The Almighty has His own purposes

Once again NewMexiKen is reminded of Lincoln’s words in his Second Inaugural Address. Surely Lincoln didn’t think God was taking sides.

Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.

It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged.

The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.

“Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.”

If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.

Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

Would that presidential candidates were thoughtful enough to quote Lincoln.

[The paragraph breaks in Lincoln’s text inserted by NewMexiKen.]

Best line of the day, so far

From Dan Kennedy’s Media Log at The Boston Phoenix.com.

You know, the Democrats all agree that George W. Bush isn’t a good president, either, and he wasn’t even democratically elected. What do you suppose Bumiller’s response would be if one of the candidates called for Haitian troops to remove Bush from office?

Reference is to The New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller, who seems to have made an ass of herself in the last Democratic debate.

Kerry-McCain

Eric Alterman has an interesting idea (one I’ve seen elsewhere).

In my brief veep discussion yesterday, I left out the actually ideal choice — even including Edwards — which would be John McCain. Can you imagine? McCain’s recent voting record is closer to Kerry’s than to his party’s leadership and the man does hate Bush’s guts. It would be an enormous roll of the dice for both men but extreme times call for extreme measures. McCain would have to quit the WMD intelligence panel, for which he would be pilloried, but hell, he could do a lot more for the nation’s intelligence capabilities as part of an administration that would not declare war on the CIA and reveal the identity of its agents just because they were not willing to lie on its behalf.

Beauty and the Beast

Oscar-winner Peter Jackson is planning a remake.

The Hollywood Reporter: What key challenges does its filming present?

JACKSON: Writing the script is always the most critical and difficult job. The actual filming shouldn’t be too tricky once we assemble a great cast. Creating a strong emotional presence of Kong himself will be a challenge since he obviously won’t be joining us on set.

THR: How will your “King Kong” differ from the original and the first remake?

JACKSON: It’s based on the 1933 movie, and we will follow that basic plot and narrative structure. We will obviously be writing much more depth into the characters — approaching it as a drama rather than fantasy. We pretend the 1976 version doesn’t exist.

Using the net

Pew Internet & American Life Project

In a national phone survey between March 12 and May 20, 2003, the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that more than 53 million American adults have used the Internet to publish their thoughts, respond to others, post pictures, share files and otherwise contribute to the explosion of content available online. Some 44% of the nation’s adult Internet users (those 18 and over) have done at least one of the following:

  • 21% of Internet users say they have posted photographs to Web sites.
  • 20% say they have allowed others to download music or video files from their computers.
  • 17% have posted written material on Web sites.
  • 13% maintain their own Web sites.
  • 10% have posted comments to an online newsgroup. A small fraction of them have posted files to a newsgroup such as video, audio, or photo files.
  • 8% have contributed material to Web sites run by their businesses.
  • 7% have contributed material to Web sites run by organizations to which they belong such as church or professional groups.
  • 7% have Web cams running on their computers that allow other Internet users to see live pictures of them and their surroundings.
  • 6% have posted artwork on Web sites.
  • 5% have contributed audio files to Web sites.
  • 4% have contributed material to Web sites created for their families.
  • 3% have contributed video files to Web sites.
  • 2% maintain Web diaries or Web blogs, according to respondents to this phone survey. In other phone surveys prior to this one, and one more recently fielded in early 2004, we have heard that between 2% and 7% of adult Internet users have created diaries or blogs. In this survey we found that 11% of Internet users have read the blogs or diaries of other Internet users. About a third of these blog visitors have posted material to the blog….

The most eager and productive content creators break into three distinct groups:

  • Power creators are the Internet users who are most enthusiastic about content-creating activities. They are young — their average age is 25 — and they are more likely than other kinds of creators do things like use instant messaging, play games, and download music. And they are the most likely group to be blogging.
  • Older creators have an average age of 58 and are experienced Internet users. They are highly educated, like sharing pictures, and are the most likely of the creator groups to have built their own Web sites. They are also the most likely to have used the Internet for genealogical research.
  • Content omnivores are among the heaviest overall users of the Internet. Most are employed. Most log on frequently and spend considerable time online doing a variety of activities. They are likely to have broadband connections at home. The average age of this group is 40.

Sizing Up America: Signs of Expansion

From The New York Times an article on the sizing of America.

Among the findings: older men have trimmer thighs than younger men. Black women are larger than other women, but they are also most likely to have the classic hourglass figure. Sixty-four percent of women are pear-shaped, and 30 percent are “straight,” meaning they had little perceptible waist.

Nineteen percent of men are “portly,” and another 19 percent have “lower front waists,” meaning, the researchers said, they had to look under a belly to find the waist. Men over 45 are most likely to have potbellies, women over 36, bigger hips (though black women older than 55 have smaller hips than those 46 to 55).

An interesting article; check out how clothing sizes are changing.

Tech/UVa rivalry update

According to Collegiate Times

An agreement between Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia allowing the sale of merchandise disparaging one another will not be made official, according to Tech administration.

“It’s a slippery slope, and we’re just not going to do it,” said Larry Hincker, university spokesman.

