Ramblings

野花/田震

2009-01-19T08:24:00.002-06:00

Great Song - Great Singer - even if you don't understand Chinese! - I will be using this program to translate it: The Pure Language

Chongqing Hot Pot

2008-12-25T22:27:00.003-06:00

One of the delicacies of China is the Chongqing Hot Pot. This is a group event; all sit around a pot of spicy oil cooking everything from vegetables to steak, fish, and many other delicious innards!

Chongqing ExPat Site

2008-12-23T14:56:00.001-06:00

I lived in Chongqing for a year and a half, a very fun city, with some of the best food ever. And most importantly, I met my wonderful wife there.

Here is an Ex-Pat Site that looks interesting: Chongqing ExPat

Random Sites

2008-12-15T22:21:00.002-06:00

I found this website: A Frugal Life, which has some pretty good deals on it.

A blog with a name like this must be good: Remember to Play

And I got a kick out of this one Flexible Dreams

San Diego Athiest Coalition

2008-12-08T14:10:00.001-06:00

Some good articles, and links to other sites on this site:

Athiest Coalition of San Diego

A Couple Cool Blogs

2008-12-06T18:12:00.003-06:00

Totally by chance I found a couple cool blog sites :

Neil Gaiman's Journal creator of comic character Coraline.

Hardcore Zen - a blog about Zen and other Stuff

A Girl and her Cat - just starting, and she has some good links (like the one above).

Philip Gulley

2008-12-06T17:45:00.002-06:00

After reading a little about Carlton Pearson I found an article in the Dallas News about Carlton which referred to Quaker Phillip Gulley:

One of today's high-profile proponents of universal salvation is Philip Gulley, a Quaker minister and writer in Indiana.

Mr. Gulley lost a book contract with a Christian publisher over universalist views. He and co-author James Mulholland went on to publish If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person with HarperSanFrancisco, a secular press.

Here is a website of his books: philipgulley

A Courageous Heretic

2008-12-06T16:03:00.002-06:00

I listened to the story of Carlton Pearson on This American Life today. He started out as a hellfire preacher, and has changed his belief dramatically. At one time he had over 5,000 members, and is now down to hundreds. One member who has stuck around stated in this program, "if you want a crowd, preach about fear of hell and you will have thousands". Now Pearson is considered a heretic due to his new understanding of the teachings of the Bible. His church is New Dimensions and he now says he would have it no other way.

In my mind a very courageous man, and welcome to the heretic crowd!

No Thanks Jenny McCarthy

2008-11-29T22:20:00.001-06:00

Man of Constant Sorrow - Ralph Stanley

2008-10-30T21:58:00.001-06:00

Joaquin Pheonix & Reese Witherspoon - as Johny & June Cash - Jackson

2008-10-30T19:47:00.002-06:00

Really doesn't get much better than this:

Carrier responds to Geivett's Hyperbole

2008-09-02T12:43:00.001-06:00

Geivett's Exercise in Hyperbole (1999, 2005)
Richard Carrier

[Part 4B of a larger Review of In Defense of Miracles.]

Going Too Far

Douglas Geivett's basic conclusion that it is possible to use miracles as evidence for the existence of God is formally correct (as is his reversed version of the argument, which I address in my conclusion below). I have acknowledged and expanded on this in my review of Corduan and Purtill. But it simply does not work when given the actual evidence that we have. Geivett tries to defeat this problem with an unusual rhetorical tactic: constant repetition of ridiculous exaggerations. Since I will be addressing the actual evidence in my reviews of Newman and of Craig and Habermas, and have already covered the relevant historiographical issues in my review of Beckwith, and since I already agree with Geivett that the argument from miracles is at least logically sound, I will use this space here to exhibit his strange penchant for hyperbole. For there is no better sign of a man's desperate situation than a resort to a blatant overstating of his own case.

