Freely you have received, freely give.

The helpless little child made its way toward the United Nation food camp located 1 kilometer away. The photographer stopped only long enough to take this picture.

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14-17

When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Mark 10:14

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; Psalm 113:7

We need to do more than just look at the picture.

If giving to your church will save the life of a child like this, give to your church.
Otherwise, this service is very easy to use: Action Against Hunger.

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Luke 12:33

Pirates vs. Ninjas: Part 2

Mission:
Which faction will do the best job mowing the grass: Pirates or Ninjas? The job will be judged on quality and speed. The clock starts at sunrise.

How the Pirates Mow the Grass:

Sunrise: No activity
10:00am: A dozen pirates convene in the front lawn, argue for five minutes and then scatter accross the neighborhood. Five minutes later they return with a dozen nearby residents. Each of these neighbors has their own lawn mower and a few minor cuts and bruises. Due to threats of bodily harm, the neighbors begin to furiously mow the grass. The pirates drive them to mow as fast as they can. They miss a spot or two but another pirate/mower team spots it and cleans it up. The cat-o-nine-tails is employed when mistakes occur, and few make a second mistake. The positioning of the mowers across the lawn isn't perfectly dispersed but it's close. The pace is frantic.
10:16am: Every blade of grass has been cut. The lawn is done.


How the Ninjas Mow the Grass:

Sunrise: No activity
10:00am: No activity
12:00pm: No activity
6:00pm: No activity
Nightfall...
At this point it was agreed upon that the Ninjas had elected not to participate in this competition, and we eventually went to bed.
...
However...despite never hearing a lawnmower, or even hearing the neighbor's dog bark, we found the lawn to be cut and groomed the next morning.


Analysis:
The pirates were clearly very fast. Their lines were not real straight and there were some places where the grass was uneven due to differing blade heights, but it didn't look horrible.

To properly analyze the Ninja's work, a botanical forensics specialist was brought in, and he estimated that the grass was systematically cut between 8:00am and 7:30pm. The disturbing thing is that we were alert and expecting to see the Ninjas begin their work. We simply overlooked the fact that the lawn was gradually being completed throughout the day. The Ninjas methods are a complete mystery. They did a very good job and deserve style points, but speed was a part of this contest, and the Ninjas took at least 9 hours and 14 minutes longer to get the job done. The higher level of quality was not enough to make up for the disparity in speed. Pirates win!

Voyager 2

I was looking up the date of Pluto’s declassification as a planet, for a curious friend, and stumbled upon the wikipedia article about Voyager 2. As you know, Voyager 2 sailed by many of the planets in the solar system taking pictures’n stuff. Afterward, it’s just kinda continued to cruise out into deep space. The article states the following…

Since its planetary mission is over, Voyager 2 is now described as working on an interstellar mission, which NASA is using to find out what the solar system is like beyond the heliosphere. Like Voyager 1 around three years before, Voyager 2 crossed into the heliosheath, the last section of the heliosphere before interstellar space, in October 2007. Each Voyager carries a gold-plated audio-visual disc in the event that either spacecraft is ever found by intelligent aliens. The disc carries images of Earth and its lifeforms, a range of scientific information, and a medley, "Sounds of Earth", that includes the sounds of whales, a baby crying, waves breaking on a shore and a variety of music.

Great! We’ve given the Borg, Romulans, Protoss, and Sith a menu of entrées and the address to the restaurant. Thanks a lot NASA!

What is the deal with ice machines?

Someone please explain to me what the purpose of ice machines really is. It's probably that I am an anomaly and simply failing to see the obvious.

Why are these machines so important that every travel lodge across America needs one? Actually most hotels seem to have them on each floor. -- A possible exception being that dive we blundered into in White Sulfur Springs, WV, but even that place probably had an ice machine. It just might have been such an old model that I mistook it for a replica of the Merrimack. -- They even give us that little bucket with the lid and trash bag liner to carry quantities back to the room, and for what? Do people need so much ice that their free, sealed, sterile plastic cup does not suffice? Are they going to wake up in the middle of the night with a sudden urge to consume precious ice? What are people doing with all that stinking ice?!!!

