Extinctions #2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Does it sound uncaring that ecologists "shrugged" when the tortoise died? According to yesterday's author, ecologists are primarily concerned with the healthful functioning of the natural environment as a whole. Extinction of a "keystone" species (like the sea otter for example) that is "essential to the welfare of many other species" would be very serious.

One way to measure the health of an ecosystem is by "biodiversity," which is simply the number of species present. In the era of the woolly mammoth, the number of animals on a square kilometer of earth was hundreds of times more than it is today.

 In northern siberia, "on each square kilometre of pasture there lived one mammoth, five bison, eight horses, and 15 reindeer. Musk ox, elk, woolly rhinoceros, antelope, snow sheep, and moose were also present. Wolves, cave lions, and wolverines occupied the landscape as predators. In total, over 10 tons of animals lived on each square kilometre of pasture – hundreds of times higher than modern animal densities in the mossy northern landscape.’ That’s bioabundance."

That author is now working on the de-extinction of woolly mammoths.

Extinctions

Sometimes you read alarming headlines that an animal we take for granted is almost extinct. It may seem like panic and fear for our planet would be the right reaction.

"The way the public hears about conservation issues is nearly always in the mode of ‘[Beloved Animal] Threatened With Extinction’. That makes for electrifying headlines, but it misdirects concern." 

This author, with decades of conservation experience behind him, says that extinctions are not that big of an issue, that the panicky tone is uncalled-for. New species are being discovered faster than species are going extinct.

photo: huffingtonpost.com

Back in 2012 the giant tortoise "Lonesome George" (above) died, the last of his particular species. But there are 10 more subspecies and 19,000 other giant tortoises on the Galapagos Islands occupying the same "ecological niche." So, "ecologists shrugged."

(cont'd tomorrow)

Dry January

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

What if a drug was discovered that could reduce blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin resistance? Oh, and it's also free. Those health benefits and more have been found to result when an alcohol drinker, like the author yesterday, quits.

During "dry January," 100 men and women abstained from alcohol while their health was monitored by University College London. That 30-day period rendered surprising results: "liver damage was reduced by 12.5 per cent and resistance to insulin came down by 28 per cent." 

“If [a clinical trial] had a drug that lowered blood pressure by the amount we’ve observed in those that stopped drinking alcohol, the company would be excited beyond belief. If they then also found it reduced cholesterol, they would be doubly excited… it’s such a good story, there’s no drugs that do that.”

According to this chart, half of all adult Americans have an average of less than one drink per week. So if you do what yesterday's author advocates, you'll have lots of company.

Life improved

This author's life improved and he wants you to know how it happened. He considered himself a "light, responsible" drinker with only rare bad incidents. Then he stopped altogether . . and the results were good.

"My chronic insomnia became easier to manage. I had more energy, spent less time watching TV and more time reading, writing, and exercising. When I went out (to the same bars and shows) I felt more present and took home better memories of the evenings."

"[Alcohol] consumption correlates strongly with severe insomnia. And it can lower sleep quality in healthy sleepers as well, making them more tired during the day. Drinking is associated with a higher risk of weight gain and obesity, and it makes you more likely to contract illnesses like hypertension, mouth cancer, pancreatitis, and liver cirrhosis."

(cont'd tomorrow)

Crowded

China's population is the world's largest at about 1.3 billion. Here's another photo essay showing tremendous crowds of people in normal activities, like waiting for a train or taking a school exam.

Sheng nu

Gender imbalance in China, long expected due to 30+ years of one-child policy, is making itself felt. With millions more men than women, single women are under increasing pressure to marry.

Parents or grandparents bring pictures  to "marriage markets" and look for high quality husband material if their daughter isn't getting the job done.

world.wng.org

Huang, 34 years old and still single, became a Christian in her 20's when a job associate shared the gospel with her. She doesn't want the same things in a husband that she did before. 

"It’s a universal issue among single first-generation Christians. The singles group at Huang’s church, Chengdu Early Rain Reformed, even set up a formal debate last spring on the question of whether Christians should attend these non-Christian setups." 

She has reluctantly told her parents she will not date non-Christian men. Btw, "sheng nu" means "left-over women."

Sequel

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

No longer a rumor, the news that Randall Wallace and Mel Gibson are working on another film about Jesus Christ has been confirmed. "It looks like the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time [The Passion] is getting a sequel."

The Passion (above), their 2004 film about Christ's crucifixion, will be followed by The Resurrection, Gibson directing and Wallace writing the script again.

"Wallace was a religion major at Duke University and says the resurrection was a specialty of his. "I always wanted to tell this story," he says. "The Passion is the beginning and there's a lot more story to tell."