The Argument from Miracles

First, I will describe where Geivett is basically correct. Given that an event is accepted as having no explanation in natural causes, he describes the logical dilemma that arises: either there is no cause at all, or the cause is nonnatural (i.e. "supernatural"). The problem of defining "natural" is something I address in my review of Nash, but the dilemma here is linguistically correct, whatever the definition of "natural" may be. Of course, if it means what many scientists actually use the term to mean (i.e. anything that can be observed is a part of this universe and hence "natural"), then the dilemma collapses into a single option (the absence of any cause). But what Geivett has in mind is what would be better stated as follows: Given that an event is accepted as having no unintentional cause, either there is no cause at all, or the cause is intentional. This would divide all events that "merely" follow the laws of physics from all events which proceed from an intentional agent, namely humans and, in his argument, God.

In other words, if it becomes reasonable to believe that a certain event (e.g. the resurrection account) has no explanation in terms of unintentional causes, then we must believe that the event was not caused at all (that it just happened out of the blue), or that it was caused deliberately (either by human or divine methods)--unless of course we reserve all judgment entirely. Since regarding an event as complex as this as totally "uncaused" requires believing something about the universe that we are least justified in believing (having never seen such a random occurrence), we are most justified in believing in an intentional cause. This is where the argument must go from here: given that the event is accepted as having no explanation in human causes, either there is an alien cause, or there is a divine cause. If we subsume all possible alternatives to God under "alien" (such as demons, or other gods, or people with superhuman powers, etc.), then this dilemma is as linguistically valid as the first. If there is no evidence of any particular "alien" origin (as there is not in the case of the resurrection), but some evidence of a divine origin (as there is in the case of the resurrection, however weak), then it is reasonable to believe the event was of divine origin.

So far so good. But notice the two catches: first, the evidence must be such as to lead us to reasonably accept that a particular event has no explanation in either unintentional or human causes. This is essential for the actual success of the "argument from miracles." In other words, to use the argument from miracles so as to convince someone to believe in God, it is necessary to demonstrate that there can be no other explanation. As long as there are plausible explanations in the laws of biology and physics or in human design, which cannot be eliminated, the argument from miracles cannot succeed. It is not enough that "natural" explanations be improbable, because improbable things happen all the time. Rather, it is necessary that there be positive evidence against these natural explanations sufficient to compel us to reject them as impossible in the specific case at hand.

Now, this is the argument as Geivett presents it, and it can be summed up simply as follows: if an event is such that only a god could have caused it, then the event is evidence for the existence of a god. The trick is in establishing the "only" part (which equates to a similar difficulty in Purtill's Definition). But there is an even better argument: if we saw God regularly acting today, it would automatically be reasonable to believe that he has acted before. This argument is even more difficult to launch, however, since it requires what isn't the case: namely, that God be acting regularly today. And this brings up an important defeater to Geivett's approach: why isn't God more visible and active today? One can speculate at whim, but no one will be able to offer any proof to support one speculation over another. And insofar as the most reasonable answer is that there is no god to act in the first place (since there is a collection of evidencing reasons to support that theory, as even theists must acknowledge--for example, see my book Sense and Goodness without God 2005), the attempt to appeal to the divine is undermined even if there is a good evidential case for a miracle, since the second dilemma (alien or divine) will no longer be so easy to resolve--unless the divinity theory can be so revised as to explain all the other facts about the universe which seem to contradict it, and these revisions have some evidential support other than the sole fact that they rescue the theory. But as it is, no real case ever gets that far.

In the process of all this, Geivett makes an argument that is not only correct, but absolutely precious, and should be paraphrased in every relevant debate: "Failure to eliminate the possibility of a naturalistic explanation does not entail that a naturalistic explanation currently exists or is close at hand" (184). Substitute "theistic" for "naturalistic" in this sentence and you will have something that atheists have been trying to drill into the heads of theists for centuries. He is quite right, and naturalists should take heed, to avoid committing the "naturalist fallacy" which I address in my review of Corduan. But theists should take heed, too: concocting an unfalsifiable definition of God does not make belief in God rational. It is perfectly reasonable to disbelieve in the existence of a God that you cannot prove doesn't exist, so long as you have no other good reason to believe it (see my article Proving a Negative for more on this point).

Slow Down, Pal!

