Reinke Faces Life

http://kentblumberg.typepad.com/kent_blumberg/
2007/04/inclusion_is_go.html

http://tinyurl.com/3cfccm

Inclusion is good for business

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Merrill now strives for diversity of thought, believing it will lead to innovation, growth and competitive advantage. Most of the writers about innovation also stress diversity of thought as a powerful source of innovation.

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Hey, I love Kent’s blog. And, he was kind enough to mix it up with me about my opinions on Merrill Lynch. It was sort of like watching the samurai carve up the turkey. Feathers every where.

Bottom line: It was interesting and educational.

http://freestudents.blogspot.com/2007/04/
dozens-massacred-in-gun-free-zone-again.html

http://tinyurl.com/yqp7gy

Monday, April 16, 2007
Dozens massacred in gun free zone. AGAIN!

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Once again disarming an entire population of people in one concentrated location has lead to a massacre. A gun free zone is a breeding ground for mass killings.

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Yup, a “gun free zone” equals a “target rich environment”.

She was clearly upset by the VT shootings, as we all are, and she did blurt out some “facts” about guns that were just wrong. But she did put the onus on the College Administration and Police for poor performance. I’ll see if I can find, and refute, her exact statements,

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0416/p01s04-usec.html

USA > Economy
from the April 16, 2007 edition
As US tax rates drop, government’s reach grows
Study: 1 in 2 Americans now receives income from government programs.
By Mark Trumbull | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

***Begin Quote***

Maybe the era of big government isn’t over, after all.

As Americans finish their annual tax-filing flurry to meet a Tuesday deadline, it is true that tax rates are lower than they were a few years ago. But according to a different yardstick, the federal government’s reach is expanding.

Slightly over half of all Americans – 52.6 percent – now receive significant income from government programs, according to an analysis by Gary Shilling, an economist in Springfield, N.J. That’s up from 49.4 percent in 2000 and far above the 28.3 percent of Americans in 1950. If the trend continues, the percentage could rise within ten years to pass 55 percent, where it stood in 1980 on the eve of President’s Reagan’s move to scale back the size of government.

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Certainly not me!

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over lousy fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world’s great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These nations have progressed in this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage.”
Alexander Fraser Tyler, Cycle of Democracy (1770)

Have we reached the point where we are in bondage to the others on the dole?

Finished your income tax? Had your savings inflated away? Done what your betters tell you to do — put on that seat belt, pay the required fees, bow in subservience to the political class.

Argh!

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From: Frederick Roeber
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 3:05 PM
Subject: Re: On “proving NON copyright infringement” (Re: Dellinger, RISKS-24.61)

Bell Labs used to have a system like this. I read about it a couple decades ago on usenet– (comp.dcom.telecom? sci.crypt?
alt.folklore.computers?) — but I’ve never since been able to dig up much reference to it.

Basically, you’d send it files (or perhaps cryptographic hashes, if you wanted to keep your document secure), and it’d keep a log, and build up a rolling hash. Every week, the resulting hash would be published in a classified ad in the New York Times. (There was an amusing bit about how they had to talk the NYT into accepting the ads; the paper was afraid they were doing something Bad with encrypted
communication.)

If a question ever came up, they’d be able to re-run that week’s hash and compare the results; this would certify the document in question to at least within that week, and if you believed the independence of the other users of the system you could bracket the time much more closely.

Frederick.

***End Quote***

Hmmm, never heard of that.

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From: Jeremy Epstein
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 6:14 PM
To: RISKS List Owner
Cc: r @ reinke
Subject: notsp: Re: On “proving NON copyright infringement”

The concept of a digital notary as proposed by Ferdinand Reinke already exists commercially in a similar form: Surety <www.surety.com> will basically do what you’re asking for. You can either give them the document/web page to sign, or you can give them a hash and they’ll sign it. They publish a summary weekly in the New York Times, so it’s open for public inspection (at least so long as there are archives of the New York Times). [This is obviously a summary of what they do – I don’t want this to be an advertisement!]

I have nothing to do with Surety, other than thinking they’ve got an interesting solution to a difficult problem.

