Just Thinkin'

My son son showed me a video  of a back story for a video game called Homefront. The premise is that over the coming years a resurgent North Korea, under the leadership of "dear leader's son" "reunifies" the Korean peninsula, annexes much of Southeast Asia, and them marches across the Pacific to eventually take over the U.S. Clever video if not a particularly realistic scenario but it got me to thinking.....here's a "scary ghost story" for Christmas:

Sometime in the future...
North Korea decides to "reunify" Korea threatening and then using (if necessary) nuclear weapons against Japan.

China decides to "reunify" China by attacking Taiwan. Its new technology cripples the Pacific fleet.

At the same time Iran launches attacks on Israel with the aid of Hezbollah and Hamas (with possible/probable nuclear and conventional missiles and overthrows the Iraq government.

Mexico (becomes) a failed state and rebels supported by Venezuela overthrow the government. Venezuela launches medium range missiles into U.S.

A resurgent Russia (aiding Iran) also seeks reunification of former territory such as the Ukraine, Belarus etc and threatens Germany and other European powers with dire consequences if they interfere.

The U.K. is racked with internal strife and unable to assist, as the Muslim population rises up.


Whew! the paranoia thing is really going huh?
This is why I don't play video games.

IKEA hacks help you find a new home for your technology*

* not limited to IKEA

from Lifehacker:

The best IKEA hacks help you find a new home for your technology. Here's how to make everything from a Linux server cluster filing cabinet to a wall-mounted desktop PC.

• Create a DIY CPU Housing with an IKEA Helmer Filing Cabinet - CPU cabinets can get a little pricey, but with a Helmer Filing Cabinet you can make a DIY version on the cheap.
• DIY Filing Cabinet Linux Server Cluster - Alternatively, if you want to take it up a notch, you can build an entire Linux server cluster right into a filing cabinet as well
• Build a Cheap Laptop Stand with Spare IKEA Parts - When you need to elevate your laptop, there are plenty of expensive solutions. Here's a cheap DIY option that makes use of scraps you can pick up at your local IKEA.
• Hang Your PC Tower on the Wall to Save Floor Space - If you've got a big desktop, one solution is hanging it on the wall. This IKEA hack will help you save a bunch of space by doing just that. More ideas here

Rolling Stone releases Lennon's final interview

From My Way News:

...Lennon saves some of his harshest words for critics who were perennially disappointed with Lennon's path, in both music and in his life, after leaving the Beatles.

"These critics with the illusions they've created about artists - it's like idol worship," he said. "They only like people when they're on their way up ... I cannot be on the way up again.

"What they want is dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean. I'm not interesting in being a dead (expletive) hero. .. So forget 'em, forget 'em."

He also predicted that Bruce Springsteen, then hailed as rock's bright future, would endure the same critical barbs: "And God help Bruce Springsteen when they decide he's no longer God. ... They'll turn on him, and I hope he survives it."...

Egypt: Sinai shark attacks could be Israeli plot

WOW. 


From the Jerusalem Post:


Egyptian officials say they have not ruled out the possibility that a fatal shark attack in Sinai on Sunday could have been a plot by the Mossad.

“What is being said about the Mossad throwing the deadly shark [in the sea] to hit tourism in Egypt is not out of the question, but it needs time to confirm,”  More

I THOUGHT I was back

But I guess I wasn't....
After returning from training I expected to get back to posting fairly regularly but obviously that was not the case. Some small minority of you may have even noticed.

But you see we've had a baby in the house and I've forgotten how much time they can take up. This one we found in the yard behind ours, a bold explorer who managed to wander from its mom and litter mates. We found it when it was about three weeks old, stumbling shaky legged through the underbrush after a neighbor brought it to our attention. Since it was in danger of being carried off by mosquitoes (any one of which was as big as she was) or worse yet to be a fine feast for the owl that lives in the tall trees behind us, we thought it best to bring her in. After a crash course in what 3 week old kittens eat (there is kitten formula BTW) and a visit from our mobile vet who pronounced her a) healthy b) about 3 weeks old and c) a she we settled in to finding her a home and taking care of her. This included feeding from a tiny bottle about 6 times a day for a while and teaching her sanitary habits with a litter box before which we were required to do mama cats job of "stimulating" her to do the job via wet paper towel. It was a grand day when she started using the pie pan that is her sand box.

