Ray C. Stedman

Although he died in 1992, I just recently discovered Ray C. Stedman and an online library in his honor from which you can download or print out many excellent sermons.

This web site gathers together in one place the entire Ray C. Stedman Library originated in 1995 at Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California where Ray Stedman was pastor for 40 years. We offer fast download of printed and audio files, free of charge for educational purposes-- according to the copyright notice at the end of each message. We have added Ray's in-print and out-of-print books to this web site.

I highly recommend this site - A pearl of great price.

They are not intended merely to entertain us, or even to instruct us, but to change us, to set us free, to make us live, to turn us from weakness and emptiness and barrenness and fruitlessness, unto truth and life and joy and warmth and power. -- Ray C. Stedman

Little Slum Inn

How's this for creative marketing.

Rio's slums, or favelas, are infamous for drug and gang violence. But a new hostel called "The Little Slum Inn" is attracting adventurous tourists, mainly from Germany, France and the United States, who dare to live amid the grit and poverty.

Incredible. Bring the kids. Anyway, good luck to them, it seems to be helping the neigborhood get along. Can't fault that. They're using their heads.

Europe Endless?

Islamists are stifling debate in what was Europe's freest country, says Douglas Murray in We should fear Holland's silence

Holland - with its disproportionately high Muslim population - is the canary in the mine. Its once open society is closing, and Europe is closing slowly behind it. It looks, from Holland, like the twilight of liberalism - not the "liberalism" that is actually libertarianism, but the liberalism that is freedom. Not least freedom of expression.

All across Europe, debate on Islam is being stopped. Italy’s greatest living writer, Oriana Fallaci, soon comes up for trial in her home country, and in Britain the government seems intent on pushing through laws that would make truths about Islam and the conduct of its followers impossible to voice.

I can't help wondering how long this can go on. How long can Europeans take this?

Europe is shuffling into darkness. It is proving incapable of standing up to its enemies, and in an effort to accommodate the peripheral rights of a minority is failing to protect the most basic rights of its own people.

The governments of Europe have been tricked into believing that criticism of a belief is the same thing as criticism of a race. And so it is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous to criticise a growing and powerful ideology within our midst. It may soon, in addition, be made illegal.

Europe shuffling into darkness, allowing it's culture to be eclipsed? I think there is a backlash coming. It may take a bit more bending but Europe will push back.

Michael Burghardt

Leading the fight is Gunnery Sgt Michael Burghardt, known as "Iron Mike" or just "Gunny". He is on his third tour in Iraq. He had become a legend in the bomb disposal world after winning the Bronze Star for disabling 64 IEDs and destroying 1,548 pieces of ordnance during his second tour. Then, on September 19, he got blown up.

Read about this amazing story here. Verified by Snopes.

Dead Drunk

When I got to work last night security had just noticed a guy bending over the second floor railing, almost going over. He was so drunk he didn't know where he was or where he belonged. I walked back to see if I recognized him. I didn't. They had him sitting in a chair and he was passed out. Just around the corner was a 12 pack of Corona and we were standing right there talking. We had called the police and when they arrived they ran his I.D. and somehow found out he was staying at a different hotel, he was lost. They ran him off and left. Security went around the corner to get the beer and it was gone. Someone stole it while the police were there.

Happy Birthday!

James is six today. Don't mess with him.

I remember when he was born so clearly. It's hard to believe it's been six years. Six wonderful years.

I'm In The Money!

James had his birthday party Sunday and one of his aunts gave him $30 in ones. Does he look happy?

Incredible!

This is some pretty incredible juggling by Chris Bliss, click on "Watch" to see it.

He Dropped The Knife, Didn't He?

Man set on fire as Taser hits lighter

"Taser! Taser!" Cassidy shouted as she sent a two-pronged wire, packing 50,000 volts, at Crouch's chest. What happened next stunned everyone.

A Taser probe pierced the pocket of his khaki shirt -- and ignited the butane lighter inside. Crouch's pocket exploded in flames.

"The subject," recounted Sgt. Al Tolley in a subsequent report, "immediately dropped the knife."

Apparently, he was unharmed.

Crouch didn't seem too concerned about his run-in with police and clearly had other priorities Tuesday night.

"You're burning my minutes," he said about his cell phone. "It's not 9 o'clock yet."

It's funny how selective memory can be sometimes.

"Why did they get into my house?" he asked of police. "I didn't invite them into my house. They came into my bedroom and shot me with the Taser, and it [the lighter] exploded."

Because we all know this nation has a real problem with police officers randomly entering homes and tasering people for fun.

The Blob

Mystery blob eating downtown

Downtown Los Angeles that is.

"We were called back because there was a gooey substance, a tarry-type substance, coming out the underground electrical vaults, out of manhole covers in the street, through the sidewalks and possibly in one older apartment building," Myers said.

A 120-foot stretch of Olive buckled 1 1/2 feet, he said. The pre-1933 unreinforced masonry apartment building shifted one foot from its foundation. Sidewalks were as hot as Jacuzzis.

And a pressurized liquid shot from every street orifice located above what used to be a historic oil field downtown.

That's got to be one of the coolest stories I've heard in a while. No one has been hurt except for some property damage. Where are the TV news cameras when you need them? I want to see it.

Surrendered?

From the desk of Ed Koch: The Free Press Has Surrendered to Islamic Fanatics

Bennett's most important comment was, "I promise you, they have won. They have silenced -- these -- these mobs have silenced the mainstream media, who are afraid of the mob." Later on in the discussion, Bennett stated, "One of the difficulties with the cartoons is, they hit pretty close to the bone...Is there no suggestion that, in the name of Islam, in the name of the Koran, in the name of Allah, people are having their heads cut off? These things hit their target."

