Future worries. - 14 April 2007

[silveradept]

JAMS meeting was great fun. Watched a couple episodes of Ouran Host, some of Kamen Rider Den-O, some of GekiRanger, and then things went into video game mode. Which was fine with me. Although I think I overstayed my welcome (sorry), maybe even more than just a bit (really sorry).

Next week promises to be interesting. I’m having a bit of a future anxiety attack. If I should be offered a position before all the applications that I’ve put in have given responses, what do I do? Do I accept the one, hedging that the others won’t come through? Do I pass it up, looking for something else? If I take the job, I wonder if I passed up a better job. Future anxieties and such. I suspect I’m not going to be able to put one group on hold for a few months while I wait out all the rest. (Bad idea.) This isn’t an actual situation yet, but it could end up being one. I’m not sure what to do about it. Advice from those who’ve been around those parts?

Got to remember to do a few things. Shave and a haircut being one of the important ones. Presentability for graduation is good. Also, need to look around for diploma frames. Anyone have a good quote on a good double-degree frame?

Researchers are working on whether scrapping the current Internet and installing ALTIMIT... err, starting again, would be a good idea. Good feelings to those who get the reference. Considering that the current Internet is quite capable of being a very sexist place, (actually, you can put most of the “ists” in there and it still holds), a reboot might do well for many, and improved authentication and authorization means could cut down on bad behavior

Itsy-Bitsy-Singing-Spider-Man. Parker’s made it big, even with J. Jonah smearing him every chance he gets - he’s got a kids’ plush toy. However, considering that the context I was linked to this in was something to the effect of “Oh, **** no. This is way beyond wrong”, perhaps others will find it more frightening that the Tickle Me Elmo and Furbies combined. Or odder than Mike Tyson being in a promotional shoot for a Bollywood movie.

The eyes in space looking at the X-ray spectrum were treated to an interesting event - the eclipsing of a black hole. Which actually helped them out quite a bit in estimating how big a disc of gas around the black hole was, and how close to the core it might be. I get the feeling there was something strongly scientifically important about this, or that it could be used in such a manner, but I’m actually unsure what it might be.

The Vice President dodged another attempt on his life after a bird flew into one of the engines of Air Force Two as Mr. Cheney was getting underway to Chicago. Would be interesting to start seeing a press release about the increase in “Nature-related terrorism” and a promise to find and deal with the perpetrators.

I don’t think it is, but a case of actual Bible-thumping might be the first of its kind. A guard took a Bible and struck a prisoner across the face with it. The guard reported the act and is currently on leave, with two charges having been filed against him.

Lest you think that Catholics have the monopoly on child abuse, ABC New details some of the numbers and cases of Protestant predator preachers. The focus is on the Southern Baptist Convention, specifically, and their lack of a national organization to handle these things. What slips through, however, is that it’s very hard to tell which preachers are predators, and that the ministry is a good place for predators to end up in. The vow of chastity should be a strong one, if it’s going to be kept. What might be better is doing away with it... but the real problem in this case is like one in almost any other power relationship - one person, likely the one committing the abuses, is more likely to be believed and trusted, or is actively trying to make sure that the victims don’t say anything. *sigh* It makes you feel a little helpless when problems like these appear, and it doesn’ t look like there’s any easy or comprehensible way of making progress on the problem.

Moving away from such a depressing point into happier realms, the current Administration very quietly released a report showing that abstinence-only programs don't make people any more likely to be abstinent. (The report is available as a PDF document) No effect at all. Those who are going to have sex are going to have sex. It’s our duty to inform them of how to do it safely. And possibly to request that they wait until the maturation process makes them able to handle sexuality, both physically and mentally. But definitely information on how to have safe sex, since some are going to do it.

Secondly, the state of Washington has ensured that phramacies must fill all orders presented to them. Pharmacists with objections can still pass the job off to a co-worker who will fill it, if the order can be filled in the same visit. If not, then the objector will have to fill the prescription anyway.

Last for tonight is a thing for budding counterfeiters... err, novelty makers. Considering that what it does is take a different face and put it on a currency scan, it’s probably not going to do much for fooling. Still a personalized money generator sounds great, doesn’t it? It would make some thing of having their own money tree or U.S. Mint press. Alas, this is not the case.

So, going to bed. Thinking about the future. Wondering whether, if it should come to pass, whether to jump on the first job offer I get...

Comments

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

Reading the article about the baptist ministers makes me feel fortunate that stuff like that never happened to me. my church had two Associate Pastors during my attendance there, and both were great guys. We'd be alone with them all the time because parents would assume "well, he's a minister". I guess we were pretty lucky. also, recently arrested was a Presbyterian minister in philly for molesting girls in the late 70s/early 80s. yuck-o.

and wow. $87 million wasted. That's horrible.

[silveradept]

Well, that's kind of the problem with a lot of people who are predators. They're usually in positions where people wouldn't think of predators being normally, or as people, they don't set off predator warning bells.

Well, $87 million wasted only if the government continues to insist on funding abstinence-only programs, rather than taking the results and deciding to put the money into more effective programs. (Plus, if you believe all of the Iraq war has been a waste, that's a much bigger sink than $87 million. Still, find and eliminate waste wherever you can, right?)

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

True. Most parents have the idea that Church is a safe place for their kids to hang out, not realizing that it can still have the same problems as anyplace else. But, since churches aren't "controlled" in that way, and as far as I know there's no type of criminal background check for ministers, people who are sexual predators become ministers because they *can*.

Yeah. something tells me maybe they ought to toss that $87 mil into actual sex ed/birth control education. And regular sex ed *does* include a bit on abstinance, so they'll still have their abstinence being taught, they just also will have the chance to possibly make a difference and educate about birth control and heck, maybe even hand out free condoms at places other than planned parenthood.

[eleme.livejournal.com]

for this very reason our church does background checks of all staff and anyone who works with kids. too many scary stories regarding kids/abuse/church. I wish it didn't have to be that way though :(

[eleme.livejournal.com]

In regards to your interview/jobs question my experience has been that you won't be offered a job on that first interview. But! If you buck the trend and do a rockstar first interview and they offer you the job? Ask for some time to think about it (totally fair) and think about whether that particular position is really something you want to do (or did you just apply willy-nilly?). Be careful not to bite just because it's the first. I usually got a sense after my interviews as to whether the school and staff were places where or people with whom I would want to work. If you think that that first interview/offer are right for you, go for it. Be careful, but don't hold back ... if that makes any sense at all.