We were also told by the vet that orphaned kitties need lots of "socializing" with many different people, otherwise they have an unfortunate habit of turning into "demon cats" (the vet's words) meaning they are really mean and hateful to all but those they bond with initially making adoption all but impossible. So we took her to work a few times and passed her about and for the most part she took to folks rather quickly her few pathetic, though heartfelt, hisses and spits notwithstanding. Now she is everywhere and in everything and must be crated whenever there is no one to watch her carefully. She has a home as soon as she is weaned and that day is almost here but for now still prefers a bottle to her gruel of kitten formula and some minced meat of the feline variety not easily recognizable by looks or smell to any human and that is "buried" by the kitten and our cat whenever possible.

So for now its us and the cat and the kitten and the three feral outdoor cats that we are feeding so that we can eventually trap and "fix" so that we have no more kittens. A task that we were apparently a bit tardy in accomplishing.

So its us and the cat and the kitten which are indoors and which I'm allergic to, and the three outdoor cats and the two outdoor kittens belonging to the queen which we didn't fix in time. We've seen them a couple a times though not lately, so they are either owl meat or being taken care of by mama cat till the time that they can be brought to the morning feeding that the other three get. They too will be eventually be trapped and fixed.

So its us and the cat and the kitten and my asthma, and the three outdoor cats and the two outdoor kittens and a sheep. Yup, a sheep. Our oldest son is raising a sheep for show through the FFA (Future Farmers of America). He goes to the barn (which is at the school) two times a day and feeds and cleans and walks and runs his sheep. Or rather I take him to the barn twice a day to feed and water and clean and walk and run his sheep.

But he has finished the play he was in so now gets home in the evening before 9:00 which is better for everyone since he's up at the barn by 0645.

And then there is the pumpkin patch. A little outreach project at the church that I am in charge of. We unloaded 800 pumpkins earlier in the month and expect another load about that size this week. I have to find folks to help unload and man the patch for selling purposes and this year it has been a challenge. I've spent quite a bit of time in the patch.

This last week-end I took my last Physical Training test of my Air Force career. 47 push ups in a minute, 37 sit ups in a minute (no I'm not proud of that) and a mile and a half run without requiring EMT intervention. At least I passed.

So now I'm back- sorta.

Something New

As I have been in the high desert of New Mexico these last few weeks, providing weather support for the Army, and because we have had pretty good weather, I have been thinking. This is usually not a good thing.

I have decided to change up the blog a bit. I have begun to include most of the sources for my information and organize them on the left hand side of the blog in easily accessible format.

It is my hope that on those days when I am unavailable because of location (like New Mexico) or simply due to the hectic schedule that family life affords, (even on the best of days) you might still visit and peruse the far more intelligent voices that populate the sidebar. I'll still post on, or more than likely, bring to your attention, something of note as I see it but if not you can still come here and find something worth your time.

It may be that items of a more reflective nature, such as prayer studies (of which I am woefully behind on) or my meager attempts at writing, will migrate to my other blog "Redeemed Time" which has languished like a bad oyster casserole in another place in this cyber refrigerator. But for now, things are pretty much as they have been, except more "newsy" if you will. I hope you enjoy the change.

Your thoughts on this new idea are appreciated, as would be anyone with knowledge on how to turn this template into a three column format.

The Week In Review

No, there is no news here. No biting commentary. No editorial remarks, though goodness knows the world screams for them. Instead I intend to bore everyone making the unfortunate choice to read this, with a slide-show of sorts, of how I spent the last week. Same sedative qualities as the traditional slide show motif only without the chance of an occasionally interesting picture- although those may come later. Please contain your excitement.

We traveled to Missouri to visit my wife's parents who live in Independence. I have the best in-laws in the world. Good laughs, good stories, no drama, no pressure or expectations. It is ostensibly a trip for my wife but I get to reap the benefits of a relaxing vacation, sleeping in till 6:30 or so and walking about a good part of the time with no shoes. I cannot remember the last time I really "needed" a vacation but this was one of those times. I had a knot in the middle of my back all the week prior upon which another knot seemed to form as we made the flight to Kansas City. I felt it melt away every minute I was there.