But when it comes time to apply this argument to reality, Geivett goes overboard. For instance, in defending the possibility that it would be reasonable to accept that there is no unintentional or human cause for an event, he brings up Quine's notion of a "recalcitrant" experience which is "one that stubbornly resists explanation within the framework of a given paradigm or web of beliefs" (182). All well and good. But then he doesn't show even a hint of sarcasm or qualification when he calls the resurrection of Jesus "a recalcitrant experience of the highest order," so "bodacious" that "if [it] doesn't count as a violation of presumed natural law, then nothing does" (183). This is an astonishingly absurd statement. Certainly even he can think of something that is more obviously a violation of natural law than a mere resurrection, which is accomplished on a regular basis today using CPR and electric defibrillators, and which is also known to happen naturally, however rarely (see How Do We Know He was Dead? from my article on the Resurrection of Jesus). And something cannot be a recalcitrant experience of the "highest" order when I can think of a dozen experiences that would be even more recalcitrant still (and that's just off the top of my head), and when Geivett's colleagues and I myself have described just such events (from my talking "fish" example to Corduan's "regrown hand" and modern "holy man" examples--see my review of Corduan and Purtill). Hence, Geivett is far overselling the resurrection here, and that reflects badly on either his objectivity or his honesty. He sounds more like a preacher or a sophist than a scholar.

This is no isolated slip. Nor is it trivial, for his "evidence" for this magnificent recalcitrance is cleverly couched in a false dilemma which excludes a crucial state of affairs. Geivett says that "given a choice between treating the...resurrection as an anomaly that will eventually be explained by science and repudiating the historicity" of the account, "today's naturalist will generally opt for the latter" and "this is presumably because of the recalcitrant character of the event" (183). It is curious that he would think such a dilemma valid, when I know of no naturalist today who actually thinks it likely that the resurrection "will eventually be explained by science," simply because there is no good prospect that we will invent the needed time machine to investigate the matter "scientifically" in the first place. Rather, most naturalists think there are already good, plausible, natural explanations which are consistent with their total worldview, and that if we could go back in time to test them, we would find one of them correct.

Moreover, naturalists, such as myself, who favor the "unhistorical features" explanation as a more likely account of the record as we have it, base this on the obvious fact that historical error or deception, or both, is already so very likely, having such a vast amount of repeated examples to prove its frequency, that there is hardly any need to resort to other explanations, even though there are many for the taking (see my article on the Probability of Survival vs. Miracle and my two chapters, "The Plausibility of Theft" and "The Burial of Jesus," in the book The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond The Grave). This is all the more so because we actually have positive evidence of error or fabrication in the accounts themselves and in the history of the church, which we can use to build hypotheses from, whereas we are unable test any natural explanations of the event itself, either to prove or refute them, since all physical evidence is lost, and what little we do know comes to us from late, biased, and uncritical sources. Geivett is thus not only vastly overplaying the recalcitrant nature of the resurrection, but he is using his own hyperbole as if it were "proof" that naturalists actually believe the account to be recalcitrant. Does Geivett understand skeptics so poorly? Or is he simply eager to invent a straw man?

Julius Caesar Crossed the Rubicon,
But Was Jesus Resurrected from the Dead?

Geivett tries to press this tactic further with the assertion that "if one takes the historian's own criteria for assessing the historicity of ancient events, the resurrection passes muster as a historically well-attested event of the ancient world" (185). Of course, as is typical of Christian apologetics, he never cites a single historian or explains what these "criteria" are, or who actually uses them and why (I give a good accounting of what historical method really looks like in my review of Beckwith). He then issues a comparison, in the voice of a mock critic, asserting that the resurrection of Jesus is as historically evidenced as Julius Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon in 49 B.C. But let's examine that claim:

First of all, we have Caesar's own word on the subject. Indeed, The Civil War has been a Latin classic for two thousand years. On the other hand, not only do we not have anything written by Jesus, but we don't even have anything written by anyone who actually knew him--unless we accept the questionable authenticity of some of the non-Pauline epistles, but they don't describe the resurrection and thus present no direct evidence of that event anyway.

Second, we have many of Caesar's enemies, including Cicero, reporting the event, whereas we have no hostile or even neutral records of the resurrection until long after the Christian's own claims had been written down and widely spread across the whole Empire.

Third, we have coins and inscriptions produced in the very same years of the Republican Civil War, and shortly after, which serve to corroborate the event. But we have absolutely no physical evidence of any kind in the case of the resurrection.

