The National Education Service

H/T: Freeman Hunt

Saving Grace

I just got around to watching Saving Grace from Monday.  I know it's a gritty show, not for everyone, but it's also a curious show and I'm interested in finding out where the writers are going to take it.

If you haven't been watching, Grace is a hard-nosed, hard-drinking, sexually provocative cop.  A lapsed Catholic with a brother who's a priest and her best friend is a strong Catholic.  In the opener for the series, Grace ran over a pedestrian while she was drunk and asked God for help -- that's when Earl, the down-to-earth, folksy angel showed up.  He put her accident to rights and has been showing up, her "last-chance-angel" ever since, trying to goad her into accepting God back into her life.  It came out earlier this year that she had been abused by her family priest when she was young.

Anyway, on Monday.  Grace's cop boyfriend's brother is lost in Afghanistan and a cop after cop is supporting the boyfriend -- not by words alone, but with prayer.  It's not something you normally see on a cop show and it was a breath of fresh air... tough cops coming around, asking about the brother and saying, I've put you on the prayer chain at my church.  The police are tracking down someone who killed a cop back in the 1980's and they are quite upset that whoever did it just walked away while the young copy bled to death (back then) alone.  One cop says, "What do you do with that?" Meaning the anger and hurt of thinking about the murderer getting away.   Another cop says, "All you can do is give it to God."

When was the last time you heard that on a TV show?  "Give it to God."

Using Echolocation

Freeman Dyson weighs in

Freeman Dyson is something of a growing rarity:  a practical scientist. I always enjoy reading him, he examines a problem and uses his knowledge to develop a solution that seldom has anything to do with politics or gamesmanship or funding.  He's a theoretical physicist and mathematician and that's how he thinks.  He believes that global warming is the result of Man burning fossil fuels, but doesn't believe the models predicting global disaster.  He is a huge proponent of genetic engineering and believes it won't be long until Man engineers trees that will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into fuel, or something else useful.  Here, he reviews some recent Global Warming books.  I especially found this section interesting:

All the books that I have seen about the science and economics of global warming, including the two books under review, miss the main point. The main point is religious rather than scientific. There is a worldwide secular religion which we may call environmentalism, holding that we are stewards of the earth, that despoiling the planet with waste products of our luxurious living is a sin, and that the path of righteousness is to live as frugally as possible. The ethics of environmentalism are being taught to children in kindergartens, schools, and colleges all over the world.

Environmentalism has replaced socialism as the leading secular religion. And the ethics of environmentalism are fundamentally sound. Scientists and economists can agree with Buddhist monks and Christian activists that ruthless destruction of natural habitats is evil and careful preservation of birds and butterflies is good. The worldwide community of environmentalists—most of whom are not scientists—holds the moral high ground, and is guiding human societies toward a hopeful future. Environmentalism, as a religion of hope and respect for nature, is here to stay. This is a religion that we can all share, whether or not we believe that global warming is harmful.

Unfortunately, some members of the environmental movement have also adopted as an article of faith the be-lief that global warming is the greatest threat to the ecology of our planet. That is one reason why the arguments about global warming have become bitter and passionate. Much of the public has come to believe that anyone who is skeptical about the dangers of global warming is an enemy of the environment. The skeptics now have the difficult task of convincing the public that the opposite is true. Many of the skeptics are passionate environmentalists. They are horrified to see the obsession with global warming distracting public attention from what they see as more serious and more immediate dangers to the planet, including problems of nuclear weaponry, environmental degradation, and social injustice. Whether they turn out to be right or wrong, their arguments on these issues deserve to be heard.

Jumper

I haven't seen the movie "Jumper," but I read the book over Spring Break.  It was written by Steven Gould and published in 1992.  If you like speculative fiction and adventure, I recommend it (it's out in paperback now because of the movie).  The characters are quite well written and the book kept me up nights, turning the pages.  I don't know how well the transition to film went, but I may buy the DVD when it's available to see.  The story is about an abused young man who learns he can teleport, instantly transport himself anywhere he has been before.  It's interestingly relevant, as well, since it involves global terrorism along with the personal story.

Cheetos

Have you seen the "Cheetos Underground" ads yet? I just saw my first,
in which a woman gets even with someone at a public laundry by
secretly throwing some cheetos into a dryer with a load. Of whites.

This is supposed to make me buy their product?

River of Life

by Wayne Forte