Governor Sarah Palin

Last night I stayed up late to see what this lady was all about. The critics say she displayed why she is not qualified to be our nation's VP but I didn't see it that way. Last night she stepped out of obscurity and into the spotlight showing all of America why she was picked. While you may disagree with her on the issues you can't deny her ability and accomplishments. She is the first non-partisan person I have seen in the spotlight in a long time. She doesn't belive in left or right, she stickes to right and wrong. Naturally, not everyone will share her views on this but that isn't the point. She will not be doing or saying anything to make herself, or Republicans in general, look good or simply pandering to adoring masses. She knows what she believes in and is aware of her qualifications. The brilliance displayed by the speechwriters and RNC strategists was evident when they sent governor Palin after Barack Obama. She cannot go after Biden's experience so she was focused on the number one person on the democratic ticket. The man has no acheivements in his political career and not even a voting record to stand on. He can't even vote yes or no, let alone make decisions for a country. Barack Obama is  indeed a brilliant orator and inspiring public speaker but this is not an infomercial or motivational team building exercise. Sarah Palin demonstrated that Obama is a manufactured candidate with little substance. Her own accomplishments for outpace anything he has ever attempted and will likely continue to do so. Kudos to Mike Huckabee also, he was quite funny and inspiring pointing out that Palin received more votes as a mayor than Biden got when he ran for president.

Raisin' McCain

Ha ha.

Google Chrome

I am a pretty big fan of Google so I downloaded Google Chrome as soon as it was available to give it a test drive. I have not opened my Firefox browser for a little over 24 hours as of this posting so here are the shortcomings I have uncovered. Let's start with speed, Chrome blazes onto the screen when you execute the program based on it's tiny footprint and lightweight initial payload. It also natively handles any plugins I normally had tyo download and install with my other browsers. That's 2 points for Chrome, status quo for the other dudes. The first few hours I used the browser it was definitely faster, then it began to get slower. Running each browser tab as a separate jailed system process is a great idea, IF your machine has a swomewhat robust processor and a good chunk of RAM. My laptop is not the optimal platform for this and I began experiencing performance issues quickly. I do like that when a plugin fails Chrome kils the plugin and the browser remains resident. Today, the browser couldn't be slower and it's frustrating but that's what beta testing is for and I will resist the urge to go back to Firefox. The most frustrating thing for me is that Chrome does not seem to be capable of using live RSS feeds. I had to put all the blogs I like to read in Google reader which is not the optimal interface since I cannot comment from there. This is an issue I am sure will be resolved shortly or Chrome will disappear since blog dorks have pretty good influence these days. I have heard quite a few complaints about the UI, user interface, but that's just something to get used to. I am sure we will be able to change appearance with skins and options soon enough. The last real issue I see is the lack of configurable user options. This browser appears aimed at the less-than-average skilled home user. Nerds who like to do advanced configuration, debugging, and site testing will not appreciate the inability to get under the hood for the time being. I am sure plugins to correct this will be developed over time. 

Overall I give Chrome a grade of B+ for the concept and a C- for implementation.

John MacArthur, Rick Warren etc.

Lately, it seems like every two or three years, some new author/preacher is the hot new guy to listen to. The last guy was Rick Warren who is the pastor of a megachurch in California somewhere. I am happy the Mr. Warren's work inspired people to get together in small groups and discuss the word of God, but at the same time I am always wary of teachings of man that seem to spread with such popularity. When I began looking at The Purpose Driven Life, five pages in Mr. Warren stated everything in life everyday is a test from God. This is simply not true and has no biblical basis so I was then done with believing the tenets of the book without scriptural references and explanation, which were many. I even heard a rumor that Saddleback doesn't allow music in a Minor key to be played in services. Naturally disbelieving I wrote an email and got confirmation that was indeed true.
Now, John MacArthur is the "new" guy everyone is enamored with. Reading a bit of his work, he reminds of the legalistic churches I grew up in. Obedience is his mantra and he is somewhat harsh about his message. He is also a Calvinist, which I am not a fan of. I believe Christ died so that all may come to the Father through Him and he was the propitiation for all sin. Certainly all won't come to Him, but the desire of God's heart is that we all be in Heaven. Mr. MacArthur also believes many spiritual gifts, namely speaking in tongues, are only of the Old Testament. I also disagree with this stance.
My point is that believers in Jesus Christ need not align themselves with the interpretations of man and should instead lean on Christ through His word. Men are fallible and God has not hesitated to show me that during the course of my life through some, at times very painful, lessons. Let me also state that Mr. Warren and Mr. MacArthur have some great teachings when they stick to the word and do great things for the Church, and their communities. This would be contrary to someone like William P. Young's "The Shack" , also becoming popular, which is wholly ridiculous in its interpretations. There is no denomination better than another, an no preacher that can be your saving grace, your church and pastor should be seeking to educate you directly from the word of God and should study carefully the theology of any Author's material they choose to utilize. Look carefully at the material you are using and make sure that some of the interpretations that get thrown in there actually have a scriptural reference and genuinely seek to understand those references. If there is no reference to God's Word then the author injected his opinion at some point, which can be misconstrued by the readers as biblical fact with some of the other material they are attempting to digest.

