Facebook introduces new like-liking feature!

A couple days ago, the ever-developing facebook introduced a likable new feature --
the ability to "like" comments.

Facebook users have been able to like statuses and other posts for some time, but have not been able to like comments on any of these posts. Now, you can like the comments too!

But wait until you see what Facebook has in the works! Under development right now is an even better "like" feature. Starting next month, facebook users will be able to "like" others' "likes" on a status or comment! What could be better!?

Preview of new like-liking feature!

Like likes? Now you can!

My First Friend Request

In recognition of reaching 1000 friends on facebook, I shall tell the story of my very first friend request:

Long before facebook, or the time of myspace - even before the era of public internet - I received my first friend request.
I was just a very young boy, perhaps 4 or 5 years old.

As I remember, my family and I were traveling, sightseeing, and camping perhaps. At one place we stopped, we had about an hour for us kids to run around, play, and get all those "wiggles" out of our system. We had only been there a short time when another boy about my age ran up to me and asked, "Do you want to be friends?" I was surprised, but simply replied, "sure." Now, I had never seen this boy before, and as we would only be there a short time, I would never see him again.
But we spent that short time together, playing at the playground, exploring, and just having fun. I have a faint memory of going down to see an old bridge. Just he and I -- Me and a friend I didn't know. I think I remember this bridge because we were still there when I heard my parents call, "time to go!" Dejected, I said goodbye to my new friend, and life moved on.

Now, some twenty years later, I am no longer surprised at such random friend requests. With the introduction of Facebook, they are in fact quite common (though i don't say "sure" to so many of these!). Yet every day, through life and through work, I am connecting with people whom I have never before met. Oh, we don't share such formalities as "will you be my friend?"; but with a smile and a tone that cares, we know. It all starts with friendliness.

Today, a connected web interface reports that I have 1000 friends. A few of these are like my young friend - randomly "running up", previously unknown, and requesting to be friends. Some are friends I have never met, yet life - through the internet - has brought us together. Some are mere acquaintances, and like my young friend, we have shared very few experiences. Others are dear friends who are close to my heart. We have shared life, yes, but more than that. We share beliefs and values. We share visions, hopes, and dreams. We share purpose and passion. We want to see the same goals achieved. They are all my friends.

What is the value? Why invest in a friend whom I knew I would only ever see for 45 minutes of my lifetime? Why Facebook, and why so many friends? We share this life with people -- people who are around us every day. And many times we have the option to interact or to remain strangers. I could have spent a full hour at that playground, and never known that boy existed. But he reached out, and connected. We really didn't invest in that friendship. Sometimes you don't need to. We simply shared life for the brief time we were given. Over the years, I have begun to learn how to reach out and connect with others who are around me in life. Transforming from stranger to "friend" with a simple smile and greeting. Why? Because simply breaking that stranger barrier says that we're ok. It affirms that we are human.
Each of us are made in God's image, and are valuable in His sight. I care about every person, because God cares about them. We're in this together. We are brothers. We are friends.

Thanks Facebook. Amidst all the failures, accusations, and problems, you yet have virtue. You remind us that we are human, and that we are not alone. Thank you, facebook, for helping make a connected world a friendlier place.

Vacation Update

Hey everybody! In case you weren't aware, I've been on vacation the last week and a half (and also away from facebook). Just wanted to give a short update on vacation.

Went to both Illinois and Iowa; saw both sides of the family. I enjoyed seeing everybody again. And, as always, understanding more of my roots, and realizing why I never had a chance at being normal, lol.

The Mundane:
Kept up with my Masters schoolwork during vacation. Class requirements don't quit! You know it's harder to concentrate on school when the rest of the day is vacation? I'm glad to be done with the one module though - I was developing linear programming tables in my sleep!

The Funny:
So, we stopped at a restaurant on the way back. Shortly after placing our order, the waitress came to the table with a tray full of glasses of water and asked "who all ordered the milkshakes?" When I said I did, she promptly handed me a glass of water and went on her way! LOL

The Games:
We played a bunch of computer games, which was a lot of fun. We don't often have time to do that anymore. It has been said that the Lorimers create a network wherever they go, but this trip took that to a new level. So, we, er, had a wireless access point running off a power inverter and created a mobile wireless network that both cars could connect to. Yup, we played games over a wireless connection while traveling down the road! (Hey, you've got to kill 12 hours somehow.)

