Calling for MoveOn.org

Here we are after the calls have been made! Click on the photo to see a few more in the album.

Improving my Prayer Time?

I don't click on spam links. Really. I guess the spammers have to send the messages, but I don't have to respond. I always read the from and subject lines with my fingers on Ctrl-D, and I can see the come-ons going by in the preview window. When the spam is all gone -- usually 20 or so messages -- I read the newsletters I have requested and sometimes hear from a friend or family member.

But I was tempted, really tempted, to click on this one that came today.

It came from Living Christian. Now, who in their right mind with the last name Christian would name their kid "Living"? When choosing names, one should give some thought to where the names will appear: on the birth announcement, on the diploma, on the wedding invitation, on the organizational chart, on the grave marker. Imagine seeing in the obituaries that Living has died. Or maybe somewhere a spam think-tank believes that Living is such a common name that I will believe it is someone I met at a conference and open the e-mail and be snared by the come-on graphics.

But wait, the e-mail isn't addressed to me. It is addressed to N. I am not N. I know who M is, and I know who Q is, but these are the only letter people I know. I know a Bea, a Dee, and a Jay, but these aren't B, D, and J. I don't even know who N is, and here I am with N's e-mail.

In the preview pane, there is the come-on graphic. An ethnic-appearing model, not quite any race except Maybelline. Just the head, arms, and shoulders. Face almost in profile, just a bit toward the camera. Elbows on white sheets, hands clasped under her upturned chin. Eyes on the ceiling light fixture, apparently. A loose plunging neckline of white in a sleeveless camisole. Long black hair loose and brushed back. Full mouth closed, a bit sad. And the headline -- actually reading toward the forehead --

Strengthen your Faith Daily
Try Living Christian Software Free* Today

There are exciting features listed, like searching for any Bible passage (the way you can in Google, I imagine), and add and track your notes through the program. And "tests and quizzes throughout to track and test your knowledge."

And at the bottom of the graphic of course the reminder that you can try it free.

Living Christian, which, by the way, you can try free, is not the only product in the ad. Outside the graphic box (which is one big link, just in case you are one of those random clickers) there is another teaser. It says "Improve your prayer time -- visit here."

Now, improving your prayer time has to be serious business. And I am impressed that you can try Living Christian free.

But my fingers are on Ctrl D, and I am not N, and the nano-second that I wonder what they are selling and how much it costs falls to the reflex, and I go read my newsletter from AARP.

But I did pause for just a split second, so I may be getting weak. Next thing you know I may click on "Innovative Degrees" or "Dream Job" or "fwd: Wanna money with BCLC great" or "FSR - Turn your PC into a SuperTV." But I did manage to resist "Are you Christian, N?"

Kitty for adoption

Those of you who know Dixie know that this is a special kitten! Dixie said that she purred even through the bath. She is black with big gold eyes and huge tufted ears. Click on the photo to see this photo larger and another photograph. Send me e-mail (Sarah at Thirdlayer.org) for contact information.

Note 9-13 at 9:00 p.m.: This kitten has been adopted and is no longer available.

Handle on Reality

I have been listening to the fear campaign that accompanies the approach of elections, and it appears that our government actually believes that terrorism is the biggest threat to human civilization.

I decided that I was willing to bet that there were bigger threats to human beings than terrorism. Just off the top of my head, I came up with the notion that probably the number one worldwide killer of human beings was poverty and its associated mix of poor living conditions and lack of access to medical care. In this frame of mind, I went to my Google guru and put in the phrase "death toll of poverty," and up came a whole raft of more or less associated information.

One of the links went to a geocities home page for Donald McBride. I kept skating around his reference links, particularly the ones on death rates , and I discovered that in 2002 worldwide terrorism was not in the top 20. Road traffic accidents was number 10, and number 14 was self-inflicted.

Here at home in the USA, the top ranked cause of death is disease, with 749 deaths per 100,000 in 2001, and we are allowed to note that death from disease is possibly poverty-related. Number 4 is natural disaster with 0.2 per 100,000, and as we saw in New Orleans, natural disaster is not an effect of poverty, but death from natural disaster is related to poverty. War is blamed for 5.7 deaths per 100,000 from 1941 to 2004. Terrorism hits the chart at 0.06 deaths per 100,000 from 1982 to 2004.

So I am going to go out on a limb here and state that terrorism is not our biggest problem. Too bad we couldn't get a government that was obsessed with getting everyone medical insurance or planning evacuation procedures for people who can't hop in their SUV.

Much thanks to Donald McBride for the site!