escapingbabylon.com

I saw these images in my Google reader this morning, and had to pass them on.

via: People of the Second Chance.

Here’s a quote from the website of Just Detention International

The reason JDI does this work is simple: sexual abuse in detention is a perversion of justice and an affront to our society’s essential values.

There’s a parable in the bible that ends with Jesus’ famous words “Whatever you’ve done to the least of these, you’ve done to me.” I’ve been thinking recently of who the “least of these” are in Western, North American Society. I think that prisoners as a group are one answer to that question

Haiti Emergency Relief Fund | One Day’s Wages.

American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund

• Text “Haiti” to 90999 in order to donate $10 via mobile phone

• Go here to find a list of organizations that are responding to the crisis.

So here are some interesting relationship-related data things I’ve been finding around the web. I suspect you might find this interesting, and I’d be curious to hear your take on it.

First the pretty non-scientific from BoingBoing and Google

Using Google to learn what boyfriends and girlfriends want from each other Boing Boing.

Then the more scientific from the surprisingly compelling blog of okCupid

The takeaway here is that although race shouldn’t matter in messaging, it does. A lot.

via Your Race Affects Whether People Write You Back « OkTrends.

And consider the following on attractiveness and message replies

As you can see from the gray line, women rate an incredible 80% of guys as worse-looking than medium. Very harsh. On the other hand, when it comes to actual messaging, women shift their expectations only just slightly ahead of the curve, which is a healthier pattern than guys’ pursuing the all-but-unattainable. But with the basic ratings so out-of-whack, the two curves together suggest some strange possibilities for the female thought process, the most salient of which is that the average-looking woman has convinced herself that the vast majority of males aren’t good enough for her, but she then goes right out and messages them anyway.

Your Looks and Your Inbox « OkTrends.

I thought this was a pretty good story about a church that is serving their community in a way that unique, but so obvious you wonder why it isn’t more widespread

Riverside Park Church of God is reaching out to seniors who need a little extra TLC.

At the same time, it’s assisting families who need respite from caring for an elderly loved one.

“We specialize in dementia,” said Justin Zarb, director of the Livonia church's adult day care ministry. “Taking care of someone in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s gets to be challenging. Caregivers need a break.”

via Local church embraces elderly with special needs | hometownlife.com | the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies. ht Monday Morning Insight

I hope you all are having a great new year. I’ll post a personal update soon. In the meantime, what other cool and unusual church or community based service have you heard about in the past year?