# 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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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. The EDN representative apologized, and agreed to issue a credit to my AT&T account. # Apparently someone named “Donna Osmond” (yeah, right) set up an account through their web site and entered my phone number by mistake (uh huh). Supposedly this happens from time to time… and given the fact that no effort was made to call that number and verify account creation before billing it, I’m not surprised in the least.

I made sure to get a reference number (which came in handy later).

Once that was all done, I called AT&T for a few reasons: first, to make sure it was in their records that I was “officially” disputing the EDN charges; second, to let them know why I wasn’t going to pay that portion of my bill this month; third, to make sure they wouldn’t penalize me with a late fee if I didn’t pay the disputed charge on my bill. # The AT&T representative (Hector) asked if I had a reference number from EDN (so it’s a good thing I got one—the EDN rep didn’t volunteer it, so it would have been my word against theirs if I’d failed to get it). I gave it to him, he filed a report and said there would be no late fees for the unpaid portion of my bill. #

Then after a brief sales pitch (which I turned down, because a family without a TV doesn’t need Digital TV service), he offered me a free 4-month DSL upgrade and told me he’d send along a $5 Starbucks card, too. # WIN!

And that, dear friends, is what a little kindness & patience (and a calm voice) can get you in frustrating situations like this! #

“A good name is more desirable than great riches” (Prov. 22:1). So when people feel wronged by you, do what AT&T did here: more than make it up to them. #

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.

In a story that has garnered national attention, with Larry appearing on FOX & Friends two days in a row (this past Wednesday and Thursday), Linda apparently saw a driver swerve near Larry’s intersection one morning. She then decided Larry’s crazy hat was to blame, and sent a letter off to Littlestown Chief of Police Don Baker to order the end of the “crazy hat” era. (Ironically, Chief Baker doesn’t seem to have a problem with the hats.)

“I’ll get you, my pretty… and your crazy hat, too!”

I’m wondering a few things, not least of which is this: why did Linda Hess write a letter to the Police Chief and have him speak to Larry, instead of first speaking herself directly with Larry… or at least with the school superintendent? It really seems like a passive-aggressive power play to me. And it’s in stark contrast to Larry’s response, which was to immediately schedule a meeting with Ms. Hess to try and hash things out mano-a-mano.

Larry’s been beyond reproach in the whole thing, to the point of urging others not to criticize Linda for her decision. But he didn’t say anything against criticizing her for her approach to the situation. Personally? If I had to guess, I’d say it sounds like the hats have irritated Ms. Hess for a while now, and she finally got her chance to order their permanent removal. Makes me think of Miss Almira Gulch, if you know what I mean.

So feel free to send an e-mail to her at lmhess@littlestownboro.org (according to Littlestown’s official web site), and let her know what you think about the crossing guard who went the extra mile to make sure motorists paid attention.

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.

You feel them breathing down your neck,
but frozen there, you lie.
While blazing, white hot lightning
all around you fills the sky.

Slowly you perceive their forms
with bloodlust in their eyes,
And at that very moment you
know they have found their prize.

They laugh at, mock and taunt you.
They take pleasure from your pain.
And even though you try to flee,
your struggle is in vain.

But then you find your Holy weapon,
just before they pounce;
A sword of shining silver with
which they will be renounced.

You strike ten, nay, a hundred beasts,
with thousands left to slay.
The nearest standing makes it clear
he’ll not be chased away.

“I’ve known you your entire life,
I’ve made you what you are.
Although, I am surprised that you
have gotten quite this far.”

The words that pass ‘tween slimy lips,
they fill your heart with dread:
“The game is over now my child,
in other words, you’re dead.”

The battle rages quite some time,
good swordsmanship you show.
But then he brings you to your knees
with a near-fatal blow.

“I said that you would never win,
and very soon, you’ll die.
For you have passed up every chance
to join the Prince of Lies.”

With every bit of energy
still flowing in your blood,
You raise the sword above your head
and stick it in the mud.

You close your eyes and bow your head,
you pray to God on high,
To send His mighty warriors,
swords lighting up the nigh.

The clouds recede into the sky,
a beam of light streaks down.
Ten thousand Holy warriors step
onto the battleground.

You suddenly wake up with a start
and scan your dim-lit room.
You sense an evil presence,
makes the dark feel like a tomb.

