I'm Connected!

To the internet, that is. The new PepWave Surf AP came yesterday and it works like a charm. I had some trouble connecting the Apple Powerbook with WEP/WPA encryption (it kept saying the password was wrong - it was not) so I ended up leaving it with no encryption but the way it is set up you can't tell there is a separate access point from the city WiFi - it is just increasing the signal strength. The Windows computers (XP and Vista) both had no trouble with the encryption, as easy as putting in the password.

I thought Apple got along with everyone? Guess it's really not that easy, eh. I am really disappointed in the Apple computer. There's a lot of hype about it and I'm following the adventures of some that recently switched to Apple and are now enamored with it - as I was - but they will come to realize that it's just another operating system with it's own faults and problems and it's far from perfect. It's a tool, it has it's strengths and weaknesses - just like Windows.

Anyway, I'm happy I finally have high speed wireless throughout the house with no monthly charge. Yeah!

By the way, if you live in an area with city-wide WiFi, I highly recommend the PepWave Surf AP. Definitely a worthy investment.

When Lizards Attack

That's funny.

When Fish Attack

Girl's Leg Broken By Jumping 3-Foot Sturgeon

A 6-year-old girl's leg was broken when she was struck by a sturgeon while riding on a boat in the Suwannee River, wildlife officials said.

That's gotta hurt.

Hamlin said the commission is trying to increase awareness of the sturgeon attacks and warning people to go slow while boating on the Suwannee River.

Sturgeon attacks, eh? Premeditated?

Lightning

We get a lot of lightning here in Central Florida but I don't remember hearing about as many homes being struck and catching fire as seems to be happening this year.

Lightning Destroys Central Fla. Home

Passing Nurse Saves Woman From Lightning-Sparked Fire

Lightning Destroys Seminole County Home"

Maybe I just wasn't paying attention though.

I Was Thirsty

A five-acre glacial lake in Chile's southern Andes has disappeared — and scientists want to know why.

Sorry.

What Are They Thinking?

They are not thinking, that has to be it. Why would you wear a shirt or some other item of clothing with a picture of Mao or Che or some other mass-murderer on it. Are they advertising their ignorance or do they really agree with the policies of these thugs. George Bush is a murderer but Mao, Che, Castro and Stalin are cool? Why not just wear a shirt that says "Agree with me or I'll kill you!"

Open minded? Their mind is so open everything fell out.

Cameron's bag raises a few eyebrows

It's getting to where you can't even watch a movie anymore, who wants to support people like this? Not me.

Gates vs. Jobs

"What's up with that music? It's like baby music."

Man vs. Bear

Hot Tuna Sandwich

I made this the other day and it was delicious. I like to use the tuna fillets in olive oil but any canned tuna will do fine. Mix in a little mayo and Mrs. Dash seasoning blend (I like extra spicy). You can put some celery and/or fresh herbs if you like - whatever. Spread on a good rye bread and top with some slices of Cabot's habanero cheddar cheese (or whatever) and put it under the broiler open-faced and cheese up. When the cheese has melted don't take it out yet, let it brown and even get a little crunchy. Yum.

This Doesn't Happen Very Often

Man Survives Bobcat Attack by Choking Animal to Death

WiFi ... Not Just Yet

I received the PepWave Surf Monday but they sent the wrong one. They sent the 200BG but I had ordered and paid more for the 200BG-AP (it acts as a wireless access point for all the computers in your house). I will have to return it. The good news is it works. It picks up the city WiFi and I get a nice, high speed connection - just not wirelessly, yet.

Didn't Anyone Ever Tell You It's Rude To Stare

We were in a Burger King today (because James wanted a Silver Surfer toy and for no other reason) and after we sat down a woman came and sat across from us. She was leaning forward on the table staring at us or me (I don't know) and talking and arguing (on the phone?). I don't know, there was no phone and no headset that we could see. Still, I think she was on the phone.

Anyway, I told Irma I wanted to sit somewhere else. Apparently I was being too sensitive. I don't like people staring at me, she's not even turning away, just a very intense stare. Now I was being insensitive, she could be mentally ill. I really didn't care what the deal was with the woman, I just wanted to get out of her immediate field of vision. I wasn't going to be rude or insult her or anything like that. I moved, Irma didn't. No big deal, at least I got to eat comfortably and in peace.

As we were leaving the woman went outside and began intensely arguing with some guy. Suddenly, Irma was in a hurry to get away from her.

Mark Steyn Has It Right ...

The Immigration bill is a fraud

I wouldn't presume to speak for the millions of Americans who oppose this bill, but it's because I'm an immigrant myself that I object to the most patent absurdity peddled by the pro-amnesty crowd. The bill is fundamentally a fraud. Its ''comprehensive solution'' to illegal immigration is simply to flip all the illegals overnight into the legal category. Voila! Problem solved! There can be no more illegal immigrants because the Senate has simply abolished the category. Ingenious! For their next bipartisan trick, Congress will reduce the murder rate by recategorizing murderers as jaywalkers.

No Modem, No Cry

My modem is not recognized by Vista and my investigations have led me to believe it may not even be possible to get it to work, since it was made by Diamond many moons ago, and I cannot find a matching driver. Tried a few, no go.

What I did do was find the PePWave Surf Wi-Fi modem, which should get me connected to my town's Wi-Fi mesh.

I have high hopes and I'll let you know how it works out.

Long Day, Vista Installed

It was not a long day because of Vista, I'm happy to report.

I had to take Joshua to the dentist Thursday morning because he had cracked his front tooth in the bathroom. This was a follow-up appointment, but he was having some discomfort. They decided he needed a root canal and to cap his tooth, so the 1 hour appointment turned into hours, then a trip to the pharmacy to pick up some medication for him and by the time I got home it was 2pm. He's OK but he didn't like what he had to go through. Can't say as I blame him.

I went to bed after getting home and woke up at 8:30pm - couldn't sleep any more. Around 9pm I decided to mess around installing Vista too see what happens. About 9:20pm, Vista is installed and working - mostly. I need a driver for my video card to get it up to speed. Amazingly easy.

I needed to download the drivers from ATI - well, I've done it now. Not 100% sure what it is though. It's a 69 meg program, the same program that was on the CD that came with the video card, but updated to work in Vista. I'm assuming it contains the drivers because that's what the website said I was getting and there were only two choices - 32 bit or 64 bit. Unfortunately, I had to wait until I got to work to do it, I can't connect to the internet with that computer right now because the external modem connects to the computer with a serial port and I don't presently have a serial port. Kind of upgraded myself out of one. I ordered a serial to USB connector and I'll have it Tuesday.

Why don't I have broadband? My town has free WIFI access and I was getting the signal until recently. Why pay for something I can get free? Besides, I'm not very fond of the cable company or the phone company and I'm not anxious to give them any more of my money, they're already getting an outrageous amount. Might have to bite the bullet though.

Well, that's all I have on Vista right now, I'm glad I did it. I need a bigger monitor. And a comfortable chair.

Gotta Love Computers!

As I said previously, I am rebuilding my desktop computer. The parts all came in and I put it together yesterday, but it didn't work. It's been driving me crazy! It's an AMI bios and when booting up it beeps 3 times, indicating a memory problem. I swapped the ram modules, reseated everything, tried changing bios settings related to memory - nothing would work. I searched the internet for the problem and the problem is out there, but the solution seems only to be either bad memory or a bad motherboard. Not a lot of help. I started considering returning the motherboard for another - the memory is good - but I really didn't want to do that.

If you go to NewEgg.com or a similar site you see all the user reviews and some say the part didn't work, it's a piece of crap, etc. Many times it is because the person really doesn't understand what they are doing. I really didn't want to return this motherboard because of a stupid problem I could have fixed. But what was the problem?

As it turns out the bios gives some error codes in the lower right of the screen while booting. They go fast and are hard to catch but I wrote them down and googled them. Bingo! Here the solution right here - at least for me it was. Thank you qldit.

It is possible that you are using a USB keyboard which will not be operative at that point. If this is the case try a PS-2 keyboard

What does that have to do with memory? I don't know! But I used a PS-2 keyboard and it worked. Sometimes the simplest solution is what works.

Next problem. Windows XP SP1 won't install, it has to be SP2. No problem, you can slipstream SP2 into SP1 and burn a bootable disc. I did that. It asks for the original Windows XP Professional disc - OK, then it asks for the Windows Professional SP2 disc - OK, I have an SP2 disc, but it's not specifically for XP Professional. It says it's good for Home, Professional, etc. I put it in but it will not except it. It's not what it wants, apparently. I could try some things and burn another cd but I ordered Windows Vista and will be receiving it tomorrow so I will not bother.

