The Audacity of Bright House

Bright House cable just called me. At first I am thinking...WOW...this is great customer service. They are calling to apologize about the DVR FirmWare fiasco and give me an update on the status. This would be exceptional customer service.

But...no...it is the promotionals department trying to get me to add digital telephone service to my plan. Needless to say, I very politely told the lady that until my DVR was fixed I would not be adding anymore services and that, right now, Bright House had not inspired a lot of confidence from me. She was very polite and understnading and stopped her promotional sales pitch. She knew immediately that I wasn't going to be a sale and got off the phone.

Now...she didn't do anything to help me get my DVR fixed...that would have been going above and beyond and making a great Customer Service experience.

Christmas Card Picture Photoshopped

Here is a rare occurrence on my blog: pictures of my children. I have a two and half year old and a 19-month old. Needless to say, taking Christmas pictures with two toddlers is always an experience. Erin wanted to get pictures of the children in their Christmas pajamas in front of the Christmas tree. Getting the children set up to cooperate with each other and mom (the photographer) is an effort in futility. Noah thinks it is a game of "catch me" where he runs away laughing while I try to catch him. Mihaela loved taking the pictures and would try posing, until Noah got too close and sibling rivalry kicked it with personal space being invaded.

Anyway, after many attempts, we finally got a halfway decent picture. The only problem is that to get Noah to cooperate, he had to be holding the remote control:




Obviously we can't send that picture out with the Christmas cards. No problem I say, heroically posing with my hands on my hips and my chest out. See, I have been playing with Adobe Photoshop so that I can do really neat announcement slides at church. Photoshop is powerful. It can get rid of a remote control.

However, my p-shop sk1llz r the noob (i.e., I'm not that good with it yet). So, instead of really crisp photoshopped picture, we ended up with this:



I'm not all that happy with it. But Erin thinks it looks great and nobody will notice the disformed hand, the lack of boundary between bottom and carpet, and the different light shading on the carpet. Oh well...I'll get better with practice.

Beer for Celiacs

Anheuser-Busch introduces sorghum beer - Yahoo! News: "People with wheat allergies who have stayed away from beer now have a new option."

Personally, I can't stand the taste of beer...so I don't care. But, it is interesting to note that Anheuser-Busch worked with the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness in developing the product and that as celiac disease is moving out of the shadows, big companies are interested in targetting that specialized market.

Now...if we could just get some really good, cheap sandwich bread!!!

Stossel on NYC ban of Trans Fat Foods

Always with a voice of reason, John Stossel commentates on NYC ban of foods containing Trans Fats by asking, "What Will They Ban Next?"

Government Indoctrination Center Update

I love this quote by this "teacher" concerning the use of a "body sock" as a form of discipline:

" 'In reference to the body sock; it was not used for disciplinary reasons. It is used as a tool for calming children down.'

But then she added, "The verbal warnings given to [the boy] prior to its use were not working. If I wanted to 'discipline' him he would've been in time-out ."

News: Teaching tool or restraining device?

So...let me see if I got this right...?

Boy was not acting calmly (we call that misbehaving where I am from).
Teacher asked him to calm down (verbal warning). I call this discipline. The boy was acting in an undisciplined fashion and the teacher drew his attention to it in the hope that he would start behaving more appropriately...I think we just defined discipline.

Boy continued to misbehave.

Teacher escalated discipline to "body bag" in an effort to calm him down (i.e., in an effort to instill discipline in the boy...ergo...she was using the body bag as discipline.)

Hmmmm....I know, I know...too much logic there for a public education employee.

Bright House Networks DVR Firmware Upgrade has Problems

When I woke up this morning I noticed that Bright House Networks had upgraded the firmware on my Motorola DCT6412 DVR. The guide had different fonts and colors and the navigation system is all different. This was a little disconcerting because I was not expecting it, but I could have lived with it.

However, it appears as if the firmware upgrade erased (or hid) all of our previously recorded shows. When went to start a saved show that Mihaela asked for, it was not there!!!! As a matter of fact, nothing was there and the DVR reported that we had no shows saved. Also, it appears that there is no way to record a series now, shows have to be recorded one at a time.

The machine says we have 50% of our space available...but we've only recorded one half-hour show (this is what makes me think that our previously recorded shows are somewhere) since the upgrade.

If this is what happens in an upgrade, I am very disappointed. It certainly doesn't seem like an upgrade to me to lose all previously recorded shows, lose scheduled recordings, and lose features. Great job Bright House and Motorola!!!

"Christian" Parodies of Mac vs. PC commercials

Funny parodies of the Mac/PC commericals that show a "Christian" conversing with a "Christ-follower."

Very counter-culture.

BTW...personally I think the Mac vs. PC commercials are some of the best marketting I've seen in years. I am staunch PC guy, but I can't help but want to go buy a Mac after I see those commercials. Absolutely brilliant advertising.

Let Freedom Ring

Some observations:

• Today is the 73rd anniversary of the repeal of prohibition.
• Today the New York City Board of Health passed a regulation banning restaraunts from serving foods with artificatial trans fats.
• Earlier this year, Chigaco banned restarants from selling fois gras.

Hmmmm....

Misleading Ads

I'm so glad the election is tomorrow and we will be getting rid of political ads on TV and radio. I'm sick of hearing them and am becoming more disillusioned (if that is possible) with politics because of them. Does anybody have any regard for the truth anymore?

For instance, this evening I saw a TV ad running against one of the incumbent State Board of Education members up for re-election this year. The ad accused this Board Member, Ms. Peters (R), of ignoring the corruption that was going on with-in the two year college system. Now, up until August 31 of this year, I worked in the Department of Postsecondary Education that was overseen by the SBE which was why you never read anything about the corruption here. I've had an inside look at what was happening and know for a fact that Ms. Peters was one of only two Board members willing to do anything about the corruption. The ad is blatant lie. Now, don't get me wrong, I am no fan of Ms. Peters. She is a follower and not a leader. If I were in her district I would vote against her in the primaries. But there is no reason to lie about her.

Another example is the ads that Joan Reynolds (R) are running against "Walking" Wendell Mitchell (D), the incumbent, for state senator. She has just embarked on a smear campaign accusing him of being pro-drunk driving, pro-domestic abuse, not living in the district he represents, raising taxes and failing to support our troops. However, every single accusation is false or not entirely true. For instance, Senator Mitchell did not vote for the resolution supporting troops because he wasn't there...he was at a dentist appointment when that vote reached the floor. He didn't vote to raise taxes, he voted to allow a proposed tax increase to be sent to the people for a vote. Because of Ms. Reynolds misleading ads, I am not voting for her. I don't care if that means I will vote for a Democrat. At least he has been honest and hasn't attacked her.

Anyway, these two instance where I have personal experience in knowing the real stories have shown me that you can't believe any ad. People can misconstrue facts and votes to benefit their agenda. The lengths to which politicians will go to obfuscate the truth is astounding. If a politician doesn't have enough character to tell the whole story...or has no ideas on which to run other than, "I'm not that guy"...then I don't want them representing me.

Old School Democrat Defends War on Terror

Orson Scott Card, noted sci-fi/fantasy author and an "old school" Democrat, has written what I would consider the most comprehensive short-essay on the current state of American foreign policy. His explanations and insights are a must read. I can find absolutely nothing wrong with his analysis. He clearly articulates the complexities and subtleties that so many people fail to grasp.

It is long...but worth the investment of your time to read.

Resource for Sunday School Teachers

If you teach Sunday School, you will want to go view this "movie-map" that shows 5,000 years of history in the Middle East in about 90 seconds.



Very awesome...

Kerry reveals Liberal Character

The current controversy is John Kerry's recent statement where he basically said that people in the military are there because they are stupid. His exact quote is, "You know, education--if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

So, in the mind of John Kerry, the only reason some one will join the military is that they are not smart enough to do something else. Like many Americans, I find this comment deeply offensive. As the son of retired, career Air Force enlisted man, I have nothing but disdain for this man. How dare he talk about my Dad this way.

Kerry has no idea of personal sacrifice. No concept of honor. No belief in nobility. In his arrogance, he is projecting his values on others. He deduces that since he would only join the military if he were forced to (which he was), then he thinks that is the only reason anybody else would. Since we don't have a draft going on right now, there must be some external agent forcing people to join the military. That external agent, in his mind, is education. People must join the military only because they are not smart enough to do anything else.

This is the same mindset liberals always use. This reveals their character. Since they are self-centered individuals who will only do the "right" thing when forced to by others, they think everyone acts that way. Therefore, we need to use the power of government to force you to give to the needy. Therefore, we need to use the power of government to force you to be tolerant. Therefore, we need to use the power of government to force you to act as we think you should.