***End Quote***

One feedback with an existing solution.

text

***Begin Quote***

From: James P. Howard, II http://jameshoward.us
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 8:54 AM
Subject: digital notary mentioned on RISKS

I created something like this a while ago:

http://jameshoward.us/robot-dsa

James

***End Quote***

Oh well, guess I won’t need the empty checkbook. Sigh! Yeah, I know don’t quit you day job!

I MADE RISKS AGAIN. (Maybe Peter is getting soft in his old age. Or my humor is growing on him!)

http://www.csl.sri.com/users/risko/risks.txt

Subject: Risks Digest 24.63
RISKS-LIST: Risks-Forum Digest Sunday 15 April 2007 Volume 24 : Issue 63
ACM FORUM ON RISKS TO THE PUBLIC IN COMPUTERS AND RELATED SYSTEMS (comp.risks)
Peter G. Neumann, moderator, chmn ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy

——————————

Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 09:50:17 -0400
From: “r @ reinke”
Subject: On “proving NON copyright infringement” (Re: Dellinger, RISKS-24.61)

This sounds like a case for “watermarking”, “stenography”, or a good old fashioned notary?

I am surprised that the concept of a “digital notary” has not taken off for just such situations. (Maybe there’s a web20 application for me make into the next google? I could be rich! And, get a life, instead of reading ezines, blogging, and commenting.) Maybe it has and I just haven’t heard of it!

While the Internet Archive is a good idea, one has to wonder if push came to shove (i.e., think RIAA as the model for a Pyrrhic victory) if that would be acceptable evidence in a legal proceeding.

I’d envision the digital notary as a website that:

CASE#1 — takes an url, “photographs” it, computes a digital signature, saves and encrypted copy, sends you a receipt, and publishes the checksums. The disadvantage is that you have exposed your content on the web.

CASE#2 — takes anything you send it and do the same. The disadvantage is you’ve shown it to a nosy notary like me.

CASE#3 — takes a file from you that you want to keep secret and “seals” it as well in a similar fashion.

[NOTE: I need two key pairs. Call them FERDINAND and REINKE. I’d envision that I’d take my secret treasure map (MAP) to the Lost Treasure of the Sierra Madre and encrypt it with my REINKE private key. WORK1=ENCRYPT(MAP,REINKEPRIVATE) Anyone who had that file could read the map
using REINKEPUBLIC. Then, I’d encrypt it with my FERDINAND private key. WORK2=(WORK1,FERDINANDPRIVATE) Anyone who had this file would know there was a file and it was mine by using FERDINANDPUBLIC. Then, WORK2 goes to the notary. The notary decrypts WORK2 with FERDINANDPUBLIC, and ENCRYPTS with NOTARYPRIVATE and returns it to me. Then, since I am getting old I promptly forget all my passwords, lose the keys, and the LOST TREASURE stays lost.]

The digital notary would seem to be a useful service for such disputes.

Now all I need is a PowerPoint deck and some VCs. And a spare checkbook to put all the money in.

Ferdinand J. Reinke, Kendall Park, NJ 08824

——————————

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0406/p11s03-algn.html

Booking your own private library
For a modest annual fee, book lovers can enjoy memberships at such venerable sanctums as the Boston Athenaeum.
By Teresa Méndez | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

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The Boston Athenaeum, dating back to 1807, is the country’s largest such institution, with 600,000 volumes (in addition to more than 500 pieces of art) and 5,000 members. Stepping through its red leather doors at 10-1/2 Beacon Street is a little like falling down Alice’s rabbit hole. Within the 12-story structure, now in the throes of its 200th birthday party, lies an elegant hodgepodge – part library, part museum, part gallery. There is little delineation between where one part leaves off and the next begins: Paintings hang in every room, busts are nestled between bookshelves, and the books themselves – colorful, leatherbound – are works of art.

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Amazing. I didn’t know this. A non gooferment library!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk
/health/article1647517.ece

From The Times
April 13, 2007
‘Fat’ gene found by scientists

***Begin Quote***

A gene that contributes to obesity has been identified for the first time, promising to explain why some people easily put on weight while others with similar lifestyles stay slim.

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Ahh to misquote Shakespeare, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in ourselves, but in the genes”. Another double malted please!

Today is the day the Titanic sunk in 1912.

There has to be a leadership lesson in that.

Never proclaim anything as “unsinkable”?