Perhaps it was the rain. After a summer of which has included almost 70 days of 100+ temps I can honestly say that the sights and sounds and smells of the rains which have turned the area into a lush green place were a welcome greeting.

On these trips we always try to see some historical and educational sites for the boys and for ourselves as we all love history. This trip was particularly fun/interesting in this regard and I offer up our itinerary to you as a preview in the event you decide that a similar trip might be worth your time. (It would be)

First, we went to the Truman Presidential Library. I've only seen one other presidential library, that being good ole LBJ for whom we can thank for the day off tomorrow. (At least you can if you are a state worker here in Texas or work with one as does yours truly) I enjoyed this library more than LBJ's and regret that we did not have more time to spend there. I would easily go back.

That same day we went to the Truman Home where Harry and Bess (and her mother) and their daughter Margaret lived before during and after the White house. My wife told the boys the story of walking by the house when she was in school and waving to the Secret Service men in the house across the street. By that time Margaret had already left and rarely visited or stayed long as she was no fan of Independence. The house is in almost the exact state that it was when Bess died in 1982.

Next day we went to Pella, Iowa to take our oldest son on an official visit to my wife's Alma mater, Central College. Pella, of Pella Windows fame is a town with strong Dutch roots and influence even to this day, complete with an historical village with canal, a windmill and even a tulip festival. And best of all, Dutch bakeries to die for. Our son was treated to a reserved parking space (this made a huge impression on him) and a four hour tour of campus that included the opportunity to speak with professors in German and Drama, both current areas of interest. He also had the opportunity to learn about the school's Study Abroad Program which was responsible for bringing my wife and I together 22 years ago.

The meeting with the drama professor was a real eye-opener for him. She asked him if he like to read and how many books he had read. He said he hadn't read many and didn't like to read (which is not entirely true). The professor told him he needed to start reading - a lot. She assigns almost a thousand pages a week and encouraged him to begin reading a play a week and books from the Great Book Lists. You should have seen his face. But I think it made an impression that his parents could only hope for.

Next day we went to the National Frontier Trails Museum. While interesting this was not the best part of the day. Outside this museum is a restored, refurbished and refurnished train deopot that is completely free to visit. A tour is provided by a volunteer and was a great visit.

Next we went into Kansas City to the Crown Center to the boy's favorite place to eat, Fritz's. You can't go wrong when your food is delivered to your table by train. After lunch we went to a Narnia Exhibit and a Legos artist exhibit.

The next day we went to what I thought was the best of the week. The Steamboat Arabia Museum. The Steamboat Arabia was a side wheeler steamboat which hit a snag in the Missouri River and sank near what today is Parkville, Missouri, in 1856 with 200 tons of supplies. They found the boat in the early 90's about a half mile from the river in a farmer's field about 45 feet down. Most amazing of all they found most of the supplies in tact. Wedgwood china, hand blown Italian glass beads, bolts of cloth and silk, clothes, clothes pins, coffee grinders, basins, utensils weapons, foods, champagne, who name it. 2/3rds on display. they expect it will take another 15 years to preserve the remaining artifacts. Simply incredible and worth a trip all on its own. The website does not do it justice but its a start.

I'll be back to posting soon

Back and So Forth on the 4th

I spent the week-end in San Angelo visiting my mom and brother and his family. It has become a bit of a tradition over the last few years prompted by my wife's yearly mission travels to Haiti which, in recent years, has taken her away over the 4th of July.

The boys and I began a few years ago, buying fireworks and trundling out west of San Angelo where my mom lives in the country and having our own private fireworks show. The following night we have taken to going out to the local minor league baseball stadium and watching a somewhat larger show. The great thing is, that the crowds are small as the really big show is done out at the lake, a trek and an experience I have chosen to avoid in my older, less patient years.

This year, my wife was in town and so we all made the trip together. I found that my wife was somewhat fond of fireworks and rather enjoyed getting rid of the "leftovers" of years past prior to my oldest son and I lighting the larger "ooh and ahh" mortar type fireworks. This was his first year to light most of them himself. One more in a long line of coming of age experiences.

