January 31 '04
Volume 400
Brain Drain
GTIN EAN UCC UPC
The advent
of personal computers made it possible for retailers, grocers in
particular, to maintain prices without hand-marking or stamping the price
on each individual item. Barcodes, those little lines with a number beneath
them, on each item allowed pricing information to be associated with a numeric
code rather than the traditional price tag. Barcodes are also referred to
as a UPC or Universal Product Code.
For years, manufacturers have utilized mostly a ten or eleven digit code
to identify a particular item. Savvy shoppers would remind me that some barcodes
represent a six-digit number and are usually found on items where space is
limited, such as the neck of a ketchup bottle or on the wrapper of a candy
bar. Of course they're correct, but those codes are simply shorthand for
certain ten-digit codes, namely those with several zeros in the middle of
the string of digits. Such six-digit codes are referred to as zero suppressed
codes.
With thousands of new items introduced each year, it's simply a matter of
time until all the combinations of ten-digit numbers are used. In fact,
manufacturers have adhered to the Uniform Code Council's standard of twelve
digits for several years and readers may have noticed some barcodes have
a number on the left side of the barcode as well as a number beneath the
barcode. Combining the two numbers usually results in an eleven-digit code
for the product (12 digits if one counts the check digit on the right side
of the barcode).
Outside of the food world, barcodes are used extensively not only to identify
a particular item, or case of items, but they are also used to track goods
in transit. The express mail services, such as UPS and FedEx are heavily
into barcodes for tracking purposes.
Beginning January 2005, a new barcode may appear on products found on grocer's
shelves, one containing fourteen digits. The United States had decided to
adopt GTIN or Global Trade Identification Number, which is a global standard
in the world of UPCs. One might think it confusing that "global," as in GTIN,
is a larger number than "universal," as in UPC, or perhaps not, but at least
I do. While GTIN may help simplify the exchange of goods within a global
marketplace, it has already sent shock waves through the Retail Grocer industry
and will require most retailers to upgrade their registers and scanners or
checkout systems in order to accommodate the GTIN barcodes.
Consumers should not expect a GTIN to affect their shopping habits any more
than a UPC does today, but as surely as there's already been an antichrist
or there's one coming, somebody's going to bring up that scripture in the
Book of Revelation about the "mark of the beast." After all, since the
introduction of barcodes more than thirty years ago, extreme groups in Christian
circles have associated barcodes with the "mark of the beast." If you've
forgotten about the "mark of the beast," it refers to a mark foretold by
the Apostle John that everyone would have to have on his or her hand in order
to buy or sell anything. While I consider such notions extreme, that doesn't
mean it can't or won't happen.
Having mentioned the Book of Revelation, I can't pass on the opportunity
to toss in my two-bits on the second coming of Christ, a subject that seems
to fascinate millions and has spawned almost as many books on the subject
with "Left Behind" being one of the more recent in my memory. Neither others
nor I can predict the day of Christ's return, and while John had a lot to
say about the event, as revealed to him, there are a number of ways to interpret
what he wrote. My view on the second coming of Christ is simply that Christ's
return to earth will be as different from what folks are expecting as was
his birth.
Two thousand years ago, folks were shocked to learn that their Messiah was
born in a lowly manger, not in a palace, and he had appeared not as a conqueror
to free them from Roman oppression but as a suffering servant. An entire
race of people misinterpreted the scriptures and misunderstood the Messiah's
role as "Savior of the World," and not simply the "Liberator of the Jews."
Do we really believe we're smarter than the ancients and have it all figured
out?
My world is in a constant state of change, as is yours, and I've shared the
above barcode information largely to support this observation. Barcodes are
just one of the bazillion things I have to know something about or keep up
with. With all the new information I have to process and, in the vernacular
of computers, it seems my brain is running out of "hard drive" space. In
other words, I don't have much storage capacity remaining in my cranium.
In fact, my brain is acting like some early model electronic cash register
systems.
In the 1980's the typical NCR cash register had the capacity to maintain
pricing information on 14,800 items, and the top of the line model could
accommodate 28,600. Once item capacity was reached, new items could still
be added to the system, but an old item was randomly selected and rejected
(kicked out) to make room for the new one, and the decision to reject a given
item was strictly out of control of the user.
As I acquire new information, I seem to randomly lose another piece of
information. Some days, it's a person's name. Sometimes I have trouble
remembering the words of a song I've known for years. Today, I forgot the
name of a file on my computer and where it was stored, though I had created
it only yesterday. I finally gave up and recreated the data from memory.
I don't know what I learned yesterday, but whatever it was most likely is
responsible for my inability to remember the file and it's whereabouts.
At age sixty-one, I'm only nine years from retirement. Hopefully, my brain
can retain enough useful stuff to get me by until then.
The Passion
A Film By Mel Gibson
Keith A. Fournier is a constitutional lawyer and a graduate of the John Paul
II Institute of the Lateran University, Franciscan University and the University
of Pittsburgh. He holds degrees in Philosophy, theology and law. He has been
a champion of religious liberty and appeared as co-counsel in major cases
at the United States Supreme Court. He is the author of seven books and,
along with his law practice, serves as the president of both the "Your Catholic
Voice Foundation" and "Common Good".