The Democratic National Convention

I have watched portions of this, and read over the keynote speeches/sales pitches so far and, once again, I grow weary of these politicians. Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton are patronizing me an d don't have anything to say other than I love my husband, duh, and don't vote for McCain. No one needs to hear this garbage. If you don't have anything of substance to share then please keep your mouth shut. This is Democrats cheering on other Democrats for no particular reason. Everyone in that room already plans to vote for that dude so the cheerleading seems so contrived and shallow. Please tell me about your foreign policy, or your energy plan, or ANYTHING at all please!

To be fair I expect the same shallow crap from the Republicans, let's hope I am wrong. However, if they do the same thing please write in Captain Dude for the Presidency. I will ignore you and do what I think is best for the country based on committee-based decision making with your elected representatives. I just wanted to be up front about that. I will also wear shorts and sandals almost all the time because I don't see the need to wear a tie. Lastly I promise to not shake hands with foreign leaders we have extreme disagreements with, I would punch that Iranian ass right in the face and dare him to get up. Same thing for that dude from China and Hugo chavez better watch his rear too, he's on my short list of idiots who shouldn't be in charge of anything but grabbing their ankles in a jail cell. I can also promise to reorganize the nation's budget, not necessarily erase the debt, to prevent anyone from buying $800 hammers and such. Congress will also work a regular schedule and have their posh Washington existence erased. No more pages and aides stopiing traffic, no free healthcare that no one else gets. They will listen to the demographic constituency that voted them in, based on statistical tracking, and represent them by name and not just party line pandering. I will also throw Nancy Pelosi in jail for not shwoing up for work and "stealing" from America. Same for anyone else who is skipping "school."

King James Only?

I recently heard, not for the first time mind you, that the King James is the only "authorized" version of the Bible. This is ludicrous! The English language is quite different from 1611 and many of the words used are now defined quite differently. Elitism within the walls of a church is ridiculous and one of the things I cannot stand. If the KJV was the only "correct" translation then any non-English printing would be irrelevant which makes witnessing in a foreign language pretty hard. I personally like to use the New American Standard Zondervan study Bible as my primary text with a New King James study bible for reference. Mrs. Dude uses the NIV Quest study bible so we have a pretty broad range with which to cross-examine and verify. The only two translations I ever saw that were lame were "The Book" and "The Message", both of which make little sense to me and seem to cater to the author's emotions. I would also suggest knowing the difference between a transliteration and a translation. As far as Salvation and anyone's elitist or universalist junk:
Romans 10:9
John 14:6

Movie Review (Into the Wild)

Wow, Sean Penn did something pretty amazing here. Let me admit that I never read the John Krakauer book, so I have no comparison. I do know that this movie was a gut-wrenching ride and didn't attempt to patronize the main character or his family. I was worried that Penn would attempt to idealize or glorify this dude's poor decision making and crippled psyche. The poor kid was damaged early in life and never seemed to learn to cope. He thought he could escape society with his limited outdoors ability and it cost him his life. Chris McCandless was sharp kid that was hurt emotionally beyond repair. That with some very poor decision making was really hard to watch. This movie is worth seeing, but it left me troubled and irritated that someone would waste themselves like this young man did. There are times when you just want to grab the kid and tell him to wake up, he could have done so much good for so much longer.

As a side note, when I lived in Virginia Beach Chris's sister Carine owned the shop where we had our cars serviced. She was one of the nicest people I have ever met and I hate that she had to watch her brother kill himself.

Current FAILures!

For the Olympics: (these could be removed from competition)
BMX - they don't even pedal. FAIL
Badminton - not an athlete
Table Tennis - not an athlete. although they call timeout and drink gatorade during the matches.
Syncro diving - ZZzzzZZZ!
Women's Wrestling - nobody wants to see women doing that. See WNBA attendance stats.
Women's Basketball - Good for college, lame beyond that. See above comment.
Equestrian - not an athlete. See the ages of some "competitors", 65 is ridiculous.
Sailing - too boring.
79 Kayak and rowing events - a few would be ok, but really there are 700 rowing events.

For Television: (shows that blew or will blow it)
Knight Rider - Gets some kudos for wanting to bring it back, FAIL for being a mustang
The Mentalist - stupid title
90210 - one decade was enough
Kath & Kim - just write a "How to be superficial and trashy" manual.
Another Big Brother - Dummmies on display.
Another Survivor - the first two seasons were good
Grey's Anatomy - for firing Isaiah Washington and going ghey for drama.


I'm sure there are more but that's what I have been assaulted with lately. Please put something good back on TV so I don't have to watch the Gomer Pyle USMC reruns all the time.