During the course of the visit my wife took on the "project" of cleaning out my mother's pantry. About 4 ft wide and 6 high and about half as deep it has been the recipient of many baking supplies, jellies and spices that my mother was unable to use due to various ailments, among which can be listed a pack-rat syndrome that she faithfully handed down to me from her own mother. This illness is usually found in garages and closets and desks and the like but has been known to spread to pantry and refrigerator as well. The disease has been the cause of many a family horror story particularly as my grandmother aged and eyesight and sense of smell waned, like the one my mother re-told as we started our journey through the pantry of finding an unidentified object in my grandmother's fridge.
"What was the black thing in the plastic container, she asked?
To which the reply was given, "Oh, its meat."
But upon further inspection the "meat" was found to be carrots of some unknown age and state.

"At least I'm not as bad as that," she said as we fought our way to the first shelf of the pantry.
"we'll see," I said. And indeed we did.

We removed 5 large garbage bags of jars, cans, rice, flours, brown sugars and the like from this food time capsule disguised as a pantry. All with expired dates years out. The oldest find in this archeology site was a can of clams from 1991.

In the midst of this dig, my mother tripped on the edge of one of the bags and fell on her knees. Parchment paper skin and brittle body, bled and swelled and ached. She did not go to the fireworks display with us in town. She had fallen the night before we came and hit her head on a table. Her legs and arms have many marks from this or that, many from limbs that scratch as she mowes (riding lawnmower) the acre property that her one room bedsitter of a house nestles on next to the creek.

"There are many lives stuffed into this one," I remarked to my wife as we drove down the lane toward my mom's house. "Before the divorce, after the divorce, when my dad re-married, when my mom re-married, when they bought this place in the country as a second house and finally when my step-dad died and my mother moved out here for good." A thousand memories and many forgotten or buried. All a life story on their own and all jammed into the one life that is me.

Through all of this mom has been a constant, if at times a bit off the wall and smothering, at least she was consistent in her idiosyncrasies.

But this trip I saw the next chapter. I saw her unsteadiness and her sadness as she threw out the baking materials that she had not used for quite some time. She still loves to cook, mind you, but it hurts now to stand in the kitchen for any length of time. I saw her embarrassment as she threw out things bought with memories of husband and family close by made excess by her life of living alone.

I do not know how many years are left. It may be one or twenty or something in between but a page has turned and the book must be steadied on my arm.

What the heck is that video? Updated with links to funny science songs

My son has an assignment in his science class to create a power point/music presentation on a science theme. They have to substitute science information in a song. Because of his interest in German he has chosen music from a German group that isn't available on ITunes. It is available on YouTube but he can't access YouTube from school. He can access my blog so he hopes to access in this way.

All of this begins to explain why I haven't posted much this week...

the link to Tom Lehrer's "The Element Song."

the link to The First and Second Law.

Thanks to Otepoti for both.

I Have A Follower

I started this blog last year for reasons unknown except perhaps to provide a place to post news on current affairs. Now instead of telling my co-worker, "Hey listen to this," I simply post it here. I think my co-worker appreciates that I only talk half as much now as I used to.

I got the idea from a Roe V Wade sight and the Heritage Foundation. I nosed around with the "how to" of starting a blog with the intention of learning a bit and then one day publishing. Then one day I hit the wrong button and, voila, I was on line.

Now, a little over a year later there are some 200 or so folks who stop by on a given week. A few stop and read and fewer still leave a comment.

I have toyed around with various gadgets and keep the ones I like and delete the others. One gadget which has come and gone on numerous occasions is the "followers" gadget. I have removed it before as I get this weird feeling when no names appear, like being picked last for the kick-ball team.

I have a sort of kindred spirit feeling for many of the bloggers on the Blogroll as well as many readers, though many I don't know except via the blogosphere. So I put the gadget back on out of curiosity to see if anyone would admit to "following."

To my surprise, one brave soul has confessed to stopping in periodically and in honor of this trailblazing individual the gadget will remain. I can't very well yank the welcome mat now. So welcome to my new follower. Though I think I'm going to change it from "follower" to "reader" lest I get a complex and decide to run for president or something..