Let's see how it goes tomorrow.

Two Sides of Love

When I say that He came to reveal God as love I do not mean to say He revealed the fact that God is tender, and pitiful, and gracious, and compassionate at the expense of holiness and righteousness and truth. There is no fiercer fire burning in the universe of God than the fire of God's love; and if you could for one moment persuade me that God was merely a God of pity, then you would persuade me that the whole fabric of the universe is unsafe. He came to show men that God is love, and He revealed the love of God not merely in the tender, sweet, and gentle words that perpetually fell from his lips, but in the fiery, white-hot scorn that He poured forth as a lava flood against some, for you never find Jesus angry but that if you track His anger back to it's source you will find His anger proceeded from His love.

Perhaps the simplest illustration is the best. He was angry - do not forget it, my masters, He was angry when He said, "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the Kingdom of heaven." We nearly always repeat that word as though it was some soft sweetness falling from His lips. Put the thunder in the next time you repeat it, or you miss something. The disciples were preventing the children. The disciples imagined He could have no time for children, and He was angry when He said, "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not," and there was thunder in His voice. Why was He angry? Because a little child was to be kept away from him, and the thunder was as much an expression of His love as the sweet winsomeness of the permission given to the children to come. When I see Him with those bairns in his arms, and His dear hands upon their heads, and His face wreathed with laughter as He looked into their eyes, I see His love no more than when He rebuked the disciples for preventing their approach.

Or when He said, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" I listen and I hear Him finish His sentence, and I find the reason of the thunder, "Ye shut the Kingdom of heaven against men." At the back of all the anger is love, and He came to reveal God to man as the God of love in all the fullness of the word.

--G.Campbell Morgan

What Nation Was Established On These Principles?

Notice still further how He defended the dignity and rights of men against all forms of tyranny and oppression. Listen to His Woes. He began his ministry with "Blessed." He ended it with "Woe." Over against the eight beatitudes are the eight curses. It is an interesting study. But listen to the Woes. They are all hurled against men who tyrannize and oppress; and the whole teaching of Jesus concerning man is that a man has no right to bind himself beneath tyranny and be content. The teaching of Jesus is that there may be a good deal of incipient blasphemy in the popular idea that a man should stay in the position wherein he was born, and be content. The teaching of Jesus is that every man has inherent rights, and any man who comes between the individual and the throne of God is to be dealt with drastically, and the woe that falls from the lips of incarnate purity is pronounced against him.

-- G. Campbell Morgan

Oh, how far we have fallen.

The More Things Change ...

Wherever He went He said, “Repent,” which meant, Change your mind, your thinking is wrong, your action is wrong, you have departed from the center of things, your measurements are false, your balances are evil, your judgments are perverted! He flung against the materialized age the force of His spiritual conception. He made heaven’s light break upon earth’s darkness. The Voice of God sounded again in the deeps of human nature, and o’re all the region as He passed, men felt the atmosphere of heaven enwrapping them, and they hurried after Him, for never Man spake as He spake. That is the deeper secret in the ministry of Jesus. He was a voice from God, nay, the very Word of God incarnate, speaking in the syllables of human speech, and yet with all the force of infinite truth. What are men to do with that truth? My brethren, then as today, men standing in the presence of Christ have but one alternative. They must do one of two things. They must either crown Him or crucify Him. There is no middle course. And if you ask me why they crucified Christ, I tell you it was because they declined to submit themselves to the spiritual conceptions which He proclaimed, because they would have none of his views of things, because in their deepest heart, notwithstanding all their religiousness, they were godless. And when they silenced that voice, they silenced the voice of the infinite. When they took that Man to the cross, they flung out the One Who had offended them by revealing the fact that all their thinking and all their life were false.

And yet again. The Cross of Jesus viewed from the Divine side was the logical issue of His own teaching. He Who might have summoned the legions of heaven to His side submitted to the Cross, and so by a mystery of healing love transformed the world’s curse into God’s benediction.

The very spear that pierced His side
Drew forth the blood to save.

All this was utterly beyond their comprehension. All this they could not answer, nor did they see the faintest gleam of it’s light. They were scandalized in Him, and crucified Him; and the Cross became the stumbling block, the offense, the scandal of the age.

Men are still enslaved, waste and want abound on every hand. I need not stay with it's description. What I want to say is this, that everything Jesus stood for, and everything that the cross really means as to deep underlying principle, is as unpopular today as when Jesus was crucified. The age is not Christianized. The thinking of the age, the planning of the age, the policy of the age are not Christian, and the scandal of the Cross has not ceased. This living Christ of God, dying on the Cross, is as much crucified in our midst today as He was of old.

--G. Campbell Morgan

Yeah, this was G. Campbell Morgan day. I'm reading through his works now, don't be surprised to see more of it.

And He said to me, Son of man, all My Words which I speak to you, receive into your heart, and hear with your ears. Ezekiel 3:10

Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house. They have eyes to see, but they do not see; they have ears to hear, but they do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 12:2

The one having ears to hear, let him hear.Matthew 11:15

The 60 Story House

606 people will live there, 600 of them to take care of 6. No wonder it's so big.

New Power Supply, Too

After writing the post below, it got me thinking about the power supply. It's very likely it is bad and has been the cause of the problems on the computer, or at least contributed to them. I don't want to take any chances frying the new computer parts. I ordered an Enermax 500 watt unit.

Time To Rebuild

My desktop computer has been giving me problems. It all started when my UPS (uninterruptible power supply) died. Uninterruptible, by the way, doesn't seem to be a real word, the spell checker doesn't like it and it's not in the dictionary - dictionary.com anyway, but that's the word they use. Apparently, it suffered a power surge that took it out. It's not a dead battery, it smells burnt and it's completely dead. I just plugged the computer into the wall and it worked, sort of. It kept crashing and I had to slow down the CPU to keep it going. Eventually it just stopped working altogether. That's the second UPS I lost this way and the first time it took out the computer, too. The first was an APS and the last a Belkin.

I've been looking into surge protectors - what a confusing mess. I settled on a Panamax, I hope it works out. Everyone claims to be the best and they trash the rest. I might get another UPS but I will plug it into the surge protector. I wouldn't mind a sacrificial UPS if it saved the computer but they don't offer very good surge protection.

I built this computer not too long after Windows XP came out. It was long before the SP2 update. It has an AMD Athlon 1400 processor, Asus A7V-133 motherboard and 1500 megs of PC133 ram. The only thing I'm keeping is the case (Lian-Li aluminum), probably the power supply and the DVD burner - maybe.

I'm going with an Intel processor this time - E6600 Core 2 Duo. There are so many choices in the PC world it makes choosing the components a chore. I wanted a firewire and an eSata port on the motherboard - I decided on the MSI P35 Platinum. I chose a SAPPHIRE 100166L Radeon X1650XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - that's a mouth full. I'm not looking for bleeding edge performance, I just want a good system. 2 Gigs Kingston DDR 667 ram - could've went with 800 but it costs twice as much and I don't think it's that much faster. I went with 2 Sata hard drives, 80 gigs for the operating system and programs and 320 gigs for storage - both Western Digital. I have a 320 gig eSata drive for back ups. I'll be sticking with Windows XP for now, can't really afford to upgrade to Vista now anyway and I don't want to waste the money if it doesn't work out.

I enjoy putting these together, I wish I could do it more often. I'll have my fun next week and hopefully everything goes well and I'll have a good, reliable system for years to come.

Walking in Darkness

The substitution of the creature in any form for the Creator, constitutes incapacity to receive the Word of God. If a man shall substitute nature for God, a priest for God, a ceremony for God, then, though the Word of God be speaking to him by a thousand voices, he hears none; though the light of God flash on him from every point of the compass, he walks in the darkness; though all the mystic influences of the Divine immanence are about him; he is unconscious of them. No voice, no virtue, no vision, no victory, a famine of the Word of God, because a man has stayed with something short of God.

It may be even as I attempt to deliver the message there is nothing in it for you. Words, empty words, a meaningless occasion, an opportunity for curiosity. You are in the midst of a great famine, famine for the Word of God; and the reason is that you have compelled the capacity in your life which ought to take hold of God to cling to something short of Him. As Paul puts it in writing to the Romans, you havesubstituted the creature for the Creator, and having fastened your life upon something short of God you have become hardened to the touch of God, unconscious of the fact of God; and though His Word is living and quick and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword, it fails to affect you.