To me, that is the crux of the matter. There is a war of civilizations being waged in the world with the Islamic fanatics subliminally seeking to storm once again the gates of Vienna, where, in 1683, they were defeated. If by threats of terror against them, the great media institutions can be brought to their knees, we are in big trouble. Before this occurred, I had no doubt that, no matter how difficult, no matter how long the war we are now engaged in continues, the democracies of the world would win, as they did when first facing Hitler and later Stalin. Today, I am no longer so certain.

I think the bottom line is this; too many of us just don't believe Islamists will/can carry out what they so clearly want. Ignoring the problem won't make it go away. We must deal with this head on - no quarter given. Every time we retreat (even when we think we're just being gracious or sensitive), they advance. It strengthens them, it emboldens them. They view it as weakness, and like a predator they attack the weak.

They need us to defeat them, it is in their best interest. It is in the best interest of the world. During WWII the Germans and the Japanese were of the same spirit. They needed that strong hand to put them down, too, and knock that spirit out of them. It took a while, but we finally recognized that and did what it took. Yeah, it hurt, but you do what you have to do, and the world was better place because of it. It doesn't last forever though and that spirit has raised up another problem to deal with. Now is the time to put it down. The stakes are too high now to wait.

Today there are new ostriches in our land. They refuse to take terrorists at their word. The Times reported on February 4th the comments of a cleric at the Al-Omari mosque in Gaza, "We will not accept less than severing the heads of those responsible." Regrettably, many Westerners don't take Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Osama bin Laden's principal deputy, at his word when he said, "Killing the infidels is our religion, slaughtering them is our religion, until they convert to Islam or pay us tribute."

Resistance is Futile

The Borg are still at it and Michael Burkert has a commentary that sheds some light on it: Cartoon Wars

So, a big storm is in progress over Europe. It's all about cartoons. Or is it? What we are seeing more and more on a daily basis is the rise of Islam, not only in Europe, but also in our country and Canada as well. I've written time and again about unlimited immigration from the Middle East, swarming into an unsuspecting Europe, but this tragically is happening in North America as well. The results of this ill-advised process is a soon to arrive clash of cultures on a catastrophic scale.

Apologizing for "offending Islam" is not enough for the Muslim masses of Europe. They want blood! They literally want the heads of the cartoonists and the laws of Europe changed to meet their demands. The masses of Muslim immigrants living in Europe today did not come here to assimilate. They have no intention of becoming Germans, Frenchmen, Dutchmen or Danes. They come not to assimilate, they come to DOMINATE.

But, that's not all.

The Islamics are fanatical about Jerusalem. They are dedicated to the destruction of every Jewish man, woman and child. A united Muslim world, under the command of a Caliph could facilitate such a military and political reality in the never-ending lust to destroy the tiny nation of Israel. Everything else is a sideshow.

DingBat

Gore Laments U.S. 'Abuses' Against Arabs

The American people should get down on their knees and thank God Al Gore did not become President of the United States. He goes to an enemy country (I know Saudi Arabia is technically our ally but there is a huge enemy element within that country) and badmouths America and the President. Abuses against Arabs? Al Gore is insane with envy for President Bush.

Gore told the largely Saudi audience, many of them educated at U.S. universities, that Arabs in the United States had been "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable."

He and his ilk need to be hung for treason. They don't get their way so they try to burn down the house. Yes, hung. We are in a war and this behavior cannot be tolerated, too much is at stake. They are not just stepping across the line at this point, they have trampled it so much they have no idea where it is anymore.

Maddening

A company from the United Arab Emirates may be taking over operations at six American ports - New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

Are we insane? Why you would want a company from any other country to be in such a position is beyond me, but the United Arab Emirates? Why not Saudi Arabia? They're our "allies" too.

Why not put China in charge of the Panama Canal. Oops, it already is.

Ford Mega-Pickup

The past week I noticed two of these Ford F-650's driving around, a red one and a yellow one. They are huge and very sharp. I'd never seen them before and they didn't seem to be work trucks at all - just "I'm badder than you" trucks. I found them on the web here. They even have an X-treme Utility Vehicle down near the bottom of the first page and a six-door pickup around the middle. Truly incredible. They claim better gas mileage than I thought - 13 mpg. I wonder what they'll come up with next?

Red Light Cameras

Camera At Orlando Intersection Catches 2,700 Red Light Runners

Since mid-November, a camera at the corner of Hiawassee Road and Raleigh Street in Orlando has caught 2,700 people running the red light.

My question is: When exactly does it count as running a red light? What if it turns red as you exit the intersection? Or are halfway through it? What if you're in the intersection waiting to make a left (not for New Jersey drivers, where 3 rights = 1 left) and you can't get through until it turns red for oncoming traffic?

Human beings where not meant to be monitored and controlled by computers. It just doesn't work. There are too many variables in real human life that a computer just can't factor in. Just knowing you're being watched so closely causes too much stress for people. I'm not saying running red lights is OK but I think the authorities see dollar signs and can't see around them to reality.

I live in a town that is very heavy on police speeding enforcement. Very heavy. I can't tell you how many times I almost panic at the sight of a police car, immediately checking my speed (9 times out of 10 I'm not speeding anyway, the other time it's less than 5 over) and I end up driving down the main road constantly checking the speed. When I get out of town driving is so much more relaxing, I don't really worry about it that much. And I don't drive any faster out of town. The only difference is worrying about getting a ticket. And a side effect of this is that you never want to see a cop. They become "the enemy," even though you're not doing anything wrong.

Previously Unknown "Lost World" Found

The scientists are the first outsiders to see it. They could only reach the remote mountainous area by helicopter, which they described it as akin to finding a "Garden of Eden".

