Month: September 2013

The US Government has 73 Armed Agencies

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2013-09-17 Armed Feds

Yeah, that’s right: seventy three agencies of the US government have armed personnel. That’s 40 that have their own armed divisions outright, and 33 more via various offices of the inspector general (which provides watchdogs for other government agencies that might not have their own pistol-packers).

This came to light when the EPA sent some of their own SWAT-style troopers to participate in a multi-agency raid in Alaska. The raid involved armed officers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and the Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Park Service in addition to the EPA. I’m not saying environmental regulations aren’t important, but I’m curious to know how they justify the use of a paramilitary assault.

I’m also not sure what is more ridiculous: that NOAA has armed officers or that apparently the feds plan raids like teenagers planning a house party when the ‘rents are out of town. Did they just print up flyers and distribute them to every federal agency they could find? Was anyone not invited to this shindig? Somewhere, are the armed agents of the Federal Reserve Board (yes, they have some, too) upset that they didn’t find out until too late to fly to Alaska and join in?

Hey, at least this time it wasn’t an undercover FBI sting operation on Amish dairy farmers.

(You thought I was joking about that last one, didn’t you? And then you clicked the link and realized I wasn’t even exaggerating. Now you’re not sure whether to laugh or cry. Welcome to my world.)

My Thoughts on Slate’s Article About Mormon Weddings

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2013-09-17 Wedding

Slate has an interesting article about the exclusivity of Mormon weddings. I thought I’d weigh in and share some experiences about the decisions my wife and I made.

The background is just a little complex, but here goes. First: Mormons believe that marriages can be “for time and all eternity” instead of “till death do you part.” This is based on a ritual Mormons call “a sealing” by which the husband and wife are “sealed” together for eternity. 

Second, this sealing can only be performed in Mormon temples, which means that only adult Mormons in good standing can attend. If you are not a Mormon, not in good standing, or too young then you can’t come.

In theory, this is not a problem, because in theory a “sealing” and a “wedding” are not the same thing. In many countries that don’t recognize Mormon sealings as legally binding, Mormons have to get a civil marriage first and then they go to the temple to get sealed. But in the United States, a temple sealing is legally recognized as a marriage so you can just have the temple ceremony and that’s it.

If you make that choice, then friends and family who can’t enter the temple feel excluded. The logical choice, then, is to go ahead and continue to separate the sealing from the wedding, but the Church has discouraged this for the past few decades with a policy that says that if you get married civilly first (in the US, where that’s optional as opposed to a necessity) you must subsequently wait a full year to be sealed in the temple.

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The Most Important Photo Taken By Hubble

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This YouTube video tells the incredible story of the Hubble Deep Field and the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field images. Have no idea what those are? Neither did I, but (in the words of the narrator) here’s a hint:

We pointed the most powerful telescope ever built by human beings at absolutely nothing for no other reason than because we were curious and discovered that we occupy a very tiny place in the heavens.

Watch the video for the whole story.

What To Do About the Science of Political Bias

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2013-09-13 Irrational Politics

It’s not new news, but here’s another article about another study that confirms that people loose their ability to think rationally (including doing fairly basic math) when politics are at stake.

Everyone likes to share these stories, but most folks don’t really think about them very much. Here are two thoughts I’ve had. 

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Harry Potter Genetics Decoded

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2013-09-15 Harry Potter Genetics

Ever wondered how magical abilities are passed down in the Harry Potter world? Andrea Klenotiz, a biology student at the University of Delaware, did. The simplistic textbook examples of Mendelian inheritance don’t work, but in a 6-page paper, Klenotiz explains how non-Mendelian genetics can answer such questions as:

  • How can a wizard be born to muggle parents?
  • How can a squib be born to wizard parents?
  • How can varying degrees of magical ability be explained?

Check out the article at Mother Nature Network, which includes links to the full article by Klenotiz.

Monday Morning Mormonism: Paradigms and Stumbling Blocks

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2013-09-23 Tipping Point Graph

For today’s Times And Season’s post, I talk about the meaning of the phrase “stumbling block” (using the historical use of the term “tipping point” as an example) and then outline what I think is the greatest stumbling block facing the Church today: an assumption that righteousness is closely correlated to leadership callings.

India’s Powerful “Abused Goddesses” Anti-Domestic Violence Campaign

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2013-09-15 Abused Goddesses

As Buzzfeed reports:

The campaign simply and effectively captures India’s most dangerous contradiction: that of revering women in religion and mythology, while the nation remains incredibly unsafe for its women citizens.

Haunting, but worth viewing. Also: another uncomfortable reminder of the extent to which feminism in the West has been co-opted as a battleground exclusively for the concerns of politically powerful upper-middle class married women.

The Most Quoted Man In News

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2013-09-14 Greg Packer

The New Yorker has an incredible little video about Greg Packer, an otherwise completely ordinary American who has managed to become the most quoted individual with almost 1,000 individual media quotations:

Since his name first appeared on newsprint, in 1995, he’s spoken to reporters on subjects ranging from the war in Iraq to the release of the first iPhone. Greg’s campaign to be the most quoted man in news has been so successful that the Associated Press sent its staff a memo that essentially banned interviews with him. That hasn’t stopped Greg’s “career.” Individually, his quotes are utterly unremarkable, but, considered as a whole, they add up to a rather stunning body of work.

Follow the link to watch the 5-minute video.