I've thought of a potential idea for BlogWatcher, and I want opinions on it. The "hot button" of all this "web 2.0" stuff is bringing social networking into the mix. Right now, the only thing about BlogWatcher that changes based on who subscribes is the view that non-subscribers see - they get the most recent 100 posts from the subscriptions of all active subscribers combined.

This video is featured very prominently on the Defend DeLay website. Now, I have very little respect for Mr. DeLay, but I would at least have assumed that someone who had reached the powerful position that he had in the US government would have the ability to recognise sarcasm when he saw it.Apparently not.

HT: The Carpetbagger's Report

I've made a very tiny change to BlogWatcher as it relates to Xanga. The good folks at Xanga have finally decided to officially release the URL for their RSS feeds. Unfortunately, it's different than the one I've been using. The old one works, but there's no guarantee it will continue.

Alan over at A Different Perspective calls for people to "please get upset" about the NSA's data mining of the phone records of millions of Americans. And I agree, we should be upset. Anyone who's read my blog will know that I'm an advocate of privacy. But I have to admit that I reacted more with apathy than indignation at the recent announcement.

Then I found out about the Washington Post-ABC News Poll which basically shows that 2 out of 3 Americans support this sort of privacy invasion, if it results in more security.

Now, I have a problem with the structure of the survey, which implies an inverse correlation between privacy and security. I don't think that relationship has been established. But, be that as it may, the results are what they are. A strong majority of Americans favor giving up some degree of privacy in exchange for an increased feeling of security. Am I wrong to see a problem with this?

On Friday, President Bush declared today, May 1, 2006, as both Law Day and Loyalty Day. My first reaction on reading the Law Day declaration was to be amazed at the audacity of the man.

Bill Nye, 'The Science Guy' upset some people when he spoke at a community college in Waco

The Emmy-winning scientist angered a few audience members when he criticized literal interpretation of the biblical verse Genesis 1:16, which reads: “God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.â€

Wendy and I have been talking about the immigration controversy that's been raging recently. We both agree that the debate over guest workers vs border security really misses the point. By and large, people don't come here because they want to have their lives uprooted and their families split apart. They come because they have no choice. Addressing the root causes of economic disparity is a permanent solution, rather than the temporary patches represented in most debates.

I haven't made many changes to BlogWatcher recently. Well, not changes that would be visible to a user, anway. So I was thinking about directions that I could go, and I wanted to get some feedback.

Here are some of the things I'm thinking about

One Year Bible Blog: April 11th readings

The passage that struck me today was Luke 14:7-11, where Jesus uses the illustration of places at a dinner party to encourage his followers to humble themselves. I'm familiar with the passage, of course, but it always bothered me. It seemed to me that Jesus was advocating a false modesty, for the purpose of being manipulative. Being modest for the specific purpose of being exalted.

I read it differently today.