The Robin has Landed

Some say that spring has begun when the first robin is spotted, others go the scientific route insisting that the first day of spring is the vernal equinox, but, for me, yesterday heralded the actual beginning of springtime. The weather was beautifully warm, sunny, and just about perfect, except for the very strong wind, until the afternoon arrived. Then it became beautifully exciting. A cold front came barreling through the area, producing the first real severe weather of the year. Thankfully, all we received was a severe thunderstorm. Counties not too far to the south had reports of tornadoes being spotted, which kept us all on our toes and staring at the sky waiting for the clouds to begin rotating. I had a memorable experience driving through a storm last night with hail pounding on the roof of the car. It was so loud that it became practically impossible to hear the person sitting next to you yelling. The hail was only about the size of marbles so there was not too much damage, but a nearby city reported chunks of ice about the size of golfballs coming down out of the storm cloud. After yesterday evening's first storm had ended and the sun came out one last time before setting, the cumulonimbus clouds were still visible as they moved on to the east. It is amazing that something so powerful and destructive can be so beautiful! Spring has definitely arrived.

My 'Umblest Apologies

My apologies for the lack of posts lately. It just seems that there is nothing worth writing. Most of my ideas have ended up incomplete and have become doomed to post "purgatory" as drafts. Whether or not they will make it out to see the myriad of faces staring back at them through the computer screen, only time will tell. My problem is that the things that I come up with seem to be either to trivial or too radical to post about. Maybe I just need to get out of that mindset and be bold.

=> By the way: Although this is rather belated, have a joyous celebration of the event that changed the world! (Happy Easter!)

The Nose Knows

Scientists in Australia have discovered how to grow adult stem cells from the human nose, which (correct me if I am wrong) would basically eliminate the need to use the stem cells from babies for scientific research. This should make everyone much happier now, but will it? I doubt it. The question remains to be answered as to whether or not scientists around the world will smell the scent of progress and accept this new achievement, or continue to insist on going down the original road towards using human embryos.

"When in doubt, Merriadoc Brandybuck, always follow your nose." -Gandolf the Grey ; )

Body Worlds

Where do death, plastic, Chicago, and Germany come together? Body Worlds, an exhibit of human bodies that have been plasticized by a German scientist and are now on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The exhibit manages to be weird, disgusting, cool, and fascinating all at the same time. Where else can one find muscles flying off the bones in all directions, real nerve fibers and spinal cord still attached, and a man holding his brain in his hand while riding a horse? I spent over an hour sitting next to a guy holding up his skin for the world to see. Some of the displays evade description, yet others are real eye-openers to the ravages of disease on the body. There are comparisons of healthy lungs to those of smokers, a slice of a brain with a tumor, a stomach with ulcers, body slices of obese people, joints from people with arthritis, a skeleton with scoliosis, and many more things that one almost never gets to see up close and in person. Some of the most fascinating are the people posed with nothing but their network of arteries in place. It is amazing how many there actually are. Even with how fascinatingly complex the bodies are, it is difficult to keep from thinking about who they were while they were still alive, walking around like you and me. They used to have lives, friends, families, thoughts, and emotions. The signs describing the bodies seemed very cold when they described them, not as men and women, but as "plasticines." One of the cadavers was a pregnant lady who was displayed along with her infant who had died along with her. Among the most difficult things to look at were the body parts of young children and babies. In the end, one has to realize that, although they used to be living human beings, all that is left on display is their plasticized body, not themselves.

Inconsistency

I found an interesting article about some of the double standards that people from all over the political spectrum use. The author, John Leo, focused mainly on political corporations and government institutions such as Planned Parenthood, the Supreme Court, the Republicans, the Democrats, the American Psychological Association, and the like. However, many of those whom one sees on a daily basis seem to do the same thing. People should start taking a look at their policies and beliefs and try following them through to their conclusions, seeing how they would apply in all cases. Unfortunately, they tend to only do what benefits them at the time, even if it is contradictory to how they acted previously. This leads me to wonder what inconsistencies I myself display.

Holiday Irony

Upwards of 700 people were arrested in Ireland for alcohol-induced fights in the wake of Saint Patrick's Day partying. Ray O'Conner, a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, said that, "I do find it ironic that St. Patrick had a mission to evangelize and convert people to a better way of life, and our St. Patrick's Day doesn't reflect any of that Christian heritage." It seems as though a lot of holidays, in fact most, have lost their original meanings and have instead become excuses to party and have fun--including Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day, and Independence Day. Somehow, it makes me sad.

Nature vs. Choice

In Maine, State Representative Brian Duprey wants to ban abortions based upon whether or not the child is deemed to be homosexual. This is founded upon the assumption that scientists will one day discover a "gay-gene" that determines what a person's sexual inclinations will be. Duprey said that, "Technology is changing every day. They could map the homosexual gene tomorrow." In my opinion, the questions that this bill brings up concerning abortion and the rights of homosexuals, no matter how interesting, are immaterial to the matter at hand. I do not think that scientists will ever find a gene that causes a person to have inclinations towards being homosexual since it is contrary to how human beings are designed and is a rebellion against the natural order of things. Nobody is born innately homosexual, we are all, however, born sinful. People do not have their sexual actions determined by their DNA any more than it determines whether they will commit murder, steal from someone, or cheat on a test. These are all conscious choices that people make, and there is always the option of choosing to not do something.

