The Seventh Age http://www.theseventhage.com/ en-US Copyright 2007 Sat, 27 Jan 2007 11:28:18 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Where Do You Spend Your Time According to Compete's metrics, the top 20 domains attract almost 40 percent of the average websurfer's time, led, by a mile, by MySpace.com. MySpace users hog up News Corp. bandwidth so much that they take up 12 percent of the total time spent anywhere on the Web. Users spent almost 28 billion minutes at MySpace in December. Yahoo! and its properties capture 8.5 percent of our time, followed by MSN and eBay with 3.7 percent, Google with 2.1 percent, and AOL with 1.7 percent. How much time have you wasted on MySpace today?]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2007/01/where_do_you_spend_your_time.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2007/01/where_do_you_spend_your_time.html Sat, 27 Jan 2007 11:28:18 -0600 Between A Pill and a Hard Place CNN, the FDA is concerned that recent efforts to make the pill less harmful have also made it less effective, and are considering new regulations to ensure that FDA approved contraceptives do indeed block conception. Of course pro-lifers have pointed out for decades that contraception is closely linked with abortion, by virtue of the fact that no contraceptive method is 100% effective. The recent FDA discussion definitely lends credence to this argument.]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2007/01/between_a_pill_and_a_hard_plac.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2007/01/between_a_pill_and_a_hard_plac.html Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:57:27 -0600 Muslims Discover the Value of Christmas are discovering Christians aren't all bad. Christmas can provide a new selling season:
The day was more upbeat on Flower Street in Kabul, capital of the overwhelmingly Muslim nation of Afghanistan, where vendors were selling Christmas trees already decorated with lights and tinsel to foreigners. "After the Taliban, we started to make Christmas trees because lots of foreigners are around, and they are asking for them," said Eidy Mohammad, owner of the Morsal Flower Store. "Business is growing -- we had only the wedding season before, but now we have Christmas as well." He said he had sold about a dozen Christmas trees, earning anywhere from $20 to $200 -- a hefty sum for Afghans, many of whom make only about $50 a month.
]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/12/muslims_discover_the_value_of_1.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/12/muslims_discover_the_value_of_1.html Sun, 24 Dec 2006 22:26:22 -0600 RIP Thanksgiving I think this is the year that Thanksgiving has died. It's only a few weeks away, and my monthly pilgrimage to Target didn't yield a single turkey sighting, pilgrim hat, or even a plastic cornucopia. Just red santa hats and red and green colored snowflakes. A word of warning to Halloween, look out next year as you will be eliminated before you know it. http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/11/rip_thanksgiving.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/11/rip_thanksgiving.html Thu, 09 Nov 2006 11:40:11 -0600 Veggie Tales Too Racy for NBC have been seriously dehydrated, with NBC sucking out their souls:
All programs set to air on NBC must meet the network's broadcast standards, said Alan Wurtzel, a broadcast standards executive. "VeggieTales" was treated the same as any other program, he said. "There's a fine line of universally accepted religious values," he said. "We don't get too specific with any particular religious doctrine or any particular religious denomination."