A Change of Pace

Here are a few links you might find useful or at least interesting:

Recession putting a crimp in your pizza runs? H/T Lifehacker
Over at SimpleDollar A Guide to Making Inexpensive and Delicious Homemade Pizza

Homemade pizza night is a weekly occurrence at our house. For us, there is simply nothing that quite matches homemade pizza for appealing to all of us - it’s infinitely flexible, incredibly cheap, fun to make (and it gets everyone involved, even the small children), and quite delicious. Best of all, if you plan ahead a bit, it doesn’t take long to make, either - you can have a made-from-scratch pizza on the table in a half an hour if you’ve done some reasonable prep work the night before.
Here’s a step-by-step guide (along with some surprising and unusual hints) for making some great homemade pizza for your family. (more)


Lifehacker also has The Five-Minute Prison Workout Keeps You Fit in Any Space (cell mate not included)
Mike Rowe from Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs demonstrates how to get a great workout in any space by performing several sets of descending repetitions of the classic "burpie."


Over at Dumb Little Man:
Ditch Google For A Day: 10 Amazing Search Engines To Try out
As much as Google has evolved since its inception, the internet too has changed drastically and has spawned upon a huge number of alternative search engines, some of them being really good in what they do.


And finally over at STR a list of places to study apologetics

The Stuff of Dreams and Fairytales

22 years ago, on the plain of Salisbury at the ancient site of Stonehenge, (while sightseeing with his mother), a young airman (then stationed in England) met an even younger lady from KC Missouri who was then attending classes in the Netherlands and was sightseeing through England. They struck up a conversation that continued through the day and into the evening hours. They stayed together the next day as the young woman agreed to retrace her trip back through Bath and then on to London on the train where the two separated but agreed to remain in contact.

2 1/2 years later, at the invitation of the now sergeant, the young lady, having returned to the states, agreed to a visit in Abilene, Texas where the man was now stationed. She brought her mother on the trip.

The next day they all travelled to San Angelo to meet the rest of the young man's family and on a creek west of town as the sun was setting, shared their first kiss.

2 1/2 years later, a long time, because though devilishly handsome (well, at least devilish) the young man was not too bright, he asked the young lady to marry him.

Owing no doubt to a momentary lapse of reason, she said yes.

After 17 years (today) and two kids, she thankfully, has not regained those senses and the man (not so young anymore) yours truly, remains more madly in love than when that first kiss was shared.

Ugly scenes at swingers' resort as nudists war over dress code

Funny in a weird, ugly sort of way...I think I'd want Johny to keep his britches on too...

From SMH:

Police were forced to intervene between warring nudists during a stoush at a clothing-optional resort in north Queensland.
A tourist claims he was evicted from the adults only The White Cockatoo resort in Mossman, near Port Douglas, after he refused to bare all in front of three women.
John Harrison and his wife, Lyn, had their stay cut short after resort owner Tony Fox accused the couple of being "disrespectful" to other guests because Mr Harrison chose not to get naked ahead of a dinner date.
Police were called amid threats of violence and lewd behaviour to escort the Gold Coast couple from the resort on Tuesday night...

Lessons Learned-Part 2

First a review:

Laprascopic removal of your appendix leaves two holes in the middle and one on the LEFT side.

Two weeks later a pain on the left side does at the incision site does not necessarily mean an infection.

Lessons learned from part 1 can be used in lesson 2. These would include that whole bit about rebound pain and gas not lasting more than two hours.

Now for the new lessons:

You can feel the exact same pain on your left side as you did on your right.

It can start in the morning and increase through the day.

Having this happen while your wife is out of the country while having children to watch is the epitome of poor timing.

Having neighbors (even a cranky old Frenchman) is a real blessing.

Your children, due to stress and fear and an uncanny ability to take note of opportunities that may arise at such times, may not be on their best behavior.

a CT scan and white blood cell counts can tell you (much clearer than with appendix) that you do not have an infection or abscess from your appendectomy and can see rather clearly that you have diverticulitis.

