Eating meat without the killing

Grow animal meat, ready for eating and free of contamination, in your own home - without killing anything.

This invention is really something! I'm not sure what to think of it yet. Read the article linked above and discuss your thoughts.

Electric Cars Too Quiet?

This link is to a story in the Sarasota Herald Tribune yesterday about making electric cars noisier.  Apparently there is a concern that they run too quiet and pedestrians will cross the street in front of them.  Should the cars be made noisier (chimes, whirs) or is it the pedestrian's responsibility to look before crossing the street?

Manifested Glory Ministries performs Exorcism to Rid 16 year old of Homosexuality

Andrew sent over this link that he thought should be shared on the blog. This reminds me of the video I posted concerning the Pentecostal church and the way they react during services... but this definitely has no humorous undertones. Sure it seems silly that people dance crazily and mutter nonsensically while being "undertaken by the Holy Spirit", but this incident disturbs me on many levels. Firstly, this religious group is considering homosexuality to be something caused by possession of a demon. This notion ties in directly with what we have been discussing in class the past week or so. Secondly, a religious leader conducts an exorcism to "rid" this boy of his homosexuality "demon" involving over 20 minutes of this young boy writhing on the ground having seizures, even vomiting. How does everyone feel about this? Homosexuality is a topic that raises very controversial debates, but when included with religious exorcism it becomes the mother load of dangerous ideas.


Thanks Andrew for the heads up!

WARNING: The link posted will take you to an article about this incident, with a video interview of the religious leader on Tyra Banks as well as a youtube video of the actual service. The video of the exorcism is very disturbing and hard to watch, so please take this into consideration if you feel you would be upset in watching it. I could not even watch it all myself.

Football player takes heat for Tweeting booing fans

This is a link to a Washington Post article about a rookie football player who blasted Washington Redskins fans for booing the team (despite the fact that they won the game, 9-7). He's now taking the heat from fans, fellow players, and the media. There has been a lot of controversy lately about athletes tweeting during games, businessmen and women tweeting during board meetings, students tweeting during classes, etc. Do you think there are boundaries for when it is appropriate to be reporting your activities and feelings on social media or is it good that this be like the Wild West where anything goes at any time?

Half a Ton of Uranium

Click on this link to read a Washington Post story about how half a ton of bomb-ready enriched Uranium 235 was smuggled out of a former Soviet republic before terrorists or rogue nations could obtain it. It's a pretty scary story, especially the last lines. Do you think it is inevitable that terrorists will eventually obtain a nuclear device and use or threaten to use it?

Cameras Watching Town's Residents

This link takes you to a Sarasota Herald Tribune story about a small town in Pennsylvania that has 165 surveillance cameras all around town in order to reduce crime. Would you have a problem with this? How would you respond to those who say, "if you haven't done nothin' wrong, you don't have nothin' to hide!"?

Read these comments on the Yale murder suspect

This link is to a New Haven Register story about the man, Raymond Clark III, suspected of the killing of graduate student, Annie Le. She was found strangled and stuffed into a utility closet in the lab complex. What's really fascinating here is to read the comments left at the end of this news story. These people are out for blood! Do you think their sentiments are justified, or should they wait for a trial? Do they seem excessive, or right on?

The Holy Ghost Made Me Do it

Hi all, Doug's posting reminded me of something that I saw a while ago regarding the Pentecostal church and their questionable services. Speaking in tongues and flailing your body about a room are at the low end of the spectrum of acts seen in services. When people begin to believe they are being "healed" by leaders of these services, one must ask themselves how "dangerous" this power of healing could be. How do you feel about "speaking in tongues", seizures, crazy dancing, and other acts that people are compelled to do by the "power of the Holy Spirit"? The video I have included is a comical approach to conveying this experience. It is real footage of a service, simply set to different music.

German geothermal wells and earthquakes

This link is to an article in the New York Times about geothermal wells being dug in Germany and in California. The wells are dug deep into the earth to tap the heat there and generate power. However, several wells appear to have set off small earthquakes. Local residents are now starting to question whether this approach to alternative energy is not a dangerous idea.

Modern Day Prophet Speaks

This link is to a contemporary Christian "prophet" named John Paul Jackson. In this video, he describes "the coming perfect storm" that he predicts will hit America soon (or maybe it has already begun to do so). This is information he claims he received directly from God. What do you think?

Religious Sacrific, Dangerous or A-OK?

Hi Happy Campers! I read this interesting article on Telegraph.co.uk concerning a "shortage" of goats in Nepal that are sacrificed in the Hindu religion to appease Durga, the goddess of power. Goats are obviously becoming endangered in the area due to this ritual, is sending out officials to scour for more goats to sacrifice a precursor to something bigger for this species? Although goats are far from extinction, this made me question how "dangerous" the concept of ritual sacrifice is. Murder is a bad thing, but murder in the name of religion is ok? Historically, people have been murdered for religious sacrifices- virgins were dead meat in ancient days. One of the most popular Bible stories tells of Abraham nearly sacrificing his own son because he was informed by God to do so. Don't worry, God turned out to be kidding. (Just a test...psych, got you Abe!) How do you feel about this subject, and how dangerous do you feel this concept is? Does anyone in class follow the Hindu religion, or any other religion that practices these methods, than can provide insight?