The sealing of the Bible always follows idolatry, and the issue of such idolatry is famine, and the result emaciated, emasculated humanity. The thing that has sealed the Word of God to the believer is the believer's unbelief and disobedience and idolatry. If we could rid ourselves of our idols, the famine would be over, and the Word of God would be living to us again.

Wherever a man has lost his capacity for the Word of God, cannot discern it, does not hear it, does not appreciate it, almost ceases - hear me carefully in this apparent contradiction - almost ceases to desire it, wherever that is true, there results in the life of that man, woman, community, a great ceaseless searching restlessness; and I believe that the restlessness of our own age is due to the fact that our age is in the midst of the famine of the Word of God, a famine following upon its idolatry, national, social, and individual.

But, is there such restlessness? Think with me for a moment. I maintain there is an ignorant restlessness. By that I mean a restlessness that does not understand itself in any measure, and I believe that that ignorant restlessness which is unconscious of the meaning of its own fruitless search is that of nothing less than a search for the Word of God. Men do not know it. They would not so name it; but every attempt to satisfy the life without God is in the last analysis an attempt to find the Word of God. I suppose the old illustration, the most familiar perhaps, the most sublime in Scripture, is the natural one that comes to the mind at this moment. Paul's great word to the Ephesians, "Be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit." What did the apostle mean? Why link these two things together? Because they are bound together, because in the underlying meaning of the attempt to get some kind of satisfaction out of wine is the cry of the soul after God. And all the restlessness of this ignorant age is the panting of the human heart after the Word of God. There are men and women running from north to south - from north to east, to be true to the figure of my text - from sea to sea, from land to land, in ceaseless, roving restlessness. What do they want? Ask them and they tell you, some new sensation, some new thing, some new thrill. What do they really want? They want the Word of God, they want God himself, communicating to them through the Word that they may find the sustenance of their spiritual life. Oh, the restlessness of the worldling, as understood from the upper spaces, is the panting of the heart, in ignorance, after God. In such ignorant restlessness God is not recognized, and no sin admitted. God is not talked of. It is a little out of date to talk of God among such people. They dismiss the Word. Religion is taboo! God is not named, and sin is never mentioned. There is a great famine in the land.

A partial text of the sermon "Famine of the Word of God" by G. Campbell Morgan from his book, The Westminster Pulpit.

Hog Wild

I never knew a pig could get so big. That thing is a monster.

Where is the Love?

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8).

Here we come face to face with that tremendous declaration of the Scriptures: "God is love." It means that at the root all God does is love. No matter how difficult it may appear to us, the fountain from which all God's activity stems is this kind of self-giving love. Even His judgments, His condemnations, arrive from love. Judgment is not something separate from love. If you convince me that a holy, loving God cannot judge a sinful person, then you will also convince me that He cannot love a sinful person. Inherent in the quality of love is an antagonism toward anything that opposes the object of love. Also, inherent in it is the quality of judgment. God is a purifying fire, consuming and burning away the dross in order that He might preserve the gold. That, incidentally, is how the book of Hebrews describes Him. "Our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). Love is not always easy to live with because of that very quality, yet it is the most wonderful thing in the world because of its warmth and its all-embracing inclusiveness that takes in all kinds and all conditions, without looking for merit on the part of the object loved. That is the love of God.

I don't like the words "sin" or "sinners" because most people just turn off when they hear those and don't understand what they mean - just some religious mumbo jumbo. Sin is nothing more than lawbreaking.

(1John 3:4) Everyone practicing sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

God did not arbitrarily create the laws of the universe. The law of gravity, for instance, could not behave in any other manner without tearing apart the universe. The same goes for every other law this creation must abide by. They are what they are because that is what they must be in order to create the orderly universe we so often take for granted.

Now, the physical laws we can pretty much figure out on our own - we got that part down (well, most of us), but there are spiritual laws that govern humanity that we cannot figure out on our own, they must be revealed by the Creator. We cannot naturally see the spiritual. The breaking of them we feel, we see it all around us. Many of us strive to heal the sickness but have no clue as to the cause.

Lawbreaking should not be tolerated by a loving society, to tolerate or excuse it is not love. Love can be tough at times, but it is always looking to the betterment of the individual and the society.


Quote above taken from the May 25th Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman.
© 2007 by Elaine Stedman -- From the book The Power of His Presence: a year of devotions from the writings of Ray Stedman; compiled by Mark Mitchell. Devotion pages, excerpts, or quotes may be used as long as the copyright notice includes the book title and author along with a reference or a hyperlink to the Official Ray C. Stedman Library web site at http://www.RayStedman.org.

Rewarding Lawbreaking

Please, can my sister become an illegal immigrant?

Here I have to ask for lenience for my poor sister. You see, although the natural law informs my own ideas of right and wrong, I generally obey the positive law, even when it's wrong. To live creatively and productively, I require safety and stability. I fear my sister shares the same aversion to living on the edge. In any event, whatever deep-seated defect obeying the law signifies – she has it. Most people who immigrate legally have it; those who do so illegally don't. Bully for them.

I understand that by privileging illegals, the Bush-Kennedy-McCain troika intends to cleverly weed out, in the Darwinian sense, people of probity. This is a smart tactic with a proven track record, as individuals with no qualms about breaking one set of laws are less prone to observing the law in general. To wit, statistics place illegal immigrants in the high-crime bracket. I worry that this is a standard my sister cannot live up to.

I'm A Winner!

I enter a lot of sweepstakes and I've won quite a few things, haven't hit a big one yet, though. I won a Rachel Ray t-shirt last month and yesterday I received a Dog the Bounty Hunter t-shirt and DVD from A&E. Thanks A&E!

When Will We Get It?

During the Cold War, two things came to be known and generally recognized in the Middle East concerning the two rival superpowers. If you did anything to annoy the Russians, punishment would be swift and dire. If you said or did anything against the Americans, not only would there be no punishment; there might even be some possibility of reward, as the usual anxious procession of diplomats and politicians, journalists and scholars and miscellaneous others came with their usual pleading inquiries: "What have we done to offend you? What can we do to put it right?"

A few examples may suffice. During the troubles in Lebanon in the 1970s and '80s, there were many attacks on American installations and individuals--notably the attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, followed by a prompt withdrawal, and a whole series of kidnappings of Americans, both official and private, as well as of Europeans. There was only one attack on Soviet citizens, when one diplomat was killed and several others kidnapped. The Soviet response through their local agents was swift, and directed against the family of the leader of the kidnappers. The kidnapped Russians were promptly released, and after that there were no attacks on Soviet citizens or installations throughout the period of the Lebanese troubles.

These different responses evoked different treatment. While American policies, institutions and individuals were subject to unremitting criticism and sometimes deadly attack, the Soviets were immune. Their retention of the vast, largely Muslim colonial empire accumulated by the czars in Asia passed unnoticed, as did their propaganda and sometimes action against Muslim beliefs and institutions.

Continue Reading Was Osama Right?

Global BS

Global warming debunked

A combination of misinterpreted and misguided science, media hype, and political spin had created the current hysteria and it was time to put a stop to it.

"It is time to attack the myth of global warming," he said.

Water vapour was responsible for 95 per cent of the greenhouse effect, an effect which was vital to keep the world warm, he explained.

"If we didn't have the greenhouse effect the planet would be at minus 18 deg C but because we do have the greenhouse effect it is plus 15 deg C, all the time."

The other greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen dioxide, and various others including CFCs, contributed only five per cent of the effect, carbon dioxide being by far the greatest contributor at 3.6 per cent.

However, carbon dioxide as a result of man's activities was only 3.2 per cent of that, hence only 0.12 per cent of the greenhouse gases in total. Human-related methane, nitrogen dioxide and CFCs etc made similarly minuscule contributions to the effect: 0.066, 0.047 and 0.046 per cent respectively.

"That ought to be the end of the argument, there and then," he said.

"We couldn't do it (change the climate) even if we wanted to because water vapour dominates."

You know global warming is a scam because it fit's exactly into the lefts social engineering schemes, that's about all you need to know.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with reducing your footprint; and keeping the air, oceans and land as clean and beautiful as possible is a wonderful thing. We should do more of it. Just don't try to package your social engineering crap in environmentalism and expect me to fall for it. And stop throwing cigarette butts and trash on the ground.

Socialized Radio

Radio Free Congress by Fred Thompson

I had planned on talking a bit today about Venezuela. The president there doesn’t like the way his media is covering him, so he’s doing away with the free press. He’s established rules on what he thinks is fair, and he’s denying licenses to television and radio stations that don’t play by government rules.

I can’t criticize him now, though. After all, how would it seem for me to complain about another country, when our own congressional leadership is trying to put the same sort of rules in place here? To do so, they’re pulling the Fairness Doctrine out of the dustbin of history.

Restaurant Forced To Change Ambiguous Bathroom Signs

McGuire's Irish Pub is one of my favorite restaurants, it's in Destin, Fl. If you're ever in the area, check it out, the food is great and the beer is made on premises.

I can't say I'm surprised to see this happened, but I am disappointed. The first time I went into the bathroom I was told to read the sign carefully, obviously some people have no sense of humor. What a surprise.

Just a Good Commentary

Guns, the devil and God

You see, in today's America the self-reliant, responsible, independent-minded man or woman who carries a gun – the kind of person who is aware, thinks for himself, is skeptical of government, the press and all of society's "experts" – the person not content to be a victim, but willing to take charge of a situation, "get involved," even fight back and stand up for what is right – in other words, a true American – is threatening to society's elitists, experts and politicians who are addicted to power.

Cower, Cringe, and Hide

Time for the sun to set on the Culture of Sheep

“Why am I being punished?” I asked.

“Because you fought back,” I was told.

I was stunned and disgusted in the same instant. Though I did not realize it in these terms, it was my first memory that I and the other students were being conditioned to be victims - to accept the idiotic culture of sheep. If attacked, submit and hope for the best. This concept is unnatural to humans; it certainly goes against the grain of my instincts.

Just how this cower, cringe and hide in the face of danger concept ever caught on is beyond me. I reject that early conditioning the liberal public schools tried to thrust upon me. Ever since that injustice the anti-self defense culture, the culture of sheep, has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Their philosophy is not only unjust, it is down right stupid and deadly.

The Always Inciteful Insightful

Ann Coulter: C'EST SI BON

Apparently, even the French prefer Western civilization to clitorectomy-performing, car-burning savages.

The Democratic Party is now officially the only organization on Earth that does not take the threat of Islamic fascism seriously. Between the Democrats and the media, America has gone from its usual position as the world's last hope to radical Islam's last hope.

Amazing ... But true?

Bullet in woman's head for 64 years

The shape of the bullet in the x-ray makes me wonder. It looks like a bullet, and that's the problem. Don't bullets deform and break apart on impact? Perhaps there are bullets that don't, I don't know. That's a question for the experts.

How To Destroy The Earth

Destroying the Earth is harder than you may have been led to believe.

You've seen the action movies where the bad guy threatens to destroy the Earth. You've heard people on the news claiming that the next nuclear war or cutting down rainforests or persisting in releasing hideous quantities of pollution into the atmosphere threatens to end the world.

Fools.

The Earth is built to last. It is a 4,550,000,000-year-old, 5,973,600,000,000,000,000,000-tonne ball of iron. It has taken more devastating asteroid hits in its lifetime than you've had hot dinners, and lo, it still orbits merrily. So my first piece of advice to you, dear would-be Earth-destroyer, is: do NOT think this will be easy.

This is not a guide for wusses whose aim is merely to wipe out humanity. I (Sam Hughes) can in no way guarantee the complete extinction of the human race via any of these methods, real or imaginary. Humanity is wily and resourceful, and many of the methods outlined below will take many years to even become available, let alone implement, by which time mankind may well have spread to other planets; indeed, other star systems. If total human genocide is your ultimate goal, you are reading the wrong document. There are far more efficient ways of doing this, many which are available and feasible RIGHT NOW. Nor is this a guide for those wanting to annihilate everything from single-celled life upwards, render Earth uninhabitable or simply conquer it. These are trivial goals in comparison.

This is a guide for those who do not want the Earth to be there anymore.

This Might Be Important To Know

Listening to an iPod could stop your heart

Ipods can cause pacemakers to malfunction by making them go too fast, too slow or even stop altogether, according to a study.

Researchers found that iPods could make pacemakers malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart rate.

Well, of course, you have to have a pacemaker. Will over reaction cause a backlash against iPods by those with pacemakers? And if an iPod can do it, any electronic device should do it, too. There's nothing special about the electronics in an iPod.

She added: "On rare occasions, some electrical gadgets can potentially interfere with pacemakers, so it is sensible to keep these devices directly away from pacemakers.

"If you have a pacemaker and are sitting next to someone with an MP3 player it is extremely unlikely that it will interfere with your pacemaker."

I Did Not Know That!

" Surprisingly, it is very hard to pin down the age of a star," Anna Frebel, the lead author of a paper on the results, said in a statement.

Yes, I'm shocked.

For He Does Not Bear the Sword for Nothing

God's Strange Servants

You really need to read this all the way through but here are a few excerpts from the text:

I think we Americans are slowly learning that not every body of people in the world can handle democracy. There was a time when, naively, we thought democracy was the best (and only enlightened) form of government, and all we had to do was go around the world and set up democracies and people would begin to function properly. Democracy would solve all their problems. Now, after many painful experiences, we know better than that. We know there are times and places where democracy just won't work. It can't work; people aren't ready for it. They can't handle that kind of liberty, that kind of responsibility. Therefore God doesn't give it to them. The government they have is better suited for their purposes than the one we have. We are slowly catching on to that.

You see, God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. He is not a Socialist, or a Marxist, or even an American! The biblical picture is that God not only sends us good men sometimes, by his grace, to lead us and heal us, but also he sends us bad men at times, to punish us. And we deserve them. Therefore, when Hitlers, Stalins, and other ruthless individuals come to the throne of power, God has put them there because that is what that people needed at that particular time in history. This is the biblical position with regard to government, and it is rather startling.

I thank God for the enlightened soul, a few decades ago, that set in line a motion that added to our pledge of allegiance the words "under God." That reflects biblical truth. This nation exists as a nation under God. What that is saying, of course, is that nations are to recognize that they have limited power. They are agents of God, but they are not God.

From whence come wars and conflicts among you?

Do they not arise out of your own passions? --James 4:1,2

That's a tremendously helpful verse because it bridges an individual's world of his own personal life and the social world, extending even to communities, and beyond, to states and nations in the world. The claim of that verse is simply that conflict and strife with neighbors, friends, relatives or nations arises out of human passions---anger and feelings of attack or injustice. The same forces produce world conflicts as well. Wars and strife between individuals or nations spring from the same source. It always appears to be naive for various groups to suggest that we eliminate strife on the social level when the very people who seek to do so haven't succeeded in eliminating conflicts in their own lives. People who mount protests and demonstrations to eliminate war oftentimes have terrible conflicts in their own homes! They haven't solved the problem there, even.

Taken from TEN PROPOSITIONS CONCERNING WAR by Ray C. Stedman

Disorders & Acronyms

Some common human disorders:

ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
APD: Auditory Processing Disorder, also referred to as CAPD or Central Auditory Processing Disorder
ASD: Autistic Spectrum Disorder
BD/ED: Behavior Disordered / Emotionally Disturbed
CD: Conduct Disorder
MDO: Major Depressive Disorder
MPD: Multiple Personality Disorder
OCD: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
ODD: Oppositional-Defiant Disorder
PDD: Pervasive Developmental Disorder
PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
SAD: Seasonal Affective Disorder
SED: Severe Emotional Disorder
SED: Severely Emotionally Disturbed

Bees even have a disorder:

CDD: colony collapse disorder

Some little known disorders:

NOSD: Not Otherwise Specified Disorder
TEACCHD: Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Disorders Disorder
ADMSD: Acronym doesn't make sense disorder
INADODD: Inability to name a disease anything other than a disorder disorder
EDAD: Every disorder must have an acronym disorder
RPAD: Really pushing it acronym disorder
BAD: Bad acronym disorder
RBAD: Really bad acronym disorder
NEAD: Not even an acronym disorder

That's Justice

Eight Arrested In Honda Theft Ring

"It keeps them off the street. They can't steal any cars for at least another 21 days," Bartlett said.

I like the old west way, steal a man's horse, you get hung. Should work the same way for cars.