Well, Mr. Kerry, you are wrong. Some of us were raised to value others more than ourselves. Some of us were raised with values that hold high esteem for personal sacrifice, nobility, and honor. We do not need to be told what is right, nor do we need to be forced to behave in a fashion that is not self-seeking. We are humble and understand that there are concepts (such as Freedom, Liberty, Justice) that are more valuable than us and we are willing to freely choose to defend those values, despite the personal cost to us.

You want to know, Mr. Kerry, where I learned these values. From my FATHER, who expemplified these characteristics through his daily life. Who chose to provide for his family by serving in our great military. He knew the dangers. He was well aware of the risk. But he chose several times to re-enlist despite those risks because he valued something and someone more than himself. Mr. Kerry, while in the military my dad completed his college degree. Yes...he made personal sacrifices...worked every day, raised three children, and went to school. His values of hard work, determination, and self-reliance were passed down to his children. Mr. Kerry, my dad exemplifies the values that makes this country great. You could learn a lot from him.

Only in the mind of a teen-ager

Teen agers are wierd breed; thier minds are just not wired correctly as this excerpt so clearly reveals:

United Press International - NewsTrack - MySpace losing its novelty:

"In past months, there have been security concerns involving MySpace. Some schools reported having teachers that were logging into their students' information, apparently to monitor for drug and alcohol abuse, but students were offended, saying it was an invasion of privacy."

So...in the mind of a teen...posting something online (a public forum) that is read by someone they didn't intend to read it is an "invasion of privacy." I just don't think I can get my head around that kind of logic.

Chilly School Won't Turn On Heat

WSBTV.com - News - Chilly School Won't Turn On Heat

Government Indoctrination Centers at their best. Gotta love it. Just remember, vouchers bad. No reason why a parent would want to choose to send their child to another educational institution, when they can have genius like this educating their children.

Amish and Terror

My brother favorably linked to an article entitled, "What if the Amish were in charge of the War on Terror." I would recommend you go read the piece before continuing here.

Did you read it? No, really...go read it first...then come back here...I'll wait...

My brother called the article an "amazing and humbling read." While indeed I find the story of the Amish response to the terror brought into their community by a single, deranged man to be praiseworthy, exalted, and modeled, I think it would be foolish to compare that to the repeated acts of terrorism brought against our community for over 30 years by an entire community of deranged men who worship the Adversary. I know this makes me sound like some kind of hard-hearted, unforgiving, unmerciful, and un-Christian jerk, but let me make my case first before you blindly buy into the "feel-goodism" of Mrs. Bass' emotional, but thoughtless rhetoric.

I think there must be a distinction between personal relationships and global relationships. Christ taught us how we are to relate to one another on a personal level, but stayed away from being trapped into political arguments about how nations should relate to one another. Peacemaking and forgiveness is an individual responsibility that a Christian has to other individuals around him. I will entirely grant Mrs. Bass, my brother, and every other Christian that fact. What we see displayed in the actions of the Amish towards the Roberts family are the epitome of Christ's character in this very individualized manner. Indeed, it is beautiful. It is heart-warming. It is inspiring as to how Christians can create Heaven on Earth.

But the real question, then, is it "scalable?" Does God expect in global relationships, the same standards He does in individual relationships? I think we can firmly answer, "No." A few fundamental assumptions. God is unchanging. The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. While the death, burial and resurrection of Christ changed the covenant under which man relates to God, it did not change the nature of God. Therefore, we can look at how God used Israel to see expectations for relationships between nations.

When God spoke to the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai and gave them the 10 commandments, He commanded them not to kill or murder. However, that same God instructed those same people to kill in the name of war. I think we can easily see that to God the 10 Commandments are God's covenant with each individual Israeli and His subsequent instructions show He has a different standard for how a nation state is to relate to its world.

This is further evidenced in my second assumption. We are told in scripture that David was a man after God's own heart. A lot of times we take this passage and focus on the poetry and spirituality of David. However, David was also a warrior. He is led by God and relies upon God's sovereignty as he expanded the borders of Israel by pushing the Philistines from the land through the use of force. Now, I will agree that this did not come without a price. David was forbidden to build the temple because of his warrior-ways. But, he was doing what God wanted him to do when he killed those who would enslave and kill God's people.

I think it is also important to clarify that the USA is not a "Christian" nation, but a nation founded upon some Christian principles. At best this is a nation where the majority of people claim to be Christians (...but probably aren't really Christians in an active, participatory relationship with Christ...). To hold an entire nation/community that is NOT something to the standard of who you are is arrogant. It is easy for the Amish community, a closed-network of devout believers in a single interpretation of an ideology to a single standard. It would be very difficult to get a single interpretation of well-meaning Christians to agree on any ideology, let alone one that places the lives and security of the others at risk.

Finally, it is important to note that leaders have a duty to protect us. They don't have the luxury of living in fantasy world where we hope that people change. They will be held accountable for that responsibility. Let me put it this way. When I was in college and single, I had no problem picking up hitchhikers while traveling. Of course, this is a little dangerous, but I believed that as a Christian I had a social and spiritual obligation to assist those in need despite the dangers to myself. However, when I married and took over leadership of my family, my values changed a little. I no longer felt free to put my life on the line for a stranger because the detrimental effects on my family on the loss of my life. I put the welfare and safety of my wife and children ahead of the welfare of a stranger. My obligation to protect my family from danger OUTWEIGHS my social and spiritual responsibility to help a stranger. This is a stunning revelation, not all responsibilities of a Christian are equal. The same can be true with the War on Terrorism. While we would love to change the hearts and minds of the Muslim nation, our leaders have a moral obligation to protect us that OUTWEIGHS any perceived moral responsibility to change them.

The final issue that I have with Mrs. Bass' article is the assumption that there is a "root cause" (i.e., poverty) of terrorism other than evil. I know lots of poor people are not evil and are not out killing others for political and religious reasons. I've never been a big fan of the whole "root cause" of anything because "root cause" is typically used as justification for bad behavior. It gives people with no backbone a reason to not seek proper punishment. It is just a catch phrase of those who would excuse any action because discipline is hard work and may mean somebody might not like you. "Root Cause" speak allows people remove the responsibility of bad behavior from the person who committed the crime and place that responsibility on some third party. I am a firm believer that people should be held accountable for their own actions...i.e., people should reap what they sow.

Anyway, these are just a few little tidbits to chew on. I think reasonable people can disagree on an issue and an interpretation of scripture. Part of the Christian Community experience is the ability to throw out an idea and have more than just one person gnaw on some ideas. All of us grow and are sharpened as we exchange ideas, interpretations, assumptions, and thought processes. I've been writing this piece on and off for about a week now...so...feel free to tell me where I've gone wrong.

Bumper Sticker

I saw the following bumper sticker on the way back from lunch today:

Silly Liberal, Checks are for Workers

I literally laughed outloud.

FOX News - Breaking News >> U.S. Testing Confirms North Korea Nuke Test

I pondered last week as to whether the North Koreans had indeed performed a nuclear test AND if a "regular-Joe" could trust any official response from the government. As of that writing, Russia had confirmed that the test was indeed a nuclear test, the French had said it was not, and America had not released a confirmation nor denial.

It is just breaking news right now that America is confirming it was indeed a nuclear test. So, I think that we can trust the test was successful since both Russia and America are confirming the news. The French response last week, while saying it was not successful, was phrased in such a way to have wiggle room that it could have been successful. So, I am going to choose to trust the government that the N. Koreans did indeed successfully test a nuclear device.

Peaceful

It is a perfect day outside, 72 degrees with perfect humidity. I am sitting on the back porch that I cleaned this morning monitoring a turkey I am smoking for a get together with friends this evening. The sweet smell of the Mesquite chips smoking creates the perfect ambiance. The children are snug in thier beds for afternoon naps, as is Momma. The only sounds are birds chirping from the neighbors pecan trees and the light twinkling of the wind chimes next door.

I have nothing pressing to do. No job that sits undone. No stress. It is just a quiet moment, for me, for nature, and wireless blogging. Right here, right now...I am at peace. Thank you God for these moments of You!

What Will Stop North Korea by Charles Krauthammer

Great opinion piece as Krauthammer compares the North Korean nuclear issue to the Cuban missle crisis and describes two types of deterrence that the US has issued to North Korea.

What Will Stop North Korea by Charles Krauthammer

He concludes with making a great case for why we should "step-up" our effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear technology.