You’re out of bed and on your knees,
you pray with all your might,
That from this day until the last
you’ll carry on the fight.

And as you climb back into bed
this thought you start to feel:
“Was this all just in my head,
or was that battle real?”

HT: Photo Basement via io9.

If you’re on Twitter, post your answer there and include the #ifelected hashtag. I’ve got a few in there already, but it’d be more fun if somebody else was playing with me! Make it funny, serious and/or insightful… just don’t be bland. (And make sure you’re following hashtag on Twitter if you want yours included in their index.)

Anybody who’s trying to get a handle on the current economic free-for-all should check out The Real Great Depression, which does a great job explaining how the depression of 1873 mostly happened because too many banks approved too many bad mortgages in the commercial real estate sector, and so it’s a better analog to what we’re seeing today.

More generally, the Ludwig von Mises Institute put together a collection of articles to help you understand the bailout and everything related to it (Freddie Mac, short-selling, etc.). Lew Rockwell put together a similar collection of “I told you so” articles.

This conversation actually happened (more or less) on a message board Nicole and I dual-admin for her digital scrapbooking creative team. I’m not much of a digital scrapbooker, so all I end up “contributing” is goofy, geeky stuff (like Dinosaur Comics). It’s all good, though, because Nicole’s CT is chock-full o’ nuts like the two of us, so they (usually) appreciate the geeky things I toss in there.

Anyway, I thought I’d share this one with everybody (especially maybe Ryan?). Also, in this comic Utahraptor’s reading my lines. I know y’all were dying to know that, so you’re welcome.

HT: Myself on Twitter. (Can I get more lame than that? LET’S NOT FIND OUT, MMMKAY?)

Matthew 15:7-9 (ESV)

You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

"'This people honors me with their lips,
      but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
      teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"

Of course, it makes a difference when the person preaching asked for someone to read the passage.

Nicole and I took the kids out to Longs Park on Sunday afternoon. We had a good time just relaxing, goofing off at one of the playgrounds, and hanging out at the petting zoo. Yes, I said “the petting zoo.” At a park!

This is just one of the many reasons why I love Lancaster County.

Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said that an individual right to bear arms is supported by “the historical narrative” both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted.

The Constitution does not permit “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home,” Scalia said. The court also struck down Washington’s requirement that firearms be equipped with trigger locks.

(Source: The Evansville, Indiana Courier & Press)

Of course, it’s the stereotypical 5-to-4 ruling… which basically means half of the current judges presiding over the Supreme Court are complete idiots. (Really: if you have a feeling the vote is going this way, isn’t this like telling every potential “freak militiaman” to start gunning for you? It doesn’t make any sense to me… because now you don’t have gun bans to hide behind. I just don’t get it.)

“A cult is a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g. isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of [consequences of] leaving it, etc) designed to advance the goals of the group’s leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community.”

(HT: Wikipedia)

This past weekend, Nicole and I took the kids to see Horton Hears a Who! It was Joshua’s first time in a movie theater, and he did okay. (He got a bit whiny toward the end, so I took him over near the door and held him a bit, and he calmed down.)

Anyway, the movie was a lot of fun. I had trouble keeping track of whether Horton and the kangaroo represented “mainstream culture vs. evil, close-minded fundamentalists” or “believer vs. atheist.” It was a little too disorienting to try and embrace both models at the same time—maybe due to my taking personally the homeschooling dig early in the film.

As with previous Dr. Seuss theatrical adaptations, a number of additions were made to convert the 72-page book into an 86-minute film. Unlike previous live-action Seussian projects, however, these additions (for the most part) added something to the story without mutating it into a children’s book version of Ace Ventura. Even the anime fight sequence worked! The main exception in my mind?

“In my world, everyone’s a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”

At first glance, Katie seems to have been intended to play the part of the cute toddler who sometimes makes strange remarks. She ends up just being creepy, though. Her character is so dissonant in relation to the rest of the movie that she doesn’t just seem out of place… she seems like a saboteur, intentionally seeking to derail the story.

Aside from Katie, the movie just works. So, since she doesn’t have much screen time, I’d give the movie 4.5 (out of 5) stars!

