The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly...

The good…

Turkey and dressing with homemade cranberry sauce.
Eating the above with friends.
Watching "Four Brothers" with a buddy.
Loafing while watching "The Agony and The Ecstacy".

The bad…

Having colds during a holiday.
Teething infants.
Staying up til 3:00 am with the above.
Not getting paid for a holiday day.

The ugly…

Watching Marky Mark go potty.

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8:53 AM 1 pithy comments

  UCW...
Ultimate Christian Wrestling? You must see it to believe it. Click the link above. I don't want to make fun. These guys seem earnest. I'd actually be interested in going to a bout.  ¶
11:30 AM 4 pithy comments

  Missionaries kicked out of Venezuela...

Missionaries' Mission at Issue
Venezuela's president is kicking out evangelists he says are spying for the U.S. Their role among the indigenous tribes has been controversial.

By Chris Kraul, Times Staff Writer


PUERTO AYACUCHO, Venezuela — Earnest and God-fearing, jungle missionary Gary Greenwood may not look like a spy for the CIA. But Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says the lanky young man from central Michigan is no less than an advance scout for an imminent U.S. invasion of this South American country.

Last month, Chavez ordered the expulsion of about 200 evangelical Baptist missionaries from the country's Amazon rain forest. He accused them of spying, mining, exploiting indigenous tribes and using jungle airstrips for "imperialist penetration." Last week, the missionaries were given 90 days to leave the zone.

Greenwood laughed off the charges and said there was no time for espionage in Cuwa, the isolated Yanomami Indian village where he and his family lived for four years. Although he and other missionaries acknowledged that their primary goal was to convert Indians to Christianity, the 33-year-old said he spent most of his days helping them: drilling wells, fixing outboard motors and making their huts more livable.

The rest is here.

Something that jumps out at me:

Ingrid Turon, a city council member and member of the Yeguana indigenous community in the village of Toki, six hours by outboard motorboat from here, said those who oppose missionaries want to deprive indigenous people of the advantages of modern life.

"For them, we are like animals in the zoo that people should pay to come see, so they can charge admission, publish their books and take pictures," Turon said. "They want to deny us the progress that they want, that the entire world wants."

Plus this:

But anthropologist Isam Madi, who favors the presence of the missionaries, fears that the new government impulse will fade after local elections in December. He warned that death rates among the Yanomami and other tribes, which have fallen with the presence of missionaries such as Sarah Greenwood, would rise again, especially among newborns and infants, once the missionaries left.

"Yes, there is a cultural change that comes with missionaries, but I prefer the cultural change if it comes with a lower death rate," said Madi, who runs a charity called Foundation for Indigenous Democracy in Santa Elena, Bolivar state

I realize that missionaries will change some things about the culture they are among, but which is better, going in and studying them without helping or going in with some sort of agenda, but helping them even if they don't do what you ask?  ¶
10:55 AM 7 pithy comments

  The Chronicles Creep Closer...


Click the picture and then click "Clip No. 1".

Drool.

Repeat.  ¶
12:57 PM 5 pithy comments

  Update...
More stranded goodness.

No word yet from you know who on you know what.

I need to get cracking in that whole novel thing.  ¶
1:31 PM 2 pithy comments

  IWJO...
Thanks to the Thinklings I saw this. A pin to tell folks that you watch Joel Osteen.

I want a IWLO pin, maybe on a silver gavel.

Craziness.  ¶
1:06 PM 9 pithy comments

  Politics...
Interesting...

You are a Social Liberal (63% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (13% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

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8:33 AM 6 pithy comments

  In God We Trust?
Very close to where I live a government building put a huge "In God We Trust" sign up. The Supremes .rejected the appeal put forth when lawyers failed to get their way on a local level.

Naturally Michael Newdow wants to get IGWT removed from money since that was part of the reasoning behind the courts rejection of the original case. He says "it violates the religious rights of atheists who belong to his "First Amendment Church of True Science." And they say atheism isn't a religion.

The money thing is a tradition and I see no harm in it. If we replaced it with "In Satan We Trust" or "In Humanity We Trust" or simply did away with the motto entirely I wouldn't care. Any of those options might at least speak more truth into the way our country is run.

Point is I don't see why we should take it off. I know it offends some people. I know that it's a wink to our country's religious past. I know that our Constitution is supposed to protect the minority and atheists (at least some atheists) feel like they're a persecuted minority. They'll say that "this won't infringe on our right to worship so where does it harm us". And they'd be right.

I say it doesn't infringe on their right not to and I'd be right. It doesn't require any religious practice to spend money, though some do so religiously. It doesn't establish laws respecting the establishment of a religion. It is, imo, an homage to the spirit that brought people thousands of miles to a country that they knew nothing about. They came to this country because they trusted God/Providence/The Creator to provide for them a place to work their butts off and make a new home. One where they could be free of governments that wanted to take their right to worship away (at best) or kill them (at worst).

I say that we can honor that spirit, the same way that we honor the dead presidents that also adorn our money, without harm or foul to people who don't believe in that same force. What do you say?  ¶
8:58 AM 22 pithy comments

  Homemade Bread…
I went to church this Sunday (it was a tossup as my youngest daughter was sick and one of us needed to stay home) and we had Communion. As I was praying and waiting for us to take the bread together, I put my nose against my hunk (I tear off big pieces because it’s sooooo tasty, is that wrong?) and inhaled. That yeasty, sweet aroma filled not just my nose, but my whole head. It said “HOME.” The bread is made with love by someone in our church. No broken saltines or wafers fabricated in a Christian Factory somewhere in this joint.