Political Stunt by Raj Bhakta

The former 'The Apprentice' star and now political candidate , Raj Bhakta demonstrated the total lack of border security by having elephants, led my a mariachi band, cross back and forth into the US.

The Brownsville Herald - Online Edition: "If I can get an elephant led by a mariachi band into this country, I think Osama bin Laden could get across with all the weapons of mass destruction he could get into this country," Bhakta said."

I LOVE IT!!! Creative way to make a point. I loved Raj when he was on 'The Apprentice.' This is just the kind of stuff that communicates complex problems in clear, concise ways.

"NO WAY, DADDY"

Our sweet, precious little girl is a little over 2-1/2 years old. She is currently going through a "sassy"-stage where she feels that she has the right to talk back and be generally defiant towards her mother and me (she is an angel for everyone else). This is a big issue for us, because Erin and I expect respect from her. We also understand that dealing with this issue right now is vital for her long-term character development. If she will not honor her parents who she has seen, how can she honor God who she has not seen? We have tried various methods to stem this wave of disrespect including "penalty-spot", light-swats, taking toys away, etc... with very little long-term impact on the problem.

It is our belief that we have not found a consequence that scares her more than she loves the sin of dishonoring her father and mother. Once we devise a consequence that is harsh enough her behavior will change.

This same issue is being mirrored globally as the world wrestles with how to discipline North Korea for her defiance and disobedience. Just as Kim Jong Il assumed would happen when he set off his alleged nuclear explosion earlier this week, the consequences of his actions aren't amounting to much. The US has been forced to offer a compromised UN resolution that is devoid of any military sanctions. It only contains "punishments" like travel restrictions, economic restrictions, and the breaking of diplomatic relations. Mere "hand-slaps" and "penalty-spot" type consequences. The whole scenario reminds me of an old Monty Python sketch in which the police are trying to apprehend a criminal. The criminal, of course, shows comedic disregard of the police who are armed only with their nightsticks. The police then only have one course of action: to say "Stop! or I'll say stop again!" (I couldn't find a clip of it online).

This is because we can't convince China or Russia to sign on to any military action. Which makes some sense, at least from the Chinese perspective. If military action is part of the resolution, and the situation escalates to the needing of that action, whose troops will make up the lion's share of the UN force that removes Kim Jong Il from power? Why, the US's, of course. That means that the US will have troops in a country that borders China. China wants to keep the US out of North Korea so that we don't have a place to stage a land force against them. China could swat North Korea like a fly if it wanted to, but then it would have to occupy North Korea. They don't want to do that for the same reason...we have troops in South Korea and have a strategic location for staging a land force against China. Right now, North Korea acts as a buffer that keeps US and Chinese troops from being too close to one another.

I'll admit that I don't see or understand why Russia is against the idea of military action against North Korea. I don't know what their motivation is for protecting North Korea from a harsh consequence.

I do know, though, that since Erin and I have the same goals for our daughter, we will be able to teach her respect for us, respect for others, and, ultimately respect for God. I've seen families where the parents disagree over the goals for their children and those houses are chaotic places to be...you know...that whole "house divided against itself" thing.

The same principle hold true globally. If the "Super-powers" of the world are divided on this North Korea issue, then it will not matter what the US does and the world will be a place of chaos. North Korea will have permission to continue acting like a defiant 2-1/2 year old.

Back on Synthroid

I went to the endocrinologist today and my blood work showed that, following the radioactive-iodine treatment for hyperactive-thyroidism, I had moved to hypoactive-thyroidism. I am back on Synthroid. I am so excited. I should be feeling so much better in a couple of weeks.

North Korea nuclear test failed...maybe?

On my last post, I made sure to make it clear that it "appears" that North Korea had successfully set off a nuclear warhead. Obviously, one can not believe any information released by the North Korean government.

I also, wondered, though, how I would know for sure if they had really accomplished the task. If the US agreed that North Korea had been successful, that is a pretty reliable report. However, if the US says that the test was not successful, can I truly believe them? If any of our allies also report the test was not successful, can we be sure that the heads of these states have not colluded to mis-report the results?

Well - now we have France reporting that the test was either a failure or non-nuclear explosion. Since France is not a friend of the US and works against us, I tend to use that information to think that probably the Heads of state are NOT colluding.

The big problem I still have, though, is Russia has confirmed that test was successful. How does a peon, a regular-Joe, really understand these results and get to the truth of the matter?

As of this writing, I can't find an official response from the US government validating or denying the North Korean claim.

Current Score: Axis of Evil: 3 US: 1

This weekend the Axis of Evil scored another point as North Korea appears to have successfully conducted its first nuclear bomb test. While this is bad news for the Bush administration, it is worse news for all us here regular folk. One of the "freezing" factors of the Cold War with the former Soviet Union was the fact that neither the US nor the Soviet Union really wanted to destroy the other one. We were locked into a stalemate that neither country had any real reason to break through the delivery of a nuclear weapon to the other one. It was far better to use the perceived threat of an enemy to maintain local power than it was to actually get involved in a nuclear show-down that would result in the total annihilation of both parties (resulting in no power).

This is the same kind of stalemate we see currently with Pakistan and India. Neither country trusts the other one to have the technology they don't have. But since both countries have the same technology, the countries' needs for self-preservation will prevent either one from using the technology on each other.

North Korea, though, is a different animal all together. This backward country has little use of logic. Kim Jong Il, like most egotistical, maniacal dictators, fancies himself as indestructible. He cares not about protecting his people and his adolescent view of his own immortality (i.e., "I can do whatever I want and not get hurt) has short-circuited the self-preservation, internal governor that prevents most leaders with nuclear weapons from using them. In other words, we are talking about a crazy dude who doesn't care that if he uses a nuclear weapon that he will be retaliated against with like force.

Of course, maybe he is far smarter than I am giving him credit for and he understands that he could indeed use a nuclear weapon with impunity knowing that if the US did retaliate with "like force," we would be painted as the bad guy in the world community. After all, under the new rules of 21st century warfare, the killing of innocents (especially women and children) by the US is completely verboten. In other words, if even one child would be accidently harmed in a military maneuver, then we must be forbidden from using that tactic. By holding ourselves to this exceptionally high standard of preventing all civilian casualties, we would be unable to use our own nuclear weapons against North Korea even if she uses them against us first. Obviously, that is a foolish position, but it is the realistic one.

We already know that North Korea has tried to get a long-range cruise missile to Hawaii and failed. If they do happen to succeed, we now know they can attach a nuclear warhead to that missile. Instead of the WTC attacks of 9/11 being our Pearl Harbor, we could actually see another Pearl Harbor.

The pundits are out in full force today talking "shoulda, woulda, coulda." However, an intelligent overview shows that we have only wasted our time and money in the past "bribing" North Korea not to build a weapon, only to have them defy their part of the agreement and continue working unabated on the product. The only thing we could have done that would have truly prevented this moment would have been to pre-emptively removed Kim Jong Il from power or to have used force to destroy his laboratories...neither of which we had the internal fortitude to do, especially after our "problems" in Iraq.

Which brings me to my title, the score. In his January 2002 State of the Union Address when President Bush named Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as the Axis of Evil, America applauded. We were willing to deal boldly and decisively with these countries in the aftermath of a humilitating attack on our own lands against our own civilians. Bush was able to use the legal authority of the UN resolutions from Desert Storm to invade Iraq and remove it from Axis of Evil and America scored the first point. Sure you can debate the finer points of the war such as did weapons of mass destruction exist or was faulty intelligence used. I've discussed it before and have seen no evidence to change my mind that indeed the best intelligence from the best sources was accurate. We have found weapons of mass destruction (just not nuclear...but those bio-weapons are still WoMD and just not "stockpiles"...whatever that word means...I guess being able to only kill 20,000 people instead of 200,000 people means its not a stockpile).

Now, Iran scored the first point for the Axis of Evil by using her influence to fight us in Iraq instead of in Iran. That is something most people do not understand. Our current "quagmire" in Iraq is more influenced by Iran than any other source. Iran wants us to cut and run so that they can move into Iraq and re-establish a Persian empire financed by the oil-fields of Iraq. Iran used Hezbollah to attack Israel and they are using Iraq to attack us.

Meanwhile, Iran has scored their second point by blantantly continuing its own research toward the development of a nuclear device. By using our own media and "world opinion" against us, Iran has effectively distracted us from acting against them. Basically because Iran is using their influence to produced a mess in Iraq they can boldly move forward acquiring the technology necessary to keep us from doing to Iran what we have done in Iraq.

Finally, North Korea scores a point for the Axis of Evil by acquiring nuclear weapons. What a miserable state of affairs for this great nation.