Fourth, we have the story of the Rubicon crossing from several historians of the period, including the most prominent scholars of the age: Tacitus, Suetonius, Appian, Cassius Dio, and Plutarch. Moreover, these scholars have at least some measure of proven reliability, since a great many of their reports on other matters have been confirmed in material evidence and in other sources. In addition, they all quote and name many different sources, showing a wide reading of the witnesses and documents, and they show a regular desire to critically examine claims for which there is any dispute. If that wasn't enough, all of them cite or quote sources which were written by witnesses, hostile and friendly, of the Rubicon crossing and its repercussions. Compare this with the resurrection: we have not even a single prominent historian mentioning the event, and of those few people who do bother to mention it, none of them show any wide reading, never cite any other sources, show no sign of a skilled or critical examination of conflicting claims, have no other literature or scholarship to their credit (which could in turn be tested for accuracy by comparison with other evidence), and have an overtly declared bias towards persuasion and conversion.

Fifth, the history of Rome could not have proceeded as it did had Caesar not physically moved an army into Italy. Even if Caesar could have somehow cultivated the mere belief that he had done this, he could not have captured Rome or conscripted Italian men against Pompey's forces in Greece. On the other hand, all that is needed to explain the rise of Christianity is a belief that the resurrection happened. There is nothing that an actual resurrection would have caused that could not have been caused by a mere belief in that resurrection. Thus, an actual resurrection is not necessary to explain all subsequent history, unlike Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon.

It should be clear that we have a huge number of reasons to believe that Caesar crossed the Rubicon, all of which are lacking in the case of the resurrection. In fact, when we compare all five points, we see that in four of the five evidences of an event's historicity, the resurrection has no evidence at all, and for the one kind of evidence it does have, it has not the best, but the very worst kind of evidence--a handful of biased, uncritical, unscholarly, unknown, second-hand witnesses.

Indeed, you really have to look hard to find another event that is in a worse condition than this as far as evidence goes. And this is the case even before we consider the relative probability of the event. In other words, I have not even mentioned the fact that an "actual" resurrection--in light of the incredible paucity of evidence that any miracle has ever really happened--is very, very improbable. It is so improbable, in fact, that even a very unlikely natural explanation would still be more probable, as I explain in Adding Things Up. For more on the relevant issues of historical method in general, see my review of Beckwith. But I discuss the Resurrection issue at great length in my collection on Why I Don't Buy the Resurrection Story, especially the Main Argument thereof, where I improve and expand on the Rubicon comparison, as again in my book Sense and Goodness without God.

If a Lie is Big Enough, Suckers will Believe It

Even though this is the real status of the evidence, Geivett pretends that the exact opposite is the case, and continues with a stream of hyperbolic assertions that are so blatantly false even the Pope would be ashamed to repeat them. For instance, in Geivett's world, "it is unlikely that...the resurrection would otherwise enjoy such historical authentication according to the highest standards of historical inquiry" [emphasis added] "if the tomb was not in fact empty and Jesus was not observed alive again" (186). Geivett calls this a "modest" suggestion! How on earth can he claim that the New Testament, or any of the post-biblical literary evidence, meets the "highest standards" of historical inquiry? Am I to believe that he thinks the unnamed author of the Gospel of Matthew is to be ranked with Thucydides, Polybius and Tacitus? That having no physical or contemporary evidence of any kind is somehow the epitome of "historical authentication"? Does he smell what he's shoveling?

Just in case you think he just slipped once into a bit of an exaggerative mood, he does not let up: there are "numerous observations" of the "relatively innocent facts" of the empty tomb and the post mortem appearances of Jesus, making them "supremely well attested historically" (186). Indeed, he even dares to say that "there is no compelling reason to dispute their historicity." Yet we have no eyewitnesses, no mention of an empty tomb or physical appearances in any of the epistles--the earliest literature--and of the four gospels that were chosen as orthodox, two of them unmistakably copied from the first, and the fourth is the last of them all to appear.

