Merry Christmas!

I received this from one of my Navy buddies today:

To all our Democrat friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To all our Republican friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mac vs. PC

I am all for people using what they want and like but can't stand these ads which make absurd claims. Here are some statistics related to security flaws that you may find interesting. Again, use what you want but don't make lame excuses just because you like one GUI over another.

Windows XP, Vista, and Mac OS X vulnerability stats for 2007
	XP	Vista	XP + Vista	Mac OS X
Total extremely critical	3	1	4	0
Total highly critical	19	12	23	234
Total moderately critical	2	1	3	2
Total less critical	3	1	4	7
Total flaws	34	20	44	243
Average flaws per month	2.83	1.67	3.67	20.25

The table was take from this link where you can also get links to the actual CVE numbers of the flaws. Enjoy!

Camelbak Customer Service

I bought a Camelbak Mule years ago and the reservoir needed replaced. This seems simple enough until I get on eBay and discover that my model is old or vintage/antique. Whatever you want to call it, I cannot find an OEM replacement. Hey, no problem I will just e-mail the company. Please read the following lovely transaction, I have used a bold font anywhere I changed things or felt like interjecting thoughts. I also had to e-mail their webmaster since they have no customer support e-mail listed, only a phone number.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I have an original Camelbak Mule and the reservoir needs replaced. I
would like to replace it with a newer 100oz reservoir but don't know if
it will fit. If it will not fit do you know where I can purchase the
correct sized reservoir for this device? I have looked on eBay and been unable to find the correct product. Thank you for your time.

No Salutation:

Thank you for contacting CamelBak. Could you send me a picture of the pack?
Sincerely,
Some Person
CamelBak Products, LLC
1310 Redwood Way, Suite C
Petaluma, CA 94954

Right now I am thinking this is looking good and I will find a replacement for my pack.

Some Person,

Here are some pictures. Sorry for the size, I wanted get as much
detail as possible.

Again, no salutation

Unfortunately, our newer CamelBak reservoir will not fit your MULE. I
apologize for the inconvenience. Would you be interested in one of our newer models? (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!)

Sincerely,
Some Person
CamelBak Products, LLC
1310 Redwood Way, Suite C
Petaluma, CA 94954

Some Person,
Do you know where I can purchase the correct resevoir?

You may want to try Ebay??

You may want to learn to help people who buy your crap.

Fortunately, Camelbak is not the only manufacturer making these items any longer so I can get a new product that is better from one of their competitors for less money.

Some people need to shut up

It's just an ad, and so what if it was "religous."

Movie Review (Superman Returns)

I am a huge fan of Superman and spent years wondering if Hollywood would be able to "replace" Christopher Reeves as Superman. This was a difficult task since I grew up watching Reeves portray this mythical American icon.

Brandon Routh did a great job stepping into a role that was completely defined by another man over the course of a decade. If they plan to do any sequels, I hope they do, I would just like to see a less "model-like" haircut on the man of steel. Routh is almost too pretty to be tough anyway but he did well. Kate Bosworth steps into Margot Kidder's Lois Lane and wasn't near as impressive. She is certainly prettier but lacks the toughness that I think Lois is supposed to have. There also appeared to be zero chemistry between Lois and Superman but maybe that was just me. Kevin Spacey had the second toughest job becoming Lex Luthor. Not only is he a prime character, Gene Hackman is a great actor making it doubly difficult. I thought Spacey was incredible, as always, and really hit a home run as Luthor. Lastly, I have always really liked the musical score in Superman movies as it has always been used to infuse emotion into some scenes. The re-writing of the score for this movie was great! I liked the intro using the strings instead of just horns then building into the original sound so many of us grew up with.

Overall the movie was great.

***SPOILER***
The whole "illegitimate" kid thing is interesting, kind of puts a damper on the whole moral champion image. They didn't make a big deal of the situation and it may work out fine but this could be an interesting wrinkle in the whole Superman legacy.

It's about time somebody wasn't a chicken

More from Dr. J.

Nice isn't it?

Hey readers,

I get campus gigs by contacting club leaders and teachers. But for every gig I get, there are many reactions like this evo-prof wrote me today. Take a look at my sincere inquiry. Then look at the evo's reaction. This is not an exception! This is what they are usually like!

Merry Christmas. Dr J

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you."

the Creator Himself said this in John 15, verse 18 Amen. So be it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Bio prof,

My name is Charles Jackson and I am a creation science educator.

But don't discount me so quickly. Just give me a minute.

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to meet a real creationist? -- nothing like the lampoon-stereotype circulated among like-opined preservers of the status quo. What motivates creationists? Can they think? What do they really want? Have they any substance at all? More importantly -- do you really want to know? Or are the rumors just -- good enough?

I am willing to come and give, say a 20-minute presentation to your class or departmental honors society or whatever group you choose, then do Q/A-discussion lasting the remainder of whatever time we have. If my place in the controversy defines me as a sort of "loyal opposition" ... remember what is said about "keeping them closer." If to you, my credentials define me as a colleague then -- why not?

Take advantage of this opportunity and email me: DrJackson@PointsofOrigins.com

We can make plans for a date/time to fit both our schedules.

Sincerely yours, in the interest of academic growth and freedom, Dr. Charles Jackson

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Misguided Fool,

I do not have time for fools such as you. Do not email me again. I am not interested in your ignorance and do not waste my time. People like you are disgrace for humanity.

(a grown-up biology professor from Kent State University!)

Movie Review ( Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift)

Uh, dumb. Dumb is not accurate, super stupid is much more descriptive. The cars were neat, but they should not have tried to tell a story that wasn't there.

Evolution vs. Creation

Latest Dr. Jackson update, I love how the "scientists" and their followers always resort to name calling and childlike behavior when confronted by this guy.

This past weekend I attended a lectureship on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO). The speaker was Dr. Charles Jackson – the topic, creation. Dr. Jackson has a mission to take the truth of Genesis to the gates of Hell and knock…and wait…and knock again, and again until someone answers. Where does he find these gates? He finds them on every secular college campus in America (and, sadly, on some Bible college campuses). You see, our colleges and universities are the devil's playground…evolution is the game. So, Dr. Jackson takes his ball (creation science), bounces onto college campuses, and offers a challenge to professors of biology, physics, or any other discipline, by asking "Who wants to play?"

The evolutionist profs (or evo's as Dr. Jackson calls them) are sharp and condemning. One of the biology profs at SEMO sent him a disrespectful email stating that he should keep his narrow-minded views to himself. He basically, called Dr. Jackson and Creation science, unscientific. Unsurprisingly, that professor refused to debate or even attend one of the lectures. Posters for the event were torn down by suspecting evo's. Cowards!

I would think that if one were a true scientist who is honestly in search of the truth, then regardless of what you believe about evolution, the teaching of alternate theories that critique what you believe to be true can surely not be called unscientific – they, instead, should be welcomed! What is unscientific is not allowing a scientific model to be critiqued. Whatever happened to the testing and retesting of hypotheses?

All this goes to show that there is much more at stake with the teaching of evolution than the science per se. What is really at stake are people's worldviews, even more than that…the salvation of their souls. Let me explain. If you say, as evolutionist do, that God did not create Adam and Eve, then you can eliminate original sin; without original sin there's no punishment; no punishment – no eternal death; and no need for a Savior. Evolution is more than just poor science, it is a Godless worldview.

If any follower of Christ claims to be an evolutionist, then they have been utterly deceived by the father of all lies.

I am proud of my girls

My six year old, on the left, wanted to take gifts to a nursing home this year. She came up with the idea all on her own and purchased most of the materials with her own money. Big sister threw in a lot of labor making individual cards for the residents. Yesterday we visited about twenty residents at a local nursing home who do not get man visitors. I was so proud as I watched my little girls hand out the gifts they had purchased and made. Even more special were the interactions they had with the ladies and gentlemen they brought the gifts too. Taking time to make conversation with each person and giving hugs to everyone they saw. The six year old does not like to be touched very much so that was really a big step for her. It was all I could do to keep from crying as a crowd of workers started to follow them and watch.

Those are my girls!

Oprah for President

Does this sound ridiculous? It's a complete reality with the endorsement of Obama. Is it a coincidence that they are both black and from the same area? I really want to think so, but it's hard to ignore the elephant when it is in the room. Oprah doesn't know anything about anything; yet continues to run her mouth about everything. This is a weather lady who achieved success because of TV marketing in an urban area people. Why people listen to her is beyond me, here are some examples of what she thinks and does.

Oprah is a marketing genius and is constantly pushing products (and materialism in general) and then has shows where she chastises people for being in debt.

She loves speaking about God in generic terms ... until 9/11 when she started calling the name of Jesus (it was shortlived).

She is also self-absorbed, for saying that marriage is outdated. Ironically that kindof conflicts with her "God" beliefs or should.

The bottom line is that Oprah is a self-contradicting nut and people should stay away from her.

Navy Seals

Enjoy!

The Navy Seal Creed:
In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our Nation's call. A common man with uncommon desire to succeed. Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America's finest special operations forces to serve our country, the American People, and protect their way of life. I am that man.

My Trident is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the heroes that have gone before, it embodies the trust of those I have sworn to protect. By wearing the Trident I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day.

My loyalty to Country and Team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others before my own.

I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.

We expect to lead and be led. In the absence of orders I will take charge, lead my teammates and accomplish the missions. I lead by example in all situations.

I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.

We demand discipline. We expect innovation. The lives of my teammates and the success of our mission depend on me - my technical skill, tactical proficiency, and attention to detail. My training is never complete.

We train for war and fight to win. I stand ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals established by my country. The execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required yet guided by the very principles that I serve to defend.

Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed. I will not fail.

We should learn to be more tolerant...

so these idiots can kill us. Read this article:

Thousands in Sudan Call for British Teddy Bear Teacher's Execution

Yeah, they are peace loving. Can someone please order some more MOAB bombs, we might need them.

Movie Review (Hitman)

Hitman is one of the best, very violent though, video games ever made. Naturally I was skeptical when someone tried to make a movie out of the game but decided to give it a shot. The movie is as good as you can get from a video game adaptation and you really shouldn't have high expectations from this type of film. The movie is fine and was worth $5.50 and I only have two complaints. Number one, they really should have had Vin Diesel or Jason Statham play 47. Olyphant is a great actor but his voice and pretty face did not lend themselves well to the character. Number two, if you are going to have a "love interest" in a film like this don't use an ugly girl. She was not attractive and I turned away every time she disrobed, which was plenty.

Movie Review (3:10 to Yuma)

WOW! 3:10 to Yuma is the story of rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) struggling in almost all areas of his life. His oldest son doesn't respect him, his wife is tired of his ineptitude, and the local "rich guy" is driving him off his land via harsh means. To make matters worse he is in the middle of a three year drought and his cattle are dying. Enter the famous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe), feared by all who have seen him except a grizzly old bounty hunter (Peter Fonda). He has robbed and killed more than he can count and his gun, "the hand of God", is well respected. Their paths come together and Evans sees the chance to turn his whole life around by doing a single good deed and escorting Ben Wade to the prison train with a few other men.

This movie was incredible. Bale and Crowe were amazing and each played their parts perfectly and there are several quotes that are dynamite. I would rank this up there as one of the great westerns even though it is a remake. I did absolutely hate the ending, I don't think it ended this way in the original but it certainly could have been a little better, and stuck to the original story line.

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Will Smith "Comes Out"

I am, was, a huge Will Smith fan until about five minutes ago. I have long considered him one of the best actors out there, and he keeps his movies somewhat clean when compared to the rest of the trash out there. Today, I read this:

Will Smith Equates Bible and Scientology

Will Smith conquered space aliens in "Independence Day," and now he apparently believes they are real.

Smith admits in the issue of Men’s Vogue on sale Tuesday that he has studied Scientology with Tom Cruise and doesn’t disagree with its basic tenets.

In doing so, he finally "comes out," joining Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley and a handful of other Hollywood types in their devotion to this controversial religion.

For a long time, Smith has denied joining the Church of Scientology with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, explaining that it would go against the beliefs of his late grandmother. But for some time, insiders in Hollywood have insisted the Smiths were, indeed, brought in by Cruise.

Smith concedes that his kids are being home-schooled, just as are those of Cruise, Travolta and other Scientologists.

In the article, Smith refers to "Thetans," who are space aliens in the vernacular of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

"... in all of the experiences I’ve had with Tom and Scientology, like 98 percent of the principles are identical to the principles of the Bible," Smith tells Men’s Vogue writer Hudson Morgan.