Secular humanists are exempt of course.]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/09/veggie_tales_too_racy_for_nbc.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/09/veggie_tales_too_racy_for_nbc.html Fri, 22 Sep 2006 23:42:32 -0600 No Gender Left Behind Effective August 23, Women's Studies became Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS). Our course designator, email and URL have changed to GWSS, and WOST searches and emails will automatically redirect to the new addresses: http://gwss.umn.edu and the dept. main office gwss@umn.edu ]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/08/no_gender_left_behind.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/08/no_gender_left_behind.html Tue, 29 Aug 2006 11:56:15 -0600 Chicago Orders Big Bix Retailers to Raise Wages This is an interesting debate. Chicago has a large population of low-end wage earners, many of whom are also Big Box shoppers. With taxes already high, Chicago is using its leverage to squeeze higher wages (and therefore higher tax revenue) out of these retailers. Also, it would appear to raise the standard of living a little bit for these wage earners. Of course, it might also tend to raise the price of merchandise slightly to cover the higher cost of doing business in Chicago, and that would defeat the purpose of helping the poor (though not the purpose of increasing tax revenue, which Chicago undoubtedly uses, wisely or not, to help the poor in other ways). No one wants to bankrupt the chains, but they are in no danger of that now. Chicago is perhaps being quite savvy. On the other hand, do we really want this kind of micro-management regulating the economy? Does the city council have any real sense of how the market operates? The market has set the wage for this kind of low education, entry level work. If you make Target and Home Depot pay an extra $3/hr, isn’t it likely that they will seek more for their money in terms of education and experience? To instantly give a cashier at Target a $2/hr raise is to place their income above that of their managers. To retain managers, Target would have to raise all salaries by a similar proportion. That could make the cost of doing business in Chicago prohibitive. This policy may simply mean shifting the least qualified around. The Big Bog stores may simply cherry pick the best applicants from the region, and that process might tend to exclude those with the poorest educations, language skills, etc. from the national chains. What happens if the economy tanks? Will the city council be quick to amend the law? Or will they leave it in place and drive the store out of town? Perhaps the city council ought to work on policies that will create more higher wage jobs while ensuring that their public school system was turning out graduates who were qualified for those jobs.]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/chicago_orders_big_bix_retaile.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/chicago_orders_big_bix_retaile.html Thu, 27 Jul 2006 09:35:03 -0600 No Child Left Behind and a Culture of Unaccountability recounts today that sad plight of public school bureaucrats across the nation who have taken to defensive, defeatist whining in the face of federal oversight. It must be said that as a teacher with distinct federalist tendencies, I have no real love for President Bush’s master plan. But it has this going for it: it has a goal in mind. For all of the weeping about federal intrusion, the NCLB statute has a modest goal of achieving basic adequacy in reading and mathematics by 2014. As any teacher or parent would tell you, that is a minimum, a baseline level of acceptable education. The fact that the target date was pushed out ten years indicates just how pathetic our public school systems have become. In ten years, we hope to boast that every student in America’s public school system will be able to read and address math problems at grade level. Yes, that will be glorious day, and many will rejoice (during commercial breaks from “Desperate Polygamist Housewives”). We will all sing and dance (to Japanese karaoke machines, because Americans can’t design them) in fields of flowers amid fluttering confetti (produced by a Finnish shedder because Americans can’t produce one, operated by Azerbaijani technicians because Americans can’t be trained, using confetti produced in the Congo because Americans won’t tear paper for religious reasons). I can’t wait, but I think we’ll continue homeschooling until then. Our children can at least make confetti. The Department of Education is threatening to withhold federal funds from schools that do not have a testing plan in place. This is the source of the screams of despair. How hard could it be to test literacy? The only reason to delay is if one knows, as many a state education secretary does, that their schools not only no longer teach basic skills, but do not even aspire to. Instead they minister to the psychological and intellectual detritus of broken homes and collapsing morals, blithely offering Twinkies to the malnourished. There has been zero accountability in public education for generations. Education professional are whining not about policies, but only about the fact of accountability. That is revealing. NCLB has at least begun to pull back the curtain on the circus of pathos that is American public education, and the Department of Education is at least threatening to do what few voters have: cut off the spigot of cash. Without the check ‘o plenty provided by the taxpayer, the calliope would collapse instantly, apparatchiks would lose their positions, and real change would happen, if only by default. In this way, NCLB is a good thing.]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/no_child_left_behind_and_a_cul.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/no_child_left_behind_and_a_cul.html Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:44:06 -0600 You'll Have Chemo and You'll Like It a troubling decision, a Virginia judge ruled that 16 year old Starchild Abraham Cherrix must undergo chemotherapy for treatment of his Hodgkin's disease, aginst his own wishes and those of his parents. The problem is he's been through this before and doesn't want to again.
Last year, 16-year-old Starchild Abraham Cherrix, who goes by Abraham, went through three months of chemotherapy. Diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, the teen from Virginia learned in February his cancer had returned despite the previous treatment. Having heard this, Abraham, with the support of his parents, decided to forego traditional treatment and instead decided to treat his cancer with an herbal diet under the guidance of a clinic in Mexico. After his decision, a social worker intervened and brought Abraham's case to court. The judge ruled that Abraham's parents were being neglectful in allowing him, a minor in the United States, to refuse treatment. The judge also ordered Abraham's parents to share custody of their son with the local department of social services.
His parents offer a chilling warning to parents everywhere:
I want to caution all parents of Virginia: Look out, because Social Services may be pounding on your door next when they disagree with the decision you've made about the health care of your child.
Hillary may get her health care wishes yet!]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/youll_have_chemo_and_youll_lik.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/youll_have_chemo_and_youll_lik.html Sat, 22 Jul 2006 22:28:41 -0600 Neanderthal DNA and Stem Cells reports today that scientists in Germany are busy sequencing the DNA of the Neanderthal. They hope to learn more about the species, it seems. The article does not mention the gnashing of teeth in the Times’ editorial boardroom where they are lamenting the theocracy of George Bush evinced by his veto yesterday. Over there, the weight of human suffering is too great to bear, and any moment’s hesitation to kill the unborn is cruel. I was particularly struck by the last paragraph: "If the Neanderthal genome were fully recovered, it might in principle be possible to bring the species back from extinction by inserting the Neanderthal genome into a human egg and having volunteers bear Neanderthal infants. There would, however, be great technical and ethical barriers to any such venture." Anyone who has seen my sons eating might suspect that something like this has already occurred. However, this question is hard to ignore: If stem cells harvested from killed babies is so vital that we cannot even limit it or discuss other options, why are the scientists dreaming of cloning Neanderthals? Aren’t we hearing that there is a crisis and there is no time to slow down and ponder the implications? Also, I wonder…Will it turn out that homo sapien are to blame for the extinction of the Neanderthals? Will there be reparations? That could make the Middle East look like a love-in. We’d have to give back most of Europe. If we clone one, would he be allowed to enter the US without documentation? Will the Supreme Court grant him habeas corpus rights? If we clone a female, will she have the right to kill her unborn offspring, thus ensuring a second extinction? Would liberals get the irony?]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/neanderthal_dna_and_stem_cells.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/neanderthal_dna_and_stem_cells.html Thu, 20 Jul 2006 14:30:48 -0600 South Park and Scientology South Park Slanders Blessed Mother) Tom Cruise is making sure Scientology doesn't suffer the same fate.
"Trapped in the Closet," which skewers Scientology and its popular proponent Tom Cruise, was set to repeat in March but was pulled off the air by the network amid published reports that Cruise had used his clout to bury it.
]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/south_park_and_scientology.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/south_park_and_scientology.html Tue, 18 Jul 2006 09:05:42 -0600 A Victory for the Political Process blogged about a federal court in Nevada that struck down a duly passed state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The decision was utterly hostile to the political process and openly celebratory of homosexuality. But today a federal court of appeals reversed that decision and reinstated the amendment. Its a suprising move from a federal court, but a welcome one. The good people of Nebraska have spoken, and an activist judge will not be allowed to thwart their will. This case is probably not SCOTUS material on appeal, simply because the lower court ruling was so irrational and without merit. But it is a reminder that even with the demise of the Federal Marriage Amendment, this battle still rages. It was only last year that the court struck down Nebraska's amendment, coming very close to legalizing gay marriage. Congress was happy to let this issue drop, but those interested in protecting marriage need to remain vigilant.]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/a_victory_for_the_political_pr.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/07/a_victory_for_the_political_pr.html Fri, 14 Jul 2006 14:07:54 -0600 Hamdan and the Fate of the Nation (No Kidding) today handed down (and I mean down, from unassailable moral heights) the much-anticipated Hamdan decision. The result was predictable given previous pronouncements in Hamdi and Rasoul. However, one cannot help but reflect on the implications of this ruling that go beyond the struggle against terrorism. A 5-3 majority (Roberts not voting) ruled that the military tribunals set up by the Bush Administration to deal with the “enemy combatants” found in the field in Afghanistan were a violation of US and international law. Conservatives assail the majority decision because it appears to flaunt a clear Congressional intent to empower the President to act as he deemed necessary. Also, the Court took the case despite a statute designed specifically to strip it of jurisdiction. Liberals, in turn, celebrate the decision as a brake on an overzealous executive and a validation of basic human rights. Liberals are also scurrying to write other complaints because the wording of the decision calls into question all aspects of the Gitmo situation, including interrogation techniques (aka torture). At the risk of drifting into hyperbole, I’d say this case is a perfect illustration of what is