This puts us in a precarious situation. Because we care more about image than security, we have failed to take the hardline stances necessary to prevent this mess. Because we appease the appeasers we appease our enemies allowing them to grow stronger. Because we dare not polarize our already divided nation, we have now paralyzed ourselves from being able to deal with these situations.

Are you dead, Mon?

No. I have not passed over the horizon on my never-ending journey...I've just been walking through the desert on a horse with no name (that sounds vaguely familiar...)

Anyway, let me give you a few highlights so that you can catch you up with my life since I last posted over a month ago:

Sept. 1 - New Job
I started a new job on Sept. 1, working for ARELLO. Basically, this is one of the major reasons you haven't seen or heard from me the past month. I've been so busy getting the new project off the ground there that I have not had time to breathe. But, it went live from here on Sept. 29, so...I can relax a little bit.

Sept. 9 - Parenting Seminar at Church
Our church hosted John Rosemond for a parenting seminar. Being the "sound guy" at church it was my job to be there early on Saturday morning to do a sound check with the speaker. The seminar was scheduled to start at 9:00 AM so I arrived at 7:30 AM. Our preacher, Don, and I pulled into the parking lot at the same time and we walked into the lobby together to hear a "beep-beep-beep" sound that indicates a failure in the fire alert system. Don mentions he will have to go reset it and we walk to the auditorium. When I unlock the door and flip the light switch, nothing happens. There is no power. Since there is power in the lobby, we figure a fuse has blown and go to the back room where the fuseboxes are to reset them. Now, back in the back room, behind two locked doors, one of which is keyed with a special key that only Don and the maintenance man have, lies the fuse boxes. Also in that room is five-foot or so deep hole in the concrete that will serve as an elevator shaft. Well since there is not power, I am using my cell-phone as a flashlight...(I'm sure you see where this going...or better, where I am going). We mess with the fuse boxes and nothing happen. However, we are pretty sure that the fuseboxes for the auditorium are somewhere else...across the dark room I see a green light and think..."Oh, there be the fusebox" and march over and step right off the edge of the elevator shaft and land smack on my bum at the bottom of the hole. My first thought is, "DRAT, Don is right behind...I smell sermon illustration material."

Well...to make a long story somewhat short, I was OK. We discovered that one of the two legs of power that come into the building had failed. I quickly set up (rigged) a sound system in the lobby while other men pulled chairs out and we set up the seminar in the lobby. It was fun and exciting...at 8:45 I got everything to work and we had sound.

Sure enough, I made the sermon (listen to the entire sermon | excerpt of the illustration) the next day.

Sept. 16 - Apple Picking in Saint Louis
We traveled to St. Louis for the annual family apple picking trip. Mihaela was so excited. It was all she could talk about for two weeks before the trip. Going to Mam-maw and Pap-paws house to go apple picking. Going to ride the tractor. Going to see the farm. She loved every minute of it. She even surprised us by being adventurous. Mihaela tends to not be a risk-taker, but to be very cautious. However, on the Saturday of Apple Picking, she wanted to experience everything. She was proactive looking for things to try. She even asked to ride the horses and she loved it. She was such a big girl. A good time was had by all.

October 2 - Dr. Appt for Baby
Everything looking good there. Erin still getting sick (but not as bad) but being a trooper. She is worn-out, though, by the time I get home. Which is another reason posts have been non-existent. She just crashes (understandably so) when I get home and I jump in. Then, by the time the kids are fed, bathed, in bed and the house is reset for the next day's activities, I am just exhausted.

Other Funny\Cute\Asundry Stuff
Erin was sitting on the couch watching college football while I was in the kitchen doing dishes or something like that when she said, "Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I just don't think a woman should be a football sportscaster." Yeah dear. Old-fashioned, traditional values.

Mihaela woke up a few minutes ago she found her Dora princess doll and her Elmo doll she brought Elmo out after she found him and "introduced" Elmo to Dora!

"Hey, Elmo this is princess Dora"
"ooohhhh, Elmo give kisses to Dora"
"Elmo sit in Dora's lap"
"Elmo, remember me? I am 'Haela"

DO NOT USE OfficeCalendar because they, IMHO, have a bad business ethic.
I have a client who upgraded his Office Suite to MS Office 2003. Well, this client has three people working in the office and they were able to share their calendars, task lists, and contacts under the old version of Office. Well, MS, in its wisdom removed the ability to do this unless you are running an Exchange server, which is too much power for an office of three. We looked for other alternatives and found this package. It works well, but they hid their pricing scheme in their knowledge base...so we thought we would have to buy 3 licensee for them (one for each person using the product), but NO... you have to buy a licensee for each user AND each resource. They use 4 resources, which means we had to buy 7 licensees instead of 3. Of course, we didn't find out about needing the additional 4 until after we had purchased 3 (at $100\each). So, instead of finding a $300 solution, we found a $700 solution. We could only charge our client the $300 because that is what we quoted them. When we complained to the company, we were basically told to "brush off" that the pricing structure was on the website. Yeah, but you have to search the knowledge base to find it!!!

TTYL
Ok...that is enough rambling. I've got a post up...maybe I can be more faithful again. But I won't make any promises.

Added Flash MP3 Player

As the Ministry Leader for Audio Visual at Hunter Hills, one of my responsibilities is the uploading of the sermons online. I have added a new feature to that this week and am embeding a flash MP3 player that will play the sermon as part of the post.

I downloaded the Flash MP3 Player 2.3. It was pretty easy to set up. I just downloaded the package, read the Read-Me file, and followed the directions.


Pretty cool, huh...

M E M O R A N D U M

To: Pluto, 9th Orbiting Body

From: The Sun, Center of Solar System

Re: Demotion For Unplanetary-like Behavior

Pluto,

This memorandum is to advise you of your demotion as a planetary body within this Solar System. As you are aware I have had several discussions with you about your unplanetary-like behavior. It would appear that our previous meetings and agreements have not had the desired effect of changing your behavior.

First, you have not taken the proper steps that we have agreed upon to accumulate an appropriate amount of mass for someone in your position. Secondly, your work area remains cluttered as you appear to have no ability to clear the neighborhood around your orbit. Finally, your eccentric orbit interferes with your co-worker, Neptune, and that takes you well above and below main plane of this Solar System. This has caused disruption is the work environment that can not be tolerated.

Therefore, effective today you will be demoted from your position as "Planet" and assume the position of "Dwarf Planet." We will reconvene in 10,000 years to determine if these obstacles have been overcome and reconsider your status.

Sincerely,

The Sun

cc: The Milky Way
Personnel File

Having a Baby

For those who don't know, we found out two weeks ago that we are pregnant. However, today was the first day I had an opportunity to go to the doctor with Erin. It was amazing to see the little heart beating so fast in the sonogram. We are 8 weeks along.

We are excited, yet terrified. After trying so long and hard to have a child, we have adopted two absolutely beautiful children who we cherish with all our hearts. After adopting we wondered why we ever tried to have children the "natural" way and already had plans to adopt more children in the future. We weren't quite ready for this.

So, we will have 3 children who are 3 years old or younger. SCARY!!! Mihaela will turn 3 in February, the baby is due at the beginning of April, and then Noah will turn 2 in May. Please pray for us!!!!

Why Nerds are Unpopular

Why Nerds are Unpopular

"It's because the adults, who no longer have any economic use for you, have abandoned you to spend years cooped up together with nothing real to do."

Feeling better

I'm feeling much better now that my thyroid has been killed off. So, I should be posting more soon.

"Political Profile" Results

The truth is that the questions and answers were way too polorizing. Many times my response was somewhere between the ones given. Oh well...regular readers probably aren't surprised.

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 85% Conservative, 15% Liberal

Social Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

Diagnosis Confirmed: Treatment forthcoming

Well, I heard back from the doctor and the results of all my tests have come in and indeed I am seeing a recurrence of Graves Disease. I was fist diagnosed in 1998 at the age of 25 with a hyperactive thyroid presenting as Graves Disease after my legs stopped working one night. I was treated with Radioactive Iodine then to kill off the thyroid. For the past 8 or 9 years I have been taking Synthroid, a drug to replace the manufacturing of the hormones the thyroid is supposed to make.

Anyway, I have relapsed. The doctor said it very, very unusual to have a recurrence. I have been scheduled for Radioactive Iodine Treatment on August 3. It will take some time for my thyroid to be killed off again and I will start presenting with hypothyroidism. In October I will take another thyroid test and then be prescribed Synthroid again to try and regulate me. Hopefully, then, I will be feeling better in November or December.

