Is Texas to scale on this map? From listening to Texans, I felt sure it was bigger…
(Source: ilovecharts)
Excellent short article on the current unrest in Western Europe and the US.
What all the Indignant have in common is the refusal to address squarely the problem that nearly all Western countries face. That problem is that the welfare systems that evolved in the mid-20th century are unaffordable under the demographic and economic circumstances of the 21st century. The financial crisis has merely exacerbated what was already a severe structural crisis of public finance, boosting deficits while slowing growth. The scale of the challenge ranges from the really, really hard to the absolutely impossible.
Uh oh. Current social welfare systems becoming unaffordable? Does this mean the government is going to have to stop doing the church’s job? Who will look after the poor and the sick and underpaid? What about kids in state custody?
What are people of faith to do?
(I’m clearly not talking about early retirement or government pensions here)
As you may or may not know, this is my 8th grade year. My school goes to 8th grade, so this is my gaduation year. It would be worth mentioning that I don’t have any nerdy friends at school. I’m the only nerd in the whole 8th grade. I have an iPad. I’m the only person in my class who has one (at…
While the tablet wars are just beginning, it’s this kind of perspective that many geeks don’t get and that the tech-buying public is embracing.
John Gruber, regarding the iOS ecosystem after the iPad 2 announcement.
Whether or not you’re an Apple fan (and my bias is pretty clear), the tablet market is the future. It’s what personal computing promised to be decades ago, but hasn’t had the technological ability to fulfill that. Until now.
It’s a good time to be a geek.
Remember Google, the motto is Don’t Be Evil.
I really don’t understand this, nor does the Google spokesperson’s explanation make any sense.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” - Mark Twain
Interesting chart of passport ownership by state, especially for one who likes to travel and is married to an über travel agent. The idea of travel is so ingrained in me that I forget what a relative luxury it is. But I know many people in middle age who haven’t traveled on a plane for non-business purposes in decades (or ever). On the flip-side, ours is a country large enough to do plenty of diverse stateside travel. It’s not like you have to have a passport to go to an adjacent state (Europe, Central America, etc).
Unfortunately, this map solidifies some of the stereotypes of certain states in our nation. But a few of the colors are surprising: Oregon, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont, Colorado.
Original blog post material below, noting that that 30% of Americans have a passport.
Planning my vacation made me curious as to how many Americans have valid passports. It’s an interesting question, both for comparative purposes – 75% of UK residents and 60% of Canadians have passports – and because post 9/11, governments have demanded more documentation for international travel. I think of freedom to travel as a basic right, but with regulations tightening, what percentage of Americans are able to leave the country, if only for a brief vacation?
Good data was surprisingly hard to find. A 2008 GAO report puts the number at 28%, but recent media reports have projected an increase to 30% or so.
As with every social statistic applicable to the US there are geographic disparities. I couldn’t find exact figures for states, so I extrapolated zip code-based passport issuance data from the State Department to create a choropleth map of globetrotting & stay-at-home America.
These are very rough calculations, better for comparison than exact figures. There aren’t many surprises. Alaska & Hawaii (not featured on the map because…it’s a long story) weighed in at 44% and 33% respectively, New Jersey was the only state approaching 50%, and West Virginia and Mississippi tied for last place at 13%. Full breakdown here.
To be clear: I don’t think this is evidence of American insularity, ignorance or anything of the kind. Foreign vacations are expensive. Americans don’t have the luxury of a buying a rail ticket bound for any station from Lisbon to Vladivostok, so unless we live in driving distance to Canada (“Like America…but cleaner”) or Mexico, there’s the added flight expense. Nor do we have the kind of vacation time available to most Europeans. Plus, it’s a big and beautiful country; you can spend a lifetime on domestic travel.
Still, for those with the financial means and flexible work schedules there are no good reasons to avoid seeing new things and find new ways of seeing.
Our new term for the day is competitive theism. And what is it exactly?
a self-styled spirituality that can be overlaid on any religion and has nothing to do with personal morality. This faith gap, I’ve noticed in the interviews I’ve done, is often what sets the merely famous apart from the ridiculously famous. It can make the difference between achieving what’s possible and accomplishing what seems impossible.
A short, fascinating look at the value that lip service to God makes in the lives and careers of celebrities.
That prosthetic leg looks suspicious to me. Thanks TSA for keeping us safe.
Fortunately it looks like support for a tiered screening risk system at airports is growing. Under the current plan, people could pay to be on a trusted list and get a green light, be considered ‘regular’, or risky.
Sounds like classism and profiling to me, but a better experience for all (unless you’re risky).
(Source: thedailypatdown)
Sean Dorrance on the Colbert Report discussing his book. The thesis? That Americans have lost our sense of the sacred in our lives and we should rediscover it by reading Western classics.
Two thoughts:
Of course, those thoughts are a little unfair, as I have never played Farmville (though I have run a few fantastic Sim Cities in my day). I am intrigued by it all though. And why do people play Farmville?
Again: if Farmville is laborious to play and aesthetically boring, why are so many people playing it? The answer is disarmingly simple: people are playing Farmville because people are playing Farmville.
Interesting.
The article discusses UK governments reevaluate government-backed efforts to provide emergency contraceptives as rates of pregnancy and STDs unexpectedly rise.
I’m no psychologist, but it seems to me a near truism that removing [the threat of] consequences doesn’t change behavior (or hearts).
Related: If you sell Christian faith as (just or primarily) freedom from hell, don’t be surprised if people’s lives don’t change.
I’m not a marriage expert; I’ve only had one and it hasn’t even lasted for 10 years. But I have noticed something I enjoy: the familiarity.
At church recently, we were led in a song that was on a praise DVD that our boys listened to years ago. The song apparently triggered the same memory in our mind; we looked at each other at the same time and smiled, knowingly.
I like that I know Kate will pop her neck before she goes to sleep and that she makes a seal noise (“ar ar ar”) when I try to make her laugh with a bad joke. I like that we know the threat of eating curry before driving and enjoy Space Oddity by David Bowie.
There’s a hundred other things that could be added to this list, of varying degrees of intimacy and embarrassment. Knowing and being known; shared memories and rituals; loving and being loved. Makes it worthwhile.
I thought of this because someone I know quoted a tweet (since deleted) that said:
SINGLE is NOT a status. It’s a word that best describes a person who is strong enough to live & enjoy life without depending on others.
This struck me as odd. I don’t doubt that many single people are strong. I don’t doubt that many married people are co-dependent (or whatever psychological term is in vogue). But a few counter-thoughts:
