These are the first 10 references to death in Genesis. Genesis 2:17 ESV

“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:3–4 ESV

...but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.”

Genesis 5:5 ESV

“Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.”

Genesis 5:8 ESV

“Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.”

Genesis 5:11 ESV

“Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.”

Genesis 5:14 ESV

“Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.”

Genesis 5:17 ESV

“Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.”

Genesis 5:20 ESV

“Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.”

Genesis 5:27 ESV

“Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.”

Genesis 5:31 ESV

“Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.”

I am so very sad.

On August 24, he resigned. On October 5, he died.

What is this mysterious thing called self-control? When we fight an urge, it feels like a strenuous effort, as if there were a homunculus in the head that physically impinged on a persistent antagonist. We speak of exerting will power, of forcing ourselves to go to work, of restraining ourselves and of controlling our temper, as if it were an unruly dog. In recent years the psychologist Roy F. Baumeister has shown that the force metaphor has a kernel of neurobiological reality. In “Willpower,” he has teamed up with the irreverent New York Times science columnist John Tierney to explain this ingenious research and show how it can enhance our lives.

via NYTimes.com.

In the days ahead, a baby will be born who will take the global population above 7 billion for the first time, and in all probability that birth will take place in China or India, the two countries with more than a billion inhabitants.No one is sure. There may already be 7 billion passengers on spaceship earth, as no statistician would be prepared to say exactly when this event of largely symbolic significance takes place.The United Nations has fixed October 31 as the date of the fateful birth, but events have so often proved demographers wrong in the past that the expectation is that it will be sooner rather than later The rate of population growth has soared over the course of recorded history: When Jesus was born, there are thought to have been around 300 million people on earth.

via The Hindu.

One of the most widely quoted sentences of Sir Francis Bacon—it comes from his essay "Of Studies"—concerns the reading of books: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention." This is usually taken as a wise or sententious general comment about the worthiness of various texts, but Ann Blair shows that Bacon was making a very practical recommendation to people who were overwhelmed by the availability of books and couldn't imagine how they were going to read them all. Bacon tells such worried folks that they can't read them all, and so should develop strategies of discernment that enable them to make wise decisions about how to invest their time. I think Bacon would have applauded Clay Shirky's comment that we suffer not from "information overload" but from "filter failure." Bacon's famous sentence is really a strategy for filtering.

via The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Lin and Juan, both of whom were under 18 when they first met, became huge fans of massively multiplayer online games. But apparently they still had enough time for other facets of their relationship because they had children - which they ended up treating as a mere commodity. In 2009, authorities say the two came up with a plan to sell their kids because they "did not want to care for them."

Moreover, though, they needed the money to continue to pay for their online game addiction. The two regularly went to Internet cafes and would not only have to pay for their game subscriptions and in-game purchases, but also for the amount of time they spent online in the cafe.

They managed to raise about $10,000 from their child trafficking ring, and may have even gotten away with it but a family member learned of the illegal act and alerted the police.

Lin and Juan reportedly said they were unaware that selling children was illegal.

via TG Daily.