I took Katie with me this morning (she’s almost a bigger Ron Paul supporter than I am; she says he’s her “favorite President ever”) out to my local polling place. Now I think it’s weird that the State government is using a religious institution’s building to run a government function, but hey–I’m one of those weird “separation of Church and State”rs. Outside the building was a table where a guy had a sample Republican ballot, as well as this handy-dandy little reference card:

FYI: 100% of the identified Ron Paul supporters (three of the four candidates in each list) are “NOT ENDORSED” by the Republican Committee of Lancaster County, PA. Those candidates are listed at RonPaulPA.com.

You know, this just seems odd to me. I can see a special interest group endorsing certain GOP candidates before the GOP primary, but why would the GOP itself be endorsing particular candidates before the primary election?

Why should their a priori endorsement matter to me? Isn’t that a little bit backwards?

Sorry, I’m just a little bit angry about this. If they’d given reasons for the endorsements (or lack thereof), I might feel better about it. But when they do something like this, aren’t they implicitly saying “those candidates aren’t ‘Republican’ enough”? Fine, make that claim… but support it if you want me to take you seriously!

Just handing over this card, though… party officials are literally dictating to area residents how to vote?! How would it look if your county’s Democratic party was telling all the Democrats to vote for Obama? That’s what this looks like to me.

The purpose of a primary is for me to tell you who to vote for, “Party Officials”; not vice-versa.

Ooh… it just burns me up!

Well, this one gave me pause. Then it confused me. Then I was convinced that I had a moral obligation to share it with all of you!

This is an e-mail I received from Clair. Or maybe it’s from Kristina:

Here’s some Very Interesting Things that jumped out at me:

1. She claims to have “closely read [my] profile” (only God knows what profile she’s referring to), yet has somehow gotten the (wrong) idea that I’m either unmarried or willing to cheat on my wife. (“I looking for serious relations.”)
2. She’s under the impression that I’m dirt-poor. (“For me are not necessary money.”)
3. She called me ugly! (“The external beauty for me too is not important.”)
4. Here’s the kicker, and it’s what made her request for “the man will concern to me” so gosh-darned tempting: people, at the free time she likes to go to DISCO!

But nope! Sorry, Ms. Whoever-you-think-your-name-is… I already got a wife off the Internet.

Numb3rs wouldn’t have an audience if it weren’t for Square One TV‘s MathNet. I think it’s only fair for them to write an episode guest-starring Joe Howard and Beverly Leech (George Frankly and Kate Monday, respectively).

They don’t have to be law enforcement officers; but the stronger their connection to solving crimes with math, the cooler it would be.

And speaking of Square One actors making guest appearances, Larry Cedar would make a perfect brother to LOST‘s Ben Linus (Michael Emerson). Just sayin’.

Katie got to do some pretty cool things this morning:

• take part in her first “community” Easter egg hunt
• meet Lisa Landis
• make her first-ever request for the Kids Cookie Break request hour

So she’s a happy camper.

You know, it’s gotten to where I don’t even want to go to a mall if they have a Vickie’s. They’ve gotten so brazen with their—let’s call a spade a spade, folks—pornographic window displays that Nicole and I have quietly boycotted them for nearly half a decade. I’m not the only one, either: I know of many men and women (mostly conservative Christians) who would like to shop there, but don’t want to support a store which seems more interested in selling immorality.

Now, finally, it looks like Victoria’s Secret is taking the hint:

“Victoria’s Secret… has become ‘too sexy’ for its own good, its top executive said.

‘We’ve so much gotten off our heritage… we use the word ‘sexy’ a lot and really have forgotten the ultra feminine,’ said Sharen Turney, Victoria’s Secret’s chief executive.”

It seems the company lost quite a bit of money over the past year, and they’re finally returning to their roots: “The chain was started in San Francisco in 1977 by Roy Raymond, who said he was embarrassed trying to buy lingerie for his wife and hoped to provide a comfortable place for men to shop“ (emphasis mine). Married men don’t like being made to feel like they’re entering a strip club when they’re trying to buy something cute for their wives to wear in the bedroom. The store’s original owner understood that, and hopefully this latest news means the current owners now understand it, too.

The world at large seems to think that sex is for anything but a happy marriage. What originally made Victoria’s Secret unique was that they celebrated the marriage bed. When they gave up that truly unique angle and instead relied on cheap titillation, the attention waned and they started losing money. Good for them that they noticed before they went bankrupt.