Stupid Turkey

As I was writing the previous post there was a turkey in the driveway walking around my car. I should have known what he was doing. A few days ago I was driving past my neighbors house and saw a turkey pecking her car. I picked up the kids and when I was coming back home it was still there. She was outside, so I told her and she chased it off.

I just went to pick up the kids again and when getting back in the car from the other side noticed the entire side of the car is scratched. That turkey must have been going to town on my car for a while. Why on that side and not on the side I could see from the window?

I like having the turkeys around, I enjoy watching them, and they have never done anything like this before, that's why I didn't chase it away. It looks like it's just this one turkey. A rogue turkey. If he keeps this up I might have to arrange a little accident - just kidding. I'll just let James loose on him, he'll chase him a way.

Do You Believe ...

in global warming?

Once a person becomes a believer of global warming, "you never have to defend this belief except to claim that you are supported by all scientists -- except for a handful of corrupted heretics," Lindzen added.

In Al Gore they trust.

Help Al Gore Save Mars

Our CO2 emissions are getting so bad they are actually causing the climate on Mars to heat up.

Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period.

Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena.

Ya Think? A natural phenomena? The pompous Al Gore might actually be wrong?

See post below.

Masters of the Universe

Human beings, in their inventiveness, think they can master the earth. But the very solutions they work out become the bigger problems that they can no longer manage. The whole vast scheme of things eludes them; they are not able to put them all together.

--Ray Stedman

...and that's the truth.

Meet Becka

She belongs to my brother-in-law. She's very sweet and I'm not sure her age but she's less than a year old. She's a Boxer in case you couldn't tell.

One of the Good Ones

Here's an excellent interview with John Voight at Radar Online.

The question for me is: who are you and where are your sensibilities? If you're part of a left-wing bias and want to turn what I say in favor of someone on your agenda, I would say I don't want to talk about it with you. It's difficult for me ... because I see so many people go in the wrong direction. I see it all the time and it's very, very disturbing. What's being said in so many places in the country is just dangerous.

Veil of Protection

I joked on the 27th about joining the tinfoil hat brigade because of all the radio waves that bombard us constantly, but apparently this woman is way ahead of me in thinking this through.

Convinced that she had almost certainly found the cause of her illness, she ordered, from the internet, some special rolls of foil wallpaper and a fabric called Swiss bobbinet - a netting made from polyester filaments dipped in silver.

Both promised to "shield" her from any emissions from phone masts or wireless broadband systems.

Within a few weeks of the wallpaper going up and the windows being hung with netting, she began to feel better.

Usually people who do this are protecting themselves from alien signals controlling them or the government beaming thoughts into their head. I don't believe she's on that level but I lean towards believing her problem is psychosomatic. Who knows though.

Carbon Faking

Industry caught in carbon 'smokescreen'

Companies and individuals rushing to go green have been spending millions on “carbon credit” projects that yield few if any environmental benefits.

A Financial Times investigation has uncovered widespread failings in the new markets for greenhouse gases, suggesting some organisations are paying for emissions reductions that do not take place.

Others are meanwhile making big profits from carbon trading for very small expenditure and in some cases for clean-ups that they would have made anyway.

Scam on scam on scam.

Is This Weird?

I was just posting to accounts receivables and while posting to the name "Lieberman," Senator Lieberman came on the TV in an excerpt from a speech.

How's That?

I'm still trying to figure this one out. They couldn't tell the difference between a dog and a sheep? They didn't notice it had hooves until they took it to get trimmed? Who would even think they could fool someone with a scam like this? Do I give people too much credit for having some sense?

The only way this happened is the people really knew they were sheep but were afraid to say something for fear of hurting feelings. I could see that happening in Japan, they have a complex societal system, and aren't as forward as Americans can be.

Wool pulled over Japanese eyes in poodle scam

The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food.

She was crestfallen when told it was a sheep.

Then hundreds of other women got in touch with police to say they feared their new "poodle" was also a sheep.

One couple said they became suspicious when they took their "dog" to have its claws trimmed and were told it had hooves.

I Hate Lies

The Big White Lie

The thing I like best about being a conservative is that I don’t have to lie. I don’t have to pretend that men and women are the same. I don’t have to declare that failed or oppressive cultures are as good as mine. I don’t have to say that everyone’s special or that the rich cause poverty or that all religions are a path to God. I don’t have to claim that a bad writer like Alice Walker is a good one or that a good writer like Toni Morrison is a great one. I don’t have to pretend that Islam means peace.

Of course, like everything, this candor has its price. A politics that depends on honesty will be, by nature, often impolite. Good manners and hypocrisy are intimately intertwined, and so conservatives, with their gimlet-eyed view of the world, are always susceptible to charges of incivility. It’s not really nice, you know, to describe things as they are.

This is leftism’s great strength: it’s all white lies. That’s its only advantage, as far as I can tell. None of its programs actually works, after all. From statism and income redistribution to liberalized criminal laws and multiculturalism, from its assault on religion to its redefinition of family, leftist policies have made the common life worse wherever they’re installed. But because it depends on—indeed is defined by—describing the human condition inaccurately, leftism is nothing if not polite. With its tortuous attempts to rename unpleasant facts out of existence—he’s not crippled, dear, he’s handicapped; it’s not a slum, it’s an inner city; it’s not surrender, it’s redeployment—leftism has outlived its own failure by hiding itself within the most labyrinthine construct of social delicacy since Victoria was queen.

Get Real

Let's be realistic about reality -- Mark Steyn

I think we have a problem in our culture not with "realistic weapons" but with being realistic about reality. After all, we already "fear guns," at least in the hands of NRA members. Otherwise, why would we ban them from so many areas of life? Virginia Tech, remember, was a "gun-free zone," formally and proudly designated as such by the college administration. Yet the killer kept his guns and ammo on the campus. It was a "gun-free zone" except for those belonging to the guy who wanted to kill everybody. Had the Second Amendment not been in effect repealed by VT, someone might have been able to do as two students did five years ago at the Appalachian Law School: When a would-be mass murderer showed up, they rushed for their vehicles, grabbed their guns and pinned him down until the cops arrived.

But you can't do that at Virginia Tech. Instead, the administration has created a "Gun-Free School Zone." Or, to be more accurate, they've created a sign that says "Gun-Free School Zone." And, like a loopy medieval sultan, they thought that simply declaring it to be so would make it so. The "gun-free zone" turned out to be a fraud -- not just because there were at least two guns on the campus last Monday, but in the more important sense that the college was promoting to its students a profoundly deluded view of the world.

Defining Violence down

A Moment of Silence by Charles Krauthammer

VA Tech, Pre-Gun Ban

Death toll limited before campus gun ban

On Jan. 16, 2002, Peter Odighizuwa, a 43-year-old student from Nigeria, walked into the Appalachian School of Law offices of Dean Anthony Sutin, 42, a former acting assistant U.S. attorney, and professor Thomas Blackwell, 41, and opened fire with a .380 ACP semi-automatic handgun – shooting them at close range.

Also killed in the same building was student Angela Denise Dales, 33. Three others were wounded.

As soon as the gunfire erupted, two students acting independently of one another, Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross, ran to their vehicles to retrieve firearms. Gross, an off-duty police officer in his home state of North Carolina, got his 9mm pistol and body armor. Bridges got out his .357 Magnum.

Bridges and Gross went back to the building where the shots were heard and as Odighizuwa exited, they approached from different angles. Bridges yelled for him to drop his weapon and the shooter was subdued by several unarmed students.

Gross went back to his car and got handcuffs to detain the shooter until police arrived.

Most news reports of the incident failed to mention the presence of two armed students and their role in subduing the shooter, saying only that he was tackled by bystanders.

Speaking Of Wi-Fi

Everyone should be aware of this:

Public Wi-Fi may turn your life into an open notebook

"When people are on a public wireless connection, they have the same expectations about privacy as when they are on the Internet at home," said Cheung, 32, a computer security expert and an editor for TG Daily, a technology news website.

"But it doesn't work that way. Someone could be listening in."

Cheung was using a "sniffer" program that intercepted online signals as they flew back and forth from the laptops to a wireless modem hidden somewhere amid the coffee paraphernalia.

Radio Waves

Wi-Fi: Children at risk from 'electronic smog'

Professor Olle Johansson, of Sweden's prestigious Karolinska Institute, who is deeply concerned about the spread of Wi-Fi, says there are "thousands" of articles in scientific literature demonstrating "adverse health effects". He adds: "Do we not know enough already to say, 'Stop!'?"

