The Great Separation

News Flash: Americans Work Longer, But Get Less Done.

The law of diminishing returns. - Ellen Wulfhorst reports for Reuters that US workers are working longer but getting less accomplished.

I knew it wasn't just me.

Wulfhort reports:

The biggest culprit is the technology that was supposed to make work quicker and easier, experts say.

"Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it's slowed everything down, paradoxically," said John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Those stupid computer again. Oh, and cell phones. And eMail. And text messages (which I absolutely love!).

I think they left off blogging.

Ah well.... Hey! Quit surfing the net and get back to work!

China Bans 'Roger Rabbit' & 'Blue's Clues'.

No freedom of cartoon here. - Here's an oddity for you. China has decided to ban any television show or movie that blends live action with cartoons.

Alexa Olesen reports for the AP:

The government's main television and film regulator sent notice Feb. 15 to broadcasters and theaters that such films and shows could no longer be shown and that violators would be punished. It did not say what the penalties would be.

It also did not give examples of banned programs but described them as "so-called cartoons that mainly feature real people and only occasionally have computer-generated elements."

This is really added proof that China is not a free society. Olesen reports that China's banning of such movies like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Space Jam" is really the countries attempt mitigate how much foreign cultures influence their people. It's also an attempt to give the animation studios in China a leg up. Which I can understand to a degree, but I am also sure that the government will control what those animators produce.

Only Understanding God thru Drugs?!!!

Please tell me you're joking. - I just read a headline on the Drudge Report that grabbed my attention.

The headline was, "Supreme Court OKs Hallucinogenic Tea..."

The story is an AP story by Gina Holland titled, "Court Allows Church's Hallucinogenic Tea.

The gist is that a church in New Mexico uses a tea that contains a drug named dimethyltryptamine (DMT ).

The federal government confiscated the hallucinogenic tea and tried to prohibit the use of the tea in church ceremonies.

So the whole thing went into the court system and to the US Supreme Court as a First Amendment issue. The court ruled against the federal government apparently because the government did a poor job of presenting the evidence in the case, so they sent it back down to a lower court for more evidence.

On first blush it sounds to me that the court was right in it's ruling. But that's not what concerns me.

What worries me is this (emphasis added):

The tea, which contains an illegal drug known as DMT, is considered sacred to members of O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal, which has a blend of Christian beliefs and South American traditions. Members believe they can understand God only by drinking the tea, which is consumed twice a month at four-hour ceremonies.

What a horribly sad belief! If this church truly believes that they need this drug to hear from God than it's a belief that comes straight from the mouth of Satan! Not at all unlike the lie that snake spun in the Garden of Eden over the forbidden fruit.

A drug is not needed to understand God. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to those who call Him Savior so that we can understand God:

“"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot grasp it now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into the whole truth; for He will not speak on His own authority but will tell what is told Him, and will announce to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because He will take the things that belong to me and tell them to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; this is why I have told you, ‘He will take the things that are mine and tell them to you.’” (John 16:12-15 WILLIAMS)

And:

“For God unveiled them to us through His Spirit, for the Spirit by searching discovers everything, even the deepest truths about God.” (1 Corinthians 2:10 WILLIAMS)

I hope the truth can get through to this church body if they indeed believe that a drug is necessary for their communion with God. Because if they do believe such a false doctrine then it is more than likely the god they are communing with is not the True King of kings.

The Great Separation continues.

This Week's Scripture: Colossians 4: 5-6.

Stand in it. - Do you ever find yourself just searching the scriptures? You know, sitting down with God's Word open before you and thumbing through. No particular idea of what you're looking for, but perhaps just a desire to be in His Word?

That was me today off and on.

And the extremely interesting part is that verses five and six in the fourth chapter of Colossians arrested my attention this evening. The reason is that I was either in a position to practice it, witnessed others applying it, or saw examples where it should have been followed.

My God is an awesome God!

Here's the verse:

"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Colossians 4:5-6.