It was 11 years ago

It was 11 years ago when my bride walked down the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon in D. Of course, we were getting married in a Church of Christ that didn't allow instrumental music, so we played a arrangement by Acappella that combines "Jesus, Let us Come to Know You" with the piece of music. I can not hear the song and not be whisked back to that most awesome and glorious day.

Anyway, Erin, my Dove, if we ever decide to do a "renewing of vows" thing (which I don't understand...I need a better word than renew because I will only need to renew if one of us dies...that is what "death til you part" means...but...you understand...I think). Anyway, if we ever decide to do one of those, I want us to find this guy and let him play for you to come down the aisle to.



I have very eclectic music taste. I enjoy everything from classical pieces and the orchestra to hard rock. You can't go wrong when you miss the two. This guy plays as well as any professional rock star.

So Tired

You will have to forgive me for my lack of posts. I've been overwhelmed with life, mostly because my thyroid is overactive (again) and just emotionally and intelluctually dibilitating me. I've become hostile and terse and very, very moody. I am exhausted most of the time. Anyway, I will probably be taking a little sabbatical from posting for a little bit of time until I get all straightened out.

Logo Contest: How many can you get?

Logo Contest

I got 14 on my first try...

Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) Speaks on Net Neutrality

Senator Steven shows his ignorance of how the Internet works when he tried to explain why he voted against the amendment on Net Neutrality. This shows why it is ludicrous for Senators to vote on these issues when they have no understanding of them. Basically, they are just listening to the powerful TeleCom lobby and think that those guys are the experts.

I reiterate my earlier tirade* when I said that all the CIOs from each state should send a letter to Congress and the President explaining that this move away from Net Neutrality will hurt government.

*I'm too lazy to go look it up and link to it

Read Chris Cree Daily

I recently added a new link to another blogger, Chris Cree. I discovered Chris' website after he left a comment on mine about Net Nuetrality. I, of course, went and visited his site and LOVED IT. I have added him to my daily reading list.

Anyway, I want you to go read one of his posts where he talks about how Christians and non-Christians interact. He speaks from experience as he was "did not grow up in the church" as he says so frequently. A few teaser quotes:

Eventually I was able to separate the person of Jesus from some of his more inept followers, but I get the feeling that a lot of people look at Christians the way I did, and many Christians give them good reason.

too many Christians who are more concerned with appearances than with substance or reality

Go on now...what are you still doing here?

The United States of Total Paranoia

I continue to think that we are no longer the land of the Free. We have forgotton what freedom is. We are the land of the Permit. Want to add a deck (that you are paying for) to your house (that you paid for)? You need a permit. The government needs to give you permission (hmmm...interesting, permit and permission look an awful lot like the same word) to do stuff on your own property with your own money.

Freedom is the ability to control your own destinty. One should be able to do whatever one wants as long as he does not evade the rights of others. What rights? Oh, only those that were laid out in the Declaration of Independence. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (originally, it was actually pursuit of property, I wish Jefferson hadn't changed it). I'm not sure how me building a deck on my property infringes on another person's right to life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness. But, it must because I have to get permission from my government to do it. I'm sure glad I live in the land of the free.

Now, we take most of this granted and don't even think about it. However, when this Englishman visited America to make a film, he encountered American at its best:

"But if you step outside the loop, if you try to do something a bit zany, you will find that you're in a police state."

Happy 4th of July...although I'm not sure we should be celebrating freedom.

Impressive

You have to see this video.

My Work makes the News

My work has made the news (in a good way). The month of May I was terribly busy working on a team with a special project for the Governor of Alabama. We were charged with creating a plan for using the public, two-year colleges in the state as hurricane evacuation shelters. We created a 150+ page plan that we presented to the Governor on June 1. This week he released that plan to the media.

In the video, you will see a close-up shot of map. That is the work of my network administrator. He spent a lot of time creating a single pictorial representation of the entire plan that was simple and easy to read. He knocked it out of the park. It was so good that the governor's staff actually confiscated the map for their own use.

Communion Thought: Family Dinner

I was responsible for leading the communion thought at church this week. The theme of the service centered around the concept of family, especially the role of children. I tied the Lord's Supper to the family dinner. Here is the text of my thoughts.

Magnificent Hotel

Erin and I dropped the children off yesterday to spend the week with Mam-maw, Pap-paw, and Aunt Summer. We left the house about 7:15 AM. We had to run by the library and return some books before we left on our trip. We actually hit the interstate about 7:30. However, before we got to the next exit (9 miles away), Erin realized that I had forgotten to pack the diaper bag. DOH!!! So, we turned around and went back home and got the diaper bag. We finally actually got on the road about 8:15 AM.

We had a safe and uneventful trip from Millbrook, AL to Clarksville, TN. We put Mihaela in a diaper for the trip, but stopped everytime she said she needed to go potty...which was four or five times. We got to Clarksville about 12:45 and met Mom and Summer at a McDonald's. We ate lunch and then I moved the stuff over to the van and off the kids went away. Erin and I misted up a bit...

However, we drove back to Florence, AL and to our hotel, the Marriott Grand. I can not tell you what a great hotel this is. It rocks. We had dinner at the hotel's Bronzeback restaurant and then crashed. This morning we got up when woke up (i.e., no alarm clocks or hungry babies awakened us). We drove over to a riverfront park where an antique fair was being held. We walked around and purchased some small antiques. Then, we drove over to Tuscumbia (the birth place of Helen Keller) and found a small local "meat-and-three" for lunch. It was fabulous. After lunch we came back to the hotel and laid out by the pool for several hours. It was great! I read the entire book "The Magician's Nephew."

Tonight we had a reception for the conference. I networked a little bit. Very uncomfortable for me. Anyway, tomorrow we start the conference in full swing. I speak on Tuesday morning and don't have my stuff ready yet. I guess I will work on it tomorrow....tonight, I am just relaxing and having fun. This has been my first day of just goofing off in a long time and I have enjoyed it.

Playgrounds Are So Safe...they are boring

DUH!!!

CBBC Newsround | UK | Playgrounds 'need more adventure': "he Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) says worries about making equipment safe to play on has led to play areas becoming boring"

Back in my day, we didn't have soft rubber pieces in our playground. We had asphalt. If you fell, you busted your head and we liked it. We loved it. (~SNL)

Google's Message on Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality: "A Note to Google Users on Net Neutrality"

Read it!

Boys are being failed by our schools

The Daily Mail, a British newspaper, is reporting that schools are failing boys by feminizing the schoolwork. Basically, the boys are growing up not knowing how to be men due to a generation of man-hating feminist slowly eroding away the foundations and meanings of masculinity. We have missed the boat.

Any desire to compete and win has been discouraged as savage and barbaric. However, boys are hard-wired by God to be competitive. Now, no one thinks boys should be taught to win at all costs and to cheat. Masculinity is winning within the framework of the game, the rules. Play hard. Work hard. Play nobly. Win with honor.

Blowing Cool Air

Current Mood: Feeling stupid

Repairmen came very quickly. Charged us a $100 service call to reset the breaker. Apparently, the storm last night tripped the breaker.

Blowing Hot Air

No...not me. Although some people think that is all I do. Our air conditioner is blowing hot air. Erin just called me and said the house is like 90 degrees inside. Repairmen have been summoned. Stretching wallet now for payout.

Follow-Up: Net Neutraility

Previous Post

Follow-up
With a big "middle-finger-up-in-the-air" to consumers, small business owners, and other companies, the Republicans in the House have dutifully cow-towed to the demands of the Telecomms. ATT&T, BellSouth, et. al. have recieved the return of their "investment" into the campaigns of House Republicans.

It is rare that I agree with Democrats, but they got it right on this one. Read the article:

House rejects Net neutrality rules | Tech News on ZDNet:

"The U.S. House of Representatives definitively rejected the concept of Net neutrality on Thursday, dealing a bitter blow to Internet companies like Amazon.com, eBay and Google that had engaged in a last-minute lobbying campaign to support it."

Happy Birthday, Oldest Niece

My oldest niece turns 16 today. In honor of her birthday, I want to tell you a story about her. My Oldest Niece is a natural blonde, with all the stereotypes that come with the hair. Recently, at the dinner table, she told an "off-color" joke that played-off of a racial stereotype. My brother-in-law seized this as a teaching moment and warned my niece to be wary of where and to whom she told such jokes because she might hurt someone's feelings. In an effort to make the lesson personable to her, he asked her if she was offended when people told "blonde jokes."