Me? I just hope the changes are made before Nicole’s birthday. Or at least mine.

So I Googled the number, and it turns out it’s Payless ShoeSource wanting to tell me about a “buy one, get one free” sale they’re running. And yes, I know that’s not what they’re calling it, but I absolutely refuse to call this a “BOGO.” “Buy one, get one” means exactly that: you get the one item you bought. “Buy one, get one free,” on the other hand, means you get two items when you only paid for one. (Interesting tidbit: “shoplifting” can mean the same thing, but the stores don’t typically encourage such behavior. It’s true!)

Ahem. So why did Payless call me at work (at 2:30pm, when I’m not likely to drop everything and run out to buy two pairs of shoes)? A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of boots from Payless. Where I was asked for my phone number at the cash register. I’m too nice to flat-out refuse, so I gave ‘em the number at my desk.

Here’s what really irks me about all of this: when asked for my phone number, I was never told that I would receive phone calls regarding future sales. If anything, I was given the impression that my phone number was needed because I was paying with a debit card, or to track demographics (like when other stores will ask for your 3-digit area code). I was tricked into being barraged by advertisements, just because I don’t want to be a jerk to a store clerk who’s simply doing as she was trained. I was never asked permission for this use of my phone number, and never offered it. This use was forced upon me by somebody who cares nothing for me as a person, but merely for what he can get by using me.

You could say Payless raped my phone number.

Now I like the boots I bought. I was ready to make Payless my “the shoe store” for the foreseeable future. But as happy as I was, I feel like I’d be encouraging this sort of customer disservice if I continued to buy from them. Which sucks, because I don’t want to have to find another place to buy shoes.

“Real permission is different from presumed or legalistic permission. Just because you somehow get my email address doesn’t mean you have permission. Just because I don’t complain doesn’t mean you have permission. Just because it’s in the fine print of your privacy policy doesn’t mean it’s permission either.” — Seth Godin, Permission Marketing

I won’t forget this. Payless has lost any and all trust I had in them. They may never earn it back. And all because they refused to consider others as more important than themselves.

McCain thinks the voters have no right to know a Presidential candidate’s approach to foreign policy; Cheney really did want to invade Iraq for the oil, after all—and was making plans to do so as early as six months before 9/11; and TSA officials are now confiscating baby food and divvying it up amongst themselves.

Is it any wonder why I’m happy that a guy like Ron Paul isn’t giving up?

So this morning, Mr. Sutton was talking about waterboarding, torture, etc. and basically said the military needs to do all o’ that and more to find out whatever they can to stop terrorists. I’m no good on the phone, so I sent him a few e-mails (two of which I sent in early enough for him to read on the air):

Gary,

My concern with waterboarding is a concern with torture in general being used to extract information: it’s not very reliable.

Here Gary broke in and asked, “how do you know it’s not reliable, Travis? It was reliable with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, right?” Well, maybe not. Anyway, I wasn’t on the phone so I couldn’t disagree with him there. Continuing, I quoted Ron Paul:

“Legal issues aside, the American people and government should never abide the use of torture by our military or intelligence agencies. A decent society never accepts or justifies torture. It dehumanizes both torturer and victim, yet seldom produces reliable intelligence.” — Rep. Ron Paul

Gary said he respects Paul, but called this stance “naïve.” Seems it was so naïve that he made sure to say my e-mail “attributed the quote to Ron Paul.” That’s true, but Paul really said it back in 2004.

Anyway, Gary went on to read my second e-mail (a bit of context first: a caller had asked Gary if the President swears an oath to defend the people of the United States, and Gary answered in the affirmative):

Gary,

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The oath is to defend the Constitution, not American lives. True, “faithfully execut[ing] the Office” does include being “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States,” but this doesn’t mean he can commit Treason against the Constitution in an effort to “protect American lives.”

I can’t remember exactly what he said in response to this, but he essentially said I was spending too much time on particular words and phrases and missing the gist of the thing. (Gosh, if he only knew!)

The problem with this “the President swears an oath to protect the people” statement is that there’s a reason folks assert “people” instead of “Constitution”; namely, the current Administration has been acting in blatant opposition to the Constitution since 9/11 (if not earlier), and justify their unlawful acts by saying, “it’s to protect the people.”

