Genetically test children for sports aptitudes

Unbelievable.

When Donna Campiglia learned recently that a genetic test might be able to determine which sports suit the talents of her 2 ½-year-old son, Noah, she instantly said, Where can I get it and how much does it cost?

"I could see how some people might think the test would pigeonhole your child into doing fewer sports or being exposed to fewer things, but I still think it's good to match them with the right activity," Campiglia, 36, said as she watched a toddler class at Boulder Indoor Soccer in which Noah struggled to take direction from the coach between juice and potty breaks.

"I think it would prevent a lot of parental frustration," she said.

In health-conscious, sports-oriented Boulder, Atlas Sports Genetics is playing into the obsessions of parents by offering a $149 test that aims to predict a child's natural athletic strengths. The process is simple. Swab inside the child's cheek and along the gums to collect DNA and return it to a lab for analysis of ACTN3, one gene among more than 20,000 in the human genome.

Link here

(Thanks to Bevan)

"I'm not one of those... Christians"

The Onion does it again.

Link

Money Quote:

"My faith in the Lord is about the pure, simple values: raising children right, saying grace at the table, strictly forbidding those who are Methodists or Presbyterians from receiving communion because their beliefs are heresies, and curing homosexuals. That's all. Just the core beliefs. You won't see me going on some frothy-mouthed tirade about being a comfort to the downtrodden."

(Thanks to Bevan via email)

Marketing Jesus

Australian marketers are invited to sell Jesus in an attempt to promote an event. Here's the link to what they came up with.

Kids Be Gone?

Here's an article one might see as symptomatic of our culture and the teens feeling abandoned by adults.

A wall-mounted gadget designed to drive away loiterers with a shrill, piercing noise audible only to teens and young adults is infuriating civil liberties groups and tormenting young people after being introduced into the United States.

The Mosquito, which targets loiterers, projects a shrill noise audible only to teens and young adults.

Almost 1,000 units of the device, called the Mosquito, have been sold in the United States and Canada after the product debuted last year, according to Daniel Santell, the North America importer of the device sold under the company name Kids Be Gone.

Link

Sister Mary Margret's Memorial Carpet

Steven Levitt of "Freakonomics" fame is discussing how Wisconsin Business school, led by Dean Micheal Knetter has raised $85 million dollars for the school, with the understanding that it will not be named after anyone (including the donors) for 20 years.

My favorite section:

"Apparently, Knetter is now offering a full slate of objects not to name at the business school. For $50,000, you can have a classroom not named after you. For $5,000, you can not have your name on a plaque in the entryway to the building. For those of you with a little less to give, $50 will guarantee that the urinal of your choice will go unnamed. But only for the next 20 years."

There's something here for the church to keep in mind I think as well. Naming buildings, carpets, parlors, hallways etc after folks in our church might feel right, but we should think twice about it. If the church needs a building, raising money so it won't be named after anyone seems like a pretty good idea to me.

Link

The church doens't own evangelism

It's been this way for years. I've said it before. Business does evangelism better than we do. So, what does this mean for the church?

Link to an Evangelism Conference (for marketing)

Neuralize...

From this site.

Excuse Me While I Single-Handedly Neutralize Al-Qaeda

Alan, in his book, points out that Al-Qaeda is almost impossible to stop. This is, in large part, due to the way the its message works, and the way the work gets carried out. And he's absolutely right.

So, in the service of national defense, I propose the following, in order to effectively neutralize the movement. Let's get Al-Qaeda to...

1) Complexify the message

Right now, it's so simple, it can pass from one to the next, and be easily grasped by the uneducated, the young -- everyone. This is dangerous, because it's highly contagious, and people on the street feel capable of enlisting others in the cause.

2) Construct a less "flat", more hierarchical structure

Currently, small, underground groups can move nimbly and autonomously, complicating efforts to thwart them. A more regimented, stratified approach, where some members are left thinking, "I can't know enough to do anything" would bring the movement to a halt.

3) Foster "expert" culture, and barriers to entry to the expert class

Promote the idea that the message is not only highly complex, but only some can truly understand it. Construct extensive barriers to entry to the presumed expert class. Promote idea that cells lacking a certified member of expert class, it is not equipped to be activated.

4) Focus on knowledge, rather than doing

Complexification and expert-class development will make cells spend immense amounts of time studying the work, even debating theories of the work, rather than doing it. Better yet...

5) Equate STUDYING the work with the work itself

The cells are called to ACT, of course. But if we can convince operatives that the work, itself, is in trying to understand the complexity of the work? They'll be effectively neutered. We need to get them to spend large amounts of time in study, gathering to study, believing they don't know enough, hiring new experts to teach them again and again, and attending teaching events.

They'll actually believe they're doing their work when they attend events held by experts. This will render the cell, and the whole movement, harmless! Convince them that the most radicalized, militant among them are merely called to bring other non-activated members to the cell events.

See the rest of the article here

(thanks to Jim)

Missing the Beauty

So the washington post had Josh Bell, I violinist who makes $1,000 a minute and plays an strat worth $3,500,000.00 participate in an experiment.

He was playing the Library of Congress in DC and they put him (with cameras watching) at the street level entrance /exit to the subway. He played some of the most technically difficult songs to play.

Then they waited to see who would stop and listen. Who would recognize beauty and stop and who would keep walking.

He played for 43 minutes. Guess how many stopped? Guess how much money they put into his case? Read the story. Watch the video. Tell me your response. Then I'll tell you mine.

Link

Jack Bauer vs. Hiro and his friends

Ok. So I love Monday night TV. I work a lot of Monday nights and haven't actually seen it on TV in a few weeks. The internet is great for catching up on my two favorite shows. 24 and Heroes. I've been a 24 fan for a while. Since my friend John Raymond turned me on it somewhere near the beginning of the 4th season I think? I don't recall exactly. I have several friends who are bigtime 24 fans. This guy, this guy, and this guy all are devoted fans. This may disappoint them, they may disown me, but I feel the need to get something off my chest.

This season of Heroes is better than 24.

There I said it.

The character development and storyline for Heroes is simply amazing. I was comicbook fan as a kid. I liked both Spiderman movies and I'm looking forward to the third. But I'm not a comic geek. I'd never heard of the Daredevil orvghost rider before they were movies. But Heroes is everything great about a Super hero show. We get to see how the characters discover their powers, and how they cope with using them and how others around them deal with the changes that occur in the lives of their friends, family and lovers. It's an ensemble which is so great. Sure there were a few episodes this season that felt like they were slow, but it's starting to pick up. As character meet each other for the first time and push forward toward the mystery of how they got these powers it makes for great tv.

Sure this is the first season and future season will likely turn into the losing us like LOST does for me. Sure character can only meet each other so many times. Sure I'm comparing the 6th season of 24 to the first season of Heroes. But this season Heroes is better. 24 is still amazing tv. I still watch every episode. Sure, next year I may say 24 is better, but this season, as amazing as 24 is... Heroes is the best.