Links to Rants about NSA Phone scandal

Two related, but unrelated links today. Both mention the "phone scandal."

“We Have To Do Something” puts the issue into context with the movie United 93.

Last week made it clear yet again that some of us are still gaping mindlessly at what they refuse to believe while others—and thank God our Commander-in-Chief is among them—have found the courage to understand: We have to do something.

The other post, Mark Steyn says To connect the dots, you have to see the dots. The London bombing report (PDF) came out accusessess the British Government of not connecting the dots to see the bombing coming. Same thing as the 9-11 Commission report. Yet, people are throwing a fit about the government trying to connect dots of unimaginable scale on a random messy page. This is not preschool. There is complexity here and that requires access and resources. I'm as agovernmentment, pro-privacy as anyone I know, yet I realize that some things have to be done. I hope you do too.

Tags:
9-11 Commission, Wire Tapping, Mark Steyn, United 93

Two Related Op-Ed Articles on Celebrity and Paparazzi

Leonard Pitts, Jr. and Betsy Hart each have an article over at Jewish World Review today that touch on fame. Leonard Pitts talks about how WE are to blame for celebrity culture. In many ways he is correct (as he usually is). People buy the magazines and watch the shows that use the pictures and stories that the paparazzi sneak and/or bother people to get. The example Mr. Pitts uses is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have gone to Namibia for the birth of their baby. I didn't even know they were together, much less that they were expecting. I am guessing they have been together at least a year? Anyway, photographers have followed the couple to nowhere Africa and won't give them a moments peace. WHO REALLY CARES? That is my question. Leave the couple alone. They will show pictures when and if they are ready. As a side question, Namibia? How will this affect the kids status as a citizen? Does that matter the parents? Can they bathe the kid in the water?

The other article by Betsy Hart discusses the 1953 movie Roman Holiday. Audrey Hepburn is a princess who escapes from her duties for a day in Rome and meets a reporter (Gregory Peck) and his photographer friend (Eddie Albert). They spend the day being bad (by 1953 royalty standards) doing things like smoking and riding a motorcycle. Eddie Albert gets some great photos that could make him and Peck rich. In the end, they all do their duty, and the movie is really a tragedy of sorts about star-crossed lovers. If only photographers and reporters and us, the buying public, were willing to put duty above prurient leering into people's private lives. As Christians, doesn't this kind of stuff count as gossip? Romans 1:28-30 (New International Version) 28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;... Looks like sin to me.



Tags:
Paparazzi, Celebrity, Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie

Password Security

From the Travelin Librarian, here is a link on how fast can your password be cracked? Depends on the computer and most important, the compexity of your password.

Tags:
Passwords,

Hippie Music at Wolfgang's Vault

For those of you who love music from the late 1960s, through the mid 1970s, you have to check out Wolfgang's Vault. Wolfgang was more commonly known as Rock Concert Promoter Bill Graham (NOT Evangelist Billy Graham). At Wolfgang's Vault, if you have a high-speed connection, you can listen to concert music from some of your favorites from the days of the Fillmore West and Fillmore East.

Tags:
Bill Graham, Fillmore East, Fillmore West, Hippies, Concerts

The Best Drug Available

This is the drug we ALL should be taking. Here is Panexa! Be sure to read the fine print.

Hit from Micheal Sauers.

Gone for a Week

I'll be gone for a week building in New Orleans with a team of Southern Baptists.

Track people via the Cell Phone

This is a really evil idea. This story tells how a guy tracked his girlfriend's whereabouts through her cell phone. He even set it up to where he could see where she had been all day, every thirty minutes. See, this is why I don't have a cell phone.

A Sort-of Wal Mart Story

Leonard Pitts, Jr., one of my favorite writers, has written a piece about the leaving of the Mom-and-Pop stores. I really like what he has to say. It's all about "soul." As the big-boxes take over, uniqueness loses out. The temptations are there, but you must resist! Buy small!

Carival of Homeschool #4

The 4th Carnival of homeschooling is up at the Common Room. What amazes me about this one is how many new blogs there are, like there is a whole other wing of publishers that I didn't know about. x-posted at Biblical Parenting

American Library Association Create Ugly Button

The ALA has created a button they sell on their own site that proclaims "Radical Militant Librarian." Sound like a Nazi thing to me. Perhaps it's just Communist, in which case we can all settle down and relax. Not only that, it's ugly. They are trying to claim the Bush administration is Hitler-like, yet here they are the ones making "Militant" noise. Odd. Very odd. I am aware that the phrase came from someone in the FBI who used it in a derogatory way. Still I wouldn't design an ugly button because of that.

Seen at Librarian.net.

Southern Baptists Advertise the Good they Do

It's about time! Dallas Morning News has a story about the SBC being FOR something instead of just AGAINST stuff.

Some critics say, though, that the ad amounts to putting a spotlight on a sideshow – highlighting activities that are genuine but not the denomination's main work.

I totally disagree. For the majority of Southern Baptists, helping people is what we are about. The Culture Wars, however, make more noise than does feeding the hungry. Our church is still sending people to help out with the hurricane messes. And we are a small congregation of less than 300. We have another chainsaw team going to Texas in February. Things must have been bad, this will be the 4th chainsaw team to go.

Carnival of Homeschooling

There is a Carnival of Homeschooling at Why Homeschool. A Carnival is a bunch of links to several posts on a similar subject. Check it out if homeschooling is something you are thinking about.