyfriends, and some teens send them to prospective boyfriends or girlfriends in a graphic update of the old calling card. Either way, the images might meet the legal definition of child pornography, and the trend is raising moral and legal dilemmas along with a heavy dose of good old-fashioned shock."

While this isn't a shock, just an unwelcome surprise, the legal ramifications are severe and largely uncharted. (I've even heard second-hand that this has been an issue at some of our youth camps, though I can't verify that.)

What's most interesting to me is a teenager commented on this story (at the bottom of the article) proclaiming:

"EVERYONE NEEDS TO STOP BEING SO PARANOID ABOUT THIS.

First, PLEASE stop calling it ''sexting''. No one uses that word. It's dumb. Second, guys don't pressure girls into sending nude pictures. EVER. They always ALWAYS ask (if they ask at all) "wanna send me some pix" and it is completely the girl's decision whether she will or not, and then if she does she can always just send a picture of her face. I was asked just the other day for these pictures, and I told him my camera was broken. He kept pushing, so I sent a picture of my face. He called me "stunning" and then proceeded to send me two pictures of himself with his shirt off without me saying anything! It was, needless to say, disgusting."

So, is this our sex-crazed media latching onto a story of a few sex-crazed deviants and blowing it out of proportion, or is this the unveiling of a persistent problem that will always be with us?

In Case...

...you don't check our other blogs:

* "Month in the Life" offers its final missive.

* CompassionART is out. Ann offers her response to this lively CD that features Israel, Chris Tomlin, CeCe and others in a review and on Notes.

Have a Darwin Day

A UGST graduate is celebrating Darwin's (upcoming) 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species on February 12th (Darwin Day), by daily blogging on evolution, creationism, intelligent design, and the Genesis account of creation.

So go visit Creation Moment. It's definitely worth perusing.

Dutch Lawmaker Faces Possible Prison Over Criticism Of World's Most Peaceful Religion

Of course I say that last part tongue-in-cheek, as I currently retain both. This man, however, may not in a few months:

A member of parliament in the Netherlands who has been charged with "insulting" Muslims says he fears he will be found guilty and sent to prison in only a few months.

An appeals court on Wednesday overturned a previous decision by prosecutors not to charge Geert Wilders, and ordered that he stand trial.

Sounds almost like Nancy Pelosi's running the Kangaroo court over there. This--is downright chilling. And anyone that believes these things will be isolated to the Dutch shores doesn't know the meaning of "Jihad." A man like me isn't given much hope in this life, anyway, when the new President's first concern in office was to make sure the genocidal maniacs at Guantanamo Bay aren't forced to acknowledge the five pillars in substandard housing, possibly moving them into a congressional district that doesn't even have a proper prison (the sheer irony of Jack Murtha, a congressman that slandered our Marines at Haditha with no evidence, would wind himself into a tortured little ball of hospitality for terrorists. next thing you know, tax evaders will be running the IRS).

I already feel safer. Hope and Change, baby!

-R

All The Best, Mr. President

As you acclimate to the tangible shift of gravity, may God be with you and your family, sir. I'll be praying for you. As will many. And though the upcoming days will have their sheer moments of ideological logrolling and dispute amongst peaceful men, today is not that day.

All the best, Captain.

-R

From The "Shooting Fish In A Barrel" Column

Bro. Curry asked us to provide our "predictions" for the year 2009, which was then pooled here. The above title refers to the non-clarivoiant nature of one of my predictions:

"That our new and energetic President will discover that those that hated America before he was president will hate America after he was president as well. "

Looks like Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, is already running with the template:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez apparently doesn't appreciate Barack Obama's classifying him as a supporter of Colombian terror group, FARC, likening the president-elect's odor to that of Chavez nemesis President Bush.

In an interview airing on Venezuelan television and reported by The Washington Post Monday, Chavez said Obama has "the same stench" as Bush. The comment harkens back to September 2006, when Chavez followed Bush at an appearance at the United Nations General Assembly opening and said he could still smell the "sulfur" left behind by the U.S. president's presence at the podium.

The thing that should be the most disconcerting isn't the fact that the nefariously addled, possessed and intoxicated are going to continue fulminating and calling for the death of America. The thing that should concern all is an insular media that will pretend that all dangers and perils facing this country face an exit on January 20th. The American press is far more than just a little infatuated with Mr. Obama, but are given to near intercessory moments in his presence. This is neither healthy for a press that--in my opinion--needs to die a structural death anyway, nor Mr. Obama, who will hopefully overcome the throng of "yes men" who actually see in him a messianic backdrop.

To the media, it was funny when Chavez told the UN General Assembly he could "smell" Mr. Bush's stench. Now it isn't so funny anymore to them. Looks like the only stench now is the one emanating from the New York Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencier.

-R

The Wonderfully Obligatory Post

Not even sure where to begin.

I'm sure a higher-resolution video will manage to surface eventually, but this one gets more amazing every time I see it.

At 3:31:02 we see the plane enter from the left, already broaching the water.

By 3:31:41, after the Coast Guard camera zooms in, we already see a good number of people evacuated to both wings.

