Quotable

To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU (1817-1862)

But wait, there's more ... Prophet or Madman recently featured this essay about Thoreau and the 150th anniversary of Walden.

Friday Pet Blogging | Yin & Yang in Repose

I don't know if they are Taoist, but Otis & Milo are certainly experts in duality. This photo catches the brothers doing their level best to imitate the famous Yin & Yang symbol:

Time to take a nap.

Snuggle up real close to me.

I'll purr you to sleep.

[from Cat Haiku]

Can you imagine how happy I was to catch them like this and be able to snap a photo? Two cats can live as cheaply as one, and their owner has twice as much fun (Lloyd Alexander).

The Modulator has a compilation of today's pet posts from other bloggers. Meanwhile, I maintain the M & O Archives page, a set of links to other Milo & Otis appearance on Prophet or Madman. Just in case you missed one.

Photo Date: January 30, 2005

Heretical Ideas

I just added Heretical Ideas to the list of blogs in my sidebar. I found it over the Yule holiday and have looked at it often enough to warrant a link here. [That's right, brainwise, keep reading and linking blogs that are much better than your own. Maybe the quality will rub off on ya. Maybe.]

Reactions: Lists, Cartoons, and Zs

Heretical Ideas has a list of Tom Traina's Initial Reaction to the State of the Union Address; it's an interesting and, in my opinion, reasonable list of likes and dislikes -- and the dislikes outnumber the likes at about 2-1. I still think this is one of the best comments on Bush's push to "save" Social Security (and this came out last month):

Chicken Little by Bill Mitchell (Click for Full Cartoon)

Me? I tried to watch the ol' State of the Union on C-Span -- and do some research on Social Security -- last night, and I fell asleep. I never made it very far past Bush's remarks about activist judges. I awoke during the encore airing of the address, which was right in the middle of the Social Security rap again. Fortunately, I didn't drop my iBook.

Quotable

In honor of last night's State of the Union Address, here is today's quotable quote (and, nope, it's not from the address):

“Folks, it’s the first mark of fanaticism when you assume all your opponents are either stupid or immoral.” – Orson Scott Card, novelist

And this really does apply to folks in either camp.

Space Tree

OK. Space Tree is .... um ... let's see, how am I going to describe this thing? Well, it's a webcomic. And ... it's animated, so you need Macromedia Flash in order to view it. And the main character -- Space Tree -- he's um ... well, he is a tree ... in space .... he's kind of a square-jawed, er, trunked, hero type ... You should probably just watch it and see for yourself: http://spacetree.keentoons.com/ via PVPonline.com

But What is She Really Saying?

Write down the first letter of each paragraph in this column.

Still Alive ... 38 Days After the Tsunami!

CNN is reporting that a group of officers found a group of 9 people from the Nicobarese tribe on India's remote Campbell Bay island. Led by Inspector Shaukat Hussain, the police team were combing the island for bodies and didn't expect to find any survivors at this late date.

"They were sitting in the forest when we saw them, and they just ran to us, without saying anything. "When the tsunami came [December 26, 2004], they had climbed on to a hill. They kept walking, they got lost, and were wandering in the forest, resting, then walking again. They traveled from the western side of the island to the eastern side, until we saved them."

Amazing. Just amazing.

Swabbin' Felons

Not too much fanfare around this, but this is the first week for PA House Bill #835, which is:

An act that requires all convicted felons in Pennsylvania to submit a DNA sample to the Pennsylvania State Police. Any felon serving a prison sentence must provide a DNA sample, regardless of if they were convicted before the effective start of the new law. Also removes the statute of limitations for felonies and certain misdemeanor sex offenses for DNA evidence.

Passed last year, this new law increases the number of crimes for which convicts must submit DNA samples. Most of the crimes are sexual in nature, but the new law added burglary, robbery, and kidnapping to the list. These additions were due in part to research that shows criminal behavior changes over time, and people who commit crimes in the burglary and robbery categories are frequently involved in assaults, homicides and sex crimes. Even parolled felons must submit to the testing as the law affects anyone who is under some kind of observation/supervision.

Collected DNA samples are sent to places like the Bode Technology Group for processing. Currently, officials acquire a felon's DNA sample via his/her blood, but they will probably move to the old cotton-swab-in-the-mouth method as it is much more cost effective.

Pennsylvania is only one of the 30+ states that collect DNA material from convicted felons. And from what I heard on the radio this morning, PA got into the game kinda late, but is making serious headway.

And that has some privacy advocates and the ACLU nervous.

Technically, HB #835 covers only felony crimes -- not misdemeanors. And the DNA will only be made available to law enforcement personnel -- not insurance companies and HMOs. But some folks are saying that this is a slippery slope. They claim: Today it's felons, tomorrow traffic violations; and today crime investigators get the data, but tomorrow's insurance adjustors will be using it, too.

Now, I have seen stories attacking the DNA initiative, but not in PA. The bulk of complaints seem to be centered in California.

What say you? Are you worried about Big Brother handling your DNA? Do you agree that convicted felons have -- by the nature of being convicted -- surrendered any personal and privacy rights they enjoyed prior to committing their crimes? Talk to me.

Quotable

A little nonsense now and then Is cherished by the wisest men.

ROALD DAHL (1916-1990)