My niece was quiet and the table could tell she was contemplating the question. My brother-in-law was inwardly dancing with glee, thinking he had effictively communicated a principle. After a few moments of thinking, my niece replied by saying "Only when I get them."

A Real Bi-partisan Effort

Well, it would appear as if we have finally found an issue that members of both parties can agree upon. Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a joint statement yesterday demanding that "the Justice Department must immediately return the papers it unconstitutionally seized." Congressmen have hollering about "separation of powers" over this issue for a week.

Here's the history. A congressman named William Jefferson (D- Louisiana) was video-taped by the FBI accepting a $100,000 bride from an informant. The FBI found $90,000 of the cash in Jefferson's freezer. The FBI then went to a federal judge and got a search warrant to search the congressman's congressional office for evidence of corruption. Now, other congressmen are up in arms.

I don't understand why this is a violation of the separation of powers. It would seem to me that this proves why and separation of powers is supposed to be. The Executive branch is holding the Legislative branch to the same standards that it holds other people. To get the warrant, they had to prove to the Judicial branch. So, the Judicial branch is keeping the Executive branch from overpowering the Legislative branch.

So, the real issue must not be "unconstitutional practices" because the intent of the Constitution and its separation of powers is being followed. What then, is the true issue? Well...It is the arrogance of our legislative branch. The same issue I've been carping on for three years now. These arrogant congressmen think that they are above the law. But this is the whole point to a Republic (not a democracy): it is that the RULE OF LAW that is the standard by which all men are judged, regardless of his position in society.

So, FBI...please search his congressional offices. And, by the way, the manner in which these other congressmen are behaving is very suspicious behavior. I wonder what they are trying to hide. Maybe a search of their offices is in order to....

No Suprise Here...I'm Spiderman

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 100% Iron Man 85% Superman 80% Hulk 70% Green Lantern 65% Catwoman 60% Supergirl 45% The Flash 40% Robin 35% Batman 35% Wonder Woman 25%

You are intelligent, witty,a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Search Engine Optimzation Contest Winners Donate Winnings to Celiac Reseach

A while back ago I asked my enoromous fan base (all 5 of you) with websites (that's 2/5 of my audience) to link to a site of guy who was participating in the contest who had decided that all proceeds would go to Celiac Research.

Well, this is a follow up. While the winner of the main contest is taking his money and running, you can read here that the winners of the spin-off contest are indeed giving thier winnings to Celiac Research.

You can learn more about Celiac Research.

Registered For Graduate Class

I registered for my first graduate class today. I'm a little nervous. Its been ten years since I was last in school and I can defintently say that education has changed a lot since then. This degree program I am taking is completely offered online while the Internet barely exisited 10 years ago. We'll see how it goes.

Old computers harm office morale

Well...duh!!!

Old computers harm office morale - Breaking - Technology - smh.com.au

Time for another Choice

Our nation has been a two-party system since its inception. There were no Democrats or Republicans at the Constitutional Convention, but there were Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Throughout the years political parties have risen and fallen. Some become more prominent, some less. Some have changed names, some have changed ideals. All have changed. I like the two party system. I think it works better than the multi-party system that we have seen in Europe that gives way too much power to influential extremists.

However, now is the time to change. It is time for some party to die and another one to be come into place. We have seen the trends of this need for the past 16 years. It started in 1992 and 1996 when Ross Perot was able to garner enough third party votes that Clinton won. It is becoming even more necessary today. The two major political parties are so partisan that no one can really move, no one can really change.

Both political parties are failing the American people. Illegal immigration alone proves this. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-80% of Americans (depending on which poll you follow) agree that the borders must be shut down definitively. Those same people all are against any kind of amnesty or guest worker program. Yet our politicians refuse to listen. Can you remember the last time some issue in America had a 80% agreement rate? It just boggle my mind that the politicians don't care about our opinion. They are so secure in their position (due to a lack of competition) that they can be more worried about losing potential future voters than they are worried about losing real voters. That is a problem. It is time for a change.

In his most recent editorial, Thomas Sowell writes:

Frankly, the Republicans deserve to lose this fall's election, after their wild spending and pandering to economic ignorance on gas prices. But a Republican defeat would only bring in the Democrats -- and the country does not deserve anything that disastrous.

I share his sentiments. I am mad at the Republicans...but more scared of what would happen if the Democrats took power. There is no real choice. It is time for a change.

It is time for a change. We need a strong third party to step up and kill off one (if not both) of our current parties. It has to be a party made up of libertarian principles (not necessarily the Libertarians, though). None of the so-called, third parties, are going to be able to capitalize on this need. I don't think the third largest party in the US (the Libertarians) can do it. They have been marginalized players for so long that they can not escape that identity. Their stance on legalization of drugs (which I support, based solely on principle) keeps them from gaining mainstream acceptability and will forever banish them to fringe politics.

It is time for a change. We the American demand control of our government back. We want government of the people by the people. That means, we demand that you listen to us. When 80% of all say the same thing and you refuse to listen...then you lose your job. I just wish there was a really good choice out there because I'm ready for a change.

Mihaela Discovers "Veggie Tales"

Mihaela had attached herself to a Veggie Tales book last week. Imagine her excitement when the workers in toddler nursery played the "Madam Blueberry" video. That is all she could talk about. Needless to say, we broke out our old videos and got our Veggie Tale DVDs out. No longer is she content with Dora...she want Madame Blueberry.

It is so funny because she gets upset when the "Silly Song" portion of the show comes on and breaks up the story. She will say "Where Madame Blueberry go?" or "Blueberry back." But, her eyes never avert from the screen.

We also were amazed at how used to the quality of DVDs we've become. We have some of our older Veggie Tale videos only in VHS and had forgotten how bad quality tapes are. Also, Mihaela has never experienced VHS tapes, so doesn't understand the concept of rewinding...

So, our order of progression to date has been:

• Baby Einstien Videos
• Dora the Explorer
• Little Einstiens
• Jo-Jo's Circus
• Dora the Explorer
• Veggie Tales

I wonder what is next...

Church Sound Blog

As the ministry leader for audio/visual, I was excited to stumble across this site. It has some great information:

http://thesoundbooth.blogspot.com/

Mercy Me Concert

Erin and I went to the Mercy Me concert last night. Great show. Emotionally draining, though. It followed a coffee house style format (i.e., was very informal). They had a guy that asked "interview" type questions that allowed us to get to know the band. They introduced a new artist by the name of Phil Wickham. Personnally, I found his voice to be whiny and his style to be a bit strained. Lyrically, though, he has some really good stuff.

They only charged $5 for the new CD. Good Deal and good CD.

Threat to the Net

A deep, disconcerting vibration is thumping though the tech news and blogs. It seems that the political "geniuses" that is congress are determined to change the way traffic on the Internet is handled. I've been wanting to blog on this, but have had to take some time to figure out how to communicate this to my non-techy friends (Hi guys!!!).

OK...so...for quite some time it has been law among telecommunications companies that they have to treat each other's traffic like it is their own. In other words, if BellSouth is your telephone service provider and you call someone who uses ATT&T, then neither BellSouth nor ATT&T are allowed to do anything to degrade the phone call. So, the phone call quality for you and your buddy should be the same regardless of who each of you uses for telephone service.

I'm sure you can see that telephone would not like this law. They would rather have made calls between you and people who use the same service be a better quality than those phone calls between you and somebody who does not use the same service. That way they could effectively force people switch from their phone company to your phone company so that the calls would be of good quality. It doesn't take a rocket scienctist to see that this law is good for you, the consumer, but bad for the phone company.

With the invention of the Internet the telecommunication companies initially followed this principle. This is what allowed the Internet to grow so rapidly and allows for the free exchange of ideas across the Internet. This is known as "Net Neutrality." Lately though, telecommunication companies have been making a case that Internet traffic does not fall under the same law as telephone traffic and they believe that they can treat traffic coming from other networks differently than they treat traffic on their networks. Courts have agreed with them. The FCC has commented that it agrees with them. Congress is not deciding that it agrees with them.

This means that Internet Service Providers (ISPs), those people that you pay a monthly fee to get access to the Internet, can control what content you are allowed to access while on their network. They can give priority to their own traffic. They have threatened large website (Google, Amazon, eBay, etc...) that unless the large website pays a large fee to the ISP, then the ISP will degrade and/or even block their users from the big website. Can you imagine not being able to get to Amazon because they chose not to pay your ISP for the right for you to access them? It is ridiculous. Big companies will, of course, capitulate to the extortion and pay. Small businesses, though, will not be able to afford to pay an access fee to every ISP out there.