Scientists hail discovery of hundreds of new species in remote New Guinea

They believe no man has ever set foot in this remote area and they aim to change that.

There were so many new things it was almost overwhelming. And we have only scratched the surface of what is there." The scientists hope to return this year.

Keep scratching. No doubt scientists will soon lay claim to being the only protecters of the area as well. Can't have global warming killing off all the new species before they've catalogued them.

Grandpa Munster

Al Lewis dies at 95. I always liked "The Munsters." I loved Fred Gwynn as Herman and Al Lewis was great in that show. How long before a Hollywood remake of that show? I have a hard time believing they could pull it off. How do you replace Fred Gwynn and Al Lewis?

Despicable

NAACP Chairman Julian Bond - you're despicable! How dare you say these things. You're not doing anything to advance the lives of anyone, let alone those who your organization claims to advance. In fact, by saying these things you are hurting all Americans. You're shameful.

Civil rights activist and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond delivered a blistering partisan speech at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina last night, equating the Republican Party with the Nazi Party and characterizing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, as "tokens."

"The Republican Party would have the American flag and the swastika flying side by side," he charged.

Bizzaro World

What has education come to? I think they just want to see how far they can go and get away with it. British school bans raising hands

To spare embarrassment of the students who do not know the answer, the school has incorporated a "phone a friend" system, allowing one child to nominate another to take the question instead.

You can't raise you hand if you know the answer and if you don't know you can have someone else answer for you. I guess they got that idea from "Who Wants to be a Millonaire?" Can they nominate someone to take a test for them too?

This Surprises You?

Google Holds Copies of All Emails and All Websites Visited

Some commentators are describing Google, the world's most used internet search engine, as "scary," after learning that the internet giant stores web search history and e-mails.

When you surf the web you have to be aware that every site you visit and every search you make is logged somewhere. Your ISP keeps records, the search engines keep records, individual sites keep records of who's coming from where, what they are looking at and for how long, and where they are going. You can be sure I missed something, too. Nothing is secret on the internet. For most people, most of the time, nobody cares what you are doing and they are not really keeping track of you personally, but you can be sure that if they need to know - they can.

Welcome to Florida

With all the dangerous animals there are in Florida, not to mention hurricanes, lightning and pedophiles, you have to wonder why so many people move here. Well, now we can add another one to the list - Killer Bees. Great, just great.

Tap This

I don't think I ever linked to Pat Boone before but I like his commentary on wire tapping.

The liberal media and all the usual sympathizers like the ACLU and a number of legal and pseudo-legal organizations are howling about our government - and our president - utilizing perfectly legal and imminently advisable efforts to apprehend and defuse ongoing efforts to wreak ever more ghastly havoc on this country. They are exactly the very ones who, in the likely event of another 9-11, no matter what we do to prevent it, will be screaming at the government: "How could you let this happen? Why didn't you do something to stop these devils?"

Well, thank God, our government is doing something, a lot of right somethings.

Cutest Site On The Internet?

You decide. Cute Overload!

Nightmare Neighbor

No, not mine, but this guy has got to be one of the worst.

One interesting point.

Lily Luk, another neighbor, said she sometimes calls police four times a night but that Bertone simply refuses to answer the door when officers come knocking.

Apparently, in San Fransisco, if your neighbors call the police because you're playing loud music outside in the middle of the night, all you have to do is not answer the door and they will go away. Really?

Al-Qaeda - Democrats

Same message. Neal Boortz compares.

So does Kevin McCullough.

Can we all at least agree that on the very surface it appears that the left in this nation have once and for all been exposed for being the terrorist cheerleaders that they have always been?

Negotiations

Neal Boortz has a slideshow depicting the Taiwanese negotiation process.

This is the process the world should use with Iran. Unfortunately, it seems as though it will go the other way. They will talk and complain and protest and threaten and talk some more - all the while Iran will work toward their goal - until they get their nukes, then we'll blame President Bush for not doing enough.

Accident Update

I was wrong about where the car hit. It hit on the left side of the canopy but somehow got turned around facing the right side. The soda machine you see in the picture was standing behind the wall where the hole is and was thrown down and landed in front of the paper box. There are 12 pictures here, including pictures of the car. Click on the picture at that website to see more. Police estimated the car was traveling around 120 mph. That's an insane speed on SR535.

It happened again, another car raced through the light on 192 and slammed into this motel. It hit the column to the right and twisted sideways under the canopy. Not much left, he must have been flying.

I actually heard it happen. I was watching TV and heard the brakes screeching and a low thud, almost too low to hear. I ran out but didn't see anything and there were cars driving by as if nothing happened. I thought maybe it was just a close call. A little while later I heard the sirens and knew exactly what happened. I think this is 3 times since I've been here, maybe 4. I'm surprised the canopy is still there after all these accidents. The cars are always destoyed and I've never seen anyone walk away - not tonight either. Here comes the helicopter again.

This hawk was sitting on our back fence this morning. I've seen him hanging around lately but this is one of the few times he has been out in the open.

It's Hard Not To Believe This Anymore

In the history of the nation, there has never been a political party so ridiculous as today's Democrats. It's as if all the brain-damaged people in America got together and formed a voting bloc.

They have no clue where the line is and have been crossing it liberally. And now after watching what's been going on in the Alito confirmation hearings, you couldn't get me to vote Democratic for anything - no way, no how. Don't get me wrong, I don't much like the way Republicans have been handling some things either, but at least there is a slight glimmer of hope. The Democrats are in the heart of darkness.

Some don't like the way Ann Coulter speaks her mind but she's got it right in this commentary.