Wallace

If you've seen the movies Braveheart, Secretariat, Man in the Iron Mask, you've seen the work of Randall Wallace.

At the lowest point in his career, he humbled himself and prayed for God's help. Then he quit writing what he thought Hollywood wanted, and wrote the script he wanted to write for Braveheart. It was nominated for an academy award.

The requiem hymn "Mansions of the Lord" was played at Ronald Reagan's funeral. Wallace wrote the lyrics of that hymn for a movie he directed in 2001, We Were Soldiers.

He may be currently working with Mel Gibson on a movie about the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a sequel to The Passion.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Water rights

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Economist Jairaj Devadiga has another option in mind for on-going water war between two Indian states. Their governments withhold water rights from the people. He suggests a different dynamic would solve some problems if people were able to purchase water rights to use on their farms.

 

The water would find its own value level by the price that farmers willingly pay for it. Why do the governments subsidize rice to the point that it's wasted? The article doesn't say, but maybe a market value on the water would direct the water to crops that don't need as much but have a good market value.

Instead of government using the river as a power tool, let the farmers figure out how to use it.

Water war

Two states of India have been waging a war (at times violent) over rights to the Kaveri River. It's been going on for about a century. Only one identifiable group benefits from this on-going war - it's the government in each state.

"Governments give out water to farmers in order to secure votes. Why do farmers require so much water? Because the same governments are giving incentives for overproduction of water intensive crops like rice. Much of that rice goes, not to a table but rather, to a warehouse where it rots.

"Milton Friedman once said “If you put government in charge of the Sahara desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand.” Similarly, putting government in charge of a river gave us a shortage of water."

Some of that violence - vehicles burned, roads barricaded, even two people killed.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Sully

We saw the movie Sully (with Tom Hanks) last week. You remember the story: U.S. Air flight #1549 was disabled at 2800 feet when both the plane's engines failed. Captain Chesley Sullenberger chose to land right on the Hudson River and saved 155 lives.



When real trouble in the form of a flock of birds hit his plane, he had just seconds to analyze and decide what to do. He brought his decades of experience and his best judgment to the decision, and he didn't back down under pressure.

People didn't get out of their seats until the credits were half over. I suggest you stay in your seat if you go see it, too, and you'll be glad you did :)

Her advice

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Obianuju has words for the West regarding the best way to help Africans.

"Listen to the voice of the African people before launching massive projects carefully mapped out by social engineers and strategists based in New York and London.

"We watch silently as Western government agencies try to reconstruct our communities, schools and hospitals according to their own blueprint.

"My advice to charitable givers, voters and lobbyists is to bear in mind that our lives are built upon our own beliefs, views and values. Do not edit our ways. Do not eclipse our thoughts. Do not efface our heritage."

Obianuju

Obianuju Ekeocha is yet another voice from Africa telling the West that heavy-handed "aid" is not always appreciated.

Other voices object to heavy-handed aid for economic and ethical reasons. 

But Obianuju objects because she sees Western aid used to corrupt traditional African values. Specifically, Melissa Gates (yes, that Gates) spent billions of dollars to enact population control in Africa.

Obianuju says, "I saw this as a bold move on her part to impose her worldview upon the poorest of the world. She was pushing to shift the views of millions of people on family, motherhood, marriage and sex.

"With the rapid moral and cultural decline in the west, many Africans realize that they must stand firm by what they know to be true, good and beautiful."

(cont'd tomorrow)

Skill lacking

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

I wasn't surprised that employers need more technical skills from their college grad applicants. But I am surprised by this:

"44 percent of managers feel writing proficiency is the hard skill most lacking among recent college graduates."

image: payscale.com

Skills gap

Teenagers should think realistically about life and work after college before they actually go to college - if preparing for a career is one of their main goals.

"While 87% of recent [U.S. college] graduates feel well prepared to hit the ground running in their new job, only half of hiring managers agreed." Somehow they're not getting what is needed if they want to "hit the ground running."

The skills hiring managers are most likely to consider absent or deficient directly following graduation is called "The Skills Gap."

This writer from the U.K. (where half of recent college graduates have non-graduate roles) has a very practical suggestion: charge a lower price for university and college courses that educate for skills in high demand.

"We should be incentivising our students to opt for courses that will keep talent pipelines well stocked."  

NOTE-- Skills that employers will pay extra for are here

(cont'd tomorrow)

Big blessing

"That was the biggest blessing I ever received," said Christopher Lane of Milwaukee. He was referring to a jobs program that made a way for him to start over after some serious setbacks. Cooperation of several groups has connected 79 people to a new job since last fall through the Joseph Project.

In zip code 53206, 62% of all men have been in prison, highest rate in the country. Nearby is Greater Praise Church of God in Christ, whose pastor recruited among churches for applicants to a job workshop which he and two senate staffers put together.