"The Bible says, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' And you know, there’s a Scientology principle: 'Do not create experiences for others that they cannot comfortably perceive.'"

He continues: "The Bible talks about your spirit being immortal, that you were created for existence beyond your physical body. Well, that’s no different from Scientology. I don’t think that because the word someone uses for 'spirit' is 'thetan' that the definition becomes any different."

I have a feeling that clergy and practitioners of both the New and Old Testament might take umbrage with that idea. Scientology is considered a dangerous cult in some countries, including Germany.

Scientology is dangerous, misleading, and certainly a cult. The members of this cult are flashy and persuasive and can make a "religion" that is very comfortable for people to wear. The good news is that, with the spread of information, they are losing members like mad. Anyone who thinks the whole world is mind-controlled by space aliens dreamed up by a sci-fi writer is perfectly happy here.

Movie Review (Perfect Stranger)

I remember being in a theatre and seeing the trailer for this movie some time ago. In the trailer it appears that a journalist is attempting to get close to a, supposedly, corrupt man to expose him. This storyline looked fantastic, intense, and dramatic. Halle Berry, Bruse Willis, and Giovanni Ribsi really did a great job as they played their roles out during the course of the film. Unfortunately Miles (Ribisi) is supposed to be a hacker and everytime they show his computer screen during his "hacking" they show ftp logs or he runs fdisk. Neither of these actions will uncover what he should be doing but at least it wasn't cartoony crap. The film is tense at moments as they try to reveal Harrison Hill's (Willis) corruptness, but has these goofy flashbacks to Rowena's (Berry) childhood. As the movie unfolds it plays out kind of like I thought it would and then a train wreck happens in the last five or ten minutes of the film. The writers evidently thought the movie wasn't entertaining so they throw in this weird twist at the end that is completely unnecessary and actually made the film completely suck. I think they were going for the "Sixth Sense" type of shocker but instead of dropping one subtle hint, the wedding ring rolling across the floor in Sixth Sense, they take about five minutes and explain the intricacies of the twist. Note to screenplay writers, if you have to explain it that much it's crap. The language in the film was also ridiculous, I lost count of how many time the f-word was used. I understand throwing that out for effect at times in a movie but when it gets used 3 times per minute it loses its punch.

The bottom line:
This movie completely sucks! It would have been great if they had done what was in the trailer and not tried to add something that wasn't there. Let's face it, unseen plot twists used as a punchline at the end of a movie are rarely perfected. Examples of this art can be seen in the aforementioned Sixth Sense (Bruce Willis stars) and also the movie Primal Fear (Edward Norton stars). That's how you pull off the mental bomb at the end of a movie instead of just making your movie a bomb by crapping it up.

The New England Patriots

I am not a Patriots fan, but this is the best football team I have ever seen. You can tell they are the best because the ridiculous excuses are already starting to fly. Coach Shula says they should have an asterisk because they were "cheating." Say what you want, I wouldn't want to play this team on any Sunday.I also think the only real contenders out there right now are Green Bay and Dallas. People are finally starting to see that Peyton Manning's offensive line was the key to his success too.

"Non-Traditional Families"

What this article does not point out is that these statistics are for all children without both non-biological parents. This would, obviously, include gay couples.

The dirty little secret of cohabitation

DAVID CRARY; The Associated Press

Published: November 18th, 2007 01:00 AM

Six-year-old Oscar Jimenez Jr. was beaten to death in California, then buried under fertilizer and cement. Two-year-old Devon Shackleford was drowned in an Arizona swimming pool. Jayden Cangro, also 2, died after being thrown across a room in Utah.

In each case, as in many others every year, the alleged or convicted perpetrator had been the boyfriend of the child’s mother – men thrust into father-like roles which they tragically failed to embrace.

Every case is different, every family is different. Some single mothers bring men into their lives who lovingly help raise children when the biological father is gone for good.

Nonetheless, many scholars and front-line caseworkers interviewed by The Associated Press see the abusive-boyfriend syndrome as part of a broader trend that deeply worries them. They note that an ever-increasing share of America’s children grow up in homes without both biological parents, and say the risk of child abuse is markedly higher in the nontraditional family structures.

“This is the dark underbelly of cohabitation,” said Brad Wilcox, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia. “Cohabitation has become quite common, and most people think, ‘What’s the harm?’ The harm is we’re increasing a pattern of relationships that’s not good for children.”