I'm Surprised ...

I'm surprised we don't have more hostage standoffs around here. Now we've had two standoffs in two days. Mostly the criminals get away without being caught. I don't even see yesterday's standoff on the website. Can't let the tourists think there's crime around here, I guess.

I Don't Know But ...

I think Chevrolet would be better off if they had the new Camaro ready to roll for consumers instead of showing it off as a concept car.

Rodent Revenge

Mouse takes down house

"I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it in the fire, and the mouse was on fire and ran back at the house," he said.

Don't do that.

Troubles Me Deeply

In the first day of weeklong confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., told Judge Samuel Alito to expect tough questioning, saying the record of the U.S. Supreme Court nominee "troubles me deeply."

What troubles me deeply is how the people of Massachusetts keep electing a drunk to represent them in the Senate.

Otis for President!

Get Ready

The most dysfunctional group of people outside of a mental institution are ready to rule the world.

Ahmadinejad, who has drawn global attention recently for his contention the Holocaust was a "myth," said: "We don't shy away from declaring that Islam is ready to rule the world."

"They're ready, they're ready, they're ready, edy, edy!" ... Spongebob.

"Anything you want, just don't hurt us." ... a liberal.

"One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half." ... Sir Winston Churchill

Opportunity For Change

Michael Ledeen says his sources in Iran tell him Osama Bin Laden died mid-December of kidney failure. I haven't heard that anywhere else and who knows if it's true, but his commentary - One Moment in Time is worth reading.

In short, both demography and geopolitics make this an age of revolution, as President Bush seems to have understood. Rarely have there been so many opportunities for the advance of freedom, and rarely have the hard facts of life and death been so favorable to the spread of democratic revolution.

Unity

Tony Blankley makes the case for American unity in this comentary: Let's organize to end war disunity

There may be no more agonizing weakness for a nation than major internal division during a time of war, because, unlike the conduct of foreign nations or forces, a lack of internal unity is exclusively our own collective fault.

Particularly for a country as powerful and robustly provisioned as America, it is also the weakness that leads to all other weaknesses. If we had national unity, we could quickly make up for any current military manpower shortages (after Pearl Harbor, young American men rushed to sign up, and the draft was overwhelmingly seen as a needed part of our national defense). If we had national unity, we would not have a prominent national leader and Marine veteran such as Rep. John Murtha advising our young men and women not to join the military.

I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham

This is a fascinating site: A Catalog of Political Cartoons by Dr. Suess

I had no clue he was a political cartoonist. Change the names on some of them and they are just as meaningful today. Some samples below.

Still plenty of morale killers today.

Nothing changes

The religion of peace.

This one is my favorite. Plenty more where they came from.

2006 Already?

I really can't believe it's a new year already. 2005 flew by. It hasn't started very well though - Fires in Oklahoma/Texas, floods in California, 12 miners dead, scandal in Washington, Ariel Sharon suffers a stroke and is basically out of commission leaving Israel in turmoil, bird flu on the move. I'm not going to dwell on all the bad news. There is good news beyond the bad.

The kids are back in school, the weather has been beautiful, it's nice to just sit on the porch and watch the kids play and the turkeys wander about. And we've been cleaning out the garage and that feels good.

So let's see what happens this year and don't forget to stop and smell the roses once in a while.

James found this snake in a crevice in a tree. It's a baby corn snake. I saw a shed snake skin in the tree a few days ago and it must have been from the same snake.

James and his new Godzilla posters.

The Best Thank You

James is a typical 5 year old when it comes to when it comes to complaining about not getting enough stuff. "You never buy me anything!" is his typical saying.

Today we had a special moment though. I was in his room admiring his new Godzilla posters with him and he said, "You do buy me a lot of things Daddy, and sometimes I forget to say Thank You."

Thank you James, it's nice to know you really notice.

Just a Weird Observation

Saturday night at work I got a lot of people coming in with bent drivers licenses, so many that I started thinking how weird it was to be getting so many in one night.

Sunday night I didn't get any bent ones but I did get a rash of cracked drivers licences. One after another.

Weird.

Hooray For Hollywood!

Here's a list of 40 things that only happen in movies. Some good, some not so. I watched a number 34 last night.

OK, here it is! I finally got a picture of this deer at night. Christmas is more like Halloween these days.

Abby Normal

I like Ann Coulter's latest column: Live and let spy

It's one or the other: Either we take the politically correct, scattershot approach and violate everyone's civil liberties, or we focus on the group threatening us and - in the worst-case scenario - run the risk of briefly violating the civil liberties of 1,000 people in a country of 300 million.

Of course, this is assuming I'm talking to people from the world of the normal. In the Democrats' world, there are two more options. Violate no one's civil liberties and get used to a lot more 9-11s, or the modified third option, preferred by Sen. John D. Rockefeller: Let the president do all the work and take all the heat for preventing another terrorist attack while you place a letter expressing your objections in a file cabinet as a small parchment tribute to your exquisite conscience.

We need to do some unpleasant things and make some very difficult decisions to preserve this country and weed out and eliminate the anti-American Rousseau-think the left has so stubbornly embraced.

Yes, anti-American.

I should have particularly avoided, as necessarily ill-governed, a Republic in which the people, imagining themselves in a position to do without magistrates, or at least to leave them with only a precarious authority, should imprudently have kept for themselves the administration of civil affairs and the execution of their own laws.

So says the brilliant Rousseau.

Rousseau's ideas about education have profoundly influenced modern educational theory. He minimizes the importance of book learning, and recommends that a child's emotions should be educated before his reason.