I remember coming home after a hard day of playing in the snow. I’d be soaked through and numb from the chill. A fire would be lit and maybe the Christmas tree would be up. Dad might have a pot of chili on or Mom might be baking cookies (I had a dysfunctional family but we had our moments of domestic bliss). I would put on some dry clothes and snag some hot chocolate (the powdered stuff, not as good but as part of Home as Kraft M&C Dinners) and I would be home. The sting of snowballs leaving my face in the warmth of the hearth at the same rate that the light outside dimmed.

I remember a harrowing adventure as a Boy Scout. We awoke to find our campsite flooding. We ran to the cars that had brought our food in (we hiked but no one expected ten year olds to pack all of the food for a weekend on our backs) and some of us jumped in the back of an El Camino that my Scout Master had. The tailgate was open and we clung to its bed for dear life hoping not to slide out as it tried to navigate the steep, muddy hill leading us out, screaming in fear and exhilaration. We were never in any danger, but home never felt so good.

I have long days here at work, mostly the ones that are slow, and I come home to children screaming “Daddy!” and a wife who looks glad to have her man home. Someone to help corral the kids, wash dishes, and make her feel as special as she is. The chaos, with an undercurrent of classical music and potpourri, is home, my home, mine to help make or break.

All of this, happy or sad, is home to me, but it’s all a pale shadow. There will come a time when we’ll be part of a home were there is nothing bad to overshadow the good. There will be no divorce. There will be no natural disasters. There will be no arguments, no pain, no doubt. We’ll have a big brother who loves us and a father who has prepared everything for our arrival. There will be a tremendous welcoming dinner. People will break bread together, laughing and singing with joy at being home at last. Home after the longest, hardest run that anyone can imagine. I can’t wait for that day.  ¶
11:57 AM 1 pithy comments

  Don't drink and register...
your URL's that is. Real url's that don't read quite how the site intended. My favorite (it took me a minute) http://www.molestationnursery.com. It's a plant nursery called Mole Station Native Nursery.  ¶
9:50 AM 1 pithy comments

  That Olde Blacke Magyck,,,
I swear I think that our level of tech has gotten so high, there are so many variables, that it has become magic. I have had so many problems that I have "rectified" by my mere presence and the placing of my hands upon a machine that I am convinced that we are the equivalent of magicians and alchemists. It is no longer about science.

Or maybe not.  ¶
9:28 AM 0 pithy comments

  Holy Huge Book Scanner Batman!
http://www.kirtas-tech.com/APT1200.html

This thing scans 1200 pages an hour, b&w or color turning the pages and everything. No idea how much it costs, but it would be great for a library.  ¶
4:09 PM 1 pithy comments

  Kansas Redefines Science...
God help them. I'm a Christian. I believe that God had a definite hand in creating the universe. He may have even taken six days to do so. I'm cool with that.

However, God gave us the brains we have to observe natuarlistic phenomena. That is the very definition of science. To redefine it can only mean that they want to teach religion to my kids in my kids' science class. I can't get behind that. If ID gets a scientific theory (which by definition they can't) then they can teach it, but don't change the rules just to get your way.

IMO neither the idea that we came from goop, nor the idea that we came from God should be taught in a science class. Only things that are observable and testable should. If you want to discuss scientific philosophy then have a class about that.  ¶
9:10 AM 1 pithy comments

  Java Log...


A log to burn made out of recycled coffee grounds. I love this idea!  ¶
1:51 PM 3 pithy comments

  Movies Seen and Weekend Had...
I saw Zorro 2 and King Cobra. One was better than the other, but the best thing was hangin' out with the wife-person.

I bought a bottle of this and it is mighty, mighty fine.

Ate out quite a bit with family and celebrated my daughter's first birthday. She slept throught the first half. Babies can get away with stuff like that.

Wrote nothing. I am falling further and further behind schedule on this novel thing. Not good. Someone please kick me in the butt.  ¶
8:51 AM 5 pithy comments

  Where are you from?
Bear posted this at his blog inspired by this which inspired this:



Where are you from?  ¶
11:25 AM 2 pithy comments

  Columns and Visits...
Well I sent in the first of what I hope to be many columns to NationsPunched.com. It's a companion site to Chud.com and will contain commentary on all sorts of matters. It's not live yet though there is a page up that shows the design and has the first half dozen columns up. I won't link the temp page since I'm sure Nick doesn't want most folks to see it until it's "ready for prime time".

In other news my Aunt and Mom are coming to visit and help celebrate our youngest's first birthday. That should be mucho fun. I'm gonna carve out some time so that Mom and I can have some just to ourselves. It's been too long and in light of some friends of mine losing/having sick parents I need to cherish what I have.

And to pull this post out of sap ville:

Look! A cute puppy:

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11:13 AM 1 pithy comments

  Punkinhead...
Didn't really do a costume per se for Halloween, but we did have a dress up day at work and I had to d osomehting. So here it is.





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11:17 AM 6 pithy comments