Posted by: Cas
Photo: Aztec Sacrifice

Lawyer challenges red-light cameras

Yesterday the Sarasota Herald-Tribune ran a story about an attorney who is challenging the installation of red-light cameras at key intersections in Manatee County. He argues that they violate the rights of drivers. Others have claimed that they also contribute to, rather than reduce, accidents by encouraging people to speed up at intersections (to beat the red light) or to slam on their brakes (to avoid being photographed and ticketed). Defenders claim that statistics demonstrate a reduction of "T-bone" collisions where the cameras have been installed; they suggest that over time the cameras train drivers to stop running red lights. What's your view of this practice? See the article for more details about the fines imposed on violators. (note: since this was posted, several cities have voted to remove these cameras; click here for an article about this)

What color is the universe, anyway?

This link, contributed by Andrew, is to a brief article that questions the color accuracy of the newest (mind-boggling) Hubble telescope photos. Are the far reaches of the universe we're now seeing really so brightly colored? (a skeptic asks...)

Acai Berry Super Food Diet - Really works or scam?

Hello, Kyle here. This link here is about a Super Food know as the Acai Berry. It is known to believe that this berry is used to detox your system of toxins and make your skin healthier. Do you believe this Diet is true judging by the people's results or a scam? Perhaps this berry has some bad side effects or perhaps dangerous to your body for abusing it by this detox? Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Cat Death Predictor

This link will take you to an article about a cat that appears to have the ability to predict when people are going to die. Would you want to have a cat like that? Should they put such cats in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices? How do you think the cat does it?

Open-Mindedness

Hello everyone; this is Kez. For my first post on our class blog, I thought it would be fitting to show off a video on open-mindedness.

Even if you consider yourself to be open-minded (or even closed-minded for that matter), have a look at this video. It very carefully and specifically lays out what it really means to have an open mind. Some answers may shock you, so be sure to watch the whole thing.



Any thoughts and comments are appreciated!

Your baby is racist

This article from Slate looks at research showing that raising your kids to be "colorblind" towards other races doesn't work so well after all.

Does Torture work?

Here's a link, courtesy of Virginia DeMers, from the New York Times about the CIA's program of torturing alleged terrorists to obtain information. Do you think such tactics are ever justified?

Viral Web site mocks Wal-Mart customers

• Story Highlights
• "People of Wal-Mart" blog went viral last week
• Site features photos of unusual haircuts, fashion at the stores
• Critics say site reinforces stereotypes, misrepresents Wal-Mart shoppers
• Site's creators say they have standards, won't mock everyone

(CNN) -- It's a blog where people post, and make fun of, pictures of out-of-shape, poorly dressed and otherwise awkward people shopping at Wal-Mart.

And, in less than a month, with no marketing to speak of, it's become the toast of the Internet.

"People of Wal-Mart," a gag started by two 20-something brothers and their buddy to share crazy pictures with their friends, has gone viral. Promoted largely on sites like Digg and Funny or Die -- and linked ad nauseam on Facebook and Twitter -- the site picked up enough traffic to crash its servers on Wednesday.

"I'm still baffled -- I really am," said Andrew Kipple, 23, one of the creators of the site, who said his team was frantically working Wednesday to add enough server space to handle the surge in traffic.

Photos on the site, sent in by viewers all over the United States, frequently feature overweight people wearing tight clothes, bizarre hairstyles (with versions of the short-in-front, long-in-back "mullet" leading the pack) and fashion crimes ranging from furry leg warmers to miniskirts that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination.

There's a guy enjoying a can of beer outside a Wal-Mart, a guy dressed as Captain America and another guy with a goat. Yes, a live goat.

Andrew and his brother Adam, 25, said they thought of the site after a visit to a South Carolina Wal-Mart where they saw a woman they believed to be a stripper, wearing an obscene T-shirt and leading a toddler in a harness. Around the next corner was a man with a beard reminiscent of the rock band ZZ Top.

"It's kind of like the light bulb went off," Andrew said. "We get the e-mails already from people who are like, 'Why didn't I think of this?' We just happened to be fortunate enough to have the ability to actually follow through on it."

Their site was keeping up when it was getting about 500,000 views a day, but got swamped by a new spike in traffic late last week. The brothers, along with partner Luke Wherry, 23, say response has been largely positive -- with only a handful of complaints out of every 100 e-mails they get.

A post on the group's Facebook page Thursday morning said they had gotten more than 1.2 million page views on Wednesday, even though the site was down for much of the day.