I'll be the first to admit I don't always put these verses into practice like I should. For that I ask God's forgiveness and the forgiveness of those I've offended. I am ever a man being perfected in the image of Christ and pray that the Father would find my striving worthy.

The Great Separation continues.

I've Discovered Sudoku Puzzles!

Cool Bean Counting! - Okay so maybe I didn't discover Sudoku, maybe it was the Japanese. But mercy I'm addicted. I spotted it last Thursday in the paper while reading the best part of the paper, the comics. I got hooked.

And you know what, there's a great website for this puzzle too: Sudoku Shack.

Welcome Sweet Hannah!

You are a jewel from God's crown. - I just want to share a special little girl with you.

Born to two of my closest friends, Caleb and Sara, on February 11, 2006, Hannah Elizabeth:

This Week's Scripture: Philippians 4:13.

Stand in it. - Life sure can be frustrating and even down right scary at times. There can be whole seasons in our lives where difficulty and trial beat upon us. One of the great Biblical examples is Job.

But we have other real day examples as well. Consider the persecuted Church. They face terrible conditions and suffer like Christ.

Here in the America, we don't know that type of suffering, but we do know other kinds of suffering and trial. Our suffering is just as important to our Heavenly Father as those who suffer torture and death.

And He does not allow anything to come our way that we cannot handle through Christ our Savior.

So here is this week's scripture:

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. - Philippians 4:13."

May Christ forever be your strength.

The Great Separation continues.

RFID Love.

Tech x Love. - When saying, "I love you," isn't enough there's RFID.

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification.

It's becoming, among other uses, a popular way to track the sales of distribution of retail items in real time.

Why does this interest me? Well, it's cutting edge technology that will I think become more ubiquitous in our lives in years to come. Which will bring with it a set of privacy issues.

But that's not the focus of this post. The focus is a strange oddity.

A couple implanted themselves with RFID tags to show their love for each other.

CTV.ca reports:

Jennifer Tomblin and Amal Graafstra have made the most modern declaration of their affection for each other, with implanted electronic chips that allow them unfettered access to each other's lives.

It's called Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID. Both have had a small electronic chip embedded under their skin that grants access to each other's front doors and home computers.

Well, I guess love can be irrational at times.

If one reads further down the CTV.ca article, it's explained that the company that makes the glass tube incased chips doesn't recommend this kind of use. Particularly since they aren't designed for it apparently.

What happens if you hit your hand against something and the glass breaks? Ouch.

Also, the whole idea of implanting a chip in one's hand sounds so, "Mark of the Beast," that I... well, anyway, it's an oddity for today.

[hat tip: Drudge Report]

Trying out a New Look for TGS.

Try this on. - Well, I thought it was time for a change to the look for The Great Separation.

Let me know what you think.

I modified a TypePad template a little.

Chinese Christian Released from Prison but Still Monitored.

They hate you because of me - Almost two years ago, I posted about the arrest of Dr. Xu Yonghai.

He was arrested for investigating Christian persecution by the Chinese government. They charged him and Liu Fenggang with revealing state secrets.

China Aid Association notifies us that Dr. Yonghai has been released but is under constant surveillance and suffering from heart problems. Here is the press release:

Contact: Bob Fu, China Aid Association, 267-205-5210, 432-689-6985, info@ChinaAid.org

MIDLAND, Texas, Feb.13 /Christian Wire Service/ -- China Aid Association learned that the freedom of a prominent Christian rights activist was restricted by Chinese security agents after his release from a two-year prison term.

Dr. Xu Yonghai, a former psychiatric doctor at Beijing Pingan Hospital has been closely surveilled after his release from a Hangzhou Prison, Zhejiang Province on January 29, 2006.

According to Xu's own account to CAA, before his release the Chinese security agents installed three video cameras in front of his apartment [in] order to monitor his activities and his identification cards were not returned to him. Xu's wife, Ms. Li Shanna, refused to sign a form demanding she report her husband's activities to the Chinese authorities.