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December 23, 2004
Happy holidays and merry Kwanzaa
We're flying out to Eureka today. It's a 12-hour trip in total: Ithaca -> Philly -> SF -> Arcata.
I don't expect my cell phone to work there (seriously) and I don't expect to have much email access. Back on the 30th.
Happy holidays!
Update: our flight to Philly was delayed and they couldn't get us out of Philly tonight. So we're staying in Ithaca one more night and will be flying into Sacramento tomorrow. Hopefully everything goes well tomorrow!
Posted by sam at 12:23 PM
December 22, 2004
Reduction in foreign enrollment
Indian apps to American grad programs are down 28% this year; Chinese apps 45% [from bubblegeneration]. Thanks homeland security, for eroding the one competitive advantage America still has.
Posted by sam at 09:40 PM
December 19, 2004
Market indicators
This hasn't happened to me since... oh January 2001. On Saturday morning I got a cold call from a recruiter about my resume on dice.com. He had a technical job somewhere in upstate NY - nothing I would want, of course - but a good economic indicator.
Posted by sam at 04:47 PM
Lazy, not dumb
Economic View: Building a Nation of Savers. A new paper argues that Americans don't save not because we're dumb, but because we're lazy:
The scholars examined what happened at four companies that switched the way they pitched 401(k)'s to employees. When employees were offered the option of signing up for a 401(k) upon hiring, participation rates after six months ranged from 25 percent to 43 percent. Not bad.
But when the same companies instituted default enrollment - people were automatically enrolled in the plan when hired but could opt out - participation rates after six months were 86 to 90 percent. In other words, changing the position of the on-off switch essentially doubled the rate.
Posted by sam at 04:37 PM
December 17, 2004
From an email forward...
Dear President:
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from you and understand why you would propose and support a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. As you said, "in the eyes of God marriage is based between a man and a woman." I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination... End of debate.
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them:
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?
7. Lev. 21: 20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though Lev. 19 expressly forbids this: 27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
Posted by sam at 04:35 PM
December 16, 2004
Winter break
Finals are over and I'm 3/4 of the way finished with school! Yay! So I'll try to blog a bit more now. I hope I haven't lost all three of my readers.
No school until January 24. Sometimes you've gotta like the student lifestyle.
Posted by sam at 04:45 PM
December 08, 2004
From our guest blogger Breean
From our guest blogger Breean: We Tried To Ignore This, Really on Gawker gives us this nativity scene:
(L-R) American actor Samuel L. Jackson, British actor Hugh Grant and Irish comedian Graham Norton as the shepherds, with English soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria as Joseph and Mary, with Australian singer Kylie Minogue (top) as the angel and Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Duke of Edinburgh and President Bush as the three wise men.
Posted by sam at 04:03 PM
December 06, 2004
Santa Cruz on Trading Spouses
One of the families on Trading Spouses tonight is from Santa Cruz. The family does yoga at 5:30 am, practices Tai Chi on the beach, and plays bluegress music (barefoot) downtown. And they have some kind of a Daoist church or something in the house. Thanks Fox, for reinforcing all the out-there perceptions people have about SC.
Could anyone tell where in SC they live?
Posted by sam at 08:05 PM
December 03, 2004
Winter in Ithaca
It's cold and I have a cold. Breean thinks that I always get sick at the end of the semester.
Posted by sam at 06:00 PM