Saint Batman?

An interesting read for those who have seen the new Batman movie from Father Raymond J. de Souza, a Roman Catholic priest at Queen's University in Australia. Many of my friends came to mind as I read this one.

"Gotham needs a hero with a face," we are told. Yes, the world needs a witness to the truth, the goodness and the beauty of reality; a witness to the order of creation; a witness to the enduring reason through which all things were made; a witness with a human face.

We don't call those people superheroes. We call them saints.

Codex Sinaiticus

The oldest complete manuscript of the New Testament is now available online (news story here). The Codex Sinaiticus was written in the mid-300's AD and includes other ancient writings outside of the NT including the Shepherd of Hermas (on which I wrote a graduate paper and I highly recommend, especially if you like Revelation), Epistle of Barnabas, 1 & 2 Clement, and the Didache.

Enjoy!

Wendell Berry On Sex

Not entirely unrelated to Tuesday's post on abortion, I love what eminent Kentucky writer Wendell Berry has to say about sex in America.

The "conservatives" more or less attack homosexuality, abortion, and pornography, and the "liberals" more or less defend them. Neither party will oppose sexual promiscuity. The "liberals" will not oppose promiscuity because they do not wish to appear intolerant of "individual liberty." The "conservatives" will not oppose promiscuity because sexual discipline would reduce the profits of corporations, which in their advertisements and entertainments encourage self-indulgence as a way of selling merchandise.

From Wendell Berry, Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community, (New York: Pantheon, 1993): 123.

While Berry may be generalizing a bit here, I think his point is a sharp one. And, to Tuesday's post on China's sex-selective abotions, abortion (and unwanted pregnancy) is a result--not a cause. Perhaps a focused conversation about sex can elicit better thinking about some of the issues Berry points out. Of course, that's the issue. The "two sides" would rather make it about political jostling than addressing the root of the problem. As Berry says, there's a lot to lose by doing that. A close examination of our views of sex, its use as a marketing tool, and sexuality's role in Creation (big C, not just procreation) might help give us fresh perspective on sex in America. But, that takes some transparency, courage, and a willingness to (2008 Buzzword Warning) change.

Too Many Boys in China?

Freakonomics famously connects the passing of Roe v Wade (1973) with the mid-1990s drop in U.S. crime. Their argument (short version) is that many women opting for abortion are single, poor, and do not want a child. Children born unwanted to single, poor mothers are much more likely to become criminals. Levitt and Dubner, the authors of Freakonomics, contend that a large percentage of the precipitous drop in crime in the 1990s can be be attributed to a chunk of the (would-be) population that was never born into these less than desirable environments. I should add that the authors merely conclude that there is a connection--not that abortion is "worth it" or that abortion should be legal. They simply make a positive analysis (a connection between abortion and the crime drop), not a normative one (that abortion is "right" or "wrong" or should/should not be legal). That's a different kind of question.

That said, here is an interesting take on sex-selective abortion and crime: surplus males and the skyrocketing crime rate in China.

A snippet from Mara Hvistendahl's The New Republic Piece that the Freakonomics blog references:

The macho violence spurting forth through outlets like war games is a growing trend in Chinese society--and China's one-child policy, in effect since 1979, is partly responsible. The country's three decades of iron-fisted population planning coincided with a binge in sex-selective abortions (Chinese traditionally favor sons, who carry on the family line) and a rise, even as the country developed, in female infant mortality. After almost 30 years of the policy, China now has the largest gender imbalance in the world, with 37 million more men than women and almost 20 percent more newborn boys than girls nationwide.

This could be a painful lesson in unintended consequences for China.

Dialect and Dollars

I've blogged before about regional dialects. Over at the Freakonomics blog, Steven Levitt summarizes some University of Chicago research on how speech patterns affect salary. Research by his colleague Jeff Grogger has found that "sounding black" costs you about 10% in salary per year. So does "sounding southern." Not sure how the researchers defined their terms, though...

Anyway, Levitt summarizes:

His main finding: blacks who “sound black” earn salaries that are 10
percent lower than blacks who do not “sound black,” even after controlling for
measures of intelligence, experience in the work force, and other factors that
influence how much people earn. (For what it is worth, whites who “sound black”
earn 6 percent lower than other whites.)...It turns out you don’t want to sound
southern, either. Although pretty imprecisely estimated, it is almost as bad for
your wages to sound southern as it is to sound black, even controlling for
whether you live in the south.

Humans. Strange creatures. This is why I find economics interesting. Of course, regression analysis has its problems proving causation, but there are a lot of arrows pointing in the same direction in this research.

After being in academia for 14 years counting my time as a student, I have learned to dial back my rural Kentucky accent at least to a "mild" level if I feel the need. But, honestly, I kind of like "leaving it on" sometimes. And, I have to say in defense of accents, one of my most brilliant history professors had a heavy, gravelly, Mississippi drawl and another great prof had a classic Southern accent.

And, of course, there is a difference between speaking English well with an accent and speaking English poorly with an accent.

Adventures in Automated Software

When is "Gay" not "homosexual?"

Only your computer knows for certain.

11 Best Foods You Are Not Eating

And, in some cases, they are relatively inexpensive foods, too. From the NY Times wellness section:

Eat These Eleven

To be honest, I don't eat beets. But, I'm willing to shred them and try them as a salad base. I'll let you know how that goes.