It is amazing how much of his nonsensical thinking has infiltrated our society. It is tearing apart and destroying this great country from within and allowing our enemies (and we do and will have enemies no matter what we do) to gain the upper hand against us.

So, accolades to Ann Coulter for standing up for sound thinking.

I've Got Oranges

I forget how long ago I planted this tree but this year I finally have oranges. It's been a few years. They sure look good.

Still Trying

Since I posted the photo of my neighbors deer she has not turned her lights on. I wonder if she reads this? No, I doubt it. But please turn on your Christmas lights if you do.

Our neighbor across the street has the same deer out front but it is standing normally. His lights haven't been on either. They both turn on the lights every night when I don't care but the minute I want a picture ...

Leaf Blower

James helped me clean up after I cut some branches that hung a bit too low over the driveway. He was playing outside while I cut the trees and when I finished he came over and started helping me clean up the branches and I let him blow the sawdust off the driveway when we finished. What I like most is that I didn't even ask for his help.

This Is Where The Left Is Going

Candidate to supporters: 'Islam won!'

"This is a victory for Islam! Islam won! Islam won! ... Islamic power is extending into Canadian politics," Omar Alghabra, the Liberal candidate for Mississauga-Erindale, reportedly declared to his audience of several hundred.

The Bible is almost outlawed in Canada but Islam is just OK with them - even in the government.

And we're going to follow along right behind if the left in this country have their way. In a bill "Expressing the commitment of the House of Representatives to achieving victory in Iraq," 108 Democrats and 1 Independant voted against victory! How sad!

This Glass Snake stopped by for a visit the other day. He stuck around for a few pictures and moved on. Although it looks like a snake, it is actually a lizard.

Why I Love My Neighbors

I noticed recently my neighbor had some Christmas lights in her backyard. I couldn't make out what it was supposed to be - it was a large white blob hanging from a tree with a red circular spot on the ground under it. This morning I took this picture (a bit grainy because of the distance) and I see it is a deer hanging from the tree by it's hind legs. The best I can figure is the red spot is supposed to be blood. What an interesting Christmas decoration! I will try to get a picture at night.

This Was A Secret?

Bush Secretly Lifted Some Limits on Spying in U.S. After 9/11

Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said.

Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought that was part of the homeland security laws put into effect after 911. In fact, I remember a controversy over this same thing. I guess it's an attempt by the press to get the country hating President Bush again.

New Book On The Way

A new book by Ronald L. Dart is being published and is available at prepublication prices in paperback and hardback.

It is called "The Lonely God"

"The Bible doesn't contradict itself, but it often runs sharply counter to what we expect. The truth is often presented to us in the form of a paradox. Part of the problem lies in the limitations of the human mind. The very idea of God exceeds our grasp. Traditional views hold that God Himself is the only uncreated entity that is. Everything and everyone else was created by Him. But then that means that before God created the things that are, He was alone.

How is it possible that an infinite God should ever find himself lonely or wanting anything. What in the world was He doing when He created this world and put man on it? What is the purpose for mankind? Is it possible to understand God? Yes, but only on His own terms, and only by His own revelation. When we try to go beyond what He shows Himself to be, we risk creating God in our own image. But God has not left us in the dark.

The Lonely God is about understanding and knowing God as He wishes to be known, not necessarily as we wish to know Him. The picture that emerges is disturbing. God is not only kind, merciful, forgiving, and longsuffering. He is dangerous. This is why the Bible speaks of the fear of God. This insightful, instructive, and provocative book, The Lonely God, will change the way you think about God. Order this book today and save with this special prepublication offer."

It's a well written, clear, thought provoking book. I highly recommend it.

Bad Movie

I just watched the Dukes of Hazard movie. It was terrible, I'm sure glad I didn't pay to see it. Bad jokes, bad acting, bad writing - and the Dukes are on the wrong side of the law even if the cops in the movie weren't dirty. What's the difference between the Dukes and drug dealers? I don't know. They just didn't do this movie right. Some of the old Burt Reynolds movies had him doing the same but he still had some redeeming qualities, a reason to like him. I couldn't find a reason to like the Dukes in this movie.

Crowds

I stopped at Walmart this afternoon to pick up a few things and the lines were crazy. I just wanted a few food items, I wasn't Christmas shopping. They need to have a line or 2 for people who are not Christmas shopping. Where do all these people come from anyway? Where are they all year long? I went to Publix instead - no lines.

Something I noticed though. I hadn't thought about it before, I don't really care, but seeing the lines brought it to my attention.

The stores I have been to are not decorated for Christmas. I didn't see any Christmas decorations at Walmart at all, no Christmas music, no sign Christmas is near except the lines and the Salvation Army guy out front (and they have eggnog). I don't think he had a bell either, don't they usually have a bell? They don't even have all that many toys out. In the past they have actually moved a whole section of the store to make room for more toys and closed the garden center to turn it into a Christmas center.

Maybe the malls are decorated - I'll never know.

Catching Up

James was riding his bike Sunday while I was working on my car. He told me to watch him do a trick, so I did. He rode on the grass, up the hill, he started slowing down and he fell. As he was on the ground, still tangled in the bike, he turned toward me and said, "That's not it!" I started cracking up, it was so funny. I wish I had a video camera, it was perfect.

My car (Pontiac) is not perfect. The electrical system self destructed. I replaced a fusible link last week. It was running fine but after a few days I went to get something out of the car and noticed the interior light didn't work. I checked and none of the lights worked - at all. I've been looking for a car so I wasn't very interested in fixing it.

Then the other car (Cadillac) started acting up, almost the same thing - no lights. The problem was intermittent, it wasn't a fuse. But if I don't have lights I can't go to work and I needed to fix this one. I just went through the wiring, taking out and cleaning the fuses and grounds, checking the connections and finally fixed it. The problem was in some mega fuses that were hidden under a panel in the engine compartment. They were just corroded, I cleaned them up and haven't had the problem since.