Why pick on Wi-Fi? What about television waves, radio waves, radar waves - and break each of those down into the different types? Did you ever think about just how much of this stuff is out there, everywhere, 24 hours a day? You can't get away from it. Does anyone even know what it's like to grow up without being bombarded with these waves constantly? I bet if you stopped all these transmissions the Earth would cool a few degrees just from that.

It must be time to join the tinfoil hat brigade.

Gun Control Is BS

An excerpt from the show "Bullshit" where Penn & Teller discuss gun control. Don't watch if you are offended by foul language.

The Fruit Of The Spirit

An excerpt from a sermon by G. Campbell Morgan.

"The fruit of the Spirit is love." The word "fruit" presupposes life. There can be no fruit apart from life. The word "fruit" indicates cultivation. Fruit comes to perfection only in answer to the touch of cultivation. Fruit, finally, suggests sustenance. Fruit is food. In these simplest thoughts concerning the word we have a revelation of the whole method of Christianity.

Fruit suggests life. The Apostle writes, "the works of the flesh," but "the fruit of the Spirit." As my friend, Samuel Chadwick, of Leeds, once forcefully put it, "The word works suggests the factory: the word fruit suggests the garden."

Works, the works of men, are always operations in the realm of death, and they forevermore contain within themselves the elements of disintegration. Fruit is always an operation in the realm of life, containing within itself the power of propagation.

The finest works which man has ever wrought are all operations in the realm of death. If your quickly moving mind questions me about the flowers and tells me that they are man's work, I reply that it is where man's work ceases and God's begins that life proceeds. Man's work is always an operation in the realm of death. Take the building in which we are gathered. It is useful, necessary, proper, but it could not be erected save as man handled dead materials. The tree in the forest with it's rising sap and it's budding life was no use to the builder. It must die before man could begin his work. Man's works being operations in the realm of death, they contain within themselves the elements of break-up. While this building was being erected, long ere the builder put on the final stone with rejoicing, old mother nature with mossy fingers had begun to pull it down, and , notwithstanding the fact that we have reconstructed it, she is busy destroying it at this moment. As quickly as man works, his work crumbles and passes. That is the figure the Apostle used when he was speaking of the flesh. The works of the flesh are operations in the realm of death. The finest thing a man can do within his own self-centered life is a thing of decay and break-up, which perishes and passes and cannot abide.

Fruit is an operation in the realm of life, that mystic fact, which we all know by observation and none of us knows by final analysis and explanation. Life is of God as much in the flowering of a daisy as in he blossoming of stars. It owes it's origin to God a surely in the sparrow as in the seraph. Fruit is God's work. You may paint fruit, but it fades upon your canvas though you mix your colors with the skill of a Turner. You may make your fruit of wax, but it perishes, notwithstanding the fact that you put it under a glass case. Fruit has in it the properties of perpetual life: "the tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after it's kind." There is the potentiality in all fruit of unceasing propagation. It is a thing of life. Christianity is a thing of life. The love which is it's final fruitage cannot be manufactured; it must grow, and it must grow out of the principle of life.

Fruit implies cultivation. There can be no perfection of fruit without cultivation. Let the tree in your garden run wild, never use the pruning knife, and all the fine quality of the fruit will pass away from it. The fruit of Christianity, which is love, comes to perfection only by the processes of cultivation, not your cultivation, but Jesus'. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman ... ye are the branches." Let me turn aside for one brief, passing message to some heart in trouble. You are passing through the fire, you are overwhelmed with sorrow. You crept up to the the assembly of saints feeling inclined to say, "Has God forgotten me? Why this pruning, this beating, this buffeting?" Hear this: The perfection of Christian character comes only by cultivation. "My Father is the husbandman." He holds in his hands the pruning knife. "All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous, but grievous: yet afterward ..." God help you to look to the afterward, and to know this, "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth," and to see that by these processes of cultivation He is perfecting the fruit.

Finally, fruit suggests not merely life and cultivation, it suggests sustenance - sustenance for God. "God is love." God's heart hungers after love. God can be satisfied only with love. Listen to the wailing minor threnody of the old Hebrew prophets. They are from beginning to end the sighing of God after the love of his people. I shall never forget what a revelation of God came into my own life when a few years ago I gave myself to the study of their writings. I had thought of them as men of thunder and found them to be men of tears, I had thought of them as men of wrath, uttering denunciation of sin and proclaiming the terrible judgment of God's holiness. They are all that; but I found that at the back of all the thunder was an infinite disappointment of God because men did not love him. "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?" That is the cry of a Being hungry for love. If you go a little further back in your Bible to the old story in Genesis, you will find God saying to Adam, "Where art thou?" That is not the arresting voice of a policeman. It is the wailing voice of a Father Who has lost His child. God is hungry for love. Take a figure nearer to home. We believe He is here in this house. He has come to His garden. He is among the branches of His own vine. What is he seeking? Love. The proportion in which he finds love in your heart, dominating, flourishing, mastering, is the proportion in which God is satisfied with you. The fruit of the Spirit which is for the sustenance of God's own heart in it's hunger is love.

We've Come A Long Way, Baby

A Culture of Passivity by Mark Steyn

They’re not “children.” The students at Virginia Tech were grown women and — if you’ll forgive the expression — men. They would be regarded as adults by any other society in the history of our planet. Granted, we live in a selectively infantilized culture where twentysomethings are “children” if they’re serving in the Third Infantry Division in Ramadi but grown-ups making rational choices if they drop to the broadloom in President Clinton’s Oval Office. Nonetheless, it’s deeply damaging to portray fit fully formed adults as children who need to be protected. We should be raising them to understand that there will be moments in life when you need to protect yourself — and, in a “horrible” world, there may come moments when you have to choose between protecting yourself or others. It is a poor reflection on us that, in those first critical seconds where one has to make a decision, only an elderly Holocaust survivor, Professor Librescu, understood instinctively the obligation to act.

Sad Day In Virginia

My heart goes out to the victims of the shooting today at Virgina Tech and their families.

It is unfortunate that this incident will become another rallying cry for gun control. It is, in fact, all the more reason why law abiding citizens should be allowed to carry guns (allowed, not forced). Anti-gun laws and attitudes have created a vast, powerless victim class. Laws do not govern the lawless, criminals laugh at your laws and thank you for making their job safe and easy.

The government cannot and will not protect you from criminals. They will show up after you have been shot, fill out the proper forms, and notify the next of kin. This is not a knock on law enforcement, it's just reality. They are human and can't be everywhere at once.

Strength is not the enemy, lack of character is. Allow those who are willing and able to carry a gun and chances are an incident like happened today would be put to an end before so many were murdered.

My ideal society is a gentle society. Gentle, not weak and ineffectual. I recently read of gentleness in a book (The Westminster Pulpit) by G. Campbell Morgan.

It is not often we learn things from a definition, but George Matheson defined gentleness for me, and now I know what it is. He said, "Gentleness is strength held in check." I cannot quote his actual words here, but only his thought. One speaks of the gentleness of the brook. There is no gentleness in the brook. It rushes and presses, laughs and roars, and does all it can by it's puny strength. There is no gentleness there. But if you will stand by the mighty ocean when there is such a tide as "moving seems asleep," and the great waters kiss the shore, and your little one paddles upon it's edge, and is kissed by the crest of the wave, that is gentleness. With one great uprising the sea might engulf the child, but it's strength is held in check.

That is what America should be. Gentle, but quite willing and able to put evil in it's place.

Natures Answer To Global Warming

Quake lifts Solomons island out of the sea

Rising sea level? No problem!

In an instant, the grinding of the Earth's tectonic plates in the 8.0 magnitude earthquake Monday forced the island of Ranongga up three metres (10 foot).

Submerged reefs that once attracted scuba divers from around the globe lie exposed and dying after the quake raised the mountainous landmass, which is 32-kilometres (20-miles) long and 8-kilometres (5-miles) wide.

Corals that used to form an underwater wonderland of iridescent blues, greens and reds now bleach under the sun, transforming into a barren moonscape surrounding the island.

The stench of rotting fish and other marine life stranded on the reefs when the seas receded is overwhelming and the once vibrant coral is dry and crunches underfoot.

Dazed villagers stand on the shoreline, still coming to terms with the cataclysmic shift that changed the geography of their island forever, pushing the shoreline out to sea by up to 70 metres.