The following comments are those of Keith Fournier but have been widely
circulated across the Internet and erroneously attributed to Paul Harvey.
I really did not know what to expect. I was thrilled to have been invited
to a private viewing of Mel Gibson's film "The Passion," but I had also read
all the cautious articles and spin. I grew up in a Jewish town and owe much
of my own faith journey to the influence. I have a life long, deeply held
aversion to anything that might even indirectly encourage any form of
anti-Semitic thought, language or actions.
I arrived at the private viewing for "The Passion", held in Washington DC
and greeted some familiar faces. The environment was typically Washingtonian,
with people greeting you with a smile but seeming to look beyond you, having
an agenda beyond the words. The film was very briefly introduced, without
fanfare, and then the room darkened. From the gripping opening scene in the
Garden of Gethsemane, to the very human and tender portrayal of the earthly
ministry of Jesus, through the betrayal, the arrest, the scourging, the way
of the cross, the encounter with the thieves, the surrender on the Cross,
until the final scene in the empty tomb, this was not simply a movie; it
was an encounter, unlike anything I have ever experienced.
In addition to being a masterpiece of film-making and an artistic triumph,
"The Passion" evoked more deep reflection, sorrow and emotional reaction
within me than anything since my wedding, my ordination or the birth of my
children. Frankly, I will never be the same. When the film concluded, this
"invitation only" gathering of "movers and shakers" in Washington, DC were
shaking indeed, but this time from sobbing. I am not sure there was a dry
eye in the place. The crowd that had been glad-handing before the film was
now eerily silent. No one could speak because words were woefully inadequate.
We had experienced a kind of art that is a rarity in life, the kind that
makes heaven touch earth.
One scene in the film has now been forever etched in my mind. A brutalized,
wounded Jesus was soon to fall again under the weight of the cross. His mother
had made her way along the Via Della Rosa. As she ran to him, she flashed
back to a memory of Jesus as a child, falling in the dirt road outside of
their home. Just as she reached to protect him from the fall, she was now
reaching to touch his wounded adult face. Jesus looked at her with intensely
probing and passionately loving eyes (and at all of us through the screen)
and said "Behold I make all things new." These are words taken from the last
Book of the New Testament, the Book of Revelations. Suddenly, the purpose
of the pain was so clear and the wounds, that earlier in the film had been
so difficult to see in His face, His back, indeed all over His body, became
intensely beautiful. They had been borne voluntarily for love.
At the end of the film, after we had all had a chance to recover, a question
and answer period ensued. The unanimous praise for the film, from a rather
diverse crowd, was as astounding as the compliments were effusive.
The questions included the one question that seems to follow this film, even
though it has not yet even been released. "Why is this film considered by
some to be "anti-Semitic?" Frankly, having now experienced (you do not "view"
this film) "The Passion" it is a question that is impossible to answer. A
law professor whom I admire sat in front of me. He raised his hand and responded
"After watching this film, I do not understand how anyone can insinuate that
it even remotely presents that the Jews killed Jesus. It doesn't." He continued
"It made me realize that my sins killed Jesus" I agree. There is not a scintilla
of anti-Semitism to be found anywhere in this powerful film. If there were,
I would be among the first to decry it. It faithfully tells the Gospel story
in a dramatically beautiful, sensitive and profoundly engaging way.
Those who are alleging otherwise have either not seen the film or have another
agenda behind their protestations. This is not a "Christian" film, in the
sense that it will appeal only to those who identify themselves as followers
of Jesus Christ. It is a deeply human, beautiful story that will deeply touch
all men and women. It is a profound work of art. Yes, its producer is a Catholic
Christian and thankfully has remained faithful to the Gospel text; if that
is no longer acceptable behavior then we are all in trouble. History demands
that we remain faithful to the story and Christians have a right to tell
it. After all, we believe that it is the greatest story ever told and that
its message is for all men and women. The greatest right is the right to
hear the truth.
We would all be well advised to remember that the Gospel narratives to which
"The Passion" is so faithful were written by Jewish men who followed a Jewish
Rabbi whose life and teaching have forever changed the history of the world.
The problem is not the message but those who have distorted it and used it
for hate rather than love. The solution is not to censor the message, but
rather to promote the kind of gift of love that is Mel Gibson's filmmaking
masterpiece, "The Passion."
It should be seen by as many people as possible. I intend to do everything
I can to make sure that is the case. I am passionate about "The Passion."
You will be as well.
Bodock Beau
Mabel's Earpiece
You'll probably enjoy the following joke, but while you're laughing, stop
and consider it could happen to you.
Two elderly women were eating breakfast in a restaurant one morning.
Ethel noticed something funny about Mabel's ear
and she said, "Mabel, did you know you've got a suppository in your left
ear?"
Mabel answered, "I have a suppository?"
She pulled it out and stared at it.
Then she said, "Ethel, I'm glad you saw this thing. Now I think I know where
my hearing aid is."
Contributed by Adam Goslin
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