After 40 most of us have diverticulosis. these are caused by small weaknesses in the intestinal lining that causes pouches to form (diverticuli)

Pain from this condition can mimic appendicitis and is sometimes referred to as "left sided appendicitis."

Sometimes the pain from this condition can be worse.

Treatment can range anywhere along a spectrum from going home and treating with antibiotics or have a section of the colon removed.

I sat in the hospital and was fed through an IV (not even water) and given two types of antibiotics for two nights.

Having a room to yourself is much better than sharing

The antibiotics they give you are effective but brutal. Rarely have I felt so bad on antibiotics. But only if I got up.

Being fed by an IV is a fast way to lose wight but not fun.

Further tests will be required but only after recovering for another two weeks.

While recovering you probably won't feel like doing ANYTHING, not even checking e-mail or posting on a blog.

Many thanks to Chewy and MC for posting in my absence. I'm fine.

For those half a dozen readers who check in regularly, I'll be back soon. Thanks for the prayers

Lessons Learned

Some lessons (some obvious) that I've learned over the last week or so.

Gas pains do not last more than a few hours.

You can push on your stomach when you have gas pains and it will hurt. If you let up and let your belly pop back into place and it hurts, it's not gas. It's called rebound pain. Rebound pain is not good.

If you are a woman and have pain in the lower right quadrant of your belly there are many possibilities. Women have more stuff than men. (Viva la difference')

If you are a man and have pain in the lower right quadrant of your belly there are a very few possibilities as to why.

Diarrhea, feeling gassy, crampy or nauseous and having abdominal pain may mean you ate something that didn't agree with you. Or it may not.

Having all of these in one day is a classic appendicitis picture. It can also be spread over four days.

If your gassy, crampy feeling causes you to remain hunched over after getting up from a chair and this goes on for more than a few hours then its a good idea to go ahead and go to the doctor.

Your white blood cell count does not have to be highly elevated to be indicative of trouble. Even a slightly elevated count can be an issue.

Appendix pain can range over the entire portion of your lower belly (below the navel) from hip to hip.

Your appendix is located between the point of your right hip and your belly button (aka navel)

None of the above will necessarily mean you are about to have a ruptured appendix (but it could so go sooner, rather than later to the doctor) but it may mean that the situation has been a chronic feature for some time.

When you have your appendix removed via laparoscopy you will have three incisions, none of them on your right side.

The incisions will be below your navel and one a couple inches below that and one forming a triangle to your left

When you go to the emergency room in February you may find that the ER and the hospital are full and you must do a lot of waiting. Not to be seen, just to get a room.

If the hospital is full you may find that you have to share a room.

There is a limit to how much Spanish language television you can listen to and/or watch when you can't speak Spanish. Actually, it's not very long at all.

The day after surgery you will be sore but your right side won't hurt when you go over speed bumps anymore.

The day after surgery you will still feel gassy but this time its because they've pumped you full of it for the surgery.

You may lose all embarrassment at passing gas in a room with strangers.

You must keep all relatives informed daily on progress even if the last report was positive (e.g. he just got out of surgery, everything went well and he's getting discharged tomorrow)

Failure to do so may lead to terse voice-mails from mothers who "since they haven't heard something today, can only assume the worse," followed by the attempted guilt of "you're not a mother you'll never know what its like."

The above may lead to reuniting siblings, who are not otherwise on speaking terms with each other, in shared agreement with their mother.

This may lead to a fond desire to return to the less stressful times of Spanish television.

None of the above either before or after is conducive to posting to blogs.

Just Stuff

Just a few items I thought were interesting...

From Lifehacker, just in time for the (imminent?) TV changeover Build Your Own DTV Antenna

and two from Dumb Little Man:

5 Simple Steps to Clearing the Clutter (painlessly)

8 Awesome Tools To Create & Manage All Your Passwords

How To This and That

Just a couple sites that looked interesting today:

over at Dumb little Man: 15 Awesome Tutorial Websites You Probably Don't Know About

and though a bit skeptical of the NY Times much less an article in it on how to make hot sauce ("Get a rope...") there is this "How To" of DIY hot sauce (not to be confused with salsa) over at Life Hacker.

As for me, it's chili making time so let me know how the hot sauce comes out..