You might be a redneck if…

You got stopped by a state trooper.
He asked you if you had an I.D.
And you said, “Bout What?”

You’ve been married three times and still have the same in-laws.

You have a bumper sticker that says,
“MY MOTHER’S AN HONOR STUDENT
AT SOUTH LITTLE ROCK JR. HIGH.”

A Californian’s Conception of the Continental United States

The blog etherfarm: whither whatever has posted a great description of U.S. geography from the California point of view.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite toys was a wooden puzzle of the United States. Each piece, painted in a single bright color, corresponded to one of our 50 states. I’d generally go from east to west, placing Maine first—a ritual which I think imbued me with a fascination for that state, then Florida—because that’s where my grandparents lived at the time, then fill in the rest piece by piece. I often wonder if that puzzle still exists in my parents’ basement; it’s the kind of toy I’d love to give to my children someday….

Apparently the U.S. puzzle I played with as a child was never marketed in California. When I talk to Californians about my many road trips, I’m always totally amazed by the comments and questions I get just in response to my comments about geography. I’ve compiled these reactions and synthesized a map of the United States which corresponds to the twisted geographic perception most Californians possess…

A few prefatory words. Maps are fundamentally about shapes. I assume that Californians are aware of the basic shape of the U.S. I also assume that Californians know that there are 50 states and that Alaska and Hawaii are generally not considered part of the continental United States.

Legend

  1. California. Unsurprisingly, California remains intact.
  2. This is the state of Reno, which is easy to spot because it’s just outside the “Tahoe Region”.
  3. The state of Vegas.
  4. All Californians know that their neighbor to the north is Oregon. They know this because Oregon is where Chai was invented.
  5. This is the state of Seattle unless you’re really wealthy, in which case it’s the state of Puget Sound. This is where Starbucks comes from. You’ll note that both Oregon and Seattle span the space between the west coastline and the I-5 corridor.
  6. This is Death Valley. It’s hot here. Except in the winter, when it’s cold.
  7. This is the state of Aspen. From the state of Aspen, you can ski straight into state #9
  8. This state has two names for Californians. If you’re from Northern California, it’s known as “That Bastard of a President’s Ranch”. If you’re from Southern California, it’s called “The Alamo”.
  9. The Midwest. It’s a huge state, as you can see, and for Californians, Midwest inhabitants on both sides of the Mississippi live on a strict diet of iceberg lettuce and Budweiser, which is why they have such big hair.
  10. The blue vertical line is the Mississippi River. Californians don’t actually know where it is, they just know it’s in the middle of the country and that it runs “up and down”.
  11. 11 points to the state of Chicago, which is a convenient home to the city of Chicago. [I can’t begin to tell you how many Californians think Chicago is a state].
  12. This is Florida. It’s home to Disney World (which is just like Disneyland) and a lot of Cubans, like that Ricky Martin.
  13. This is Back East, colloquially known as New England. It contains most of the 50 states because the Pilgrims thought small. That’s why they’re so rude Back East, you know. They don’t have room enough to spread out their yoga mats and become one with the universe.
  14. New York, where the official state animal is the bagel.

In closing, I’d like to remind Californians of the phrase “tongue in cheek“. C’mon, Californians! Learn to laugh at yourselves, and you’ll find that everyone else is laughing with you, not at you. Because we all take the governor of California very seriously.

Take a look at the whole essay and the comments.

Link via pandagon.net.

Celebration in Middle Earth

The Dominion Post tells us that The Lord of the Rings win was a big deal in New Zealand.

Hundreds of Wellingtonians, including Prime Minister Helen Clark, leaped to their feet, clapping, cheering, jumping and hugging in deafening jubilation over The Lord of the Rings’ clean sweep at the Oscars.

Witches

The examination of witnesses at the Salem Meeting House began on this date in 1692. Before the 17-month ordeal was over, 25 had died — nineteen executed by hanging, one man tortured to death, and five who succumbed to conditions while in jail. More than 160 people were accused, most jailed and many deprived of property and legal rights. Those who confessed and accused others were saved; those who maintained their innocence were executed.

Six babies in under a minute

Also from Wired News: Furthermore:

They couldn’t have come out any faster if they’d been shot from torpedo tubes. As it was, they were shot from Jennifer Hanselman, 29, “like a popcorn popper,” said her husband, Keith. The sextuplets (three of each), weighing between 1 pound, 9 ounces and 2 pounds, 10 ounces, are doing well, considering their body weight and the fact that they were 2-1/2 months premature. They will remain in the neonatal intensive care unit for at least nine weeks before going home to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

Oops!

From Furthermore at Wired News:

Aboriginal Indians and people from India are different. That’s what a contender for the leadership of Canada’s opposition Conservative Party learned after his office sent a letter to a native group congratulating it on a holiday celebrating India’s independence from Britain. Wrong Indians. The mistake prompted a stinging rebuke from the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centers president: “This is 2004, Mr. Harper, not 1492 … the last time a man got lost looking for India.” Harper apologized, blaming student interns who compiled a database of Indo-Canadian and other groups as part of an outreach program and got this one wrong.