Usain (Insane) Bolt

Holy Cow! I saw this replay last night, I bet this kid can run one or two seconds faster right now! With a little more training we might see a sub-nine time soon. That was phenomenal:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0816_HD_ATM_HL_L0686

Michael Phelps

Wow! This kid is amazing. I have struggled to stay awake until 2230 or 2330 every night just to see this guy swim. He appears as if he can do anything in the pool. When I watch, he can easily be picked out from his competitors, if you call them that, with his effortless movement through the water. For example, please watch the link below and listen carefully to the commentary. The 200 meter freestyle is a challenge for Phelps. He placed third in Athens and "had to work on it" in order to compete at this level. Notice the other Olympians, world-class athletes for sure, as the splash and churn while Phelps seems to pull effortlessly through the water.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0812_HD_SWB_ME_L0271R1

Now, I also want people to watch Jason Lezak's final leg in the Men's 4x100 meter freestyle relay. The French were heavily favored and certainly deserved their ranking. Lezak probably swam the most inspirational leg of any race coming from almost a full body length behind the current world-record holder.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0811_HD_SWB_HL_L0194

President Bush at the Olympics

I have been watching the President during the past few days and have to say I am impressed. Let's not go overboard and say the guy is not at fault for a few things, but the last few days have been great. The President took the time to go support our athletes while at the same time pulling aside different world leaders to discuss things in a great atmosphere of competition. Whoever thought of this is a genius. How many times can you grab the leader of China and say "Wow, you're team is doing really well; by the way, you still need to get to work on some of those human rights initiatives." The interview last night with Bob Costas showed how much work the President was doing with other world leaders while still taking the time to complete the Olympic mountain biking course and cheer our athletes to victory. Great PR run!

John Voight Bucks Hollywood

I have always thought John Voight didn't get the proper credit for his amazing range and acting chops. What I didn't know was that he isn't afraid of the idealism promoted in his business. I stole this from Mike's blog. The original article is here.

We, as parents, are well aware of the importance of our teachers who teach and program our children. We also know how important it is for our children to play with good-thinking children growing up.

Sen. Barack Obama has grown up with the teaching of very angry, militant white and black people: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers and Rev. Michael Pfleger. We cannot say we are not affected by teachers who are militant and angry. We know too well that we become like them, and Mr. Obama will run this country in their mindset.

The Democratic Party, in its quest for power, has managed a propaganda campaign with subliminal messages, creating a God-like figure in a man who falls short in every way. It seems to me that if Mr. Obama wins the presidential election, then Messrs. Farrakhan, Wright, Ayers and Pfleger will gain power for their need to demoralize this country and help create a socialist America.

The Democrats have targeted young people, knowing how easy it is to bring forth whatever is needed to program their minds. I know this process well. I was caught up in the hysteria during the Vietnam era, which was brought about through Marxist propaganda underlying the so-called peace movement. The radicals of that era were successful in giving the communists power to bring forth the killing fields and slaughter 2.5 million people in Cambodia and South Vietnam. Did they stop the war, or did they bring the war to those innocent people? In the end, they turned their backs on all the horror and suffering they helped create and walked away.

Those same leaders who were in the streets in the '60s are very powerful today in their work to bring down the Iraq war and to attack our president, and they have found their way into our schools. William Ayers is a good example of that.

Thank God, today, we have a strong generation of young soldiers who know exactly who they are and what they must do to protect our freedom and our democracy. And we have the leadership of Gen. David Petraeus, who has brought hope and stability to Iraq and prevented the terrorists from establishing a base in that country. Our soldiers are lifting us to an example of patriotism at a time when we've almost forgotten who we are and what is at stake.

If Mr. Obama had his way, he would have pulled our troops from Iraq years ago and initiated an unprecedented bloodbath, turning over that country to the barbarianism of our enemies. With what he has openly stated about his plans for our military, and his lack of understanding about the true nature of our enemies, there's not a cell in my body that can accept the idea that Mr. Obama can keep us safe from the terrorists around the world, and from Iran, which is making great strides toward getting the atomic bomb. And while a misleading portrait of Mr. Obama is being perpetrated by a media controlled by the Democrats, the Obama camp has sent out people to attack the greatness of Sen. John McCain, whose suffering and courage in a Hanoi prison camp is an American legend.

Gen. Wesley Clark, who himself has shame upon him, having been relieved of his command, has done their bidding and become a lying fool in his need to demean a fellow soldier and a true hero.

This is a perilous time, and more than ever, the world needs a united and strong America. If, God forbid, we live to see Mr. Obama president, we will live through a socialist era that America has not seen before, and our country will be weakened in every way.

Good Memories

I miss playing that with my friends.

New Business in West Knoxville

My friend has opened a new location on the west side of Knoxville. Please stop by and see him, he is located at:
The Computer Depot
264b North Peters Road
Knoxville Tennessee 37923


View Larger Map

Mass Media Objectivity

Does opposing something mean you hate it?

Just becuase I disagree with something doesn't mean I "hate" it. Some people like to use the Biblical "hate", this word in the Bible always meant "not as much" or "less than." It wasn't the same word the we use for the complete disdain or supreme dislike of something or someone. A good example is the story of Jacob and Esau from Romans Chapter 9:
¹³Just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,"

In light of that, here's another great quote:

In response to the boycott, McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman suggested to the Washington Post that those who oppose SSM are motivated by hate, saying "...hatred has no place in our culture." McDonald's has decided to adopt the "hate" theme used by gay activist groups for years.

Mr. Whitman is trying to say opposing something means you are filled with hate, real open-minded dude isn't he. When researching this stuff I ran across a lot of gay bloggers acting weird about Big Macs now and this:
http://americansfortruth.com/

Farm Subsidies

Ok, admittedly I didn't care about this until I couldn't get a bag of potato chips I wanted at the store, MY BAD. The President tried to get rid of our ridiculous subsidy program and was overruled. now we have farmers trying to grow corn for gas only and we don't have enough potatoes, how stupid is this?