Beef...It's What's For Dinner

My big beef with most "Christian" music is that it is...well...simplistic and unoriginal. There are a few musicians out there in that "genre" who are the exception, but, for the most part, the lyrics are really simple and basically the same thing over and over again. They do not only repeat overly repetitiously throughout the song, but throughout the whole world of CCM (contemporary christian music). It is as though most of those people have troubles coming up with something new that requires more thought to both write and to listen to than "Jesus Loves Me". Do not take me wrong, I like "Jesus Loves Me," but there is more to life and music than just that. Just my opinion.

Watch Those P's and Q's (and E's and U's)

Wow! Talk about a major typo! It seems that a website for the United States Congress made a mistake in their reporting. Instead of saying that nuclear testing went on in Sedan (in Nevada), they accidentally reported that the United States performed nuclear tests in Sudan. The Sudanese were not too happy when they read that a foreign government was doing that under their nose. Although they were completely assured by the United States that it was a mere typing error and no testing took place, they are still performing investigations to make sure that nobody starts glowing in luminescent colors or growing multiple limbs in weird places. The Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said, according to BBC News, that, "Our first concern of course was for the people of Sudan." If only they were that concerned about all their people. By the way, I ran this post through spell check a couple of times before posting it...just in case.

Cold Snap

Cold Snap (n.): The time of year when everyone becomes tired of the cold weather and, when they can no longer bear being confined indoors, eventually snap and go out of their minds.

The Greater Good

There are many examples in literature and history of one man dying for the greater good of the many. Sometimes it is to save lives, other times to improve living conditions. The question is, is it worth it? Here are just a few of those examples:

In the movie Master and Commander, a sailor, by the name of Wharley, falls overboard during a storm when the mast that he is on snaps. His only hope of rescue is to grab onto the yardarm of the mast as it is tossed in the waves, dragged along by the ropes that still attach it to the ship. The problem is that the yardarm in the water is acting as an anchor, dragging the ship down and putting it in great risk of capsizing and sinking, and taking the entire crew down with it. The captain, "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, is forced to make the decision to cut the ropes holding the yardarm to the ship, thus leaving Wharley to die in the midst of the storm. His life is taken so that the rest of the crew may live on. Was it worth it? In this case, I would say yes since, there was not much chance of his being rescued and, in the attempt, everyone else may have gone down with him. However, there was a slight chance that both he and the ship may have been saved, but it was not very likely. As Jack Aubrey said, "one must always choose the lesser of the two weevils (evils)."

Raskolnikov, the main character in the book Crime and Punishment, comes up with the same idea, that sometimes it is necessary for a select few to die that society as a whole may prosper by it. He carries out his idea by murdering an old pawnbroker who owns large sums of money, while those around her live in poverty. His crime is eventually found out when he can no longer live with his own conscience and admits to doing it. This time, however, the death of one does not aid the many, but, instead, makes more people suffer. Was it worth it? In my opinion, even though Raskonlnikov may have become a better person after all of his trials, it was not worth taking the life of the old woman and, as it ended up, her sister.

Those are both fictional stories, but there is a prominent example in history of the notion found in the man Jesus. He also died, suffering a cruel death, so that others may live and have better lives. His death allows others to escape the wrath of God for their rebellion against him. While they are sometimes persecuted for believing in his death and the salvation that comes from it, their lives are in many ways better because of the forgiveness for their rebelliousness and the hope for the future. Was Jesus' death worth it? I would emphatically say yes.

Happy Birthday to Me!

...and a very merry unbirthday to the rest of you!

I'm right, you're wrong, and that's all there is to it!

The political system in America is very aggravating. It is basically split into two parties--the Republican and the Democratic--and anyone who does not agree with either gets lost in the shuffle. The people belonging to the different parties seem to think that they are always absolutely right and their opponents are always absolutely wrong. One has only to label a person a "Democrat" or a "Republican" and part of the country automatically hates them and will not listen to anything they say, while most of the rest will love them and accept pretty much whatever they proclaim. The opposing party, whichever one it may be, is drawn as a freedom-hating faction with horns, a tails, and pitchforks in their hands. People do not seem to want to consider that possibly, just maybe, the other side has a good idea every once in a while. They would not have to agree all the time, and I would hope they would not, but maybe some good would come of it. In the end, it appears to me that there is really only one word to describe politics: frustrating.

Why?

That is the question that history helps to answer. It is more than just a bunch of dates and names to memorize and put in order--it is a story that explains how things got to be the way they are today. History is a useful medium for studying human thoughts and ideas, and the societies created by the resulting actions. From learning about individuals, one can learn about entire civilizations, and by learning about the civilization and world events of the time, one can better understand the individuals living in it. One can learn about what works, what does not, and why. The various traditions and beliefs instilled in different societies throughout the past still influence the actions of people in the modern world. It is difficult to imagine that anyone would not be excited about studying the world's history!

Mistakes, Mess-ups, and Movie Stars

I have no idea what that means, but it sounded like it would make a good title. Hold it...yes I do know! We all make mistakes, but most of them go unnoticed by the world at large. The few people that surround us and know us may notice them, but most earthlings have no clue that we even exist, much less make a mistake. However, there are select human beings who have their lives watched and scrutinized by the public, and every little (or big) mess-up in their life is suddenly the headlines in papers across the nation. Why do we watch them like little hawks? Perhaps it is because they appear to be too perfect--they get the beautiful boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse; perfect, fashionable clothes, tons of money, and thousands of people fall in love with them. We see them and become jealous, causing us to hardly wait for them to mess up and prove that they are still human like the rest of the world's population. Perhaps for that small moment, our egos are fed and we feel like we are better than them because they are no longer "perfect." They are brought down to our level, and even lower, for a time. However, we need to realize that they are just like us: human beings who mess up and sin, whether in the public eye or not.