Maybe Geivett does not understand the difference between numerous sources and what those sources (and only those sources) claim to have been numerous observers, although no historian would make such a mistake. But that is not all that is wrong here: remember that skeptics do not regard natural explanations as implausible. Even if we were to accept, on such feeble evidence (as we sometimes may, for less incredible things), that there may have been an empty tomb and post-mortem appearances, this would still not demonstrate a miracle, since these are indeed "relatively innocent facts" which do not necessarily follow an actual death, for if the appearances are genuine, we have no real proof that Jesus died. Moreover, these things still have a natural explanation even if he did die: for there are several reasons that his tomb might end up or be mistaken as empty, no matter how odd they may be, and there are good reasons to believe that the earliest appearance traditions could have been of a spiritual, not a physical nature (for example, see my collection on Why I Don't Buy the Resurrection Story and my contributions to The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond The Grave).

Geivett even makes the absurd claim that the empty tomb and physical appearances are "as well attested historically as the crucifixion itself" (187). Does he really think that the crucifixion is not more widely attested than the resurrection? After all, the crucifixion story is repeated in at least one early-second-century non-Christian source (Tacitus), whereas no details of the resurrection get such a publication, and although both the crucifixion and the resurrection appear in the pre-gospel epistles, none of those letters ever refers to an empty tomb, and none of them make any clear reference to physical post-mortem appearances (this I will discuss at greater length in my review of Craig). Thus, even Geivett must concede that the crucifixion is at least somewhat better attested than the empty tomb and the post mortem appearances.

Geivett also thinks that a miracle "may be the best explanation for first-century belief in the resurrection." But if we regard as "best" that explanation which is most consistent with what we are all (believer and unbeliever) certain to be true about the universe and the period and place in question, then credulity and fanaticism is clearly the "best" explanation for that belief (see my review of Beckwith). Geivett is correct, however, in noting that a proper theory must say more than merely "they were mistaken" or some such dismissal, but he never cites or addresses or even mentions the existence of any of the developed theories which have been set out by various historians (such as Hermann Reimarus, Ernest Renan, David Strauss, Bruno Bauer, Maurice Goguel, A.E. Harvey, H.C. Kee, W.H.C. Frend, and W.S. Kissinger, just to name a few). Thus, his argument gives the appearance that no such theories exist.

The Top-Down Approach

Geivett concludes with what is definitely a correct argument: that if we had sufficient reason to believe that a God exists who is capable of working miracles, then "miracle" would become a more accessible explanation for unusual events, especially if said events could be shown to have some definite connection with God. But this is of little use when there are insufficient reasons to believe there is a God, for on this approach miracles cannot be appealed to as evidence. Rather, miracles only serve to identify the ways and purposes of the actions of a God already accepted as real. This of course explains why believers are quick to attribute anything orthodox and Christian as genuinely miraculous (while disparaging all other miracles as false), but it does little to justify their belief in God in the first place. But the idea is that once you believe in God, miracles become the stamps of approval of God, confirming which revelations or deeds He advocates (hence one can, Geivett suggests, argue from miracles that a theist of any other creed ought to be a Christian in particular).

But a new and decisive problem arises even with this argument: why the heck would a superbeing only communicate his revelations by using historically isolated miracles? Can't he just talk, like any normal sentient being? Or at least establish a permanent miracle which continually confirms his approval? For instance, if Catholic churches were mysteriously impregnable to all forms of harm, that would be a useful proof of God's approval for that creed. So why would a God, who is capable of this, ask us to trust (let's imagine) that a single, miraculous resistance to one harmful event by a single Catholic church centuries ago is just as good? Likewise, if all true Bibles, and all faithful translations, were indestructible--unharmed by fire or water or pencil or ink--or instantly reconstructed whenever injured or destroyed or soiled or marked, that would be a useful proof that it contained God's word. So why would a God, who is capable of this, ask us to trust in his approval of a compendium that we can't even get straight--owing to thousands of variant readings and hundreds of translations, each carrying a different nuance of meaning, and whose books' canonicity is questioned and debated even among Christians--all on the weight of certain isolated, ancient, and questionable events? Geivett must think his God the most dimwitted divinity in all the pantheons ever envisioned by man, or at least the most impotent. His is a God who chooses the most feeble and ambiguous means of reassuring us of what he wants. One wonders why it would ever be advisable to follow such a deity. I couldn't trust the sanity of such an engineer, much less his ability to save me.