Did anyone hear the commercial this morning razzing Rosie for her 911 rant?

http://www.agilemanagement.net/Articles/Weblog/
WhyArentManagersPaidMore.html

http://tinyurl.com/2qhpa4

Agile Management
BlogEntry
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Why Aren’t Managers Paid More?
David J. Anderson

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I feel that if we are to deliver on Davenport’s vision that good management will come from offering a premium for knowledge workers to make the leap to a new skill set then we must first start to value management skills more highly. In order to value management skills more highly, I believe that we must embrace Barry Boehm’s observation from 25 years ago – poor management can increase software costs more than any other factor. So far, we’re an industry in denial of this basic truth. Until we face our own brutal reality – that good management works and bad management hurts – then there is little hope for fixing the situation.

***End Quote***

Arghhh! (in the most professional blogger 2 blogger fashion)

I would assert that the paradigm is wrong.

[The comic book version for those who haven’t been Kinsey-like or -lite “management” consultants. (And, I don’t mean that disparagingly. Sometimes, I think. Think that the only way to communicate with “senior management” that really should be “senior leadership” is by comic books, or their consulting equivalent content-free power point slides.) Any way the comic book version is that if you’re in LA with a map of NYC, your paradigm is wrong. Paradigm is the five dollar word for your thinking about something. Anything. Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Look at the optical illusions. Once someone shows you how what you think could be something else, your thinking and perceptions change dramatically. So do you have the wrong map or the wrong city. Either way your wetware is the problem. Sorry, no cartoons.]

The whole “management” paradigm is wrong.

You can manage “disk space”, register receipts, fuel tanks, or any abstract or concrete thing. The minute you put people in the equation, the concept of “management” should go out the window. People need leadership first, last, and always.

Why is that consultants always replace “you should do x” with “we propose we do x”. They always seek to engage the Client or Customer with a shared struggle. It’s not a “me and you. It’s “us against the world”.

I have had “mangers” and I have had “leaders”. The difference was that if I was lead then I was self-motivated to do something. When I was managed, good-luck getting me to do great work. Compare “Yes, boss, I did my status report” with “Hey, Joe, take a look at this. I think we can reduce disk drive failures to near zero by lowering the temperature in the data center 5 degrees.”

No, I’d assert that “manager of knowledge workers” should be a position slated for nuking. Leaders command value commensurate with what their team creates. Always have. Always will.

How’s that saying go? “Without vision, the people perish.”

All too often, we have no leadership.

A correspondent asked me if something “helped”

***Begin Quote***

>Helps?

Hmm, that metaphysical. I’ll have ponder, pout, portend, practice, and prattle on that one for a while.

Maybe I can CRUISE (C=Contemplate, R=Reeducate, U=Unincorporate, I=Inculcate, S=Subjugate, and E=Eddycate) using it.

I once had a boss who would go nuts with jargon, acronyms, and mnemonics. Using one was good for a 30 minute diatribe about how “formulaic thinking precluded original discoveries”.

Every time I read such I think of him.

I think, like most things, there’s truth and consequences in what he said.

Like that movie the “golden child”, “stay on the path” is countermanded by “knowing when to break the rules”.

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Comments?

http://www.yourblogtobook.com/

Ann McIndoo
Author of So, You Want to Write!
Creator of the Writer’s Power Tools™, Manuscript Grid™ and Author’s Boot Camp.

***Begin Quote***

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I already did it once as a “trial run”.

My Lulu Store
http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=638039

I’ll give you some “free advice”.

It’s easy to turn out a “vanity book”. Making money is a whole different story. Blogging ain’t writing! And, while it is easy to turn your blog into a printed book. (Hey, I did it. You can too. Cheaply and easily.) But it doesn’t “translate” well.

I am astonished that three people bought my “book”. Coulda knocked me over with a feather. If they’d have asked me, I’d have given them one for free. Inscribed it as well. Just goes to show, as ebay demonstrates for Jay Leno, that some people will buy anything.

I did it as a joke on myself. My Mom liked it. But she so old and weak, that she can’t even open it. But, she was tickled with it. (My Number #1 fan).

Yell, or comment, if you have questions. I’ll do my best to give you what I saw doing it.

