Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Don't Fence Me In

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HE WHO BUILDS A FENCE,
FENCES OUT MORE THAN HE FENCES IN.

~Turkish Proverb


Of Note: Fence building to stop human movement is nothing new. One has to look no further than pictures of the Great Wall of China or the Berlin Wall to see that. Lately, though, fencing people in and out has received a new level of attention in such places as Jerusalem between the Israeli and the Palestinian sections and along the border between Mexico and the United States. This past week National Geographic reported on the plight of refugees fleeing from North Korea to China and points beyond. A stark picture of a fence topped with concertina wire showed the difficulty and courage required to get out. Frankly, fencing to keep people apart smacks of barbarism and perpetrates the illusion of separatism. Someday light-filled future generations, who know that freedom is ultimately unrestrainable, will look back and shake their heads at these futile fencing efforts. Marie provide this serene picture of horse fencing from a walk she took in the fall. Modern human fencing never looks serene.

Today's Weather Report: It was just a few degrees below zero Fahrenheit this morning, not enough to make the house too cold when first getting up. A light snow is falling. Small flakes mirror the cold temps. Meterorology reports predict these gray conditions will last all day.

News You Can Use Snippet: Recently, measurement technology has reached new heights. In some instances, it can go no higher. Take the measurement of time: the Max Planck Institute for Quantam Optics found a way to measure time to within a millionth of a billionth of a second. They accomplished this feat by measuring the "ticks" that a single atom of mercury emits. A clock has already been built using the new method that will not lose even one second in a billion years. An official from this esteemed institute elaborated on other uses for the technology: "Such tools would constitute a space-time microscope that would make the motion of electrons visible in slow motion."

Given these advances, one wonders how humanity can advance so far on one hand and be so far behind on the other?

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