Too bad about the coral though, they should pass a law and make it a criminal offense for the Earth to do that.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

A Template for the Treatment of People

Reality Banned

The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the global war on terror from the 2008 defense budget.

If we would just stop using the word "terrorism" then there wouldn't be any more terrorism. Think outside the box. Why don't they ban the word "Jihad?"

Sad

How gun control trades life for death

There was a time when a majority of American men would almost surely have come to Clara's aid. They believed in an ethic that said, "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter." (Proverbs 24:11)

It was a day when men, recognizing the reality of evil, carried weapons that enabled them to stand in the gap for those being unjustly tormented and threatened. Virtually any man on the street could come to the aid of a victim like Clara.

That was then; this is now.

Believe Their Threats

What not to do in a (hostage) crisis

The elements are many – not only the hostage British active duty military, but the virtual inaction by the United States Congress and the U.S. administration and the inappropriate muscle-flexing by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Great Britain is a major power and this blatant violation of international law by Iran is a provocation and clearly was done with intent, likely with the assumption that nothing substantial would be done to end it.

Thus far, the Iranians were correct. A Western battle of words, or toothless demands, mean nothing to them. Such limp responses to an affront of this magnitude are a clear sign of weakness – of Britain, the U.S. and the West.

It's a perfect example of how the thinking of the West and East are diametrically opposed. It's also why the West will lose this battle against militant Islam unless it faces the truth of the enemy, their tactics and their goals.

Elvis In The House

Before I got off work the other day I was doing some paperwork and someone came to the desk and asked a question. I looked up and much to my surprise, it was Elvis. He looked exactly like Elvis, he spoke like Elvis - he was Elvis, dressed in a black button down shirt and black slacks. He said he was back from the dead, I told him he looked better now than before he died.

The funny thing is, this guy was really Elvis Presley. I kid you not, his license said he was.

He was shorter than I imagined.

John Travolta's House

The article really isn't about his house but there is a picture of it here. The house itself isn't so impressive but it sure is unusual to have planes parked out front like that. They make the house look smaller than it is.

And Now For Something Completely Different

Monty Python meets Star Trek

Not Sure If I Believe This

Woman Says Dog Saved Her by Performing Heimlich Maneuver

Parkhurst was home alone Friday afternoon eating a snack of sliced apples when one became lodged in her windpipe. After smacking herself against a chair to dislodge it, she started beating herself on the chest, which she thinks alerted Toby to the problem.

"The next think I know, Toby’s up on his hind feet and he’s got his front paws on my shoulders," she told the Cecil Whig. "He pushed me to the ground, and once I was on my back, he began jumping up and down on my chest."

I don't know, it seems a little embellished. It reminds me of a story I read after the tornado outbreak near Orlando earlier this year, I wish I could find a link to it. It seems the person involved was in bed or laying on a sofa and he (she?) heard a loud noise and the ceiling started caving in. Seeing this the dog rushed to her aid and pulled her to safety onto the floor before the ceiling crashed down where she was laying.

I may not have all the details right, I remember reading it in disbelief, too much happened in literally the blink of an eye. It could have happened, just not exactly as fast as the story let on.

Dog superheroes, gotta luv'em.

A Turn?

Could Germany be nearing the end of the lunacy of multiculturalism? Watch this episode of Jihad Watch: A German Judge Cites Koran in Divorce Case

The good news is she was thrown off the case for doing it.

The Ninja Interviews Will Ferrell

I predict this Ninja will have a movie deal one of these days.

Some Thoughts On Computers

Microsoft Vista has really not had a great reception and I keep hearing people say to buy a Mac or get Linux instead. I have to say, though, I really don't think that's good advice for most people.

I don't think most people should rush out to get Vista either, though. I haven't tried Vista and I don't think I will be trying it soon, preferring to wait until they get the problem areas fixed. I just don't have the resources to play around with it - wish I did. I understand the desire to get away from Microsoft, but I think it's a little premature to offer that advice to the average consumer.

I like Linux, I really do. It's an awesome operating system and I want to see it gain popularity. And it has. But it's not for everyone, not yet. Progress has been made and it's so much better than when I was first introduced to it, but it has more maturing to do.

Think of Linux like a street legal race car, home-built of course by skilled craftsmen. Sleek, fast, cool. No power windows or A/C here. They're working on it.

The Mac is like the BMW, Mercedes or Porsche of the computer world. Not only is it sleek, fast and cool, it's comfortable, too. It's got Tiptronic, you can shift yourself or put it in automatic and enjoy the ride. But, it's too expensive to buy and repair.

I have a Mac Powerbook. I used it exclusively for a year or so. One of the hinges broke and I got quotes upward of a thousand dollars to fix. It was a couple hundred just to buy the hinge. I ended up buying one on eBay and replacing it myself. Still cost a lot and it never should have broke in the first place - it's a known problem with the Powerbook. There is a stronger replacement hinge available now but it's still over $200.00.

Then one of the memory modules went bad, soon after that the CD drive died, and finally the hard drive went south. I replaced the parts myself but it's not something just anyone can do. The average consumer would have had a much larger repair bill. I upgraded to OS-X Tiger when I fixed it and my wife uses it mostly now. I liked it but I don't miss it. I am not a fan of proprietary products. Oh, and the other hinge is broken now.

I bought a Gateway laptop with Windows XP to replace it and I'm much happier with it. It's lasted longer, too. I'm not interested in buying another Mac. I would probably use OS-X if it was usable on a PC. I never could get completely comfortable with it though. I feel like right-handed man in a left-handed world.

I also built my own desktop computer, try that with a Mac. I like all the choices available with a PC based computer.

If you are technically challenged and just want your computer to work out of the box, go with Windows or OS-X. If your pocketbook is challenged, too - stick with Windows XP. If you have a lot of spare time and enjoy tinkering with your computer then Linux may be for you - it's not ready for my Mother yet. When it's ready for her, then you got something. That would be your Windows killer.

My opinion, worth price charged.

A War On Truth

American history and America haters

It is part of a war on truth, a war on God and a deliberate war on history. And, more to the point, it is an illustration of how there are many Americans alive today who are active America haters.

To be perfectly blunt with you, if Americans forget how God has blessed them throughout history, we seal our doom.

I Don't Care What Anyone Says ...

Ann Coulter can be very funny while making a valid point, and this commentary is one of her best: The Coming Ass Age

As has been widely reported, Gore's Tennessee mansion consumes 20 times the energy of the average home in that state. But it's OK, according to the priests of global warming. Gore has purchased "carbon offsets."

It took the Catholic Church hundreds of years to develop corrupt practices such as papal indulgences. The global warming religion has barely been around for 20 years, and yet its devotees are allowed to pollute by the simple expedient of paying for papal indulgences called "carbon offsets."

I think it's so funny to watch people who deny God exists and hate religion, ignorantly following what amounts to just another religion, a different god - definitely - but a god nonetheless.

It's also interesting that these religious "images" (environmentalism, globalism, socialism, communism - now global warming) are getting larger and more powerful, deceiving more and more people. It's getting easier to see the hordes gathered around their idol bowing in worship, doing the will of their god.

Their idols are ideas, the work of men's minds.

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see;

they have ears, but they do not hear; they have noses, but they do not smell;

they have hands, but they do not handle; they have feet, but they do not walk; they do not mutter through their throat.

The ones who make them are like them, and everyone who trusts in them. Psalm 115: 4-8

Hinode

Cool new discoveries and pictures of the sun.

"Almost every day, we look at the data and we say – what the heck was that?" says Golub, a member of the XRT science team.

Secret UFO Files Revealed!

France opens secret UFO files covering 50 years and we find ... Nothing!

"We do not have the least proof that extra-terrestrials are behind the unexplained phenomena."

But then he added: "Nor do we have the least proof that they aren't."

Nothing new here.

Symbolism Over Substance

Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage

Warning!

Bridge freezes before road.

Banana Yogurt

When I was in high school I used to eat Dannon Banana yogurt, it was my favorite flavor, back when they came in paper/cardboard cups. I moved around a lot after that, including going overseas and I haven't seen it since. The closest they had was Strawberry/banana. Some other companies make a banana flavor but it just isn't the same, not even close.

I went to Publix today and imagine my surprise to see Publix brand Banana yogurt - fruit on the bottom style. Of course I bought some, and it tastes like I remember it. Now I just hope they keep it available.

