Normally, I don't engage in extended dialog here; I just make extensive comments. I am afraid that Mokuwai missed a key point:

Many of the guests at our picnic are physically impaired by traumatic brain injury. They are really unable to meet their help halfway. One would think that such an injury would make them eligible for services for the occupationally disabled. For instance, the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation could provide them with retraining and placement services, as well as hooking them up with medical services and housing assistance. But the process of entering such a program involves paperwork that makes your income taxes look simple. Besides, who normally knows that the DVR program even exists? Do you know where your local DVR office is located? If you have an occupational injury; perhaps a fall from a scaffold, or an accidental chemical exposure; but it is not acute and immediately debilitating, there will be no diagnosis of "traumatic brain injury" to trip the system into offering help. Instead, you may suffer from more subtle effects like loss of concentration and short-term memory. You may have partial petite-mal seizures that cannot be recognized by your family, co-workers or doctors. Such seizures may cause temporary personality changes, making you suddenly stubborn, hostile and insubordinate. Without diagnosis and treatment, when treatment even exists, you may attempt to self-medicate by using alcohol or other drugs. These often give short-term relief, but have long-term debilitative consequences of their own.

Without a knowledgeable observer who is willing to act as an unpaid, informal caseworker and advocate, a person suffering from such an injury will simply appear to have developed a poor attitude. They will be labeled as having a 'chip on their shoulder' and a drinking problem. A definitive diagnosis can be made by arranging for an EEG, but it won't be observable unless a seizure occurs while the EEG is in progress. This means it is necessary to have a series of EEG tests done under different conditions intended to induce seizure.

Lets see, you first go to your primary care physician (PCP) for an initial visit, and get a referral to a neurologist. Then you see the neurologist to arrange for an EEG. If there is no seizure at the time of testing, you need to go back to your PCP and convince them that you need another neuro referral. Each appointment takes several hours and involves a co-payment, but your insurance policy may reject repeated neurological evaluations after an initial negative result, so you may have to pay for your subsequent evaluations out of pocket (your insurance will reimburse you for the covered amounts after the fact, if a positive result is discovered). So, even if you have good medical coverage, you may be out hundreds of dollars and a couple of weeks' worth of time. Good luck if you do not have insurance; and who is aware that a negative EEG may only indicate that you didn't have a seizure at the time of testing?

This scenario involves a clear case of brain injury, but is almost impossible to diagnose and treat unless you have a knowledgeable person who understands the significance of occasional headaches and personality change, and is willing to press the system for a series of expensive tests. It also assumes that some resources exist to pay for it all. (Yes, we have had occasion to do this for people. It is a nightmare to make the system work, and sometimes there is no effective treatment in the end).

Mokuwai does not seem to understand that it is very easy and natural to make a series of bad decisions. A single poor or uninformed decision can lead to a cascade of events that can leave an intelligent, healthy and educated person on the street in less than five years. It is tempting to believe that 'other' people are homeless because they did 'bad' things or made 'bad' decisions. Such beliefs are reassuring, because we can say to ourselves 'I will not fall to such depths, because I make right decisions'. It is important to realize that even the strongest and best-prepared of us can be vulnerable, and it doesn't take much for it to happen.

In The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14), "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable. . . ." (Follow the link to read it).

Oh, finally, I think it is terribly naive to believe that laws against feeding the poor are intended to lead people to appropriate services and agencies.

Our church sponsors a monthly lunch 'for the homeless'. When I describe it to people, I say that it is an 'open invitation' church picnic. We don't screen people and ask if they are homeless enough to qualify, we just feed all comers. OK, well my wife and our children do put flyers out at the shelter.

Our city has been very quietly cooperative with our effort, basically looking the other way. When the occasional police car comes by and asks if things are OK (we get a group of 60 - 150 people), we just say that our church is having a picnic, and offer to give them lunch.

Above all, this is a ministry of simple humanity. It is a terrible thing to be told to 'move along' all the time, and it is sometimes almost as bad to be treated with pity. Our one lunch a month will have no significant nutritional impact, but there's something nice about being welcome for an afternoon.

BTW, Alex is quite right about how easy it is to become homeless. I recall an article in Time magazine about people who live on the fringes of our society (which is located in Needles, CA for the purpose of the article). The reporter described a man who was a doctor at a hospital, but now does odd jobs and lives in a motel.

I tell people that the difference between being Chief of Surgery at a major hospital and living on the street is a patch of ice on the sidewalk. One day, the Chief steps out of his house and slips on the ice, injuring his back. He has physical therapy and has to take pain meds all the time. His attention wanders through a combination of pain and medication, and he makes a critical error of judgment on the job. A lawsuit results in a loss of status and money. He starts self-prescribing. His work deteriorates until the hospital board terminates him. His behavior becomes more and more erratic, and he loses his license. His wife divorces him because he is becoming dangerous to be around. He starts to drink in excess. He presents so poorly at the divorce proceedings, and his depression makes him uncaring for the outcome, so he basically loses everything. This spirals further and further until he is living in a motel in Needles, making occasional money by washing trucks.

