If you can’t get MacPorts to install anything…

Posted on October 9, 2010 by Travis Seitler

This afternoon I was trying to install GD2 to test a few things with a MAMP server on my iMac. I couldn’t install it using MacPorts, though. It went something like this:

# sudo port install gd2 Password: ---> Fetching expat ---> Attempting to fetch expat-2.0.1.tar.gz from http://internap.dl.sourceforge.net/expat [...15 minutes later...] ^C

I dug around forums for about an hour trying to find a reason why it wasn’t downloading. Looked like it might be a problem with the mirror, but I wasn’t sure.

Turns out MacPorts just needed an update:

# sudo port -v selfupdate

After about 3 minutes of that, I was able to run the first command and it worked perfectly. (My suspicion was right, too: this time, it went to http://softlayer.dl.sourceforge.net/expat instead.)

Revisiting “The Tithe”

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Travis Seitler

I was just reviewing some of the things I had written to Jim Cannon at Chesapeake Community (now Sovereign Grace Church) a few years ago, and I rediscovered this nugget:

Hebrews 7:5 states, “And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers.”

It is described (to Hebrew believers, no less) as a foreign practice: they have a commandment — not us; they take it (present-tense) — as of the writing of this epistle, the tithe was still being collected by Levites.

This will make things a whole lot more interesting…

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Travis Seitler

To be free of the flaws of stretchmarks…

Posted on July 18, 2009 by Travis Seitler

Publius_Ovidius_Naso_in_the_Nuremberg_chronicle_XCIIIv This morning I came across the following quote from a book first published in 16 BC:

She who first began the practice of tearing out her tender progeny deserved to die in her own warfare. Can it be that, to be free of the flaws of stretchmarks, you have to scatter the tragic sands of carnage? Why will you subject your womb to the weapons of abortion and give dread poisons to the unborn? The tigress lurking in Armenia does no such thing, nor does the lioness dare destroy her young. Yet tender girls do so—though not with impunity; often shoe who kills what is in her womb dies herself.

Ovid, Amores, 2.14 (selections).

We’ve been making the same arguments for 2025 years.

Dan Edelen reminds me of my youth pastor

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Travis Seitler

…which is a compliment, even if Dan didn’t take it as such when I told him.

I’ve been reading (and commenting at) Dan Edelen’s blog, Cerulean Sanctum for years. And it’s no wonder: he writes about Jesus, the Church and agrarianism—all topics I enjoy reading about.

Anyway, he and his family in Columbus a few days back, and he suggested we meet over a meal. I picked Bob Evans (yeah, baby!) and we had a great time talking about life, family, and European board games.

I teased him about how there’s so few photos of him on the web, people can get the impression that he’s really a 60-year-old woman in New Jersey. So he let me provide this corroborating evidence that he is who he claims to be on his blog:

Could you keep Dan in your prayers? He’s having surgery today, and it sounds like his recovery is probably going to take a while. He works as a freelance writer/editor, and I can certainly appreciate how stressful it can be to have to take a month off (without pay, of course) when you work from home.

Where are the Trillions Going? Support the “Audit the Fed” bill (HR 1207) to find out.

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Travis Seitler

Neither Congress nor the Inspector General knows anything about what the Fed has done with $9 trillion in off-balance sheet transactions, or anything about the profit or loss from $2 trillion in on-balance sheet transactions. Check this out:

In the clip above, Rep. Alan Grayson (FL-8) asks the Federal Reserve Inspector General about the trillions of dollars lent or spent by the Federal Reserve and where it went, and the trillions of off balance sheet obligations. Inspector General Elizabeth Coleman responds that her office does not know and is not tracking where this money is.

The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 (HR 1207) would require an audit of the Federal Reserve. The map below shows which Representatives (by District) have cosponsored the bill as of June 16, 2009:

(Map created using a public domain image available at Wikimedia Commons and the Library of Congress’ list of cosponsors.)