So I sent him another e-mail as a follow-up, but couldn’t get it off before his show ended. In it, I laid out my case for why I believe the Executive Branch’s condoning of waterboarding and similar interrogation methods constitutes an Act of Treason:

Thanks for addressing my e-mails. Sounds like I need to flesh out my stance a bit.

• Under Article 6, The Constitution states that “…all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land.”
• The United States ratified the Geneva Conventions (a series of four treaties) in 1882.
• The War Crimes Act of 1996 made any grave breach of those restrictions a U.S. felony.
• In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Third Geneva Convention applies to all detainees in the War on Terror.
• Article 17 of the Third Geneva Convention states, in part:
  

  No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.

So unless and until the Federal Government breaks these treaties, the Executive Branch is knowingly allowing its members (within the Armed Forces) to commit felonies and breach ratified treaties which are, according to the Constitution, “the supreme Law of the Land.”

Ours is a nation where the Rule of Law is supreme, so condoning acts which our Constitution prohibits makes a person an Enemy of the United States. Adhering to such an Enemy is an act of treason, according to Article 3 of the Constitution.

And that’s where I stand. The “Rule of Law” is the foundation for our country, and so we cannot tolerate anyone who would exchange that foundation for the Rule of Men.

Our nation’s continued existence isn’t nearly as important as what sort of people will comprise this nation in the future. Are we willing to become a Western imitation of Iran or Saudi Arabia or communist China, so long as we keep the “USA” brand? It would be better for the USA to be overthrown from without than for it to be gradually converted to the philosophies of our enemies.

We will not defeat terrorism by becoming terrorists. Yet that is exactly the course our government seems to be Hell-bent on pursuing.

God help us all.

UPDATE: I came across an article regarding President Bush’s admitting that waterboarding has been used as an interrogation tactic since 9/11, and the author makes some excellent points:

Describing waterboarding in the book The History of Torture, George Ryley Scott wrote:

[The torture of water] was generally adopted when racking, in itself, proved ineffectual. The victim, while pinioned on the rack, was compelled to swallow water, which was dropped slowly on a piece of silk or fine linen placed in his mouth. This material, under pressure of the water, gradually glided down the throat, producing the sensation experienced by a person who is drowning. A variation of the water torture was to cover the face with a piece of thin linen, upon which the water was poured slowly, running into the mouth and nostrils and hindering or preventing breathing almost to the point of suffocation.

The KGB, the Khmer Rouge, the Gestapo, the Vietcong, the Communist North Koreans and the Burmese Junta all used waterboarding as torture.

Japanese soldiers who engaged in waterboarding were tried for war crimes after World War II.

The author goes on to say, as I did, that “[t]orture, even when used on those that seem so transparently evil as the al-Qaeda henchmen in our grasp at Gitmo, is, simply put, a betrayal both of America’s past and her promise for the future.”

The United States is supposed to be better than this.

A few weeks back, Katie drew this picture of a bee. I love it.

Yes, you!

Our local library is running a reading contest this month: kids vs. adults. They’re doing it with the local elementary school, which is totally unfair—the teachers can force the kids to read! Apparently the adults were trounced heavily last year, so the points have been tweaked in our favor this time around. Adults get 2 points for every book read (including every early reader and board book read to a child). I read seven in a single day without even putting much effort into it.

Heh heh heh.

Nicole won’t take part in my shenanigans; she thinks it isn’t fair to the kids. I say, if one adult reading voraciously is able to singlehandedly beat every under-18 reader in the school district? …well, then those kids earned the embarrassment that’s coming. (Of course, if they don’t care about reading, will they care about my beating them in a reading contest? No matter. At the very least I might be able to shame their parents and teachers.)

And that’s what it’s all about.

(Pictured above: me reading Neil Postman’s Teaching as a Subversive Activity. It’s good stuff.)

It’s looking cleaner (and easier to manage) all the time!

Now to get Giuliani to give it up…

Hmm… it doesn’t seem like all of those candidates are happy. We don’t want a candidate who isn’t happy, do we? It’s a good thing that groups like CNN just report the facts, and don’t try to sway our votes on a subconscious level.