Movie Review (28 Weeks Later)

Ok, I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I like zombie movies. I don't know why, I just do. That said, I don't like just any horror-ish type of movie and was't a huge fan of 28 Days Later like most folks. It was a well-done flick with some decent storytelling. I guess it just had that European feel to it that I don't care for, so I wasn't expecting much from the sequel.

The sequel sucked. Now I see how the original was so good. For sure there were some scenes that were absolutely fantastic. For example, when the "Don" has to abandon his wife in the house of rage zombies and she is looking out the window as he runs away. Very well-crafted scene full of both emotion, anxiety and action. I guees to point out why the film sucked I will use that same scene. We later learn that "Alice" survived that horror but we don't learn how. Don also seems to be much smarter than the other rage zombies too since he is able to be available a the very end of the film for the weird "climax." Additionally, the director of this film tried be do those stupid artisitic camera angles and light-flashing gimmicks at one point when the rage first re-infects the "green zone." Hey dude, this is a horror flick, not art. They manage to kill off most of the main players in pretty boring fashion, gratuitously show Don kill Alice in perhaps the most odd scene ever in a movie and in general the story seems jagged and clunky throughout the film.

Hopefully the third one will be better.

Has McDonalds Gone Gay?

So one group says they just want McDonalds to remain neutral on the issue and another thinks it's great that Mcds is complete supporting gays. So here's a link to the boycott site and a link to a supporting site. Are there really that many gay people or are we starting to blow their population out of proportion a little?

I love East Tennessee

Every morning I read the following sections of Knoxville's Craigslist:
Bikes
Free
General
Sporting
Music Instr

Sometimes I come across these little gems that make my patrols worthwhile:

Reply to: sale-741125243@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-07-03, 1:08AM EDT


I LIKE TO GO SPORTING AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAINS OR IN THE WOODS BUT YOU CANT GET A BOAT BACK THERE 4 WHEELERS CAN ONLY GO SO FAR I NEED A SPORTING TOOL IF YOU HAVE A CHEAP 16 OR 20 OR 12 LET ME KNOW PRICE,KIND, I GIVE YOU MY NO AND WE CAN TALK ON PNONE DONT GO SPORTING AT THE PAWN SHOP THEY WILL ONLY TAKE THE SPORT OUT OF IT AND YOU WONT HAVE NO FUN

Since I know you don't believe me, see for yourself.

Bathroom Stall Weirdness

This has been going on for months now and driving a few of us crazy. Our company shares a building with two other companies, and the toilets are in a "common area." There are four crapper stalls in the bathroom and no one outside of our company seems to understand crapper etiquette. This morning I went in and was standing at the urinal alone but noticed that the "handi-crapper" was occupied. It's easy to tell when a crapper is occupied as there are feet visible in the stall. Someone from one of the other companies walks in and bypasses three empty stalls to continuously rattle the door on the handi-crapper. after five or six good shakes the humiliated dumper states that the stall is occupied. The etiquette-challenged individual then saddles up in the stall right next to the handi-crapper. FYI, you should always be at least one stall away from the nearest dumper. This unspoken policy exists for the benefit of everyone involved and should always be followed. Unfortunately this is not the weirdest thing I have seen in there.

The Monster Outside My House

A few weeks ago I walked out my front door and saw this thing. A brick is 8 inches long.

Why can't we drill for oil here?

The Second Amendment

Yesterday, by one vote, the second amendment was upheld in our country. I can't believe that there are four Supreme Court Justices that don't know how to interpret the constitution. Four radical justices almost stomped all over our rights for no particular reason. Justice Scalia's Majority Opinion was masterfully written. You read some of the highlights on Wikipedia. Scalia was joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, Alito and the dissenters were Stevens
Joined by: Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer. I can't believe that was so close, the dissenters quoted the laws of foreign countries to try and justify their positions which is quite sickening. See the quotes below which include some of the framers of the constitution.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government"

-- Thomas Jefferson, 1 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good"

-- George Washington

"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."

-- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-188

"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."

-- Mahatma Gandhi

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

-- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it."

-- Abraham Lincoln, 4 April 1861

"As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives [only] moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun, therefore, be the constant companion to your walks."

-- Thomas Jefferson, writing to his teenaged nephew.

"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom."

-- John F. KenToday, we need a

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined."

-- Patrick Henry, speech of June 5 1788

"To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them."

-- George Mason, speech of June 14, 1788

"The great object is, that every man be armed. [...] Every one who is able may have a gun."

-- Patrick Henry, speech of June 14 1788

That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United states who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms...

-- Samuel Adams, in "Phila. Independent Gazetteer", August 20, 1789

Barack Obama's Tax Plan

Barack wants the wealthy to pay more taxes. Here are some statistics on who pays what tax-wise:
The top 1% of wage earners pay nearly 30% of all taxes.

The top 10% of wage earners pay 70% of all taxes.

The top 50% of wage earners pay 90% of all taxes.

The bottom 50% of wage earners pay 10% of all taxes.

And of course, some don't people don't have to pay any taxes and they are not included in this.
Look it up.

What do you believe?

35,000 adults were surveyed earlier this week and they think that their religion isn't the only way to get to Heaven. Now, there are a couple of ways to view this. One is that people see past their Christian Denominational beliefs, I agree that you don't have to be Methodist, Presbyterian or Baptist to get to Heaven. The other thought is that perhaps some of these people think Buddhism or Islam can get you to Heaven.

Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam claim that Jesus Christ was a good man and great prophet but not the Son of God. That's ridiculous, either Jesus was who he proclaimed to be for 32 years or he was a complete lunatic and idiot. There are many references to this absolute truth but I will leave you with the most obvious one:

Jhn 14:6

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Scientology is Awesome

Check him Out

I See Stupid People

Just when I think people can't get any dumber someone comes up with a "kid-friendly" sex store. Watch the moron in this video try to justify her trade. The article is also ridiculous, I mean really let's picture a trip with a kid to this store.

Child: "Daddy, what's that long purple thing on the shelf?"

"Ummm, a neck massager??" Dad says

Child: "Wow, that person has a big neck"

Really, it's that ridiculous. Look at the book titles in the video "The Guide to Getting it On" who actually needs a guide for that that isn't in junior high? Here's the bottom line, stuff that's made to be used in the dark and/or behind closed doors cannot be put on display tastefully. I am not condemning the existence of these stores or the things they sell, just saying they can't be made kid friendly not matter what color you paint the walls. At some point you have to face the facts that crotchless underwear and leather gags are what they are no matter where you put them.

Idiots!

Well Said

The man pictured is John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia. I like him, read the following and you'll see why.

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on National Television

"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia : one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off. Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want, to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."

"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia ." "However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."

"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"

"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!"

"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."

"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."

"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.

"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."

"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."

Here is the snopes reference for anyone who thinks that was conjured up. You will find that the above is not an exact quote but the point was made nonetheless.

Church Stuff

Man I am getting tired of some of the church stuff I hear. I wish people would just get some joy out of their Sundays every now and then. I feel like everywhere I go people think their music has to be a certain way or it doesn't honor God, or their denomination is this or that. I am not totally enjoying my current church, but instead of whining I am meeting with the pastor and music minister to see how I can help and where God wants me. As for your denomination and music styles, it all goes back to scripture. Back it with the Bible or back your argument out of my face and no, it doesn't have to be the King James Version.;)

P.S. I am fine with different denominations and different music styles since everybody can't like the same things or always interpret scripture the same way.

Band Stuff

For the past few days I have been really wanting to play music with some old friends. Really only two of them are actually old, the rest are younger dudes. Getting together for grown-ups is hard and I don't know if all this will work out, but so fare it seems promising. I even have 7 songs to start with. I heard this in my You Tube subscriptions today and it became the seventh song. Seems like an awesome song to end any worship set with.

My Babies

Movie Review (Miami Vice)

Pros: Good gunfights.

Cons: Nudity seemed gratuitous, the language was also sometimes gratuitous, this is perhaps the worst action movie ever. Colin Ferrel cannot act so I just didn't get his performance and he was completely overshadowed by Jamie Foxx.

If someone asks you to watch this shoot them in the face.

Awesome Concert

This isn't the show I went to, but they were awesome just the same.

Gay Nudist Colony in Roane County

Yeah, the Rosebud Lodge is trying to get built just outside of town. Once people found out what they were doing, they changed their website once the locals learned it was specifically for ghey people. Now they owners are trying to be more inclusive as they see their zoning probabilities slip away. Anyway, there are a bunch of articles about the place out there, and the website has been stripped down to a real basic framework since it was drawing negative attention.

Firestorm brewing over alternative lifestyle lodge



By DAMON LAWRENCE
rclawrence@bellsouth.net

A quiet rumble. That's the way zoning officer Kay Christopher
described the public firestorm that's starting to brew over a plan to
bring an adult resort to Roane County.

"You know it's about to hit," Christopher said.

Christopher said her office has been bombarded with phone calls over
the Rosebud Lodge.

The proposed resort and campground will cater to the gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender community. Pictures on the Rosebud Lodge Web
site --www.rosebudlodge.com -- show same-sex couples, including two
men kissing, two men sitting in a bath tub and one person who appears
to be dressed in drag.

The Rosebud Web site doesn't mention Roane County by name. Riverfront
property just west of Knoxville is the description given about the
location, but a phone number on the site belongs to Gary Foster of
Kettering, Ohio.

He is also listed as the applicant on a zoning request form that was
filed with the county zoning office. When contacted Tuesday, Foster
seemed confident that the resort, described as clothing-optional three
weeks of the month, will come to fruition. He said the location is the
perfect spot for it.

"It's between Nashville and Knoxville and not far from Chattanooga,"
Foster said. "It's a high-traffic area. A lot of people come in there
for the Smoky Mountains, Dollywood and things like that. It's a very
good area, especially for fishing and boating."

According to the county zoning office, the property that would be home
to the resort is located at 920 Skyline Drive. The property, about 60
acres, fronts the Clinch River and is next to Cedar Lake Retreat.
According to county property records, the land is owned by Robert F.
Whiteside Jr., and its appraised value is $704,500.

There are plans to put a health club, pool and dorm-type housing on
the resort. Foster said if the rezoning is approved, the resort could
be open by August.

"I've already been down there several times," Foster said. "My Realtor
is handling everything right now."

Foster said the resort would be for adults only.