At 3:33:58, we see just how fast the Hudson River's current is actually moving.

At 3:34:42, we see the first ferry boat reach the plane to provide assistance. Let's do the math:

3:34:42

-3:31:02

_________

0:03:40

I'm downright blown away by this. 155 souls, including one infant. Saved. Quite possibly the most gratifying thing I will see for a very long time.

Honorable mention here. Notice how that ferry boat races to the plane, makes the proximal arrival, and immediately assumes a congruent, downward current trajectory with the plane. Those crew members--all of them--the pilot, the flight attendants, the rescuers--every last one of them--are my heroes.

-R

Download Info, "Gig Economy" & More

Get a nice cultural snapshot of the moment at my post on "Month in the Life".

The Perfect Job

As I'm currently in the market for a new job when I saw this one posted I KNEW it was for me.

It's being billed as "the best job in the world" - six months working as a "caretaker" on Hamilton Island in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. As if these weren't enough, the job comes with a pay packet of nearly £70,000 (that's almost USD$105,000) and a rent-free three-bedroom villa, complete with pool. In return, the successful applicant will be expected to spend the six-month contract exploring the idyllic surroundings, filing weekly blog, photo diary and video updates and conducting "ongoing media interviews".

The job is open to applicants from around the world, starts in July - which is Australia's winter but where temperatures on the island rarely drop below 80, and seems way too good to be true. So, now the question is how do I go about beating out the other 2 million unemployed people who are so busy trying to apply that they've crashed the website?

Kudos to the marketing genius who came up with this idea in an effort to bolster Australia's tourism industry.

Free "Fiction Family" Download!

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek have joined forces to create “Fiction Family.” Their self-titled debut album will be released on January 20 via ATO Records/Credential Recordings.

They’ve graced ninetyandnine.com with a free download off the CD, to be available Tuesday night, January 13-January 20, 2009. Don’t miss out on this exclusive listen on this exciting new project or read/hear more at their website!

The Best Job in the World

Tired of winter yet?  Ready to escape?  How about spending a few months relaxing on a tropical island.  How about living in a multimillion dollar beach home and snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef.  How about getting paid for it .

 

josh r

Gospel is Good News to Atheists Too

After hearing the remarkable remarks of the pro-proselytizing atheist, Penn Jillette, it was fascinating to read this article by another committed atheist, Matthew Parris.  In it he makes a strong case--based on his own personal experiences--that Africa needs Christian missionaries more than secular aid organizations.  Having grown up in and toured Africa he concludes that where Christian missionaries where hard at work, the people were better off.

 

Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.

 

He goes on to claim that many in Africa are suffering under the burden of an oppressing paradigm.  The only thing that can change this oppression is supplanting it with another paradigm.  So why not atheism or pure secular humanism?  While Parris doesn't venture an opinion, is it possible that he feels the logical oppression of his own paradigm?  At any rate, two atheists calling for more evangelism from Christians has brought me to a place of personal repentance.  Because it is not just in Africa that Christ brings spiritual transformation, rebirth, and change, it should also be in Clermont, FL.

 

josh r

Astronomy On Steroids

Think this picture is some pixellated, CGI construct? Think again:

Explanation: In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders appear. The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn recently drifted in giant planet's shadow for about 12 hours and looked back toward the eclipsed Sun. Cassini saw a view unlike any other. First, the night side of Saturn is seen to be partly lit by light reflected from its own majestic ring system. Next, the rings themselves appear dark when silhouetted against Saturn, but quite bright when viewed away from Saturn and slightly scattering sunlight, in the above exaggerated color image. Saturn's rings light up so much that new rings were discovered, although they are hard to see in theabove image. Visible in spectacular detail, however, is Saturn's E ring, the ring created by the newly discovered ice-fountains of the moon Enceladus, and the outermost ring visible above. Far in the distance, visible on the image left just above the bright main rings, is the almost ignorable pale blue dot of Earth.

Click the image for even larger luminosity.

-R

Atlas Shrugged: From Farce To Fact In Only 50 Years

And Stephen Moore from the Wall St. Journal's not sure anything close to resembling America will be around for a sequel:

Many of us who know Rand's work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that "Atlas Shrugged" parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.

And:

For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

* * *

David Kelley, the president of the Atlas Society, which is dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas, explains that "the older the book gets, the more timely its message." He tells me that there are plans to make "Atlas Shrugged" into a major motion picture -- it is the only classic novel of recent decades that was never made into a movie. "We don't need to make a movie out of the book," Mr. Kelley jokes. "We are living it right now."

Wouldn't be holding my breath for a follow-up, entitled Taxes Shrugged, either.

-R

Shocker: Parents Matter

I know. I know. Only the behind the vaunted walls of science can we arrive at the following conclusions:

The difference between male and female brains may come down to something as simple as a mother’s touch.

Treating a baby boy like a girl and vice versa can change the way their brains work, new research suggests.

It had previously been thought that such things were decided long before birth.