All for a patch of ice on a cold morning.

It can take almost nothing to become homeless. Many of our friends have had job-related head injuries, and cannot hold down a job. They appear to be able-bodied, and I am sure that they can do a full day's work four days a week; but not the same four days. Our society and economy has no place for such people, and without a place, they are cut adrift. Others lack the ability to concentrate and follow through, and so cannot obtain the necessary public services because they cannot complete the paperwork.

I have almost had a PhD in molecular biology, but my depression almost killed me twice. I do not follow through well at all, and I was becoming a danger to my family. If my wife had decided to let me 'take my chances', I'd be on the street now. Instead, I now have a rather tenuous stability and a steady job. I always have to be careful about my thoughts and attitudes, and I always, always have to keep up with my medication; no matter how normal I may be feeling. The barrier between my life now and homelessness is paper-thin.

Hmmm . . . looks like a dead ringer for Mount Muldoon in the anime El Hazard.

I was at our state fair a couple of days ago. On selected evenings, the amusement rides are open on a pay-once, ride-all-night plan, instead of the usual ride-by-ticket plan.

My daughters and I have taken to calling it "ride 'til you puke night".

They had a new ride this year. My youngest daughter and I watched to see what it was like, before deciding whether to try it out. After the patrons removed themselves from the seats, one observation decided it for me: The attendant going to get a hose.

Hey! Why are some of the word redacted in this copy?

The model looks to be emulating the structure of Bacteriophage Lambda. See an electron micrograph at

http://www.bact.wisc.edu/themicrobialworld/Viruses3.jpg

When I was a grad student, I read that an economist was awarded a Nobel Prize for his research on the link between technological advancement and national prosperity. I pointed out to my lab-mates that:

1. Scientific and technological advancement is driven by the work of graduate students in our many universities.
2. Grad students subsist on a diet largely consisting of ramen noodles and coffee.
3. Our nation's prosperity depends on a continuous flow of new technologies.

It was clear to me that the "fuel" of prosperity, Ramen noodles and coffee, are vital materials, and that we should take steps to ensure their uninterrupted supply. Therefore, I proposed that the U.S. invade and annex Japan and Brazil.

I've always wondered why he can't afford a better voice font. I mean, he sounds like Microsoft Sam! (OK, LH Michael)

How did she fit that voice in such a tiny frame?

This is seriously scary stuff sometimes. While things are relatively calm between the two countries, rituals of this sort can be a 'peaceful' way to express their unhappiness with each other without bloodshed. The trouble is that, if the political situation gets too hot, the grandstanding and posturing can easily turn into a riot, with uncontrollable individual violence.

It does remind me of any number of nature shows with ritualized combat between competing animals. Lots of bristling and puffing to show who is boss, with only occasional actual full-contact action. Come to think of it, any crosstown high school football game in the South probably has a similar feel, except without guns.

In any case, I imagine the participants are quite conscious of the need to put on an authentic show of bellicosity and face-saving gestures for the benefit of the fans. They seem to work hard to make sure that the people on their side of the fence are satisfied that national pride and dignity are preserved, while maintaining strict symmetry with the other side to keep things from going overboard.

I had a few of these. They do not show the fluorescence unless they are exposed to UV Light. It's not really easy to get UV to penetrate the aquarium, so there was not much of a glow for me.

They can't have been around 'since the 50's', as MoniA said, since the technology did not exist then. The Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) was not discovered until the 90's, I think.

Remember: Fluorescence means that they absorb light at one wavelength, and then re-emit it at another. Luminescence is when they create their own light. The jellyfish that has the GFP gene actually produces a blue light through a chemical reaction. The blue light is then absorbed by GFP to create the green glow that they are known for. This was a big surprise (and seems to be a bit of a roundabout way to make light) when the gene was isolated, since it did not encode a protein that emits light, just one that converts it.

I like the "fred" version better. I never know what to do when I have two knives, two forks, etc. The WWFred setup has one of each, the way I like it, a napkin ring, AND a pair of chopsticks!.

So, this game is a lot like volleyball, except that there is no net, and you have to amputate your right hand.

Oh! I forgot!

If you want to read more about animals used for secret weapons, do a search for "Project X-Ray".

My in-laws sent us a package that had crumpled newspapers for cushioning. Naturally, I had to read them. An article that caught my eye announced that the Taylorsville, CA drinking water was again safe, after a decomposing squirrel was removed from the reservoir (or maybe the treatment facility).

I had to write back to them that this was clearly a terrorist-trained suicide squirrel, sent to poison American municipal water supplies.

So, it's good to know that two sides are playing this game.