"If you go into a lot of campgrounds, you'll see that they have things
going on for just adults without the kids," Foster said. "This will be
a place where we don't want the kids, so the adults can just enjoy
themselves."

The property is currently zoned A-2 (developing agricultural) and
would need to be rezoned to C-1 (general commercial) in order for the
Rosebud Lodge to do business there. That's where public opposition
could come into play. The county commission has the final say on
whether or not to rezone the property. Christopher said people
representing several local churches are among the many who called her
office to inquire about the proposed resort. No one has expressed a
positive opinion, Christopher said.

They will have the opportunity to voice their opinions formally.
Christopher said the request to rezone will be on the planning
commission's agenda for its May 21 meeting and appear on the
commission agenda for its June 9 meeting. Both meetings will be held
at the courthouse.

"I don't think the courthouse is going to be big enough to hold all
the people," said Warren Kocher, a member of the planning commission.

Old Music

I was listening to something on the radio the other day by a popular new artist and couldn't believe how much it sucked. I miss the hair bands, they looked super cheesy but they could at least play and sing:

American Idol Gives Back

I missed the show as I am doing a small research project but when I got home, Mrs. Dude shared a story with me. She let the girls stay up and watch the show that night and over the course of the evening the impact of what they were seeing began to settle in. My oldest (8) is quite emotional and started crying when she learned that these people were starving to death and not getting basic medical care. Both girls have banks that are divided into three categories Church, Store, and Savings. When they learned that $12 would feed a child they each donated $12 from their store fund. This is the money they use to buy the stuff they want, that makes a daddy proud.

Cool Video

This is a friend of my Mother's:

Oprah Winfrey (The Most Dangerous Person in America)

My 1978 Guild F-512SB

This guitar was being repaired for almost a year. I really like the way it looks and it sounds pretty good even with my very limited playing ability (disability). Clayton from Broadway sound here in Knoxville Tennessee did all the work and I am pretty pleased. I think one of the cleats has come loose inside, but with seven or eight of them something like that had to happen. I will get that repaired as soon as I obtain the right pick-up. I also just acquired an OLP MM3 bass that I may trade for a good pick-up for the 12-string.

The latest on Dr. J

This is long but good:

Dear Pray-ers,

I apologize for not getting back to you much quickly after last night's successful debate with the Dean of Sciences out at UnivNevLasVegas, but I was out late with some young bro's & sis' and needed the rest-up time and some other catch-up work time here in the hotel room.

Well, soon there should be some reports from the students who were present at the debate, but I can summarize some to you Pray-ers from my perspective.

Dr. Yasbin unfortunately spent 20 minutes going over a downloaded "statement of faith" from my website, and going through a great deal of talk about Hebrew translations and how untrustworthy he thought the Bible was, and how much he was such a good Jew and how much beliefs like mine led to the deaths of millions of Jews and Muslims during the Crusades. Wow. The topic which he agreed upon and which he himself selected was "Does Molecular Biology Support Evolution." He did talk about the philosophy of science some, and then eventually got a little bit into molecular biology. He also went about 10 minutes over his allotted 30 minutes of time, all the while ignoring the Campus Crusade guy in the front row who was giving him the "5-minute warning" signals. (By a miracle ... Dr J only went one minute over his time -- ha, ha! -- even without a watch or a time-warning!)

I started out by telling the audience that I had no degrees and no credentials in Biblical Studies nor in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin ... and that I was credentialed in Biology and was given to understand that the topic for the night was "Does Molecular Biology Support Evolution" ... which I then proceeded to speak on to the audience. I let was "letting the other shoe drop" to them that of course ... neither did Science Dean Yasbin ... have any such credentials either.

Afterward, the Q&A was very hostile ... some suggesting that Nature was not an important nor credible peer-reviewed journal, and neither was Science nor Discover. One of the evo-profs had to shut up the young sith-apprentice since he was embarrassing them all by saying these things. I later quoted from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and I think that also shut the misguided lad down some. Dr Yasbin made many assertions of truth, but did not document a single one of them with any kinds of references at all ... which I then pointed out at this time to the evo-audience. Somehow they were not ashamed of this (sigh).
The audience chided me for only cutting down evolution and not presenting any positive proofs of creation. I told them I thought the agreed-upon topic was indeed for me to show how molecular biology did not support evolution ... which was what I then did ... but that I could certainly come up with positive proofs of creation. I gave the mitochondrial Eve & Y-chromosome Adam proportional evidence from molecular biology. I was later told that I hadn't given any positive evidence for creation again, and so I brought up the St Peter Sandstone and the Mars Flood. I was later told that I needed to present some positive evidence from molecular biology in favor of creation (which I indeed -- had -- already done in Q-A) so I brought up the goat and sheep DNA findings that restrict all living goats and sheep to the gene pools present on the Ark, and even after Noah had sacrificed a few of the Ewes and she-goats to God in gratitude to Him. They still didn't seem to be able to admit that I'd answered their questions. When the discussion wasn't going well for them, an evo-prof stood up and said this wasn't going anywhere and we should take another question, which we did. One strapping evo-lad hassled me on a point and we interchanged a few times and then he sat stone-silent after I'd responded to him. I let that silent moment hang in mid-air for like 10 seconds and said "so are we done with that?" -- he had to concede that we were. One young lady asked about human embryo "gill slits" and about "whale legs," to which I answered and she seemed quite receptive.
It was all basically a shameful fiasco of non-science philosophy and nit-picking on the part of the evo-believers there, and of salient data-driven documentations of the failure of evolutionary theory in the light of the newest molecular evidence (mostly from between 2003 and 2007). Some self-identified evo-believers came forward after and said they were extremely impressed with the presentation of the creationist side to the material -- including both young and mature members of the audience.
One evo-prof was forced to admit to the audience that whichever way you went on this issue was totally then a matter of "which faith you choose to believe in." He later in a small-group admitted that evolutionists also have a "visceral" negative reaction to creation (which he accused me of having toward evolutionists ... after he himself had admitted that he could never have debated me without losing his temper quite badly -- to which I told him that since he was a molecular biologist and would have been more likely to stick to the topic, that I'd actually wished I'd been debating him instead of Dr. Yasbin and his Bible-critique ... and that I would not have lost my temper -- what he really said was that it would've gotten "ugly", to which I responded that I would've remained "pretty" and so I wouldn't have minded it at all !!).
Many students were around. Many saw the evolutionist weakness and shamefully unprofessional attitudes and tactics. Many saw the lucid and well-paced well-heeled response of the truth from the creation science perspective. And all who wished to see it ... saw the wisdom of God in action, through His human vessel so graced with the surrender of the moment to do so.

