Please read this and tell me what you think:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2393599,00.html.Now answer me this... Iraq didn't do a fraction of the actions that North Korea has done towards the development of nuclear weapons (a.k.a. WMDs). Iraq never openly had a nuclear reactor, testified to the existence of 8-12 rods of plutonium, threatened to reactive their breeder reactors, tested ballistic missles capable of reaching US cities, nor did they actually conduct tests of nuclear weapons. And yet Bush and Rumsfeld rushed us into Iraq... Yet, here we have a viscious dictator who … [Read more...]

I've been getting more political lately, mostly because I believe we've got some of the worst political leadership of all time running the show. A recent editorial by Krugman contains a nugget of wisdom about holding the "values-party" accountable.It is this: The current Congress has shown no inclination to investigate the Bush administration. Last year The Boston Globe offered an illuminating comparison: when Bill Clinton was president, the House took 140 hours of sworn testimony into whether Mr. Clinton had used the White House Christmas list to identify possible Democratic donors. That's … [Read more...]

Love is not all: it is not meat nor drinkNor slumber nor a roof against the rain;Nor yet a floating spar to men that sinkAnd rise and sink and rise and sink again;Love can not fill the thickened lung with breath,Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;Yet many a man is making friends with deathEven as I speak, for lack of love alone.It well may be that in a difficult hour,Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,Or nagged by want past resolution's power,I might be driven to sell your love for peace,Or trade the memory of this night for food.It well may be. I do not think I … [Read more...]

A few years ago, there was a series of severe earthquake in Turkey. You might remember them because it wasn't that long ago - tens of thousands died. Many buildings and homes were leveled, mostly because the strict anti-earthquake building codes had been flaunted by developers looking to make a quick buck.Among the thousands of casualties, a 6-year-old boy named Armand was missing. Armand's father, knowing his son was at school the time the earthquake hit, raced to the collapsed structure. Climbing to the top of the pile, Armand's father began to pull off the shattered mud bricks. The sharp … [Read more...]

Katie Jo has a mid-summer birthday, July 26th. We had a little party for her at the time, but we asked if she'd like to have just a few friends during the summer or a bigger party later in the fall. She chose the fall so that she could enjoy lotsa friends.So Kelly planned a lil shindig for her at the picturesque Cedar Creek Rec Center right on Old Hickory Lake. The weather was perfect for early October - sunny, warm, and very little wind. The water was way too cold for my taste, but it didn't slow down the kids at all.The Rec Center also has a really nice playgrounds and some really nice … [Read more...]

Whew! There are many and long postings in this archive that has given my many interesting elements to comment on. I'll endeaver to do so here, but I'm sure that I'll miss an important point or two.My Beliefs responseI'm going to skip on commenting on your beliefs (entry entitled "My Beliefs") because I believe/hope that each of the significant elements of your discussion will come up at other points and we can discuss them each in turn giving them the proper attention they deserve.It was good enough for Paul and Silas... responseDespite the preeminent place given the gospels, Paul’s writings … [Read more...]

Today is the start of an interesting sidebar for me. I'm going to respond to a friend's anti-thesis of Christian faith at http://infidelismaximus.blogspot.com.The author of Infidelis Maximus is a friend and someone whom I believe can really enjoy a good rational discussion about all things related to Christian faith or the disavowel thereof.So if you're interested in any of these sorts of religions discussions, you may also wish to look at Infidelis Maximus. But please do remember to keep any postings or comments there rational and discoursive, ok?In the meanwhile, I'd be interested in … [Read more...]

Ok, these two posts are worth the 5 or 10 minutes it takes to watch them.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K_38Fg6nmU... and ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7U6UPLrNdQ&mode=related&search=Enjoy!-Kev … [Read more...]

I got this note from my uncle about how the much the USA has changed in 100 years. The changes are quite extraordinary. It also illustrates to me how important "cultural receptivity" is to change. The USA has a culture that is among the most accommodating to change ever in the history of the world. (Renaissance Italy is probably the other society that comes to mind.) And yet many of these changes (listed below) caused powerful ripples throughout our society and culture. For example, women have only been able to vote since 1920 and, even in my childhood in the 1960's and 1970's, I recall … [Read more...]

I took Dylan & Emily to see "Jackass 2" last week. We arrived at the theaters on a Monday evening while it was still light out. But as we walked in, I noticed a dark and furry blotch on the wall. It was a bat. Even though it was about 8' off the ground, we all took turns looking at it up close because we were able to climb the wall. It was such a cute little thing! Here's a pic of the cute little critter.Ok, now for the movie. Like most of the Jackass skits from MTV and the first Jackass movie, this movie is totally juvenile. It also had a few scenes that caused me to laugh so hard that I … [Read more...]