This, of course, on the informative-to-revelatory ratio, pales in comparison to the following conclusion, achievable only through the most labyrinthine research methods:

The research, reported in the New Scientist, challenges the long-accepted belief that the physical differences between a male and female brain are genetic.

Celia Moore, of the University of Massachusetts, said: “Sex may not be just genes and hormones.”

Copy that. Color me informed.

-R

Michael Moore Already Thorn In Obama's Side

If it isn't bad enough that Rick Warren's got people rending their clothes for sackcloth and ashes, now, the President-Elect can't even appoint a legitimate doctor to the highest medical position in the land without having to run them through the "Castro-is-god" prism:

Citing a lack of experience, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) is leading an effort to thwart Barack Obama’s expected nomination of CNN’s Sanjay Gupta to become surgeon general.

But there are also indications that Conyers’s opposition is linked to a 2007 public clash between Gupta and the liberal filmmaker Michael Moore.

The House Judiciary Committee chairman doesn’t have a vote, or a formal role, in the anticipated Gupta nomination. Yet, he is lobbying the Senate and the incoming president to reject Gupta.

Michael Moore, of course, being the picture of health himself. The coming clash with Conyers points up a very vivid intersect between Mr. Obama's idealist protractions with the "real world" of entrenched congressional dogmas. I don't know terribly much about Mr. Sanjay, above and beyond his telegenetic appeal, but man. Just because he might think that, you know, Michael Moore's affinity for Cuba's free and horrible health care system may not be the best template for the American model . . . I for one hope Mr. Obama sticks to his guns on this one.

-R

Extraterrestrials Now Attacking Alternative Fuel Sources

Or . . . something:

At the nearby wind farm one of the 60ft blades from a 200ft turbine was found ripped off. Another had been left twisted and useless.

So far, so mysterious, except - of course - to the UFO experts.

For them, the strange goings on at a wind farm in Conisholme, Lincolnshire, can be explained by a flying saucer crashing into the turbine in a close encounter that could, at last, provide the evidence of other life forms they have been waiting for all their lives.

John Harrison, of nearby Saltfleetby, saw the ball of light and its 'tentacles' over the farm. 'It was an incredible sight, I have never seen anything like it before,' he said. 'I have no idea what it was.'

Odd. Not odd enough for me to buy the whole Roswell/Hangar 18/Megadeth validation thing, but odd nonetheless.


-R

An Interesting Geek: Coding Horror.com

I don't remember what got me reading Jeff Atwood's blog, but I go back to it every few days just to see what he's got going over there.

Don't know what his daily traffic stats are, but anyone that can distill computer programming experience into something I actually want to read is quite a feat. Currently, he's addressing the recent Twitter hijackings, and manages to analyze the human proclivity to create predictable--and therefore vulnerable--passwords for on line accesses. In fact, the guy's a veritable analysis freak. Seems to have tables, charts, breakdowns and stats for nearly everything.

Worth a look.

-R

Psychic Finds Caylee In Exact Spot Where She Was Already Located By Mere Mortals

In the Old Testament, these people were killed outright. Now I think I know why. Not because of the direct, abominable vocation of hanging out one's necromancer shingle, but because you look like an out-of town turtle, just now showing up to the forest fire. Being really annoying must have been 9/10ths of Mosaic Law:

Meanwhile, a psychic said this week she sensed that 2-year-old Caylee's remains were in the wooded area where they were found last month.

The skull and bones were discovered in a bag a half-mile from the Anthony family home in Orlando by a water meter reader, Roy Kronk, who says he called investigators months earlier about a suspicious find there.

Psychic detective Gale St. John, who will star in a forthcoming reality show called "The Body Hunter," told MyFOXOrlando.com she was drawn to the same area on the same day in August that Kronk was — and caught her hunch on video.

Is this even news? Isn't it bad enough that this little girl's death was cruel and heartbreaking, only to have this second-tier Nostradamus pouring retroactive salt into the wounds?

Although, I just called MyFoxOrlando a few minutes ago and told them that President Lincoln would be shot at Ford's Theater. Provided them details too. Maybe they'll get back to me.

-R

Update: Arianna Huffington Aks Forgiveness For Blasphemous Global Warming Article

. . .because, you know, Mother Earth could come back any minute, and she wants to be ready.

This, of course, references my post from the other day, in which I wondered, somewhat sarcastically, how such a well-written piece of anti-totalitarian apostasy ever made it to her site, anyway. Via NewsBusters:

Harold Ambler reached out to me about posting a critical piece on Al Gore and the environment. We are always open to posts that present opinions contrary to HuffPost's editorial view . . .

But,

When Ambler sent his post, I forwarded it to one of our associate blog editors to evaluate, not having read it. I get literally hundreds of posts a week submitted like this and obviously can't read them all -- which is why we have an editorial process in place. The associate blog editor published the post. It was an error in judgment. I would not have posted it. Although HuffPost welcomes a vigorous debate on many subjects, I am a firm believer that there are not two sides to every issue, and that on some issues the jury is no longer out. The climate crisis is one of these issues.

I expect that "associate blog editor" will meet a Trotsky-like fate and be airbrushed from the final manifest.

-R