Southern History, American Freedom, Christian Liberty
There is some pretty cool news out about cloaking devices and how that might actually be possible in the next 10 years. This is another example of how science fiction leads the way in coming up with very cool ideas that become reality years later. Of course, if your invisibility cloak runs on Windows 2016 then you have to always be worried about this during a mission:
Iran’s problem is their blinding hatred of Israel. There is a story out today about how they launched a Shihab-3 IRBM which is capable of reaching Israel and consequently any place in-between that might have US troops. While this is an interesting missile and might cause some problems if there were to be a preemptive strike on Iran, the last line in the article is pretty telling:
“Experts believe that if Iran is attacked by Israel or the US, Teheran would respond by firing long-range ballistic missiles at Israel.”
Now why in the world would they fire missiles at Israel if they got attacked by the United States. What a total waste of resources during war-time. That’s a bit like the US firing missiles at Cuba if we were attacked by China. They are so obsessed with Israel that is distorts their judgment. If they could quit thinking about Israel for 5 minutes they might actually be a real threat, but instead they are just like Iraq who did the same thing in the first gulf war. Middle-Eastern countries just don’t understand how to wage proper war. That’s why Israel wins every time they are attacked.
I’ve been watching a lot of these documentaries on the History Channel about the Davinci Code this week and one thing is clear: European history is just full of wierdo stuff. By the way, I bet the programming guys at the history channel are straight up sick of the Davinci Code by now. They have been going through and showing a bunch of the old temples and cathedrals dating back to medieval times. All I can say is that I am really glad America’s history is so recent if that is the kind of freaky stuff that was around 1000 years ago. I mean what is up with all the wierd gargoyles and carvings of strange faces and demonic figures in supposedly Christian cathedrals. Very freaky.
I have been generally pleased with the History Channel’s coverage of the DaVinci codes tenets. They have done a good job of separating fact from fiction. One of the things they could do better at though is showing how weak the original premise’s historicity is. The pseudepigraphal letters that give the original formulations of the whole Magdelene/Jesus tie-in are weak weak weak and were universally known to and rejected by the early church fathers. And even the content within the letters that they draw from are incomplete where parts of the manuscript are missing. I’m still just amazed at how far this book has gone.
Looks like Bruce Feldman of ESPN has ranked the SEC as the best conference going into the ’06 football season. I wasn’t too sure about that at first but who else is better? The Pac-10? No. The Big-12? No. The ACC? Double-No. The Big-10? Probably the closest match. Really I can’t think of a standout that would be better so why not. It’s all just acedemics until the bowl games anyway. All this football talk reminds me that I need to pre-order
NCAA Football 2007 at Gamestop. You know. It’s the one with the cheateron the cover.
It looks like Alabama’s senators Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby are split on adding tougher language to the Senate’s immigration bill. Sessions is taking the bull by the horns and doing good work on this issue. Shelby however sided with the typical RINO’s and voted NO to adding the tougher language to the bill. I wrote him a letter and mailed it today. Here is what I wrote:
I am dissapointed that you voted not to include Senator Isakson’s(R-GA)
measure in the Senate’s immigration bill. I have voted for you every
time I can remember and I don’t like it when you vote against
traditional Republican values. I don’t understand it and I am deeply
concerned that you would side with other so-called “rogue” republicans
in the senate. I can only hope that you will change your position and
get tough on illegal immagration because it is stealing low wage jobs
away from our teenagers and entry level American workers.
Thank you,
Dave Jones
Politicians in Alabama love to use the buzz-phrase “Republican Values” so I thought that might get some attention. I encourage everyone to write to Shelby and let him know that you aren’t happy. You can find his address in the above letter.
When software companies first started adding “Activation” to their software it was met with a resounding “oh crap!” from the sysadmin brotherhood. While in many ways it is very annoying, it has one extremely good side effect: deniability. The idea that software can no longer be installed willy nilly on any machine with only a product key makes for a very good buck passing factor. We have all had users ask us if they can “borrow” a copy of Microsoft Office or Windows. My answer used to be a 15 minute lecture on software licensing. Now it’s a simple “no, it won’t let you”. I have to admit that it’s one less thing I have to worry about. At least product activation isn’t all bad.