McCain and Romney? I choose to attribute their high numbers to the odd “you’re a bigger hypocrite than I am!” rivalry they’ve got going on. It just begs people to choose sides.

And that’s all the American people want, really. Two contrived “sides” so they can pick one and have the other be the enemy. Anything else would require thinking, and that cramps our style.

Alexis and her husband Tim were there with us when I first met Nicole. I proposed to Nicole when I came down to Knoxville for their wedding. They were our closest friends during the first two years of our marriage (spent in Knoxville). Nicole and Lex even experienced their first pregnancies together; their eldest son was born only weeks after Katie. Needless to say, we’re grieving now and will be for a while yet. It’s not a grief without hope, but it’s rough to lose a friend so young. My heart goes out to Tim, their two boys, Alexis’ parents and the rest of their family.

In the midst of this tragedy Tim and Lex’s church has really stepped up to help. Tim has so many things to deal with right now, and it’s enough to break a man… but God’s grace is stronger, and he’s showing his grace in part through the men and women coming alongside Tim right now.

Still, this is a difficult journey to be on. So if I could ask one thing of you, my friends… would you please pray that God would draw close to the Cantrells and Shraders this Christmas?

America isn’t just bleeding money—Asia is busy holding buckets underneath to catch it all. You never know… this might be a good time to brush up on your Mandarin. :/

I realize there will be some argument against my definition of paper as the enemy, but I think it’s pretty close. The real enemy of the church is the flesh of each of her members. I attack paper because it’s our generation’s go-to defense for our flesh. Lurking behind every piece of paper you’ll find a sin waiting to happen. Whether it’s the church budget allowing greed, the bylaws enabling sloth, the calendar supporting procrastination, or the membership roll feeding pride; red tape is always the first defense of the bureaucrat and the cheapest ammunition to fire at messengers of the Spirit.

Here is my proposal.

Ignore all paper in the church.

Statement of Faith? Burn it. Bylaws? Owe all men nothing but love; against such there is no law. Denominational missives? Chaff. Membership rolls? Printed lies.

I already felt like God was moving me in this direction. It’s encouraging to see other Godly men moving the same way.

• Marietta, PA
  Yup, I moved to a small town with its own website. Would you expect anything else from me?
• Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce
  See that photo above? I pass by that sign coming home each night.
• Marietta Factsheet (Wikipedia)
  Just in case you want to know what the latest census figure were.
• Marco’s Restaurant and Motor Inn
  Love the food and the atmosphere here. Wish they had a web site.
• Borough of Marietta, PA
  Okay, now it looks like this is the official web site. (Added May 13th, 2008.)

Still, it’d be a better idea to have a company blog where you update your clients about stuff like this, rather than removing your “Live Chat” button and turning off the 24/7 phone support lines. That would only be a good idea if you wanted to scare your clients.

(This also means that if you’ve gotten any errors sending email to us lately—us being any webseitler.com or sugarplumpaperie.com e-mail address—hopefully those problems will clear up before the weekend.)

Go ahead and try to search Facebook for “Ron Paul”—here’s what I got:

(click to enlarge)

“Search is currently unavailable. Please try again at a later time or right now.” But as much as you try, you still get this message. So maybe search is down, except… if I do a Facebook search for “Paul,” I get this:

(click to enlarge)

So Facebook search is working just fine, but won’t give you results when you search for Ron Paul. Hmm… now why would that be happening?

And does this have anything to do with Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Facebook?

There you have it: Christmas morning ruined. Thanks a lot, Zuckerman.

If you don’t want your loved ones peeking under the wrapping paper while browsing their News Feed, maybe you should consider installing Aaron Brazell’s Freakin’ Beacon Firefox extension. It’ll let you know when you’re on a Beacon-enabled site, so you can avoid it like the plague.

In light of that, I’m considering branching out into a collection of papers, too. I’m thinking something “masculine”—it doesn’t seem like there’s much of that in the market right now. They just don’t have any really good choices for the pics of their dads, hubbies and older sons (unless they’re in the military).

I think that’s a gross injustice, and I intend to do something about it! I’m going to test the waters a bit with a paper pack, and I might throw another freebie or two into the mix in the meantime, too. We’ll see if they bite. It’ll be fun!

