Sunday, December 26, 2010

38,000

Thirty Eight Thousand. That's how many denominations of Christians there are in the world today: thirtyeight thousand (38,000)

I ran across this little factiod as I was looking on Wikipedia for a list of Christian denominations. You can see the wiki article here.

I can't remember why I was looking up that information. I got rather side tracked by that rather large number: thirtyeight thousand. I was expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty to fifty not a number one thousand times larger than that.

And all of this got me to thinking and wondering.

That's 38,000 different interpretations of the same text.

How would one know which is the "right" interpretation?

What happens if one chooses the "wrong" interpretation?

Widening that thought out to encompass all of the religions of the world, how would one know that one's religion was the "right" one?

Is it possible that the reason there are so many different religions in the world is to suit the many different personalities of humans so that the individual follows the doctrine that works the best for them?

And isn't it really ridiculous to argue over which way is "right" and which way is "wrong"?

Friday, December 3, 2010

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! And so begins the annual whinging about local businesses and governments wishing people "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." I really don't get why this is such a big problem.

Looking back through Christmas cards received over the years the following are traditional Christmas greetings:
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Season's Greetings
Happy Holidays
Peace on Earth, Good will to men
Joy to the World

Very rarely have I received a Christmas card that only wished me a Merry Christmas. Happy New Year is usually included in the greeting. Originally Happy Holidays was a shortened version of "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." Now it encompasses all the religious holidays that fall in December.

This is also the season when Christians should be spreading the message of peace on earth, good will to men, and joy to the world. I don't see how demanding that businesses and government institutions only post "Merry Christmas" and ignore the holidays of non-christians is in keeping with that mandate. In fact, it seems rather churlish to me to insist that Happy Holidays which includes everyone be replaced with Merry Christmas which excludes non-christians. It just doesn't seem like a very Christian thing to do to not wish your Jewish friends and neighbors a Happy Hanukkah.

Peace on Earth
Good will towards all humans regardless of what religion they practice

Friday, November 26, 2010

Are Ereaders Environmentally Friendly?

Ereaders are becoming more and more popular. There's Amazon's Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook ereaders that more and more people are buying. They're touted as being enviromentally friendly. But are they really as friendly to the environment as is being claimed?

On the surface it would appear that an ereader is more friendly to the environment than a traditionally published book. No trees are used to produce an ebook nor is there any wastewater produced which must be treated.

Electricity however is used both in the production of the ebook and the reading of it. Epublishers use computers to make, market, and distribute ebooks which require electricity. While ereaders use batteries as their main source of power. Those batteries must be recharged using household electricity. The generation of electricity produces both air and water pollution and solid waste depending on the energy source.

According to the Cleantech Group as reported by cnet, the production of the Kindle produces 168 kg of carbon dioxide. A book produces 7.46 kg of carbon dioxide. After purchasing 22.5 ebooks instead of regular books, the ereader begins to produce less carbon dioxide than paper books. That number however does not take into consideration the energy required to produce the ebooks nor recharge the battery as described above.

Looking at the natural resources, books are printed on paper which is mostly made from trees. While trees are a renewable resource, the consumption of trees to make paper is an environmental concern. There is the Green Press Initiative to advance sustainable patterns of production.

Ereaders are made of many constituents including lead, nickel, cadmium, mercury, and plastic. Metals are not a renewable resource. We only have so much of it and then it is gone. Plastic is manufactured using petroleum products another nonrenewable resource. In addition there is the pollution generated from the manufacture of the plastic and the smelting of the ores needed to make the ereader.

Looking at the back end of these products life, what happens to the book when the user is finished reading it? Some people keep the books they have read. Some people pass on their books to someone else when they have finished reading them. Some people trade them in at a used bookstore or donate them to the library. Very few people who read books throw them in the trash when they are finished reading a book. (If you're one of those who throws a book away, then consider giving them away or at least put them in the paper recycling bin.) What ends up in the landfill is mostly paper which is biodegrable.

What happens to an ereader when it no longer functions? Most people will throw them in the trash. In a study of the ewaste stream, the EPA estimates that between 10 to 18 percent of electronic wastes are reused, refurbished, or recycled. 80 to 90% of ewaste ends up in the landfill and it is composed of nickel, cadmium, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals. While the EPA currently estimates that the leachate from landfills is below the standards set for these metals. It is not inconceivable that this will not always be the case and that there will come a point in time when the metals leaching from ewaste will be high enough to be a concerned.

In my opinion, the ereaders and ebooks are less friendly to the environment than a paper book. The problems created from book production can be mitigated and the industry made sustainable. The same can not be said of the ereaders.

If you want a Kindle or Nook, go ahead and buy one. (And when you're done with it, please recycle it in an ewaste recycling program.) Just understand that it is not as friendly to the environment as some proponents will tell you.

(ETA: I used to be an environmental engineer and worked in environmental compliance.)

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Press One For English

"Press One for English" seems to get a lot of Americans upset. I read or hear things like, "If you can't speak English, you shouldn't move to America." "We're Americans we should only speak English" blahblahblah

I think these are the same Americans who go to Europe and expect everyone over there to speak English and don't bother taking a phrase book with them. Seriously, why would anyone expect everyone in say Italy to be able to speak English when hardly anyone in America can speak Italian?

I don't have an aptitude for languages. I have tried to learn Spanish, German, and Russian. When I lived in LA, I tried really hard to speak in Spanish to those who couldn't speak English. I studied Spanish for six years when I was in school. With that much study, a person ought to be able to have a simple conversation, but I can't. I totally suck at learning a new language.

So, for those people who have immigrated to America, but can't speak English. Cut them so slack. For some people it isn't easy to learn a new language. They know that being able to speak English would make their lives a lot easier here in America. If they could, they would speak English.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Why the Whispering Sea Sprite

Back in 1992 I read Julie Garwood's "The Secret." In one scene one of the characters said: (paraphrased) "One whisper added to a thousand whispers will become a roar of discontent that can not be ignored." ... One whisper added to a thousand whispers becomes a roar of discontent. That thought has stuck with me for a long time.

I have a blog, The Scribbling Sea Sprite, for writing and small publishing related things. This blog is for my thoughts about other things. As I was trying to come up with a name for it, that thought kept coming up. But whisper and one whisper and all the other variations of that were already taken. And then I hit on whispering sprite. The Whispering Sea Sprite kept it consistent with my other blog. So, there you have it quiet contemplation of whatever is on my mind.