The existing data on child abuse in America is patchwork, making it difficult to track national trends with precision. The most recent federal survey on child maltreatment tallies nearly 900,000 abuse incidents reported to state agencies in 2005, but it doesn’t delve into how rates of abuse correlate with parents’ marital status or the makeup of a child’s household.

Similarly, data on the roughly 1,500 child abuse fatalities that occur annually in the United States leave unanswered questions.

Many of those deaths result from parental neglect, rather than overt physical abuse. Of the 500 or so deaths caused by physical abuse, the federal statistics don’t specify how many were caused by a stepparent or an unmarried partner of the parent.

However, there are many other studies that, taken together, reinforce the concerns. Among the findings:

• Children living in households with unrelated adults are nearly 50 times as likely to die of inflicted injuries as children living with two biological parents, according to a study of Missouri abuse reports published in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2005.

• Children living in stepfamilies or with single parents are at higher risk of physical or sexual assault than children living with two biological or adoptive parents, according to several studies co-authored by David Finkelhor, director of the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center.

• Girls whose parents divorce are at significantly higher risk of sexual assault, whether they live with their mother or their father, according to research by Robin Wilson, a family law professor at Washington and Lee University.

“All the emphasis on family autonomy and privacy shields the families from investigators, so we don’t respond until it’s too late,” Wilson said. “I hate the fact that something dangerous for children doesn’t get responded to because we’re afraid of judging someone’s lifestyle.”

Census data leave no doubt that family patterns have changed dramatically as cohabitation and single-parenthood became common. Thirty years ago, nearly 80 percent of America’s children lived with both parents. Now, only two-thirds of them do. Of all families with children, nearly 29 percent are now one-parent families, up from 17 percent in 1977.

The net result is a sharp increase in households with a potential for instability, and the likelihood that adults and children who have no biological tie to each other will live in them.

“I’ve seen many cases of physical and sexual abuse that come up with boyfriends, stepparents,” said Eliana Gil, clinical director for the national abuse prevention group Childhelp.

“It comes down to the fact they don’t have a relationship established with these kids. Their primary interest is really the adult partner, and they may find themselves more irritated when there’s a problem with the children.”

That was the case with Jayden Cangro.

In July 2006, his mother’s boyfriend, Phillip Guymon, hurled the 2-year-old 9 feet across a room in Murray, Utah, because he balked at going to bed. The child died from his injuries.

Jayden’s mother, Carly Moore, has undergone therapy since the killing. Yet she continues to second-guess herself about her two-year relationship with Guymon.

“There’s so much guilt,” she said in a telephone interview. “I never saw him hit my kids, ever. But he was gruff in his manner – there were signs that he wasn’t the most pleasant person for kids to be around.”

Guymon has been sentenced to five years in prison for second-degree felony child abuse homicide. Moore thinks the penalty is far too light.

“It’s a hard thing,” she said, recalling Jayden’s death. “You go off to work, you say, ‘See you later,’ and then everything’s completely shattered in a split second.”

Some women can’t see the trouble even when it’s right in front of them.

Jennifer Harvey of Springfield, Mo., acknowledged in court last summer that she continued to date a man for two months after becoming suspicious that he’d killed her 18-month-old son, Gavin.

“I was in denial,” said Harvey, who was placed on five years’ probation for not acting on her suspicions. The boyfriend, Joseph Haslett, was sentenced to life in prison for suffocating the toddler with a headlock.

Such cases trigger a visceral reaction, but there are no simple solutions. Some of the worst cases of child abuse involve biological parents, and examples abound of children thriving in nontraditional households.

“There’s no going back to the past,” said Washington and Lee’s Robin Wilson. “We don’t tell people who they can cohabit with. We don’t tell them they can’t have children out of wedlock.”

Still, there’s agreement that many adults in high-risk households need better parenting skills – whether it’s the harried young mothers often guilty of harmful neglect or the boyfriends and stepfathers often responsible for physical abuse.

“These boyfriends increasingly have been raised without fathers and been abused themselves,” said Patrick Fagan, a family policy specialist with the conservative Family Research Council. “Among the inner-city poor, the turnover of male partners is high. Where’s a boy getting the model of what a father is like?”