So now I learn that the Federal Reserve is actually seeking to hire a lobbyist to fight against this (and similar) legislation. And I’m left wondering, “if you don’t have anything to hide, then what’s the problem with an impartial audit?” Our children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren are going to be saddled with enormous debts as a result of this massive inflation (that is, an increase in the money supply). If such spending is truly justified, then it’s a painful hardship we’ll have to deal with. But if it’s not justified, then it needs to stop!

If your Congressional District isn’t lit up yet, send a message to your Representative and Senators telling them you want them to support the Audit the Fed bill (HR 1207 in the House, S 604 in the Senate). Then show your neighbors the YouTube clip above and get them to write your Representative and Senators, too.

Out and About in Columbus, OH

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Travis Seitler

We moved to Columbus back in November, which really isn’t the best time to move to a city in the Northern US. Cold, cloudy and usually raining or snowing, we basically wanted to stay indoors. It wasn’t bad (Nicole and I are both computer geeks), but we didn’t really acclimate to the city.

But as the weather started getting nicer, we came out of our hibernation! Memorial Day weekend in particular was beautiful, and we were all over the place. On May 21, we made our first visit to Graeter’s Ice Cream in Bexley.

Then on the 23rd, we drove out to see what they had at the Worthington Farmers Market. We didn’t really buy anything, but we browsed a lot.

The next day, we went to the 2009 Asian Festival at Franklin Park. The kids loved it:

After such a crazy weekend, Nicole needed a little “pregnant momma” time to recuperate. But after hanging out with the Grace Central crowd this past Sunday, I was able to convince her that it’d be a great idea to swing out to The North Market for lunch!

Nicole got a Greek Salad from Firdous Express, I got Lamb Curry from Flavors of India, and the kids picked off of both. Afterward, I picked up a downright amazing Buckeye Latté from A Touch of Earth! Seriously, I’m not kidding: peanut butter, chocolate and coffee all together in a single cup? YES PLEASE!

Scam alert: Check your phone bill! (Twitter, expanded)

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Travis Seitler

Katie to Joshua, about a play gift card:

This card only has five dollars, and after that you can’t buy anything anymore. # But Daddy’s card is plugged into the bank, so he *always* has money! #

If only, Katie… if only.

Well, I fell victim to what the telephone industry calls a “crammer”: basically, due to deregulation phone companies are required (by the FCC, or the FTC… something like that) to add other companies’ bills to your phone bill if those companies tell them to. It’s supposed to make it easier to get your long-distance bill from Company B tacked onto the end of your local bill from Company A. The problem is it’s rife with abuse. #

Case in point: someone set up an account with “Email Discount Network, LLC” using my phone number, so their $15/month membership fee was charged to me on my phone bill. # I didn’t pay attention last month and paid it; this month I noticed how high the bill was and discovered this little gem.

So I followed the instructions on my phone bill, and I called “Enhanced Services Billing, Inc,” who then redirected me to EDN. Continue reading →

Littlestown, PA Crossing Guard Reprimanded for Attracting Drivers’ Attention

Posted on February 22, 2009 by Travis Seitler

Larry Douthwaite: The Crossing Guard with the Funny Hats

Larry Douthwaite is a pastor in my old hometown of Littlestown, PA. He’s also spent the past fifteen years serving the local public school district as a crossing guard. He can usually be spotted at the corner of North Queen and East Myrtle streets, and he usually is spotted… because he has a propensity to wear some pretty crazy hats.

Not only does this help drowsy drivers pay attention to the school crossing in the morning, but seeing him in some zany headgear had a way of cheering even the grouchiest commuters.

All that may be changing, though, thanks to borough manager Linda M. Hess.

Continue reading →

The Battle

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Travis Seitler

This is another of rediscovered writings from 1999. I actually read this over the air during one of WJTL’s Youth Group Nights. “Radio Friend” Phil Smith let me read it on-air without looking over it first… and he seemed a bit unnerved when I was through.

A chilling darkness fills the sky,
a cold and sinister screen.
Grotesque, demonic shapes fly ’round
with eyes of glowing green.