A second, and related problem arises: if it really is so reasonable to accept miracles as proof of divine approval, doesn't that mean that fraud will be far more rampant in the case of miracles than in any other event? In other words, since it is accepted that miracles confer approval, anyone who wants their ideas to be adopted will naturally want to demonstrate divine approval by inventing miracles, either physically or in persuasive rhetoric. This presents an awful problem for the theist: how is a fraud to be distinguished from a genuine miracle? If in most cases it cannot be distinguished, owing to lack of evidence, yet we know fraud must inevitably be most common in the case of miracles, it follows that identifying genuine miracles will be even more difficult than might otherwise be the case, and even more difficult than identifying genuine historical events of any other kind. In other words, Geivett's argument actually provides a strong reason for treating miracles with greater skepticism than other historical events.

Jack & Dianne

2008-04-10T21:40:00.002-06:00

I am learning a John Mellancamp song so wanted to post one of my favorites:

With songs like this, as one would expect, he has a very interesting history:
on wikipedia

Clint Hill

2008-01-05T15:43:00.000-06:00

Happened to see the video of JFK assassination on YouTube today. Clint Hill was the secret service agent who jumped on to the car and then JFK after the shooting. Definitely a true hero.

Dai Qing

2007-12-30T19:22:00.000-06:00

Dai Qing a Chinese hero, has stood up against the Chinese Communist government for over 18 years. She was on of the few who spoke out against the Three Gorges Dam. Amazing that she is still able to speak out even after serving time in prison after Tianamen Square. A story was recently written in the Wall Street Journal about her "Critic of Three Gorges" which details her life and accomplishments. Continue on Dai Qing!

Mr Bill

2007-12-18T21:42:00.000-06:00

Here is a video of Mr. Bill during a hurricane. Made before Hurricane Katrina, poor Mr. Bill is delivered to his death by Mr. Hand.

Led Zeppelin

2007-12-12T21:09:00.000-06:00

Led Zeppelin played in London Yesterday. Would have been the concert of the century! John Bonham's son Jason played the drums and apparently did extremely well according to reviews. The videos of the concert on YouTube aren't so great but here is one with a little clip of "Black Dog".

Angel City/Angels

2007-12-07T13:41:00.000-06:00

Great band I listened to back in the 80's. Looks like they changed their name from Angel City to The Angels. They are a lot like AC/DC, and also from Australia.

Here is "Coming Down"

And here is "Marseilles"

Emo Phillips

2007-10-28T00:11:00.000-06:00

Great nationally known comedian Emo Philips was in town last week and I and a friend went to see him. It only cost $12 for the show, and we were able to get our tickets an hour before showtime, only in Sioux Falls!! Emo's jokes are intelligent (most of the time), very funny, and his delivery is perfect. One of his old jokes is rated as one of the best God jokes of all time, he performed it at our show and I agree, here it is:

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"
Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

Hope to see him again, hilarious.

Valerie Plame Wilson

2007-10-28T00:04:00.000-06:00

Saw a great interview with Valeri Plame Wilson and her husband on CNN.com the other day. I cannot wait to get her book "Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House" to read the details.

Cabaret

2007-10-27T23:05:00.000-06:00

Went and watched a production of Cabaret at SDSU tonight. The first time I have seen this play, I really liked it. This story really gives a good example of why we need to be concerned about politics, and that no, life isn't "just a cabaret". Extremely well done, it was based on the novel Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood. John William Van Druten adapted the novel to a play called I am a Camera which was also made into a film and then finally made into a musical called Cabaret by Joe Masteroff, Fred Ebb, John Kander.

Here is Liza Minnelli performing "Cabaret". Wow what a performer, what a voice!!

Airplane Tricks

2007-10-12T08:25:00.000-06:00

This is about the funniest thing I have ever seen an airplane do. Not sure the passengers were having as much fun as the pilot though!

Rocket Man

2007-10-08T07:41:00.000-06:00

Elton John came to town last night, yes believe it, he came to Sioux Falls, SD. I had 4 tickets I bought on the Internet in the first 5 minutes of sales, and the concert sold out in 18 minutes. He put on the best show I have ever seen period. He played continuously for 2hrs and 45 minutes with only one short break. He played most songs I was familiar with including: Benny and the Jets, Tiny Dancer, The Bitch is Back, Candle in the Wind, Daniel, Honky Cat, Crocodile Rock, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Saturday Nights alright for Fighting, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, etc.