This is akin to the water company charging you one rate to wash clothes and another rate for taking a shower. Actually, it is like you paying a monthly water bill, but then the water company charging Maytag to allow you to send water to your washing machine. They are charging both you and the company to allow you to access the same content.

The idiots in congress, of course, are not tech heads. They only listen to the cash of the lobby for the ISPs and turn a deaf ear to us consumers. They don't understand the technical portions of an open, free, neutral Internet. The big companies have convinced them that there is a difference between Internet traffic and phone traffic.

Video Presentation\Explanation of this Problem

I'm not sure what we can do about it. I've written to my congressman and all I got back was a letter where he basically said it was a complex issue and he didn't really understand it, so he was going to trust the "experts" (read: paid lobbyist for the telecomm companies). I guess the fact that I work in the industry and am a Director of Information Services for a state agency doesn't make me an expert. Anyway, maybe with more of an outrage we can turn the tide. But nobody seems to care. Personally I think state CIOs should be talking to all 50 governors and explaining how this is going to affect state business. The governors could call the congressman and explain it more fully or set up a meeting between state CIOs and congressmen. The Federal CIO should be talking to the President and explaining the technical issues. Who is going to protect the consumer? Who is going to protect your business?

Another Article for you to read.

Manifold Poem

Manifold cracked
Loud noise
Vibrating ride
Noxious fumes

Called Dealer
Charge: 1 child
preferably firstborn
Hello e-bay

Replacement shipped
Independent mechanic
Fixed quickly
Fixed cheaply

Spoke in Chapel

My wife is the Spiritual Life coordinator at the private, Christian school at which she teaches. One of her responsibilities is ensuring that activities are scheduled for the daily chapel time. She uses a variety of techniques including speakers, small groups, mentoring programs, prayer groups, and worship to ensure that a variety of programs are available for chapel. Well, she finally asked me to come speak at chapel...which I did today.

Anyway, I was really struggling with what to talk about. Her theme for the year has been "Break Out" using Galatians 5:1 as a theme verse. So, everything is about freedom in Christ. They had not really focused on theme in some time, so as the year is gearing down, she wants to bring the them back into focus and asked me to talk about the theme. This was particularly hard because this is a concept that I wrestle with. I don't know about you, but I have a tough time feeling free. I understand and get the idea of "freedom from the condemnation of sin and death." That makes sense to me.

But I sense that there is supposed to be more to freedom in Christ than just not being held accountable for sin. There is more to being free in Christ than having freedom from the debt of sin.

There is in scripture this idea that following Christ brings a freedom to me in the way I am to live my life. Jesus himself encouraged those who are weary to come to him and take his yoke upon them. Now, while to us a yoke is an apparatus used to control a cow or an oxen, to Jews, it specifically referred to a set of teachings or doctrines taught by the rabbis. When Jesus tells the people who are weary carrying a heavy load of "right doctrine" to come and take on his teachings, he promises freedom from those heavy loads.

However, I don't see the freedom. Christ's yoke does not appear to be light and easy to me. His teaching of "love your neighbor as yourself" is hard. Being concerned for the widows, orphans, the criminals, and the homeless doesn't seem easy to me. To daily die to myself and put others ahead of me is not a simple task. However, it is in those things, those teachings of Christ that I am to find freedom.

Maybe it is because my perception of freedom is skewed. Maybe my definition of liberty has been too clouded by being raised as an American. As Americans, we have a unique perspective on freedom. To us freedom is a concept that includes free will, self-determination, and the ability to pursue our own destiny. However, those are not the things that Christ gives us when we choose to follow him. After deciding to be a Christian and offering allegiance only to him, we have no free will. His will is my will. I am no longer allowed to act in my own best interest, but have to act in His best interest. I am no longer able to pursue my goals and my dreams, but am to sacrifice those to achieve His goals and His dreams. This is not freedom...this is not liberty. This is giving up one master for another. Or is it?

I'm not sure. I get lost in my thoughts right here. Where do I go from here? Where do I find the freedom promised? I struggled and wrestled with these thoughts. I know that these are some of the same feelings the kids have...but I don't know if I have the appropriate answers to these unsettling feelings. I need more time to meditate on this, more time to work through scripture, and more time to listen to the Holy Spirit for guidance. I needed more time than I had to prepare.

So, I changed courses and went another route. Instead, I dredged up a communion thought that I used some time ago. I used the slideshow from that communion thought, but had a different introduction.

Basically, I started by talking about the importance of identity and how we work so hard to project a certain image of ourselves to others. When people ask, "Who is Randy?" There is an answer I expect to hear. Jesus did this himself when he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" He was asking them, what image do I project to people? How do others view my identity? I then asked the kids to answer that question, who do they think Jesus is. After they pondered that for 20 to 30 seconds, I showed a video of some of the responses to that question in a "man on the street" type format.

After the video we looked at the four different views people have Jesus and why three of them are incomplete. They are that 1) Jesus was a good man, 2) Jesus was a good teacher/philosopher, 3) Jesus was a prophet, and 4) Jesus was God. I ended by talking about how three of those don't offer freedom. I came back to that it is important to see the identity of Jesus as the Son of God, as God because that is the only one that can offer freedom. I talked a little bit about the origins of "I AM THAT I AM" and how Jesus used this reserved phrase to identify himself. This is the image that he was trying to project.

We ended by review the montage of scriptures and the slideshow. After that, I prayed and was done. Anyway, there is some thoughts for you. Now, I need to wrestle with the un-finished thought above...get my mind around it...figure it out...communicate it.

IP - Not just for tech heads anymore

I was in a meeting today with development education faculty and they were discussing the use of IP as a grade (IP means "In Progress" and is used for a student who has started a developmental class midway through a term, but has not completed the course by the end of term). It was such a hard discussion for me to follow because everytime they said "IP," my mind had to work extra hard to translate that as a grade and not as "Internet Protocol."

I'll stick with tanning, Thank You Very Much

"The toothless Kangal fish, just a few centimetres long, are touted as a cure for skin conditions such as psoriasis."

Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.co.uk

No. You don't eat the fish...they eat the dry, dead skin of psoriasis from me. I'll take my 20 minute nap in the tanning bed any day over being "tickled" by fish to cure my psoriasis.

Protest the Protesters

This week there are people protesting in front of the Christian Coalition of Alabama building that sits caddy corner from my building. I'm not sure what they are protesting and I don't think it matters. I've been watching protests for quite some time. I've seen protests organized by the left/liberals to promote their causes as well as protests organized by the right/conservatives to promote their causes. There have recently been large protests by illegal immigrants trying to garner support for that cause.

I don't know about you...but I just don't see the point of protests. Do people really change their minds about issues because 15 or 100,000 people march around a building carrying signs? Can a witty, turn of phrase on a sign really capture the nuances of a political ideology and communicate that? I've never changed my mind about an issue because of protesters or their signs. I have changed my mind after reading a well written essay, column, or position paper.

I would like to (if I were brave enough) to protest the protesters. I think it would be fun to make some signs and walk on the other corner and chant and ridicule the protesters, not for their political position, but just for being protesters. Unfortunately, the people who protest usually take themselves way too seriously and become violent when greeted with any opposition to their militant stand on whatever the issue is (this is true for protesters on both the right and the left).

Here are some of the signs I've come up that might be fun to use to poke fun at protesters:

• Protesters Poorly Present Politics
• I can't form my own opinions, so I protest
• Read my witty sign and change your mind
• Mob Rule Rulez
• Chants are for those without a rational argument
• One, Two, I'm better than you
• I protest and I am a single-issue voter
• Never Compromise, Never be Relevant

Feel free to add your own pity signs in the comment section...

I know, I know...I haven't been posting

I've been busy. BLAH. That is what happens. Real life gets in the way of taking time to write insightful and inspiring post (please, let me dream that those words describe these posts). So, here in lieu of a real post, is an obligatory apology...don't you feel special???

Anyway, we had an exciting Easter weekend with my parents visiting. The kids responded very well to them. Noah pulled my coffee cup off the end table...carpet is now officially ruined. We are probably going to break all our rules and go get a home equity line of credit (that dreaded "c" word) and go into more debt (debt and dumb both start with "d"...coincidence...I think not...but that won't stop us) and replace the carpet with tile.

Other big, new happenings you may want to know about:

1) Erin's dad was diagnosed with lung cancer a couple/three weeks ago. He has had two rounds of chemotherapy. We are praying very, very hard for him right now. I could write a whole post about this topic, but haven't been because I knew it would break my heart and I would have to clean tears off my keyboard. So, in typical Randy-esque fashion, I have ignored the problem so as to not have to deal with my emotions.