FROM IMPACT LAB

http://www.impactlab.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11183

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The Hill of Crosses in Šiauliai, Lithuania, is at the same time mysterious, sacred, and crazy all wrapped up into one. Here are some amazing photos of this unusual tourist spot.

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It’s erie. And, I truly don’t understand.

With the turkey and blogging pictures, I think I’ve identified a mene. I call it “Successories” meme.

You know that “motivational” poster called Successories that attempts to be a cheerleader. http://www.successories.com/

There’s even an opposite, or “negative” energy, “despair” site http://www.despair.com/ which is sadly true and very funny. They even allow you to create your own. That’s where I made my turkey poster.

Recently, I found the one on “blogging”.

Hence, the meme is a phrase with an appropriate picture.

http://daveolson.ca/

today is do something for someone else day!

***Begin Quote***

Contagious generosity is one sure way of enlarging your spirit. So I want to try a group experiment. I mentioned before that Kiva.org is one of my favourite organizations for helping people.

So here’s what I’m thinking.

I thought we could talk about how we grow generosity. I don’t mean the dollar amounts.. I just mean where and how.

* What charities do you support?
* Do you give regularly or just when there is a special plea?
* How do you come up with the money?
* What are your giving goals?

***End Quote***

Aside from my local church, bishop’s relief fund, my college alumin fund, and united way (who I really don’t like due to high overhead but I get my arm twisted at work), I support Homefront http://www.homefrontnj.org/ with a monthly check for a long long time.

Born out of a bunch of rich white women bringing water (in America! in New Jersey! near Princeton!) to poor women trapped by the gooferment welfare system, these women were horrified at what they saw. For anyone unlearned in the ways of gooferment, the poor women were enslaved by a system that would “give” them a handout that enabled them to “live” such as it was, but gave them no hope ever of escaping. The Princeton gals were not stupid. It didn’t take very many water runs (i.e., the welfare motel had been condemned for a toxic water supply, but the state welfare bureaucrats had no where else to put these 100 or so wretched souls. So, the Princeton women would bring drinking water to the motels from their homes.) before they were enraged.

I got involved when I introduced the chief firebrand to a package of dynamite at merrill lynch. Like throwing gasoline on a match, these two hellions started raising money and “arms” (volunteers) at Merrill and among Merrill’s local wealthy.

Homefront has become a gateway out of the cycle of poverty. They have several levels of involvement with the poor and help those people pull themselves out of the clutches of the NJ welfare bureacracy. It my pleasure to help them help people. (A few years ago, I pandered dentists to donate dental care to these indigents very successfully. It’s hard to get a job when an abusive spouse has knocked out all your teeth. And the gooferment thinks that’s cosmetic?)

The fact that the NJ Welfare Establishment is irritated, annoyed, and down-right hostile is merely a cherry on my cake. I used it as an example of what happens when the gooferment is allowed to take over the “charity industry”. People get hurt. Perhaps even die of the neglect. Charity is personal. And, these Princeton women are a force to be reckoned with.

I’m not good at writing checks or paying bills. So, I put everything on auto pilot as much as possible. My source is my paycheck. Unlike the Federal Reserve Bank (which is NOT “federal”, a “reserve” of anything, nor a “bank”), I can’t print money. I have to just earn it the old fashioned way. My giving goals are that when I die at Final Judgment, the fellow at the check in desk says “well I see all the bad things you’ve done. but they pale in comparison to the good. anyway, the boss says you get a pass to paradise”.

Seriously, I have no goals other than to help people. Very unstructured! Very hippie like. See a need and fill it. I have a “charity checkbook”, where — surprisingly — I make an automatic deposit from my real checkbook. When I hear of a sad tale, where someone has met misfortune, thru no fault of their own, I write a check. No fan fare. No tax deduction. No records. The checks don’t even have my name on them. No need for people to thank me; so there’s no way for them to find me to thank me. (Guess they could go to the bank!) — And no pain because the money was already “spent” when it left my real checking account. I use the checking account system so that I actually do give away that amount of money and it’s less painful for me to actually spend it. I used to use money orders. I’d have a few already in my desk at work in various odd amounts from 5$ to 100$, an envelope, and a stamp — instant charity.