Sunday I fixed the Pontiac. It was another fusible link, a different one, and a real pain to get to. I still don't trust that it won't happen again because I'm thinking there was a reason why they blew in the first place. I won't drive it except locally and I have AAA so I can get a free tow home.

I've been looking hard for another car. I found one I liked and it was priced right but when I went to buy it, they were closed (Friday, after Thanksgiving), Saturday I couldn't go, Sunday they are closed and Monday morning bright and early the car was gone. They sold it Saturday. I was very disappointed. I believe there was a reason it didn't work out though, it was an incredible deal and like they say, you don't get something for nothing.

I have my eye on another, a 2002 Chevy Impala, but I'm not ready to buy it yet. It costs more than the other but it's in near perfect shape - almost a little too perfect. It checks out on Carfax and I have gone over it carefully - it's on a raised platform and you can go under the car - look for signs of flooding or some sign of wear beyond the rest of the car but it looks good.

We'll see, if it's there when I'm ready I just might. I can't find anything else close in the price range I need. The Impala is on the upper limits of my price range. I'm keeping my eyes open.

Assassin's Mace

This is an interesting commentary by Lev Navrozov which gives a brief history of the development of nuclear weapons.

How Easily Hitler Could Have Subjugated the World

Will It Work?

Andres Kello is trying to break the world record for most expensive internet domain name.

Crash!

Here's something you don't see everyday: Ouch!

Yesterday ...

... did not feel like Thanksgiving Day to me. We went to the inlaws and had dinner and all, I don't know why, it just didn't feel like thanksgiving.

I wanted to get a siphon to take the gas out of my car - because I want to trade it in and don't want to give them a full tank - but of course it works out I want to do it on Thanksgiving Day. I couldn't find one. More on this later, I don't want to say anything unless I can make this deal. If it works out I will be very happy with it, if not, it's back to car shopping. I just want it over with. I hate the car buying process.

We Can Rebuild It

Irma got used to using my laptop and started asking me to fix the Mac laptop (Powerbook Titanium) so she could use it while I was at work. The Mac crashed big time - the modem stopped working, the CD/DVD player broke, one of the memory cards went bad, and the hard drive started dying and I lost all the photos on it (had copies on the other computer). This all happened at the same time. Needless to say I was less than impressed with it, especially when I saw the cost of fixing it.

I bought my Gateway laptop, which I have been very happy with, and left the Mac in the closet for a while. When Irma asked me about it I searched out the parts on the internet and the prices have come down. I could actually fix it for a reasonable price. I ordered the hard drive, super drive (CD/DVD burner), and modem and replaced them all in about an hour. I also upgraded the operating system to OS X Tiger and the computer never worked better. I didn't get a memory card because it still has 512 megs but I still may get another to double it again.

I bought the hard drive, superdrive and OS X from Other World Computing and I am very happy with their service and products.

Now, the only thing I don't like about it is the WiFi is not very sensitive and I can pick up a signal on the Gateway while the Mac says there is no signal. It works if the signal is not weak but it should be better.

Indiana Kitty

Cat Survives Traffic, 70-Foot Fall From Bridge, 600-Foot Swim

The cat is resting up at an animal shelter in Washington state after leaping from a pickup, scampering through traffic, plunging 70 feet into the chilly Columbia River and swimming 600 feet to shore.

And now, for her next trick ...

Put It On eBay

1 Square Inch of Land for Sale at $1,500

You have to read this for the explanation. It's incredible that someone legally owned a plot of land that small.

Liberty

Liberty has consequences. Man wants freedom, and at the same time he wants to be free from the consequences of his actions. These two wants simply cannot be reconciled.

It is only recently that I have begun to truly understand what freedom is all about, what it costs, why people are so willing to lay it down and what it takes to get it back.

Man is conflicted about freedom. Freedom is good, but we will lay it down in a heartbeat once it becomes too heavy to bear. We are tempted to lay our freedom down if someone offers us food, shelter and clothing. People have actually accepted slavery in order to fill their empty bellies and to get a kind of security from those who would do them harm. History is full of stories like this.

Sounds a little too familiar.

They want to be taken care of, they want to lay their freedom down, they want to be slaves. They want to be servants because then, someone else can take care of them.

We are all like this to a certain extent, we all have our own tolerance level of freedom.

The quotes are from this essay by Ronald L. Dart. I've been following his evolving understanding of freedom and how to get out of the bondage we all get ourselves into. This is a must read.

If You Have a Secret ...

don't tell James. Yesterday was Irma's birthday and we got her a gliding exercise machine (cause that's what she wanted me to get her), along with flowers, cards and ice cream cake. We put the glider together in the living room and James decided he loved it so much, it should be his.

Well, we blew up some balloons and Joshua made balloon animals out of them (he is surprisingly good at it) and we put them on the machine for when she got home. I told James he couldn't ride on it anymore until Mommy got home. Irma called and James told her we opened her present and put it together. I grabbed the phone away from him and she didn't understand what he said anyway. I was going to tell her he meant the coffee maker her Mom got her.

When she came home James ran outside and told her that he wasn't allowed to ride her glider because there were a bunch of balloons on it, and on and on. She was cracking up.

He got to ride it again and Irma asked if she was ever going to get to use it. Maybe not.

Change of Plans

I was going to paint the porch last Sunday but had to put it off after I got in my car Saturday night to go to work, turned the key and heard a small bang, saw a flash of light, the car died and a burning smell permeated the air. What now?, I thought.