Hard Summer

I read an interesting quote over at "And sometimes tea" it's from from Mason Cooley, and goes like this "Writing about an idea frees me of it. Thinking about it is a circle of repetitions."
And so I beg your patience while I try it out.
It's been a hard summer. Death is everywhere. A friend at church who died in a car accident on the way to choir practice. My youngest son's den leader dying from cancer. My oldest son's assistant scoutmaster on the last leg of his earthly journey, also from cancer. I am not new to this. My dad died when I was 20. I've had a grandmother die and the lady who was like a second mother to me, who kept me while my parents worked from the time I was 6 weeks old till I was in 5th grade died last summer. Her husband and two boys, again like a second family, having preceded her. Less than a month after returning from Iraq, a friend of mine was shot down and killed. It was at that point that this death thing got really hard. Don't get me wrong, when a boy loses his dad, he never gets over that, but lately it just seems to be piling up. My dad had a bad heart and had a heart attack and a stroke before his second heart attack finally took him as he walked/jogged his dailey 2 miles (I think this proves exercise is bad for you but I could be wrong). He was 55.
As young as that is, and it's younger every year, I could kind of explain that, I guess I saw it coming. And maybe that's why this summer has been so hard, and why my friend getting shot down was so hard- I didn't see it coming and it doesn't make sense. To quote my 13 year old after a visit to his assistant scoutmaster in the hospital. It sucks. He is leaving behind an 18 year old boy and a wife. Our den leader leaves behind a wife and 3 boys under 8, one born just this last December. My pilot friend a 3 year old and a wife. My son is right. It sucks. and I hurt all over sometimes and the hurt stretches, like an ugly un-healed scar, all the way back 24 years. My comfort in this, is that God thinks death sucks too. I once read a translation of Jesus' reaction to Lazarus' death as something akin to "the snort of war horse," God hates death. It's not the way He intended and some day, the pain will be gone and the tears will be dried. In the mean time, God weeps with us.

when a “quality of life” ethic trumps human dignity in the healthcare system

Editor's Note: In Part I of Annie's Story (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061911.html), Bugos told the story of Annie Farlow, a girl who was born with Trisomy 13, and who died at only 80 days of age, devastating her parents and siblings. In Part II Bugos relates the Farlow's experiences, after Annie's passing, with the health-care staff who had cared for their daughter, and the disturbing discoveries they made about the circumstances surrounding their daughter's death.
TORONTO, ON, June 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Farlows tried to focus on funeral arrangements.
"Within days, I sensed that something wasn't right," relates Annie's mother, Barbara Farlow. "I didn't think that the decision-making process was appropriate. How could it be that we were told Annie's trachea was fine and she had pneumonia in the emergency department, and then 24 hours later this diagnosis had been reversed in the ICU? We had been exhausted, and I felt that we had been forced to make a decision in a coercive and inappropriate manner."...

...After two hours of reviewing the records on her dining room table, the nurse turned to Mrs. Farlow and said, "I'm sorry, but what happened wasn't right." Hours before Annie's death, a "do not resuscitate" order had been placed in Annie's records, without her parents' knowledge or consent....(more)

Comic Relief

George Carlin was a funny guy. I like some of his stuff, "why do they lock gas station bathrooms? do they think someone might clean them?" Funny stuff. And it is really no surprise that the article in the newspaper concentrated on his pushing the boundaries of comedy and language. Everyone loves a bad boy, I guess.
"The whole problem with this idea of obscenity and indecency, and all of these things — bad language and whatever — it's all caused by one basic thing, and that is: religious superstition," Carlin told the AP in a 2004 interview. "There's an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body. ... It's reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have."
No, Mr Carlin, you are wrong. There is no idea out there that the human body is somehow evil and bad or that parts are especially bad and we should be ashamed. In fact, we "superstitious" Christians proclaim it "good" even very good, because God called it thus. But also claim limits on it's use and abuse and overuse. The fear, guilt and shame spring naturally from the misuse of God's gift. We instill prohibitions, or would, to restrain our appetites and thus save us from ourselves and for the good which God has for us ordained. I hope you have now relearned this.
May God have mercy on you and on us.