Yeah, I know I’m weird.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?
xml=/news/2007/04/05/ntv05.xml

It’s bye bye Benny, hello Hollyoaks for the BBC
By Richard Alleyne and John Hiscock in Los Angeles
Last Updated: 8:36am BST 05/04/2007

***Begin Quote***

His saucy slapstick may have lost favour in Britain more than two decades ago but Benny Hill remains that rare thing: a long running hit in America.

BBC to axe Benny Hill in America
Benny Hill doesn’t reflect Britain, says the BBC

However, not for much longer, if the BBC has its way. The corporation’s US commercial arm, which currently airs the show twice a day to millions of Americans, has decided to axe the comedy because it no longer reflects Britain.

***End Quote***

Too bad. I think Benny Hill is a stich! Do I think that Brits look or think that way. No more than I am represented by Beverly Hills 90210!

Change is never good.

Sigh, once one finds something, never let it go.

And, the story behind Benny Hill was even more interesting.

http://glcavalier.wordpress.com/

“Connecting the World One Beverage at a Time”
by Cavalier, G. Lane [EUN] [LKDN] [PLX] [TRKY]

Note: You’ll notice that I have him “tagged” with certain badges. I use that to remind myself of key facts. He’s an Execunet-ite, a LinkedIn-ite, a Plaxo-ite, and is a member in good stand of the Loyal Order of Turkeys. The prime (only) qualification of that group is having been in “transition” at least once.

I think he’ll have many good things to say and I’ll be reading his blog. What higher recommendation can I give you?

Disclaimer: Lane is the Head Cheerleader of my Chicago Fan Club. (Yeah, I know. How did I acquire so many networking contacts in Chicago? Beats me. Just seems like every time a newly minted turkey wanders in for my help, there’s a Chicago connection. They’re from Chicago. They’d like to be from Chicago. They want to move to Chicago. They can spell Chicago. I have no idea. But I have so many, I actually have an Outlook email Distribution List called “My Chicago Turkeys”. It makes it easy to communicate with them as a group.)

http://www.thomsinger.blogspot.com/

Sunday, April 01, 2007
One Of The Smartest Things I Ever Did

***Begin Quote***

One of my favorite bloggers is Mike Sigers of The Simplenomics Blog. I discovered a link to a nice post on The Self Help Blog that I think is a great idea. The author encourages bloggers everywhere to write a post titled “One Of The Smartest Things I Ever Did” (you must leave out getting married or having kids, as that is a given for many).

***End Quote***

http://selfhelpdaily.com/one-of-the-smartest-things-i-ever-did-was/

One of the Smartest Things I Ever Did Was…
March 28th, 2007 · 2 Comments

***Begin Quote***

But I’m even a firmer believer in sharing with others. Whether it’s clothing, money, food, or advice – we should never hold onto anything that could help another person. That’s why I thought of an idea that might be kind of cool. If you have a blog, I propose that you do this: In an upcoming post, write about One of the Smartest Things You Ever Did. Then, encourage your readers to do the same.

***and***

One of the smartest things I ever did was instill a love of reading in my daughters. They have been very, very successful in their studies and they score way above average on any test set in front of them. I think a lot of this comes from the fact that they’ve always been voracious readers.

***End Quote***

This challenge was relatively easy.

In High School, I was open to take a chance. Took it, did well, and it set me in a “rut” / “groove” for the rest of my life.