We don’t have a TV, so I read over the transcript for last night’s CNN/YouTube Republican debate. Romney and McCain are becoming more interesting. I’m disappointed that Paul is appearing myopic (really, can all of our problems be solved simply by closing military bases and the IRS?) and marginalized (CNN decided to spend a question on conspiracy theories? C’mon!). Huckabee… eh. But Giuliani just seemed defensive and beaten.

In other news, a press release was just issued this morning announcing that Egmont (among other things, they’re the source for much of the comics we print at Gemstone) has teamed up with Random House and will be opening a U.S. division. Interesting…

Did you know the Wall Street Journal displays trackbacks at the bottom of its articles? I didn’t realize this until I started getting a bunch of comments on Friday from people I didn’t know. Friday may have actually been my highest-trafficked day since starting this blog.

Of course, I had to be moving at the time.

We’re in Marietta now. Boxes are all over the place, but everyone seems to love the new digs. (I was really worried there would be something that Nicole hated about the place—she never saw it before Saturday!)

I want to take a moment and publicly thank our friends and family who helped us move: on Saturday, we had Nathan Bartlebaugh, Steve Cole and Brian Powell helping us take our junk down from our 3rd-floor apartment into the moving truck (and special thanks for getting the treadmill! That think must’ve weighed half a ton…). Brian and his wife Jo came up to the new place that evening, and brought us dinner (perhaps the best lasagna I’ve ever had)! On Sunday, my mom and dad, Jordan, Naomi and Sarah came up to help us unload, and our new neighbor, Jason, pitched in too. I think this may be the first time I’ve been invited to a neighbor’s home for dinner before we’d moved into our new place!

Unpacking is going well, but I’m still looking for some nuts and bolts so I can reassemble the end-tables in the living room…

When he objected to his church’s instructions to tithe, Kirk Cesaretti took it up with the church leaders. In response, he received a letter from the pastor and elders of Hydesville Community Church in Hydesville, Calif. “At this time, we believe your concerns do not warrant any change in our church policy or positions,” the letter read.

The letter closed with a verse from Hebrews 13:17: “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls; as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

Mr. Cesaretti, an engineer in Fortuna, Calif., says he took the letter to mean he was no longer welcome at the church. Hydesville’s senior pastor, Michael Delamarian III, says he believes “the more you give the more you’re going to be blessed.” He says he did not bar Mr. Cesaretti from the church.

There’s a lot of passive-aggressive manipulation happening on the part of these pastors toward the flocks under their care. The article also mentions the practice of pastors making applicants sign a document essentially vowing to tithe. Are there so few people who understand that inclusion in the visible expression of the Body of Christ is not something to be held for ransom? My heart breaks for the people who have turned (or rather, been turned) away from Christ on account of grinning, greedy wolves like this at the pulpit.

So yeah, if you were wondering… the wound‘s still a bit fresh.

I iz jus eatin mai cookies n bein graetful, nuffin rong wif dat. If u eat or drink or whatevr, do it for teh glori of Ceiling Cat. (1 Corinthians 10:30-31, LOL)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just ran the numbers, and sheesh! When I started working full-time as a web designer, my beginning salary was $25k/yr. At the time, gold was trading at $280US/oz., so if I’d been paid in gold, I would have been working for 89.29oz/yr.

Fast-forward to November 2007: the U.S. Dollar has become so devalued (primarily due to the never-ending Federal Reserve printing presses—we’ve got to fund the troops somehow, and that somehow is by printing more FR notes) that if we take that hypothetical “gold-standard salary” and convert it into today’s U.S. Dollar, you end up with $71,500/yr.

Let me say that again: $25,000 in May 2000 equals $71,500 in November 2007.

Somehow those raises don’t seem so much like raises anymore.

CPSC has received one report of a death involving an 8-month-old boy who was asphyxiated after he pulled on the storage rack and it fell over on him. The top rail landed on the infant’s neck. No other incidents have been reported.

The storage rack is wooden with three levels and nine removable canvas totes. There are wooden handles on each side of the rack. The boy’s storage rack has natural color wood with red, yellow, green, and navy canvas totes. The girl’s storage rack has white colored wood with pink, yellow, lime, and purple canvas totes.

If you’ve got one of these, you should immediately stop children from using it and contact Jetmax International at (800) 689-2168 to receive a free repair kit that adds stability to the base.