2) My mom had to go to the emergency room whilst she was traveling back from home. Everything appears fine, but nobody wants to have to spend a night in the hospital. It is especially worse when you are traveling and you end up stuck in Nashville with no family. She made it home safely though. Praise God.

3) Erin has decided to completely quit at PCA. She will not be teaching or directing spiritual life next year. God has blessed us to allow me to have a good job with good pay...so she gets to stay home and raise our family. This has been a tough, tough decision for her...but it is the right one.

Anyway, with all that going on...overburdened at work (doing my regular programming job plus being the interim director, plus managing the biggest project of the department), I've been a bit busy...so...sorry...please forgive me, my faithful and loyal readers...if you are still here.

OH....and because it is CONFINSCATE YOUR MONEY AND GIVE IT TO OTHER PEOPLE WE LIKE MORE THAN YOU DAY (i.e., TAX Day)... Remember to support the FairTax and make April 15 (or in this case, April 17th) just like any other Spring Day. I ran across a link the other day that showed how much of the Federal Budget is actually welfare (both corporate and personal) and how much of the budget is for operational purposes...I wish I could find it again and post it here because it was outrageous how much of our tax money gets funneled through Washington right back to other private citizens.

This can't happen in America

So, you are getting ready to go to church one beautiful Spring morning when you a hear knock on the door. Wondering to yourself who could be visiting this morning, you open the door to Boulder's finest.

"How can I help you officer?" you ask, trying to be cheerful, but a little afraid, unsure of why the police are here.

"Please step outside ma'am, we've some questions to ask you."

You are a little nervous, but you are sure that whatever the deal, it can be resolved. You just hope someone you know hasn't been killed in accident or something horrible. Being a good, trusting citizen you step outside...where you are immediately pushed to the wall, frisked, hands placed behind your back and cuffs slapped on your wrists.

"You are under arrest for replacing your garage door. You have the right to remain silent..."

This can't happen in America...but it has. It is being reported that a Boulder, CO woman was jailed for replacing her garage door.
Yes!!! In Boulder, Colorado you can be arrested...thrown into jail with hardened criminals (murders, rapists, burglars, etc...) for doing simple home maintenance. What a great country we live in!!!

One of my biggest rules of Law is that all laws should be discernible by intuition by reasonable people. In other words, I should be able to know, without studying law, whether a particular action is going to be against the law or not. So, it would never occur to me (or any reasonable person) to go and study the law to see if I could replace my garage door. Intuitevely, people believe they have the right to do whatever they want on their land.

Secondly, why in the heck is this a felony. While I am against restrictions and against needing permits and building certificates (once again, my land...I can do whatever I want on it), if you do happen to break that law...isn't a fine enough? Do we really need to remove people who don't obtain certificates from the rest of society? What danger are they?

Asinine...just completely stupid and asinine.

The Great Immigration Compromise

Well...the Senate worked up a compromise to try and get an Immigration Reform package to the President.

Earlier this year the House passed an Immigration Reform bill that was tough on border security and made being an illegal alien a felony. The Senate has made it clear that it would not pass the House version of the bill and the President has said he won't sign the House version (it does not contain his "Guest Worker" program that he has been stumping for). The House bill is a good start, with the exception of the felony clause.

The felony clause is a bad idea because it would move all cases out of civil court and into our already strained criminal courts. Once in criminal court there would be many more costs to the taxpayers, including providing the defendant with representation. Since the rules of evidence in criminal court are more strict, it would require more work on the prosecutors end to ensure a conviction. So, while making being an illegal alien sounds good...its consequences have a practical implication that is unacceptable.

Anyway, the Senate has been deadlocked on the issue until today when the released the details of their Great Immigration Compromise (GIC). In the GIC illegal immigrants will be tiered based on the number of years they have been lawbreakers.

In Tier One are people who have been illegally in the US for less than two years. Those people are to be immediately sent back to their country of origin.

Tier Two is comprised of people who have been in the US for more than two years, but less than 5 years. They are to return to one of 19 "ports of entry" and bring documentation that proves they have been in the US for the proper timeframe. They will be given green cards that allow them to work here legally. At the end of the 5 years of work, they could apply for the a citizenship process that takes 11 years.

The final tier, Tier Three is for those people who have been in the country for more than 5 years. They could immediately apply for citizenship process that will take 11 years. This process is so long to meet the President's goal of not allowing illegal people to "jump ahead" of people who are going about the process correctly. The 11 year process is kind of a "plea agreement" where the illegal alien is on probation during that time. Part of the 11 year "road to citizenship" includes such things as English proficiency, civics proficiency, and two criminal background checks.

The Senate bill also doubles the number of Border Patrol agents and the building of a a "virtual" fence of surveillance cameras, sensors and other technology to monitor the U.S.-Mexican border. The bill includes provisions requiring employers to verify they've hired legal workers, as well.

I like this bill as a cleanup measure. I believe it is well thought out and fair. It handles the practical problem of what to do with 12 million people in a very equitable way. I don't think it is morally right to criminalize good-natured people who are just trying to make a better life for themselves. It would be a logistical, political and economical nightmare to try to round up 12 million people, many whom have had children here (who are therefore American citizens) and return them all to their countries of origin.

My big problem with this is I don't want a "clean-up" bill without some tough, zero-tolerance, enforced border security bill. I want to see the American government pass a law that shuts down the leak in our border. After 2 to 5 years of watching the government keep illegal immigrants out, then we can focus on cleaning up the mess by legitimizing those who are here.

Like I have said before, "most of America wants a strong, zero-tolerance policy that is enforced...I believe that the average Joe American would be amenable to the idea of guest workers if that were coupled with very, very tight border security." I think that this bill fails to prove to me and the American people that we have fixed the problem. This bill is just a clean-up and I don't trust the government to stop the influx...no matter what they say in the bill.

By the way, for those who think this bill is amnesty. You are wrong. Amnesty is what Reagan signed into law where one day 3 million people where illegal, and then, by the stroke of a pen, they were legal. Under this program, illegal aliens must register and work toward citizenship that has set requirements. Failure to meet those requirements and go through the process and you will still be illegal.

I certainly hope we can get this issue resolved in a fair, humanitarian, and lawful way.

Hunter Hills Podcasting

A few days ago I posted some very popular sermons from HH and commented that I was looking for free hosting/media streaming to distribute the sermons on the web. The next post was charging my young friend and companion with the task of overcoming some of the difficulties I was experiencing with some of the services. Since he has the time, he can research stuff much better than I can.

Anyway, after his searching and studying we have come upon a solution that we like. So, for your reading pleasure...a how-to overview for posting streaming media on the web.

1. Go to the Internet Archive and register.
   
   
2. Download and install the ccPublisher utility that allows you to tag your audio and upload it to the Internet Archive for free hosting.
   
   
3. Use the ccPublisher utility to upload your content to the Internet Archive.
   
   
4. Create a blog. I, of course, used Blogger to create HHAudio.blogspot.com. Make sure you turn on the syndication ability of your blog. (The hardest part of this was getting the template working to make it appear as if a user has never left Hunter Hill's website. I had a bear turning all relative paths into fully-qualified paths).
   
   
5. Finally, go to FeedBurner and use their free service that turns you syndicated blog feed into feeds formatted for various podcasting utilities.

That is it. I think it is all working.

Third Day and David Crowder Band in Concert in Nashville, TN

Erin and I had a weekend getaway this weekend. We left the children with Erin's parents and went to Nashville to go to the Third Day/David Crowder band concert.

It was an absolutely incredible show. We loved it.

We had lots of fun. Ate at nice restaurants (no high chairs). Went shopping at the Opry Mills mall. SLEPT IN!!!!

On Sunday morning, we went and worshipped at the Otter Creek church.

We got back in time to run the A/V for the Ladies Tea and Worship at Hunter Hills.

FEC won't Regulate Politics on the Internet

There has been a lot of fear since the McCain-Feingold bill passed that bloggers would fall under FEC rules when opining about politics. However, the New York Post reports the FEC has clarified "the rule also updates existing FEC regulations to make it clear that all other Internet political activity, such as blogging, e-mail communications and online publications, is not covered by the campaign law."

So, free political speech survives another day. However, I wouldn't say it is a victory. It just delays the inevitable to appease the public. In another 10 years, the public won't care as much and then the law will be re-clarified to include blogging.

Task For Wiki Wiki/Reading Audience

Here are some things that I've started playing with to do podcasting/streaming audio for the church...

So, far no success... Maybe you can do better (since you have time):

• http://www.kolablog.com/
• http://www.podcastfreeamerica.com/
• http://www.ourmedia.org/