The office I currently work in also has the obligatory ice machine in the employee break room. I remember there being one in the teacher's lounge at my high school. There were ice machines in the academic halls at my college. And guess what. Those ice machines were the same size as the one at the fast food restaurant I worked at. The difference is, at Captain D's we were constantly giving customers cup fulls of ice with each drink. My question is, why do hotels and offices need the same kind of ice production as restaurants? Seriously, I want to know!

According to Google, a standard ice machine costs $2000. Additionally, the operating cost is as high as a freezer (big surprise) and they make a lot of noise. But hotel owners universally assess it to be a justifiable expense. Do most people bring their beverages with them whenever they travel, and consequently require ice to cool their otherwise lukewarm refreshment? I doubt that is common. More typically people go to a pop machine for said tasty refreshment, or they may visit a nearby bar or liquor store if that's their thing. Another possibility is people may want to take their sealed plastic cup the hotel provides, and get some ice so they can enjoy cold tap water. That one is the only explanation that makes sense to me; although, I don't see why it's worth the effort, and why the bucket with the lid? Overkill, I say! Clearly, one heaping cup-full would accommodate a family of four.

Maybe it's common for regular citizens to transport organs for transplant, and they need the ice for that. I don't know! Perhaps there is a globally pervasive cult that worships Skaldi, the Giantess wife of Njord and deity of ice and snow? Or maybe people just eat ice...?

I understand wanting a bit of ice, but give me a break. Somebody please explain this to me.

Writer's Strike

Writing is the most important element of any movie or TV show, and that's a fact. If the actors are second rate, they almost always still do a good job. You just don't know who they are and what else they've been in. If the cinematography and effects are second rate, you won't think of it as a problem and probably won't notice; You just might not be quite as impressed. But if the story or dialogue is at all second-rate, it will harsh your mellow every time...(Unless all kinds of things are blowing up, and gorillas are wielding light sabers, and Chuck Norris is roundhouse kicking guys in the face.)...Then you might not notice. Still, bad writing can ruin an otherwise flawless production. Good writing can turn a movie about a guy living the same day over-and-over into a classic. So the good writers are very valuable and the bad ones are easily replaced, so what's the deal with the writer's strike?

In a free market economy, people generally get paid what they're worth, assuming they have the freedom to change jobs. A career Papa John's employee may complain, but any sixteen-year-old could do his job. Likewise if just anybody could be a CEO, the board of directors wouldn't waste six figures on some fancy suit. They'd just hire the Papa John's guy, and use the excess for something that really gave them an advantage. If the Papa John's guy makes great pizzas but doesn't receive a raise or promotion, but Dominoes will give him an assistant manager position, what do you think he's going to do? He doesn't need to go on strike, he just needs to go where he'll get what he's worth. So he quits and goes to Dominoes. Papa John's hires a high schooler, and everyone is happy. The new assistant manager didn't need a union to get what he was worth; neither did the CEO; performance is the best bargaining tool.

So why are the writer's dissatisfied with what they are being offered? Apparently the sticky points include DVD residual payments, union jurisdiction over animation and reality program writers, and compensation for "New Media" programs such as Internet shows. So the items being discussed represent new and lucrative opportunities, and like a gold rush everyone comes running with their pickaxes. What should happen is that the production companies hash it out with the individual writers. If a talented writer feels he's being cheated, he probably could get better terms at a company that would be more appreciative of his skills. Less talented writers wouldn't have that power but that's fair. Is it not? At least they can make a living doing what they enjoy.

But the Writer's Guild of America says that writers are not to be negotiated with individually. Instead collective bargaining ensues. What producer wants to pay a low-talent writer more than he's worth? So we have an impasse. Let's get real. The chumps that wrote the Cavemen series, got paid a lot more than they were worth. The guys that wrote the first few seasons of 24 can probably get whatever they ask.

In a healthy free market economy, unions are not just unnecessary but also destructive. The delicate harmony is thrown out of balance. This whole thing is just another example. How many American manufacturing facilities would still be able to support communities if unions hadn't driven their payroll expenses higher than they could competitively sustain? In the end everyone loses.