All glory to God in the Highest. "Through our God ye shall do valiantly. He has put down the enemy." Amen. He brought glory to Himself, put down the blasphemers, and vindicated His Word by the known facts of science. I am very grateful to Him, and happy & blessed to have been used by Him as His mouthpiece.
And also quite glad that it is over ... as this is a very difficult place to minister the Truth, because of the evil presences that are so active in a city that is truly known the world over as "Sin City."
But then ... there are those wonderful Christian youth who live here on this campus ... who must make their stand for Christ among their peers every day ... who must be the bearers of the Light of the Gospel in every situation here. They are the real modern-day Biblical superheros! And I love them with all the love of Jesus that He's put into my heart toward them. He has gifted them and they are beautiful in His sight (and mine!).
Love to you all in the Savior of All Living. Thanks to you all for your faithful, fervent -- and most of all effective prayers !! I can not do this kind of ministry without you !! I can not do this in my own power !! I can not do this without Him. I love Him and I love you. He and the Body are one. And it is beautiful. Thank you all again.

Say a quick prayer now for the JrH/HS group at the church tonight (maybe up to like 100 kids). I'll be doing like a 20-min thing on lies in the textbooks and then a 20-min Q&A thing. They need your prayers too. But it's a very different kind of prayer ministering at a church ... than ministering in the hell-pots of UNLV. Thank you all so much ... for both of these kinds of prayers !!

I'll be forwarding you young Nick's perspective on the debate when his student-work schedule permits him to write it and send it to me.

Love in the Savior, an extremely grateful Dr. Jackson :)

Is there really a recession?

I say no based on my experience.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343671,00.html

Let's try something

I have had Google AdSense ads on my blog for a little over a year now. I don't pay much attention to them but I wanted to see what gets generated if they few regular readers of my bog click the links every day. So, if you don't mind, during the next thirty days whenever you visit Captain Dude's blog please click one of the links from AdSense.

Application Layer Attacks (Apple Sucks)

I saw this today and loved it:

Apple Is Loser in Three-Way Hacking Contest

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 28th Mar 2008 20:39 UTC, submitted by irbis

"An Apple Mac was the first victim in a hacker shoot-out to determine which operating system is the most secure. A former US National Security Agency employee has trousered USD 10000 for breaking into a MacBook Air at CanSecWest security conference's PWN 2 OWN hacking contest. The MacBook was lined up against Linux and Vista PCs - which have so far remained uncracked. Nobody was able to hack into the systems on the first day of the contest when contestants were only allowed to attack the computers over the network, but yesterday the rules were relaxed so that attackers could direct contest organisers using the computers to do things like visit websites or open email messages. The MacBook was the only system to be hacked by Thursday. Miller didn't need much time. He quickly directed the contest's organisers to visit a website that contained his exploit code, which then allowed him to seize control of the computer, as about 20 onlookers cheered him on. He was the first contestant to attempt an attack on any of the systems." There is more bad news for Apple: "If you have Apple and compare it to Microsoft, the number of unpatched vulnerabilities are higher at Apple." Update: The contest is over. Vista got hacked using Adobe's Flash, Ubuntu was left standing.

10 86 Comment(s)

Can

My friend Mike sent me this today. I watch these guys every year when they run the Ironman in Hawaii.

Awesome!

American Idol

Last night I sat down and my wife turned the show on. I haven't watched this program since Daughtry was sent packing a couple of years ago, but I am glad I caught this. Who would have thought you could do this with Lionel Richie.

Barack Obama e-mail forward

I got this today, and I thought it was funny:

A PAID POLITICAL ANNOUNCEMENT


BY SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-IL)






My fellow Americans,

As your future president I want to thank voters of all political
stripes for their mindless support, despite my complete lack of any
legislative achievement, my pastor's ties with Louis Farrakhan and
Libyan dictator Moamar Quadafi, and my blatantly liberal voting record
while I present myself as some sort of bipartisan agent of change.