Perhaps the most valuable habit a Christian can have is to dwell on the foundational truths and doctrines that constitute his or her faith. I was reading some Francis Schaeffer tonight (actually I didn’t make it past the Foreword before being rabbit-trailed) and was thinking about something that happened in his life. He mentions that at one point in his life he had a sort of spiritual “crisis” of belief. His response to that was to go all the way back to “agnosticism”, start from their, and work his way back through his path into Christianity. I think that is a fine idea so I think I’ll do that on the blog.
I think I’ll delve into the most logical first question that any non-believer should ask: Is there a supernatural realm, or is the physical world all that exists? This question is the hardest and the easiest at the same time depending on what biases and presuppositions you bring to the truth table (a little philosophy humor there).
For instance the Star Trek nerd in me wants to take the path of physicalism and say that there is no supernatural realm. There is only science and what it can tell us through the five senses. Very few of us ever have a supernatural “experience” in our lives that absolutely compels belief in anything non-physical, and most of the time we can give some alternate possible accounts of how these “miracles” might have happened.
On the other hand, their are occasionally times where even the most hard core physicalist is shaken by the seemingly overwhelming set of circumstances that would have to obtain to create such a natural “miracle”. In other words their are just some things that defy explanation, and it only takes one supernatural event to crash the party. We have all heard stories about disappearing cancer’s that confound doctors, or the dream of a mother that leads her to a daughter who ran off the road into a ravine and couldn’t be found for days.
So what is the logical belief given these two options? I think the most powerful arguments rest on the side of dualism in this situation. To that end, I am strongly compelled by the following:
On Mother’s day I think it’s appropriate to reflect on what God has in mind when it comes to what a woman after his own heart looks like:
This describes my wife and the mother of my children through and through. She is truly a gift of God. I hope the same is true for you as well.
(And no, this is not pandering since my wife only reads this blog once in a blue moon.)
This is an article that Greg Koukl mentioned on Stand to Reason last week. It’s about a Father and daughter who lived deep in the woods and lived off the land for four years. It’s a crazy but heartwarming story. It’s also of note because of the amazing fact that the dad home-schooled the little girl using only an old set of World Book encyclopedia’s, and when the police found them the 12 year old, who should have been in the 7th grade, was at a 12th grade educational level and “well spoken beyond her years”. And lest you think that the dad was a homeless Oxford professor, the story says that he had to learn how to drive a tractor and later found a job working on a horse farm. I liked that because, anytime I tell people we are home-schooling our children they always ask if we are either really smart, or have a teaching background. My answer is neither. The only thing you need to be a good home-school parent is some basic learning resources and good old fashioned “want to.”
KATU | January 5, 2005
PORTLAND, ORE. – A man and his 12-year-old daughter spent the last four years living in a remote hillside in Portland’s Forest Park, police said.
The pair was discovered in a dense, wooded area by an Australian cross-country runner and his wife.
They reported seeing an older man with white bushy hair and a beard, and a young girl at what appeared to be a “well-established transient camp.” They called police on April 28.
That afternoon, North Precinct Sgt. Michael Barkley sent four officers on all-terrain vehicles to find the pair but they didn’t find them.
“We had very little to go on, ” Barkley said. “There’s no way you could not do everything you could because it was a report of a child living up there.”
The next morning, the runner escorted police to the site.
After an hour-and-a-half hike, police found an elaborate camp dug into a steep hillside.
Under a tarp-covered, wood-framed shelter, they found sleeping bags, a partially burnt log, a Bible, a stack of old World Book Encyclopedias, rakes and other tools.
A rope swing, a tilled vegetable garden and a small creek were nearby.
A police dog found the pair huddling behind a tree about 50 yards from the camp.
The man and girl told police they had lived in the park for four years. The pair appeared clean, well-fed and healthy, Barkley said, and the girl was well-spoken beyond her years.
The man, who identified himself as Frank, told police he was a 53-year-old Marine Corps veteran and college graduate who served in Vietnam.
He came to Oregon with his daughter, Ruth, from Tacoma with no job and virtually no money. Frank told police that the girl’s mother was institutionalized in New Hampshire, and the two now lived on a $400-a-month disability check.
Rather than live on the streets and expose Ruth to alcohol and drugs, Frank said, they hiked deep into Forest Park and built a lean-to.
The pair went into the city twice a week to stop by the bank, attend church, buy groceries and clothes from Goodwill. Frank, a devout Christian, said he taught his daughter using the old encyclopedias.