Ohio State Football 2007

Not bad for a rebuilding year. The offense was given the uphill task of replacing two experienced quaterbacks (one Heisman award winner, Troy Smith), two NFL first round pick receivers (one of which was also the nations best return man Ted Ginn Jr), and a tailback who was also drafted into the NFL. At first glance you'd think the defense wasn't hurt too bad by graduation, until you take into account that OSU runs a 4-3 where the line is unequivocally the most important element. Three starting D-linemen left the team and impact-player Lawrence Wilson was injured. This is why sports prognosticators predicted OSU to finish third in the Big Ten. What does it say about a program that can make it to the national title game under these conditions?

Is the Big Ten inferior to the SEC? Let's take a look. Michigan (BigTen #3) beat Florida (SEC #3). Wisconsin (#4) barely lost to Tennessee (#2) in a thriller; meaning our fourth best almost beat their second best. LSU (#1) beat Ohio State (#1). In the last six years the Big Ten is 9-9 against the SEC. Recent history indicates the conferences may be equal. Personally, I assess the SEC to be slightly better at the present but "time and change" will take its toll eventually.

This year's team was very youthful; perhaps too youthful, as can be seen from the number of debilitating and untimely personal fouls in the title game, totaling more yards than I can count. So now I invoke the Cleveland sports fans mantra, "next year". Next year, our team's core will be more mature. Next year, there will be no doubt about strength of schedule because our third game is at USC. This year we don't care what the national media says. This year we'll let the SEC believe they are the best. This year we still will be coached by Jim Tressel, who is 6-1 against arch-rival Michigan.This year we need to never forget what it was like to lose to "the team up north" every year. Always remember that beating Michigan is the most important thing an Ohio State team can do and everything else is just steak sauce.

Oh...one more thing...Ohio boys have beaten the South before. We'll do it again!

What a Wonderful World

Has the world always been as screwed up as it is now, or is it progressively getting worse? Maybe it really isn’t all that bad and we just have a few bad apples doing what bad apples do. Let’s take a look…

A large percentage of the world is covered in water. I’d say the water is fine for the most part. There’s some skuzzy rivers and the Exxon Valdez poo-pooed in the soup a bit, but other than that I’m happy with it. Then there are all the trees… There are a couple trees that are a hassle because I have to mow around them, but the others stay out of my way, so they’re alright. With the exception of the Denver Broncos, mountains are good. Where else can you have snowball fights in June? And they make great family-friendly calendar photos.

Deserts are perhaps the best, and here’s why; they are miserable places that I have no reason to go to…and as such they make great storage places for nasty things I want to avoid, such as rattlesnakes, cacti, scorpions, illegal aliens, crashed space aliens with ray guns (or whatever they’re hiding in Roswell), temperatures over 100 degrees, buried nuclear waste, Al Quaeda, mirages, roadside bombs, and camel turds. So most of the stuff I consider bad is negated by being sequestered in deserts. Deserts are great!

Critters are a mixed bag. There are cool ones such as chipmunks, eagles, and tigers. Then there are tasty ones such as cows, pigs, and chickens. But sadly there are annoying ones such as insects, rabid dogs, and those birds that feel they need to jazz up my paint job. But then a can of OFF, cyanide dog food, and a two-car garage may help with those problems.

People are a lot like critters. There are cool ones, tasty ones (if you’re a Tyrannosaurus Rex), and annoying ones. The annoying ones are almost always lawyers or people acting like lawyers. They’re selfish and they complicate things for the rest of us. Unfortunately OFF isn’t strong enough, it’s doubtful they’d nibble the dog food, and they’ll make it so you can’t afford your garage, so we need another way to deal with them…

Scorpions behave themselves. Imagine the problems they would cause if they decided to sneak into your car or bed sheets...but they don’t. They stay in the desert where they belong. Just imagine if the lawyers, lawyers who have become politicians, and criminals who didn’t go to law school but act like lawyers, would just go live in the desert where they belong. The world isn’t that bad. More people just need to move to the desert…pigeons and mosquitoes can go too.