hochmann-y goodness

Ordinary web users in China will be banned from surfing sex-related medical and research websites from next month, amid an Internet crackdown on pornographic online content, according to new regulations.

Medical information service providers must install software to ensure only professionals can access sites that carry information and research about sex, the regulations on the website of the Ministry of Health (www.moh.gov.cn) said.

"The health sections of web portals are not allowed to conduct sex-related research services," the regulation added.

This is just... wow. China is socially conservative as it is, but now they're eliminating the one channel for non-embarrassing inquiry into sexual education and health. We've seen in the USA just how well things work out when you dumb down sexual education. I'm sure for China this will result in only milk, honey, and manna raining down from heaven.

The legitimate role of the federal government is expressly described in Section 8 of Article I of our U.S. Constitution. A brief summary of these limited federal powers is: collect taxes, provide for our country's defense and general welfare, regulate interstate commerce, oversee legal processes (naturalization, bankruptcies, patents, copyrights, federal courts, etc.), operate a post office, and govern the District of Columbia.

That's it!

Where in our constitution do you find the multitude of other "programs" and "initiatives" of today's federal government -- from education and environment to health care and housing? These are only partial examples of the powers that need to be delegated to the several states.

A proper return to state sovereignty would solve a LOT of our problems. Even assuming the various "communist" or "socialist" tendencies of the current federal government are desirable, why not let the individual STATES do those things? If my state really wanted to be anti-business and communist, that shouldn't mean the other 49 have to follow suit.

I just took the (very long!) VIA Signature Strengths questionnaire, which I saw mentioned in The Art of Happiness at Work. Here are my top 5 "strengths" according to the questionnaire:

Your Top Strength: Forgiveness and mercy
You forgive those who have done you wrong. You always give people a second chance. Your guiding principle is mercy and not revenge.

Your Second Strength: Love of learning
You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

Your Third Strength: Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith
You have strong and coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe. You know where you fit in the larger scheme. Your beliefs shape your actions and are a source of comfort to you.

Your Fourth Strength: Appreciation of beauty and excellence
You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

Your Fifth Strength: Bravery and valor
You are a courageous person who does not shrink from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain. You speak up for what is right even if there is opposition. You act on your convictions.

My father's best legacy were the dazzling smiles he gave when he could not afford to. As a son of a former landowner whose lands had been confiscated by the new [Chinese] Communist government, my father suffered during the Cultural Revolution.

I don't usually go for sappy Father's Day news stories, but this one really shows how a good father (and indeed any good human) lives his life.

Side note -- if this small taste of what terrible things Communism can do shocks or interests you, I highly recommend reading "Blood Red Sunset" by Ma Bo. It's a jaw-dropping account of what it was like to be on the inside of China's Cultural Revolution, with book-burning, intimidation, and hard labor camps even for those who supported the movement. Go find it on Powells, Amazon, or at your favorite bookstore.

The emails carry the subject line “Your friend invited you to twitter!”, while the sender’s address is spoofed as “invitations@twitter.com”. Unlike a typical Twitter invite, however, the email contains no invitation link: instead it carries the attached file Invitation Card.zip, tempting the receiver to download it. The attachment, of course, contains W32.Ackantta.B@mm – a nasty, email address-harvesting worm.

Although I disagree with a lot of what Obama and his administration have done so far, I do appreciate Obama's approach to the situation in Iran. It is nice to see he is not jumping on things like the House is, hurling condemnations on issues that don't concern us (and especially don't concern our elected officials). His response thus far is surprisingly true to America's ideals, and actually earned admiring words from Ron Paul -- which is a positive testament to how sane this response really is.

Obama said: "If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion."

Obama has not yet said whether he thinks the election was stolen.

Good. I hope he doesn't ever say, because it's not his job or his business to say.

What is Obama doing right here? He is criticizing violence and repression, which is exactly what an American President should do. Not getting caught up in the details of the election and whether or not it was rigged -- that is smart. The election, fake or not, is none of our business. But if America is supposed to be a "beacon of freedom" like so many people claim/dream, then Obama's response so far is commendable. As he should, he's supporting the protesters only in so far as he condemns violent action against them. It's not his duty nor a wise thing to do to take any sides with regard to the election or other politics.

So for once, kudos to Obama from me.

Of course I do not support attempts by foreign governments to suppress the democratic aspirations of their people, but when is the last time we condemned Saudi Arabia or Egypt or the many other countries where unlike in Iran there is no opportunity to exercise any substantial vote on political leadership? It seems our criticism is selective and applied when there are political points to be made.