The site was getting two or three photo submissions a day until last week they said -- when all of a sudden hundreds of e-mails, most with pictures, started rolling in.

But not everyone appreciates the humor -- saying the site goes out of its way to mock poor and rural patrons of the store, reinforcing stereotypes along the way.

"American culture likes to single out people who appear to be different," said Tim Marema, vice president of the Whitesburg, Kentucky-based Center for Rural Strategies. "Whether it's a joke or not, all depends on which side of the camera you're on."

Furthering stereotypes can strengthen the rifts between rural, urban and suburban residents and, in the worst-case scenario, can affect the way some people are treated by government and industry, he said.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer with more than 4,200 U.S. stores and over $400 billion in annual sales, may be more prominent in rural areas, Marema said, but to use that to stereotype its shoppers doesn't make sense.

"The reality is that everybody shops at Wal-Mart," he said. "If you want to find the guy in the golf shirt and khakis, he's there too."

A spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. declined to comment for this story.

The brothers say they don't mean for their site to be mean-spirited, and that they have standards for which photos they use.

Andrew Kipple said they don't include pictures of people with physical disabilities or apparent mental disabilities and won't run a picture of a person simply because they are overweight.

"We're not going to go out and say we're not making fun of anybody or we're the nicest guys in the world. But I think you have to draw a line somewhere when you have a site like this," he said.

"If you have a mental handicap -- that's not funny. If you have lost a leg and you're on a crutch or in a wheelchair, some people may laugh at that, but we don't find it funny."

He denied complaints that the photos -- many of which attract a string of snarky comments from readers -- single out people because they are poor or unattractive.

"If you make a bad decision on what you're going to be out in public wearing, that's what we're looking for," he said. "If you're 400 pounds, you shouldn't be wearing nothing but a pink tube top. Even if you shop at Goodwill, wherever you go, the shirts they sell have sleeves and they have your size."

Adam Kipple, who works as a Web designer for a marketing firm, said he and his brother are frequent Wal-Mart shoppers themselves and that, in a way, their site could be boon to the shopping chain.

"People [who send e-mails wanting to take pictures] say, 'I haven't been to Wal-Mart in years, but now I have a reason to go,' " he said.

80 year old on scooter busted

The Sarasota Herald Tribune has been running news stories and columns about an 80 year old Engelwood man who was arrested (with three squad cars in attendance) for riding in his electric scooter on the sidewalk. They argue that he was breaking the law and endangering pedestrians. But the street is dangerous too. Do you think electric scooters should be permitted on sidewalks?

Baptist minister calls for execution of gays

A class member supplied a link to this story about a minister who believes that gays should die. Do you believe that such talk, even without action, is dangerous? Or simply the expression of freedom of speech and freedom of religion? Your thoughts?

Texting while driving

Senators Seek a Ban on Texting and Driving

MATT RICHTEL Sarasota Herald Tribune
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090730/ZNYT05/907303003
Published: Thursday, July 30, 2009

States that do not ban texting by drivers could forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in federal highway funds under legislation introduced Wednesday in the Senate.
Under the measure, states would have two years to outlaw the sending of text and e-mail messages by drivers or lose 25 percent of their highway money each year until the money was depleted.

“Studies show this is far more dangerous than talking on a phone while driving or driving while drunk, which is astounding,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, one of four Democratic senators to introduce the proposal.
Mr. Schumer said the authors were responding to recent studies that have begun to quantify the risks of texting while driving. One study released this week from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that truck drivers face a 23 times greater risk of crash or near crash when texting than when not doing so.

Research from the University of Utah, which used a driving simulator to study the ability of motorists to multitask, found an eightfold greater risk of crashing when texting. By comparison, Utah researchers showed that drivers using a cellphone to talk face a four times greater risk of crashing, about equal to someone with a 0.08 blood alcohol level, generally the legal limit for intoxication.

Currently, texting while driving is banned in 14 states, including Alaska, California and New Jersey, as well as the District of Columbia. The legislature in New York recently passed such a measure and sent it to the governor for a signature.
Regulation of the roadways generally happens at the state level. But the federal government has exerted pressure on the states based on the threat of withholding federal highway funds, as Congress did in 1984 to pressure states to raise the minimum drinking age to 21 years.
Mr. Schumer said that the legislation was essentially based on the drinking age law.
The Governors Highway Safety Association, a group that represents state highway safety agencies in every state, opposes texting while driving but does not support the proposed legislation.

“We oppose sanctioning states since there is not yet a proven effective method for enforcing a texting or cellphone ban,” an association spokesman, Jonathan Adkins, said.
Safety advocates said that such concerns about enforcement were raised about seat belt laws but argued that the value of such laws — even if they could not be enforced all the time — created awareness about the issue and set societal guidelines for the behavior.
The other sponsors of the Senate measure include Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Kay R. Hagan of North Carolina.