GRRRRR

Testing, Testing

Wired Iraqi man questioned at L.A. airport

The man, identified by law enforcement officials as Fadhel al-Maliki, 35, was detained at passenger screening at the airport just before 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

The bomb squad was called as a precaution and authorities said they found wires in his clothing and a magnet inside a lower body cavity.

SuperJames

From My Pics

I took James to the county fair a couple of weeks back and took this of him coming down a slide. He had a lot of fun.

And To The Republic...

Democracy: Enemy of liberty

John Adams said, "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." Chief Justice John Marshall observed, "Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos."

Our founders intended for us to have a limited republican form of government where rights precede government and there is rule of law. Citizens, as well as government officials, are accountable to the same laws. Government intervenes in civil society only to protect its citizens against force and fraud, but does not intervene in the cases of peaceable, voluntary exchange. By contrast, in a democracy, the majority rules either directly or through its elected representatives. The law is whatever the government deems it to be. Rights may be granted or taken away.

Autism II, The Diagnosis

From The Fear Industrial Complex

As March of Dimes researchers put it, "Changes in diagnosis account for the observed increase in autism." Sure enough, California data show the rise in autism diagnoses almost exactly matches a decline in cases of retardation.

"People that we once called quirky or geeky or nerdy are now called autistic," Dr. Offit said, "because when you give that label of, say, autistic spectrum disorder, you allow that child then to qualify for services."

Imagine that. A trendy diagnosis being driven by government-paid services.

Thought so.

Evil Rising

Affirm Our Beliefs, Or Bow to Evil

Evil is on the rise again and it is truly amazing to see so many people latch on to it and make excuses for it. This is the spirit that gripped Germany and Japan in the past. WWII knocked that spirit out of them but it has regrouped in the Middle East and it will not be talked away. It will have to be put down forcibly again.

The United States is divided and paralyzed with political correctness. Can we get it together in time? Or will Europe snap and decide it's had enough?

The Pride of Broward County

I'm watching the proceedings of what to do with the body of Anna Nicole Smith on Fox News and I have to say I am embarrassed to know this is going on in the Judicial system of the United States. Not that this is being decided but how and by whom. How did this judge get this far in his career? We need cameras in every court room so we can see which Judges to get rid of. Starting with this one.

Did Shepard Smith just say Baba Booey after mentioning Howard Stern? Somebody did. This is too funny. The proceedings are a joke, the judge is an embarrassment, our Judicial system is broken. It's so bad it's funny. It's unreal.

Now James won't stop saying Baba Booey cause he wanted to know what I was laughing at and he thinks it's a funny name.

Some quotes from the show: "This is a very odd proceeding." "Is this a freak show?"

Where's Judge Judy when you need her?

Happiness

Happiness: A moral obligation

It is safe to say that the happiest Germans were not those who joined the Nazi Party. Nor did the happiest Europeans become Communists. And happy Muslims are not generally among those who extol death. The motto of Hamas and other Islamic groups engaged in terror, "We love death as much as [Americans, Jews] love life," does not appeal to happy Muslims.

Cults, hysteria and mass movements all appeal to the unhappy far more than to the happy. It is one more example of the genius of America's founders to include "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence. No other major civilization so enshrined happiness as a core value.

An important caveat:

The pursuit of happiness is not the pursuit of pleasure. The pursuit of pleasure is hedonism, and hedonists are not happy because the intensity and amount of pleasure must constantly be increased for hedonism to work. Pleasure for the hedonist is a drug.

But the pursuit of happiness is noble. It benefits everyone around the individual pursuing it, and it benefits humanity. And that is why happiness is a moral obligation.

Yes!

Introducing the Book

New technology is just hard for some people to get used to.

I Don't Like This News

TV Bounty Hunter 'Dog' Chapman Faces Extradition to Mexico

He doesn't deserve this at all. For all the respect Mexico has shown the laws of the United States we can afford to tell them to pound salt on this one. America has a severe shortage of people who will stand up for what is right and decent, especially in governmental positions. Plenty who will stand up for sex offenders, thieves and murderers, though.

Best thing to do, for all so inclined, is to pray about it.

I Like John Howard

He's not afraid to speak the truth, and stand by it.

Australian PM Defends Comments on Obama

Howard, a steadfast supporter of President Bush in the Iraq war, insisted his criticism of Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. combat troops in Iraq by March 31 next year was in Australia's national interest because Obama's plan would represent a defeat for Australia's most important military ally.

Oh yes it would.

How Vinyl Records Are Made

Or, if you were born after 1980, what are vinyl records?

Autism

I saw a commercial on TV the other day saying 1 in 166 children were diagnosed as autistic. I was going to write that I thought someone was expanding the definition of autism but didn't see it again and didn't know who said it.

I just ran into this article saying autism now effects 1 in 150 children! Is autism the new ADHD? I don't know but I have a hard time believing these numbers. I think someone is expanding the definition of autism.

Wrong Place, Wrong time

Meteorite claims 3 lives in Rajasthan

How often do you hear of anyone being killed by a meteorite? Never? Oh, here you go, they get you with the headline and in the last paragraph ...

While the locals believed that it was a meteorite, the police said the blast may have occurred due to the explosive scrap that the nomads had collected.

Most likely was an explosive.

Go Directly To Jail

It seems Julie Amero, the substitute teacher who was convicted for allowing children to see porn popups on the school computer, was apparently railroaded. The school is letting her take the fall for their failure to properly secure the computer and our justice system has failed again. Here is a commentary by Herbert Horner who did the forensic examination of the computer assigned to Julie Amero:

The Strange Case of Ms. Julie Amero

This was one of the most frustrating experiences of my career, knowing full well that the person is innocent and not being allowed to provide logical proof.

If there is an appeal and the defense is allowed to show the entire results of the forensic examination in front of experienced computer people, including a computer literate judge and prosecutor, Julie Amero will walk out the court room as a free person.

Let this experience stand as a warning to all that use computers in an environment where minors are present. The aforementioned situation can happen to anyone without fail and without notice if there is not adequate firewall, antispyware, antiadware and antivirus protection. That was not provided by the school administration where Julie Amero taught.

It can happen to you.

Here is an article about the situation - good information:

Teacher Faces Prison for Pop-Up Infested PC

Letters From Iwo Jima

I have not seen the movie and , to tell the truth, have only vaguely heard something about it being made, I didn't know it was released. I haven't even seen a commercial for it. I'm glad I came across this commentary, though, I would like to see it.

Misunderstanding Iwo Jima

In a second scene, with the battle all but over, another platoon surrounds Saigo. Deranged by grief, he attacks the platoon with a shovel. Instead of shooting him, as the soldiers have every right to do, they disable him with the butt of a rifle.

The final scene, a telling one, finds a smiling Saigo lying on a stretcher at the edge of the beach amidst a row of identical stretchers bearing Americans. He has found a place among a people who respect his humanity just as they do their own.

"It is Eastwood's queasy triumph," writes Scott Foundas of the Village Voice, "that, when we hear those words, ['Do what's right ...'] regardless of what language we speak, they have rarely sounded more foreign."

As Foundas' churlish little remark makes clear, these critics fail to understand "Letters from Iwo Jima" because they fail to understand America.

Ban Everything

Bill Banning iPods In Crosswalks Slated For Albany

They're walking into speeding cars. They're walking into buses. They're walking into one another and it's creating a number of fatalities that have been documented right here in the city."

You can't ban stupidity, they'll just find another way.

Joseph Farah Explains

Why conservatism is dead

We need to read our history. We need to rediscover our Founding Fathers. We need to recognize what a unique breakthrough in liberty they inspired. It's their vision to which we need to rededicate ourselves. It's the biblical values they held that caused the greatest outbreak of freedom the world had known.

By the way, they weren't conservatives.

They wouldn't even know the term.

Instead, they laid out a radical break from the past – a new way of thinking about freedom and independence and strict limits on government.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and John Adams were not conservatives. These men risked everything in the hope of changing the status quo. They fought a War of Independence from the Old World. They fought a revolution against the assumptions of the past.

They did this, by the way, at a time when life was not so bad. But they were wise enough to see a better way for themselves and their posterity. Thank God they did.

It's time for conservatives to stop being conservative. It's time to get radical. It's time to remember our heroic heritage. It's time to take risks. It's time to stop business as usual. It's time to stop repeating the mistakes of the past. It's time to see we're losing ground.

It's time to fight for something worthwhile – not just the preserving of freedom, but the expansion of freedom.

Truth in Advertising

A spoof of the recent Mac commercials - closer to the truth.