When I was in Manhattan Prep High School, one of the Christian Brothers from Manhattan College came in towards the end of my junior year and said he was interested in hiring some of us to work in the Manhattan College data center. To qualify, we had to learn something called a “computer language”. He’d teach us for an hour in the morning before class, we’d have to give up our lunch, and a few Saturdays. After 6 weeks of torture, we’d have an exam. He’d hire the top people for his datacenter at the stunning sum of $4 an hour. (It was a long time ago!). We could then have up to forty hours a week assuming we got working papers. (I already had my for my various summer jobs. My Mom thought “idle hands”! And I got to keep HALF of what I earned. I called her share GRAFT! The split was AFTER tax. Any wonder I HATE taxes!) Despite all my peers telling me I was nuts to “give up” all that time, I signed up. (Surprising since I was very subject to peer pressure.) I was motivated by the money! I jumped thru his hoops, and surprise surprise, despite being a smart but mediocre student, I was the top scorer in his test with a 98. I later learned that this was CDC’s Systems Programmming Test, CDC used to decide if they would allow customers to touch their operating system. The Brother had only gotten a 96 on it. (I still think the question I missed was ambiguous. And, told everyone why! NO good.) From there it was like I was in a groove. I made lots of money, met the Engineering Faculty of the College, decided to go Electrical Engineering, and was the Number #2 guru of the computer center. Sophomore Year of College, I met the fellow running the AT&T Treasury datacenter and found out that they were paying $14/hour. So I started to do both. I graduated (surprisingly) with the lowest index 2.0106 [It was the 6 that won!], won the anchor pool (~$400), and had the highest starting salary (AT&T made my a Senior Systems Programmer making 65k PLUS OVERTIME!?!) I was happy. The best time in my life! It set me on a path that I have been following ever since. I wonder how things would have been otherwise?

But clearly, it was one of MY first conscious decisions (i.e., sacrifice time for training that translated to earning power). And, it turned out well? So I’d call it the best decision I ever made.

Thanks for letting me play in your “challenge”.

###

—–Original Message—–
From: Luddite
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 10:38 AM
Subject: You Gotta Believe!

How about those Rutgers dames! You gotta believe they can take it all, youngsters or not.

Carolina-Barrelina, Tennessee-Wannasee…who cares about them, they got nothing but a name. Bring ’em on. It’s the Scarlett Knights of Rutgers that they should fear. GO RUTGERS!

P.S. I am out in LV on business, watched them play from the Hard Rock Hotel bar….but I should have put my money where my mouth is! I was telling everyone around me that I knew two avid fans and season ticket holders! :-)

—–Response Message—–

To: Luddite
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Subject: You Gotta Believe!

>How about those Rutgers dames!

The game was ugly. They’ll have to do better to get by LSU.

>Carolina-Barrelina, Tennessee-Wannasee…who cares about them, they got nothing but a name.

LSU’s Fowles (a true 5), Carolina’s Latta (a true 2), and Tennesee’s Redding (a true 4) are the imho the keys to the game. RU matches up pretty well.

Luckily, RU only has to face two of the three.

LSU Fowles beat UCONN single-handedly. But UConn doesn’t have 5. Gino goes small and fast. RU can’t afford to double her and Kia Vaughn will have her hands full. She has to stay out of foul trouble and contain Fowles.

It’s possible. That’s why they play the games. But, it’s no lock.

>P.S. I am out in

BTW did you see Corzine with his RU shirt as the #1 fan. Arghhh. Trust a politician to find a parade to get in front of!

>I was telling everyone around me that I knew two avid fans and season ticket holders! :-)

Nahh, it’s only one rabid fan. I just go to be social able. It’s Frau who is living her fantasy of what could have been. Damn she was good in her prime. I only got to see her play once before the quad separation and she was a deadly shooter. Her brother told me she was “better” in high school. Hard to believe. Forty years before her time. It’s sad. She might have been Nancy Lieberman. Like Rocky, “I coulda been a contender”. At least, she has a fantasy. All I have is my blog. ;-) (Although I am getting 200 readers per day.)

###

http://www.technorati.com/blogs/
http%3A%2F%2Freinkefj.wordpress.com

*** begin quote ***

Rank: 625,183 (16 links from 7 blogs) What do these numbers mean?

*** end quote ***

There’s an estimated “55 MILLION blogs … some of them have to be good”.

I’m surprised I score at all.

FEEDBLITZ (I guess in a desire to atone for sending out nothing on Sunday) felt it was a good idea to send out two copies of yesterday’s posts. (One can see that getting up at 4AM produced twice the recommended daily allotment of drivel!)

When you wake up out of sound sleep, wide awake, like a “disturbance in the Force”, like some one has walk over your grave, or when something bad has happened and your intuition is telling you to go on high alert.

What do you do?

Blog.

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/dawkins.htm

*** begin quote ***

We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.

— Richard Dawkins, excerpt from Chapter I, “The Anaesthetic of Familiarity,” of Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder (1998)

*** end quote ***

We, as a society, may well have abort the soul that would cure cancer, bring us peace, or make us laugh. It’s a sad possibility to consider.