Tuesday Notes

• We've been busy with Cheryl's website and now have nine of her songs online. She currently has about 40 that will eventually be available. Only 12 have been processed and assigned CCLI numbers. So it will take awhile to get the rest in order. The process of getting the songs registered and prepared for public distribution has been interesting -- in a positive way.
  
  
• On Sunday afternoon I had a few cans of Coca-Cola Zero, the new Coke product sweetened with a blend of aspartame and acesulfame potassium. It has a slightly different taste than Diet Coke (old recipe sweetened with only aspartame) and Diet Coke (new recipe sweetened with Splenda).
  
  Another brand of cola begs a whole host of questions, such as, how many variations can the bubble water people play on this theme? Why didn't they call this "New Diet Coke"? Whatever happened to TaB? Are they really one-upping Pepsi One by calling something "Zero"? Is there a point where the value of the brand is diluted? At what point does the culture just say that there are too many choices? Or is it the nature of a consumer-driven culture to always demand more choices -- even when that increases the complexity of life? Does anyone really care about colas in a Stabucks world?
  
  I'm not planning to lose any sleep over this issue. Just curious.
  
  
• A Russian astrologer has filed suit against the US Government. Apparently, when NASA fired their projectile into that comet yesterday it negatively affected her horoscope.
  
  See, not all the flaky people in the world live here in California.
  
  
• Bruce and Katy Dockter rented their house out yesterday. Today they leave for a year in Mexico.
  
  
• The Scotsman: Private American citizens donated almost 15 times more to the developing world than their European counterparts, research reveals this weekend ahead of the G8 summit. Private US donors also handed over far more aid than the federal government in Washington, revealing that America is much more generous to Africa and poor countries than is claimed by the Make Poverty History and Live 8 campaigns. (Thanks, Rudy)
  
  Other countries which criticize the US don't seem to take into account that Americans prefer to do their giving through private NGOs rather than through government channels. It's an issue of efficiency and ownership.


• A United Methodist pastor has been suspended for a year after he apparently refused to admit a homosexual into church membership. I suspect, though, that there are pieces of the story missing.
  
  
• Along a related vein, the United Church of Christ has voted to endorse the concept of same-sex marriage.