wrong politically with postmodern America. First, you have an imperial judiciary acting without shame. Congress passed a statute unambiguously stripping the Supreme Court of jurisdiction in habeas corpus cases like this one. The court ignored that, taking the case anyway. They then brutalized precedent and willfully misread another statute to claim that POTUS exceeded his authority in setting up the military tribunals. But wait? What was that about jurisdiction stripping? Indeed, when Congress really gets mad they can, under Article III of the Constitution, legislate limits on SCOTUS jurisdiction. But why would they do that? Under what circumstances would we want to suspend the power of judicial review altogether? Isn’t it essential to hear what the judiciary has to say on a disputed matter? Jurisdiction stripping is a bad move, but one that is brought up increasingly in Congress. Why? Because Congress is frequently thwarted by the imperial judiciary and can’t seem to find the spine to address that constitutional anomaly. The majoritarian principle that lends congress its legitimacy is only operative when the court gives it the nod. Why does Congress sit idly by while it is emasculated? Because there is no political will in the electorate for radical changes. One does not get reelected by calling for radical change. We the people bitch and moan about the status quo while reelecting incumbents at an unprecedented rate, if we go to the polls at all. We have grown accustomed to judicial pronouncements. But don’t we have a free press? They are certainly free to harangue and proselytize. What legitimacy is there for a press that has openly declared partisan war on this administration? If Bush is in favor of the FMA, the NYT reports his intent to intern all homosexuals into gulags. If raises a finger to investigate suspicious activity, its McCarthyism. Outside the chattering classes, who is listening anymore? When the NYT reports that Gitmo detainees are being tortured, it’s met with yawns. Our free press has called wolf too many times. This abdication of professionalism and public interest is a terrible calamity considering the bizarre behavior of Bush. Hamdan is only here because this administration thought it wise to indefinitely detain foreign militants in an offshore prison. The legality of that move is unquestionable by people not on the Supreme Court, but the wisdom is lacking. Bush has invited the questioning and ought to have known these guys would find their way into sympathetic American courts. So we are left to reckon with Hamdan. It’s great that this man and others like him will have their cases fairly adjudicated. It’s great that this suspect activity will be drawn out of the shadows a little. It will help bring us the day when there will be no one unjustly held at Gitmo and that stain will be removed from the American conscience. It’s just too bad that we had to sacrifice the rule of law to get there.]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/06/hamdan_and_the_fate_of_the_nat.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/06/hamdan_and_the_fate_of_the_nat.html Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:56:11 -0600 The Male Roe? happen. A man fornicates with a women. Against his wishes, she becomes pregnant and bears a child. Man is slapped with a paternity suit. Man challenges the suit as unconstitutional, since he would have wanted the child killed in utero had he known. So, since he didn’t want the child, he should not be made to pay. This is the logic in a culture of death. Consequence-free sex is now to be a right for both men and women. And why not? It has worked so very well for women.]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/06/the_male_roe.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/06/the_male_roe.html Thu, 29 Jun 2006 09:11:32 -0600 New Mass Translation Coming (And Not Everyone Is Happy) approved many (but not all) of the recommended changes to the English translation of the Mass. The controversy surrounding these changes reveals a lot about what’s wrong with Catholicism in this country. We have the liberals claiming that the faithful will be less connected to the Mass and the requisite Jesuit saying the changes will lead to “chaos.” But how can the Church, founded by Christ himself, lead the faithful to be less connected? At least now, for the first time in ages, the faithful will have to think about the words they speak before murmuring. The entire point is to become closer to God, to make the words in English align more closely with the actual words of the Lord as understood and interpreted by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Is it too much to ask to commit a few new phrases to memory? These changes, which will probably not be fully implemented for as long as two years, will be an interesting litmus test. It’s a question of obedience with very little theological implications for those who don’t like it. One wonders if the usual suspects will defy this order on principle, denying Rome any right to exert leadership. After all, if they cave in on translations, they might have surrender to orthodoxy on many other issues as well.]]> http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/06/new_mass_translation_coming_an.html http://www.theseventhage.com/archives/2006/06/new_mass_translation_coming_an.html Sun, 18 Jun 2006 12:05:04 -0600