Upon investigation Sunday morning, it turns out the insulation pulled back on some wires attached to the starter and they shorted out - how, I don't know. How long had the insulation been pulled back and how did it manage to short out then? I thank God it happened in my driveway and not somewhere else.

I fixed it and the starter was still good. Still, I'm starting to get that itch for a new car.

Paristinians

Joseph Farrah has the solution for France in French solution: Paristinian state

James found this turtle outside the other day. He was so excited! He didn't want it to leave.

New Pictures!

I uploaded a photo album of our trip to Ft. Walton Beach and the Feast of Tabernacles. Click here or the Photos link on the left.

I Guess He Was Ready

Today, after I picked up the kids from school, I went out to work on my car. James wanted to ride his bike. OK, no problem. I went inside to get something and James had taken a wrench from my toolbox and started taking off his training wheels. I watched, curiously. He got them off no problem, got on his bike and, after a couple of false starts, started riding down the driveway!

I was amazed! He had previously shown no interest in taking off the training wheels. In fact, I did try to do it a while back and he resisted. He rode a few times with me holding the bike and walking with him and he even could ride (barely) if I let go but couldn't turn or stop. He asked me to put the training wheels back on. That was months ago, at least. Way to go James!

Damage Report

We've been home a few days now, it's hard to get back in the swing of things. While I was at the feast I was a bit worried about what damage Hurricane Wilma would cause to my house. I even considered coming home to board up the windows, but no. I prayed about it and decided to leave it in God's hands. We weren't in the direct path but they were forecasting 50 to 60 mph winds and I left all the chairs and plants outside. I watched the radar on the internet carefully and saw some massive red returns right over our town.

Well, I was right not to worry too much about it. It looked as if nothing happened at all when we got home. James had a little red car he rides on in the yard - still in the same place. All the chairs on the porch and deck - same place. There were a few dead, broken tree branches and the garbage cans moved about ten feet. That's all. It even looks like the power stayed on because my clock still had the right time.

Next time I'm away during hurricane season I think I will take normal hurricane precautions so I will not even have to think about going back.

The surf covered this spot yesterday. A lot of shells left behind, mostly broken.

We took a ride and ended up in Navarre. The area is not as built up yet and what was there was damaged by hurricanes last year. You can see the red flag for the dangerous surf but there are still a lot of people on the beach, more than we've been seeing on Okaloosa Island.

The end of a beautiful day.

The hurricane is really kicking up the surf, even though it is still down by the Yucatan. I'd hate to be here for a direct hit.

Sunset in Destin.

We went on a dolphin sightseeing cruise yesterday. The seagulls were flying along with the boat looking for handouts. Fort Walton Beach and Destin are beautiful.

I am in Fort Walton beach, Florida and this is the view. Like? We drove up yesterday to attend the Feast of Tabernacles.

This morning the garbage man knocked on my door to tell me he hit my mailbox. I don't know what the problem is but it seems everybody hits my mailbox. I told him thanks for telling me but don't worry about it. I'll bang it back into shape and this time I think I'll paint a target on it.

This is Funny

Republican Women Vs. Democrat Women

What's This About?

I can't do it on command and I don't know if it's just me or it's something everyone experiences sometimes - it's just weird. I could be driving down the road, listening to the radio and I'll see a sign or a billboard or something, read it, and at the same time as I read a word someone on the radio will say the same word. Sometimes it happens alot, sometimes I don't notice it for a while.

This evening I was using a calculator (an adding machine) and I punched in the number 1495 at the exact same time a television commercial was on and the man said 1495 (as in "only $14.95 a month). I was adding a column of numbers, it didn't come from my head, but I punched in those numbers at exactly the same time he said them.

I don't know what to make of it. It's a pretty much useless thing to have happen. It's not like knowing lottery numbers in advance or something.

Mychal Massie Tells It Like It Is

'Ugly is as ugly does'

There is nothing that separates the ugliness of the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacist groups, Elaine Harrington, Julian Bond, those who gathered in Atlanta for Jesse Jackson's hate fest, the reprehensible attacks directed at the president by the NAACP leadership at their national convention held in Philadelphia or that of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.

And that's the truth.

Watch That First Step ... It's A Doozy

And you can't go back.

Meth Lab May Have Caused Explosion At St. Cloud Condo.

I can get my mind around why someone might want to make and sell Meth - for the quick money. But I cannot understand for the life of me why anyone would ever take Meth. I get people who come to the hotel sometimes and I stand there looking at a skeleton, looking 30 or 40 years older than they should, bad teeth, no job, no home - and they show me their I.D. and they actually look good in the picture. What a shame to throw away their life. No matter how bad it may have been it was light years better than what Meth did to them. Light years.

Don't Ever Forget This

From 'Michael & Me'

In other words, the police aren't there to protect average citizens. It happens sometimes. There are brave police officers who put their lives on the line for strangers. They are to be applauded. But that is not the everyday occurrence you might imagine. Most police work occurs after the fact. Most responses are post-victimization. And, frankly, most of my contact with police these days occurs after I see red lights flashing in my rearview mirror.

For most people, the only time they come in contact with the police, it's a negative experience - and a costly one. It shouldn't be that way.

This morning when I got home there was a rabbit hopping around the yard. A white rabbit. When I walked toward it, it was not afraid (Why is the rabbit unafraid? 'Cause he's smarter than the panther). Anyway, it wouldn't let me get too close. He kept moving off, slowly. I got a carrot and tried to lure him with it and it worked like a charm. He came right up to me and started eating. I petted his head. He let me just pick it up, no problem but, now what? I put him in an empty 20 gallon tank. I was pretty sure the rabbit belonged to Cyndal down the road. I fed him and watered him and walked over to ask them and sure enough, it was hers. James helped me carry him over to her house. Now James wants a rabbit.