I also like how my supporters claim my youthful drug use and criminal
behaviour somehow qualifies me for the presidency after 8 years of
claiming Bush's youthful drinking disqualifies him. Your hypocrisy is
a beacon of hope shining over a sea of political chicanery.

I would also like to thank the Kennedys for coming out in support of
me. There's a lot of glamour behind the Kennedy name, even though JFK
started the Vietnam War, his brother Robert illegally wiretapped
Martin Luther King Jr., they both slept with Marilyn, and Teddy's
negligence caused the death of a young girl. I'm not going anywhere
near the Kennedy cousins, especially Michael Skakel.

And I'd like to thank Oprah Winfrey for her support. Her love of
meaningless empty platitudes will be the force that propels me to the
White House.

Americans should vote for me, not because of my lack of experience or
achievement, but because I make people feel good. White people who
vote for me get some relief from their racist guilt.

I say things that sound meaningful but don't really mean anything
because Americans are tired of things having meaning. If things have
meaning, then that means you have to think.

Americans are tired of thinking. It's time to shut down the brain and
open up the heart.

So when you go to vote in the primaries, remember don't think, just
do. And do it for me.

Thanking you in advance.
Barack =

Berkeley California (Bezerkeley)

Cool

That's me

Is Barack "Patriotically Challenged?"

Ok, first there was the flag pin thing where he refused to wear one. I could almost stomach that if his excuse wasn't so weird.

Lapel Pin Story

Second, he has refused to put his hand over his heart when he hears the National Anthem. This is just completely lame.

During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. -- United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171

National anthem story here.

Now, there is apparently a Cuban flag in his Houston headquarters.

Cuban flag story here.

Maybe all of this is nothing, but it sure seems like this guy doesn't like America. What kind of change does he actually want? So far, he has said he wants the Bush/Cheney administration to change but that a given no matter who wins the election.

Travesty

Check out the links and the video below. I can' t believe this could happen in this country.
Link 1
Link 2

Dr. J is coming to town

Dr. Jackson will be speaking next week at the Darwin Day celebration. Information on the celebration can be found here. I would encourage everyone to attend no matter which side of the debate you are on. I am a huge fan of hearing both sides of every argument and letting people present their cases. Dr. J is amazing and you'll be shocked at his depth when debating. FYI he won't mention the Bible once so be ready for pure science.

The Clark Borthers (next great american band)

Incase you missed the show; it was awesome!

Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson doubts the official reports of 9/11. I mean really, either the government is a bunch of stupid idiots, as he normally claims, or they are incredible Lex Luthor-type evil geniuses with Democrats and Republicans working in complete harmony behind the scenes. I am all for people choosing a political party and picking on issues but try not to be a complete idiot Willie.

AUSTIN — Texas icon Willie Nelson said on a nationally syndicated radio show this week that he questions the official story of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City.

"I certainly do," Nelson said Monday when asked by talk show host Alex Jones if he questions the official story.

"I saw those towers fall and I've seen an implosion in Las Vegas, there's too much similarities between the two. And I saw the building fall that didn't get hit by nothing," the singer-songwriter said. "So, how naive are we, you know, what do they think we'll go for?"

On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 men hijacked planes, crashing them into each of the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York City, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

Nelson, who turns 75 this year, said if he were president, he would "stop the damn war, it's just that simple."

"The way I heard it, the 15 people from Saudi Arabia hit us in New York and we go jump on Afghanistan," Nelson said. "I never could figure that one out in Iraq."

Nelson's publicist would not comment on the remarks.

Jones, an Austin-based talk show host on the Burnsville, Minn., Genesis Communications Network, is sometimes described as a "conspiracy theorist." He regularly rails against globalism, the United Nations and World Bank on satellite and Internet radio.

A friend in need

So, I have some friends and family members who are missionaries. These people serve their beliefs in the most self-sacrificial way you could ever imagine. I am glad that God has not yet asked me to be a missionary when I see how hard these people work.

All that aside, my family tries to make it a point to support several different groups of these people. It is often amazing that whenever we have a little bit of extra money one of our groups has a special need. We were recently blessed with a little extra money and when the time came to choose who to give it to I told Mrs. Dude "Just wait, someone will need it within the next few days." True to form, we received a request from one of our friends in Malaysia. They have the, very legitimate, need for a car and are trying to raise $5,000. The vehicle they are wanting to purchase is the Proton Wira pictured above, let's see if we can't help them out.

I don't normally ask for money but if you have it to give, now is the time.

To learn about Nick and Rosie, click here.
To donate to their cause, click here.

Spread the word!

The Super Bowl

This was the worst Super Bowl ever. I didn't really care who won, but I did kind of want to see a perfect season. I also think Tom Coughlin is a jerk so it was hard to watch his team win. That said the game was hugely boring an don top of that Tom Petty has to be the worst "performer" ever. Is that guy even alive? He barely moves and the microphone was so big I couldn't tell if he was even singing. To make it worse my wife invited over some friends and non of their husbands came with them but all their kids did. This means that ten feet from my tv three women were yelling and cackling for hours. Meanwhile, upstairs the five kids over the age of four were tearing the sheetrock of the walls down to the studs and then putting it back. At least it sounded like a construction project. The two babies decided to throw elmo toys and blocks at me downstairs while this was going on.

I hated yesterday.