They grew vegetables and used the nearby creek to keep clean. They stored perishable foods in a small pool of water at the creek’s edge.
The man and girl told police that the runner was the first person to find their camp in four years.
Their biggest worry was being split up, Barkley said.
“Please, don’t take me from my daddy,” the girl told the 26-year police veteran as they sat on a log talking for at least 30 minutes.
Barkley, who has a 6-year-old daughter, said he was struck by the relationship between father and daughter.
“What was so clear was that their living conditions were unacceptable, but their relationship was a real deep love and caring for each other,” Barkley said.
Officer Joe Campbell, who helped find the pair, said separating the pair would have broken their hearts. “Their whole lives seemed to revolve around each other,” said Campbell.
A pediatrician found the girl free of any illness, any signs of physical or sexual abuse – and no cavities. A criminal background check came up empty, according to police reports.
Even though the child and father lived for such a long time disconnected from society, the girl had been home schooled and was in good physical shape.
In fact, the girl received a very good education from her father while living among the trees. Officials said the girl, who would be normally in 7th grade, is at a 12th grade equivalency.
“When we interviewed this little girl, she was very impressive. She really was very responsible, and she really looked as though she was way advanced in her years,” said Portland Police Cmdr. Scott Anderson said.
KATU Television has been given permission from ‘The Forest Family’s’ father to set up a college fund for 12-year-old ‘Ruthie.’
To make donations for the girl, who for the last four years have lived in the forest and was educated by her father, to ‘Ruthie’s College Fund’ at any Bank Of America Branch.
Police say the father was ecstatic when KATU offered to set up a college fund for his daughter.
The father has done a wonderful job of educating the girl, says police. She reportedly performs at a 12th grade level.
Police persuaded them to leave the camp, promising help them find food and shelter.
The pair spent two nights at a homeless shelter. Barkley found the man a job and a place for the two to live on a friend’s horse farm in Yamhill County.
Now, Barkley said, the pair are living in a mobile home and adjusting to life with heat, electricity and running water.
The man mows lawns and is learning to drive a tractor, and the pair ride bicycles to a nearby church on Sundays.
“The amazing part of this was the fact that Sergeant Barkley really evaluated what was best for these people,” North Precinct Cmdr. Scott Anderson said. “Sometimes police would be a little quicker to hand things off to state workers. But instead … he saw this through to the end.”
We are going through a Groupwise to Exchange conversion right now and of course their are a thousand hoops to jump through every step of the way. The latest challenge is that all the Groupwise mailboxes need to give proxy access to the user that will be running the migration. This means that every mailbox has to be touched since Groupwise doesn’t allow for a global proxy addition to all mailboxes. After gleaning a lot of info from the internet, I ended up writing this visual basic script that will do the job nicely from a login script:
’Link to the Groupwise Object API
Set GWApp = CreateObject("NovellGroupWareSession")
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
’Login to Groupwise
Set GWAccount = GWApp.Login()
’Check if we’ve already run
If fso.FileExists("\fileservertemppath" & GWAccount.Owner.EmailAddress & ".tmp") Then
WScript.echo "Already ran. Quitting!"
GWApp.Quit
WScript.Quit
End If
’Find the account you want to add to the proxy list from the Global
Address Book
Set GWEntry = GWAccount.SystemAddressBook.AddressBookEntries.Find("(<last Name> CONTAINS ""Migrator"")")
Set GWAddress = GWEntry.Item(1)
’Add the account as a proxy
call GWAccount.AccountRights.Add(GWAddress, 65535)
call GWAccount.Refresh
’Touch a file to let us know things ran well
Set ngwFile = fso.CreateTextFile("\fileservertemppath" & GWAccount.Owner.EmailAddress & ".tmp", True)
ngwFile.WriteLine("Archive " & GWAccount.Owner.EmailAddress & " " & GWAccount.DefaultPathToArchive)
ngwFile.Close
’Finish
GWApp.Quit
It uses the Groupwise Object API. We created a Groupwise account called “Groupwise Migrator” to run the migration wizard with but you can put anyone’s last name in their that you want to add as a proxy. We also touch a temp file just so we don’t run twice on the same machine. Run it early on after the user boots up so their is little chance that they might already be proxied into someone’s box. Enjoy!
