Month: August 2007 | Ain't Complicated

People = Happiness

That seems to be a good summary of a poll done by (of all outfits for such results) MTV and AP:

So you’re between the ages of 13 and 24. What makes you happy?

[…]

Spending time with family was the top answer to that open-ended question, according to an extensive survey – more than 100 questions asked of 1,280 people ages 13-24 – conducted by The Associated Press and MTV on the nature of happiness among America’s young people.

Next was spending time with friends, followed by time with a significant other. And even better for parents: Nearly three-quarters of young people say their relationship with their parents makes them happy.

[…]

And parents, here’s some more for you: Most young people in school say it makes them happy. Overwhelmingly, young people think marriage would make them happy and want to be married some day. Most also want to have kids.

Finally, when asked to name their heroes, nearly half of respondents mentioned one or both of their parents. The winner, by a nose: Mom.

Then there’s this finding:

From the body to the soul: Close to half say religion and spirituality are very important. And more than half say they believe there is a higher power that has an influence over things that make them happy. Beyond religion, simply belonging to an organized religious group makes people happier.

Martial Law and Clergy

KSLA News 12 reports:

Could martial law ever become a reality in America? Some fear any nuclear, biological or chemical attack on U.S. soil might trigger just that. KSLA News 12 has discovered that the clergy would help the government with potentially their biggest problem: Us.

[…]

If martial law were enacted here at home, like depicted in the movie “The Siege”, easing public fears and quelling dissent would be critical. And that’s exactly what the ‘Clergy Response Team’ helped accomplish in the wake of Katrina.

[…]

For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13. Dr. Tuberville elaborated, “because the government’s established by the Lord, you know. And, that’s what we believe in the Christian faith. That’s what’s stated in the scripture.”

Romans 13:1,2 is definitely applicable to Christians:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

So unless the government requires you to do something contrary to God’s Word and ways, submit.

That said, I think Christian ministers working hand-in-glove with the State like that is contrary to the Scriptures.

Mennonites and Government Schools

Mennonites may flee Quebec town:

Members of Quebec’s only Mennonite community say they may move to Ontario or New Brunswick so they can keep their children in a private school that suits their religious beliefs.

Fifteen English-speaking Mennonite families in this small community in the Monteregie region say they won’t send their children to government-approved schools, balking at the teaching of evolution, the acceptance of gays and lesbians and low “morality standards.”

They say they are considering relocation out of fear that child-protection officials will seize their children.

Other townspeople here — mostly francophone Catholics — support the primarily English school, deemed illegal by Quebec’s Education Department.

The story continues:

He said about 30 members of the community — young couples and their school-aged children — will have to move before school starts. The others will follow.

News reports last year about unsanctioned schools led to a complaint to the Education Department about the Mennonite school.

Parents were warned they would face legal proceedings if their children aren’t enrolled in sanctioned schools this fall. That could lead to children being taken from families

And this:

In Roxton Falls, the vast majority of non-Mennonites strongly support the school, said the town’s Mayor, Jean-Marie Laplante. This week, he wrote letters to the education department and Education Minister Michelle Courchesne in an effort to save the school.

We’ll see how it all shakes out.

I empathize (or at least sympathize) with my fellow-Mennonites and fellow-parents, but I wonder if Mr. Goosen didn’t overstate his case with this comment:

“It boils down to intolerance to our religion” by education officials, said Ronald Goossen, who in the early 1990s was among the first Mennonites from Manitoba to move to Roxton Falls, a sleepy town on the Riviere Noire, about 100 kilometres east of Montreal.

If they truly fail to meet whatever standards the state has, then change or move or appeal, but please don’t play the intolerance card.

Thanks.

🙂

Russia Widens Its Carbon Footprint

Alternate title over at Yahoo! News: Russia revives Soviet-era strategic bomber patrols

Russia is immediately to resume the Soviet-era practice of sending strategic bombers on long-range flights well beyond its borders, President Vladimir Putin announced here on Friday.

My take: The revival continues.

The United States played down the Russian announcement.

“We have very good working relations with the Russians, with the Russian military,” US national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said

Well, good deal.

The announcement came days after Moscow said its strategic bombers had begun exercises over the North Pole and just a week after Russian planes flew within a few hundred kilometres (miles) of a US military base on the island of Guam.

On Wednesday a top US commander said that Russian bombers had been making increasingly frequent flights approaching US territory for several months.

Both Britain and Norway’s air forces have taken to the skies in recent months to monitor the renewed Russian air force activity, at a time when relations with Britain are in crisis over the poisoning in London of a former Russian agent, Alexander Litvinenko.

Shortly before Putin’s announcement, a Russian air force official said long-range bombers were carrying out patrol flights on Friday in various parts of the world, including the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Black Sea.

Thankfully, they’re partners, eh?

Amero: Never Mind Gold

Has the time come?

A currency union, similar to the European Union “Euro” has been proposed for North America. The name of the new currency is the “Amero”. The Wikipedia encyclopedia article has additional details about the “Amero”. This has been the source for many conspiracy theories tied in with other proposals such as the “Canamex Corridor”.

These private-issue fantasy pattern coins will be struck as an annual series (until such time as it is no longer legal to do so), starting in the latter part of 2007.

Some pieces are available for immediate delivery . . . .

Final mintages will be determined by sales. The 2007 issues will be available for order until no later than December 31, 2007, and none will ever be minted or available after that.

The 2007 designs feature various Seated Liberty obverses and a similar Eagle & Globe reverse (except for the Jamestown 400th Anniversary commemorative issue which features Pocahontas).

WikiWatch: Good Deal

There’s a lotta censorin’ going’ out there:

Editing your own entry on Wikipedia is usually the province of vain celebrities keen for some good PR. But a new website has uncovered dozens of companies that have been editing the site in order to improve their public image.

I’m glad the Wikipedia Scanner came along. I hope they help clean up Wikipedia.

Meanwhile, I wonder what it has to say about Mark Roth. Excuse me while I exercise my vanity enough to go check . . . .

I might have guessed.

With so many Mark Roths out there, how come he’s got that WikiCorner all to himself?

Maybe I’ll try my hand at improving the information at Wikipedia. 😉

Oh, let me see what comes up for James Roth (since Mark is my middle name) . . . .

Ha! Nothing there yet! Maybe . . . .

😀

Lured Kids?

This is amazing:

It matters to the security of people here at home if we don’t work to change the conditions that cause 19 kids to be lured onto airplanes to come and murder our citizens.

Kids, Mr. President?

Lured?

That is stunning to me.

And when it comes to causal conditions, were none of those fellows educated and such?

And what about those other “kids” more recently in trouble in the UK? You know, those doctors?

Amazing.

I really do think Mr. Bush or Tony Snow or somebody at the White House needs to clarify that. (But it probably can’t be done.)