The Spiritual:
Enjoyed being back at Knoxville Nazarene Church again. Lots friends and family. Especially enjoyed the Iowa Holiness Camp service Sunday night. Powerful and dynamic message and stories. Heard the truth of God's word. Lots of friends there too, and I enjoyed seeing/visiting with you all!

The Family:
I really appreciate my family. I realize more and more the spiritual heritage, culture, and values that have been instilled in me through the investment of family. It means a lot, and I am very appreciative. Thank you all.

The Work:
Just kidding! I've been accused of "just working harder on something else" when I take a vacation (ok, ok, it's true). But I actually did take a break and get a vacation this trip! Helped out a bit around the farm, of course. (Helped take down a patch of marijuana - that was new) :-) Overall, it was a good break.

Dead bodies paint dark and morbid picture of US Society

*Warning - Graphic Content. Carcasses of "animals" and humans*

Here's what President Obama didn't see when he visited the Abortion Clinics around the country: a dead baby rotting in the shore weeds.

"When we found this baby it showed all the signs of abortion. Blood was just pouring out of it. It was the saddest thing to look at," said the clinics contract worker who took the Daily News on a surreptitious tour of the abortion disaster unfolding in New York.
His motive: simple outrage.

"There is a lot of coverup for the clinics. They specifically informed us that they don't want these pictures of the dead babies. They know the ocean will wipe away most of the evidence. It's important to me that people know the truth about what's going on here," the contractor said.

"The things I've seen: They just aren't right. All the life out here is just full of abortion. I'm going to show you what the clinics never showed the President."

The day was 85 degrees, the blue sky almost white with sunshine, the air fresh with salt tang.
After checking that he was unobserved, he motored out to Queen Bess barrier island, known to the locals as Bird Island.

The grasses by the shore were littered with aborted human life, some dead and others struggling under a thick coating of blood.

"When you see some of the things I've seen, it would make you sick," the contractor said. "No living creature should endure that kind of suffering."

Queen Bess Island was the first place where babies were born when the beloved humans came in the 1970s. Their population rebounded and was finally declared stabilized in 2002.

Now their future is once again in doubt. In what had been such an important nursery, hundreds of babies - their white heads stained with blood – lay still.

"Those babies are supposed to have white heads. The blood is from the abortion. Most of them won't survive," the contractor said.

"They keep trying to survive. They try and they try, but they can't do it."

The contractor has been attempting to save babies.

"I saw a baby under water with only its arm sticking out," he said. "I grabbed it and lifted it out of the water. It was just covered in blood. It was struggling so hard to survive. We did what we could for it.

"Nature is cruel, but what's happening here is crueler."

The uninhabited barrier islands are surrounded by semi-restrictive laws, also stained red, that are supposed to keep the abortion out. It's not working.

"That grass was green a few weeks ago," the contractor said. "Now look. ... This whole island is destroyed. How do you write a check for something like this?"

He said he recently found five babies dying from abortion.

"Three babies were dead. Two were dying and not dead yet. They will be," he said.

As the boat headed back amid the choppy waves, a group of humans showed up to escort it to land.
"They know they are in trouble. We are all in trouble," the contractor said.

The clinics's central role in the disaster cleanup has apparently given the companies a lot of latitude in keeping the press away from clinics where the abortion is thickest.

On Monday, a Daily News team was escorted away from a public beach on Elmer's Island by cops who said they were taking orders from the clinics.

The clinics spokesmanToby Odonedenied the company is trying to hide the sociological damage; he noted the clinics has organized press visits to the spill zone and said the clinics cannot tell cops what to do.

The contractor for the clinics said the public needs to see the truth.

"The clinics are going to say the deaths of these babies wasn't abortion-related," he said. "We know the truth. I hope these pictures get to the right people - to someone who can do something."

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Now before you go firing any comments, I must quote my sources.
Read: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/06/02/2010-06-02_the_hidden_death_in_the_gulf.html#ixzz0pr2T6fzF

I simply used the "Find and Replace" tool, and fixed the context.
I agree that the BP oil spill is a disaster, and should be corrected.
My question is this,

Why is there so much outrage over an oil spill that is harming animals,
yet no similar outrage over an industry that is killing 3,700 humans PER DAY!?