About an hour away, Sheboygan County Economic Development Corp. was trying to help companies find scarce labor. They made the connection with the Joseph Project at the senator's office - two problems connected and became solutions for each other.

In the words of the senator, “We may not be able to save the entire world or the entire nation, but boy, you certainly can turn one person’s life around.”

Books

When did you last see an ad for an e-reader? Sales are way down. But there's a lot of real book lovers out there.

Among U.S. adults, 65% say they read a printed book last year, which was the same in 2012. According to Pew Research, the percentage goes up to 73% if they read any sort of book including  an e-book.

It seems that "voracious readers" use any and all methods. “They want books to be available wherever they are . . .They’ll read an e-book on a crowded bus, curl up with a printed book when they feel like that, and go to bed with a tablet.”

Material, tangible books - printed on all kinds of paper, sometimes heavy and awkward, often a pleasure to the senses - look to be in no danger from technological progress.

Not looking

America's un-employment figures are based on the number of people looking for work but unable to find jobs. According to some, we in the U.S. now have low un-employment, maybe even a situation of "near-full employment."

But you could say that one group is in worse shape than ever. It's 25-54-year-old men in their prime working years who - what? - are not even looking for work, 7 million of them.

Just ten percent of these men are students. What are the rest of them doing? "Socializing, relaxing, and leisure."

"Time-use surveys suggest they are almost entirely idle—helping out around the house less than unemployed men; caring for others less than employed women; volunteering and engaging in religious activities less than working men and women or unemployed men."

Their families need them. Society needs . . "to bring these detached men back—into the workplace, into their families, into civil society."

God & work #2

(cont'd)

There are two ways Laremy (Christian, barrista, and philosopher) serves God in his work - relating to the natural world and relating to people. He treats both the world's fruits (yesterday's post) and people with love and respect

"I love to glorify God in my products, but I also love to glorify God in having a space where community can be created and where I can welcome the stranger, and welcome whoever walks in my doors and treat them with love and respect."

"My prayer is that every evening when I go to sleep, I can look at the ways that I have filled my role as . . interpreter of God’s general revelation and echo His words by saying, “It was good.”



A quote from Chuck Colson: "[Ancient] Greeks and Romans looked upon manual work as a curse, something for lower classes and slaves. But . .Christians viewed work as a high calling—to be co-workers with God in unfolding the rich potential of His creation."

God & work #1

I just love this guy's attitude about his work. In honor of Labor Day, I'm re-posting:

Can a regular guy in a small town glorify God in his work? Laremy DeVries has a sense of purpose and fulfillment at his coffee and sandwich shop in Sioux Center, Iowa. 

He has an integrated view of his work as cooperating with God, the original Creator of the ingredients - the coffee beans, the milk and eggs, etc. - he uses in his shop. "And then I get the chance to take these things that God has made good and that many within the supply chain have treated with love and respect and make something good myself."

"When someone purchases a latte at the Fruited Plain Café, it is useful and beautiful. It honors its ingredients from farm—whether that be a coffee plantation in Nicaragua or a dairy in Nebraska —to cup. And it is never shoddily done. I have the opportunity to see God at work and read the revelation of His creation every day."

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord . ."

(cont'd tomorrow)

Ethanol #2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

A call to reverse the "ethanol mandate" (yesterday's post) comes from both sides of our political life because of these reasons:

• the government's requirement to use corn-based ethanol as a fuel puts the American Great Plains at risk - "Along with other environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council has now completely reversed its position on biofuels. Instead of lobbying for ethanol, it’s now lobbying against it, saying, “There is no denying that the bulk of today’s conventional corn ethanol carries grave risks to the climate, wildlife, waterways and food security.”
• the government's requirement to use corn-based ethanol as a fuel "funnels tens of billions of dollars in benefits to a well-organized special interest group" - namely, industrial corn farming

The law-makers who wrote this mandate into law probably had good intentions. But that's not good enough. Policy must change when it's clear that good intentions have not had good results.

Ethanol #1

Seemed like a good idea to replace fossil fuels with renewable fuels. Environmental groups predicted better air quality, fewer CO2 emissions, and more. Ethanol made from corn is the most common bio fuel and it's required by law to be added to gasoline in the U.S.

"But all first generation biofuels [like ethanol] ultimately compete with food production for land, water, and other resources." And that's the problem, according to this author, and why he advocates for a reversal of the ethanol mandate. 

"[D]espite our reverence for the Great Plains and the fragile ecosystem of the grasslands, more and more of this majestic landscape is being converted to corn production for purely political reasons. We should know better, but the onslaught of man, machine and agriculture on what little is left unspoiled seems relentless."
(cont'd tomorrow)