This is where some crazy guy shot a shotgun into the floor of his hotel room. No one heard it.

He shot twice. This one into the safe and wall.

Perspective

Not to minimize the hurricanes and the damage they caused but compared to the earthquake in Pakistan, we got off easy. I don't believe America has ever seen destruction on that scale.

Crazy People

There seems to be no end to the supply.

Shortly after I got to work tonight, we heard a loud noise and some cursing outside so we went out to investigate. There were four people out there. Two were walking away, toward the road and it seems they were fighting, the source of the noise. They were leaving, fine. Walking towards me is an old, drunk guy, carrying a dirty, broken styrofoam box - he said something about the couple walking away, I didn't quite make it out. My coworker recognized him, he was drunk when he checked in. He went quietly towards his room.

Coming up behind him, about fifty feet or so, is a younger guy carrying a few packages of, what else, beer. He was walking in the middle of the parking lot just inside the entrance of the hotel. As I was watching him his packages started moving, he started juggling a can but it fell. Then another, and another. Then they all came tumbling down, spilling onto the parking lot. It was like watching a Laurel and Hardy episode. I couldn't stop laughing at how it happened, I had to go inside so he wouldn't hear me.

He started picking everything up but then he just sat down among all the cans. He was just sitting there, if I didn't know better I would have thought he fell and got hurt. I felt bad now. I looked for a large box to bring out to him but he managed to pick everything up. He walked toward the back and met up with the old, drunk guy. I walked back to make sure they were OK. They got in the room OK but not before dropping more beer cans and leaving about six broken cans in the parking lot. I picked them up and threw them away. One wasn't broken. I smelled like beer.

Meanwhile, back in the lobby, my coworker said something about a shotgun blast in one of the rooms. What? I didn't hear about this. Sometime in the past few days, one of our guests blew a whole in the wall with a shotgun. Nobody heard, or at least reported, the noise. I had to see that. The blast hit the safe first, putting a deep, long dent in the heavy metal, then went on (luckily) into a outside wall. Of course, the guest had checked out by the time the hotel noticed. A police report was made.

I don't have my camera to take a picture of it and I'm off Friday night. I will bring my camera Saturday night and hopefully they won't fix the room before then. I want a picture of that.

To top it off, a hotel down the road was robbed at gunpoint Thursday morning at 6:15am.

Oh what fun.

OK ... but, Why?

Man Wins Award for Creating Fake Dog Testicles

Miller has sold more than 150,000 of his Neuticles, more than doubling his $500,000 investment. The silicone implants come in different sizes, shapes, weights and degrees of firmness.

I'll take the large, firm model, please.

Washington, Too

For a baseball park. Landowners must yield to ballpark

The District will begin using eminent domain to acquire parcels of land at the site of the Washington Nationals' ballpark by the end of this month, after unsuccessful negotiations with nearly half of the landowners.

Baseball. Stealing. How apropos.

Another One

This one in New Jersey.

Union Twp. moves to seize land, give supporter building rights

They want to steal the land from one developer who legally bought the land to develop condos and give it to another developer who intends the same thing.

On May 21, Albert G. Mauti Jr. and his cousin Joseph hosted a fundraiser for Assemblyman Joseph Cryan at the Westmount Country Club in Passaic County. The two developers and family members picked up the $10,400 dinner tab, donated another $8,000 and raised more than $70,000 that night for the powerful Union County Democrat, according to state election records.

Three days later, the governing body in Cryan's hometown of Union Township -- all Democrats -- introduced an ordinance paving the way for the Mautis to build 90 or so townhouses on six acres of abandoned industrial land along the Conrail line in town.

There is just one problem: Union Township doesn't own the land.

It is owned by Carol Segal, a 65-year-old retired electrical engineer. Over the past 10 years, the Union Township resident says, he has spent about $1.5 million to acquire the property, and he, too, wants to build townhouses there.

Segal said he met with Cryan, who is head of the township's Democratic Party, and other local officials "scores of times" over the past five years to discuss the project. He claims the talks turned adversarial after he rejected proposals to work with various developers they proposed.

On May 24, the five-member township committee voted unanimously to authorize the municipality to seize Segal's land through eminent domain and name its own developer.

"They want to steal my land," Segal said. "What right do they have when I intend to do the exact same thing they want to do with my property?"

I don't care if the Supreme Court says it's OK or not - the government is stealing this land at the point of a gun, it's no different. The government has the guns to force you to do what it wants. It's WRONG.

That's Gotta Hurt!

13-Foot Python Dies While Trying To Eat 6-Foot Alligator

The snake apparently tried to swallow the gator whole -- and then exploded. Scientists stumbled upon the gory remains last week.

Someone Wants Your Home

Florida City wants to steal the land of 6000 of it's residents.

"Now eminent domain is affecting people who never had to deal with it before and who have political connections," Mr. Brown said. "But if we don't use this power, cities will die."

Well, whats wrong with cities dying? Cities have a "basic right" to life but babies don't? Cities come and sometimes they go. So what? Our government is out of control.

The Kelo v. City of New London is perhaps the 2nd worst decision made by the Supreme Court, topped only by Roe v. Wade. Both decisions marked a major decline by our courts in the sense of right and wrong, a darkening of national conscience.

"They always think economic redevelopment will bring more joy than what is there now," she said. "Once someone can be replaced so something more expensive can go where they were, every home and business in the country is subject to taking by someone else."

You may be next.

And justice is driven back, and justice stands afar off; for truth has fallen in the street, and right cannot enter. Isaiah 59:14