Here is a video of Rocket Man from YouTube:

Amazing Goal

2007-10-01T09:30:00.000-06:00

Brazil's Marta demonstrates her talent in this shot against the USA. First she juggles the ball, runs past opponent, then fakes another opponent, and scores a great shot past the goalie.

Planting Peace

2007-09-26T09:35:00.000-06:00

Someone mentioned this organization on a blog. The president was from a rich family and gave it all up to de-worm children in Haiti. Why De-worm Haiti?
80% of Haiti is infected. Worms eat up to 20% of a childs nutritional intake. It's the fourth hungriest country in the world. For $20 one thousand children can be de-wormed.

Mission of Planting Peace: Urging humans to make a conscious personal effort in there daily life’s to bring betterment to the planet so every creature grandchildren's grandchildren can simply live.

Lecture of a Lifetime

2007-09-21T08:31:00.000-06:00

Randy Rausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University delivers his last lecture. He has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has only weeks to live. This is the lecture he gave, quite inspirational!

Smiley is 25 Years Old

2007-09-18T07:29:00.000-06:00

Smiley Web Page

Collage of the Hills

2007-09-06T19:49:00.000-06:00

Here ia a collage of pictures from the Black Hills. I am just learning to use Picasa, and found this feature of collages, pretty cool.

Visit to Black Hills

2007-09-04T07:54:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend we went to the Black Hills of SD. A friend of mine found a great ranch (Newton Fork Ranch) just outside of Hill City. A large meadow was in front of our cabin and we faced east for a beautiful sunrise each morning. Morning coffee on the deck with deer and turkey leisurely strolling through. We did some biking, hiking, a little fishing at Deerfield lake, and rode the 1880 Train to Keystone.

After returning to Hill City we went to the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. One could easily miss this place, but it is definitely one of the most fascinating places in the Hills. BHI found and excavated the most complete T Rex (Sue) and lost it to the federal government (see history). They currently have a T Rex named Stan on display, which is pictured below. I also had the opportunity to speak with one nephew of Pete Larson, Neil, who is hoping to go on to school and pursue a career in paleontology, good luck Neil!

Finally we drove home and stopped by my favorite place: WALL DRUG. Locally, Wall Drug gets a lot of grief for being such a "tourist trap", but I always find something new to see there and the history is fascinating. In summary the history goes something like this: a young couple move to Wall, SD to start a pharmacy. Business is very slow and the wife suggests they give away free water to the passers-by. Well the husband puts up signs and more signs and they engineer one of the most successful businesses in South Dakota.

After looking around at all of the historical pictures and artifacts, I usually work up a little hunger and nothing satisfies better than a Wall Drug buffalo burger & a dozen cake donuts to go!

Pictures to follow in later posts.

Close Call!

2007-08-21T21:25:00.000-06:00

All the passengers escaped this inferno.

A long way to the top

2007-08-21T21:10:00.000-06:00

My brother Dave had this on his site, nothing like a little AC/DC. Funny I had been looking at some AC/DC stuff on the web just the other day also. Wikipedia has some great stuff on AC/DC too.

Hey Hey it's the Monkees

2007-08-13T13:04:00.001-06:00

The other night we were out with some friends and started talking about the Monkees. Apparently they were very popular in Japan and they visited Japan in later years. Our friend Yuki came close to Davey, but there were too many screaming Japanese girls.

Misheard lyrics

2007-08-06T20:56:00.000-06:00

Saw this on Greatscat! website. Now I finally understand what he is saying in this song (ha ha ha!).

A Post

2007-08-02T17:50:00.000-06:00

Finally getting to the computer after a week of vacation (riding) and catching up. RAGBRAI ride was fantastic, we really had a great time and all plan on doing it again next year. Many said they gained weight on the trip, but I think I stayed pretty even. The one thing I was the most shocked about was how I felt stronger and stronger as the ride went on. I actually rode one of my fastest rides on the second to the last day. On the last day I had to stop for ice cream at Beekmans and turkey at Turkey Tom's, so I didn't worry about finishing quickly. Here is a picture of me at Beekman's with the Grandfather of the owners:

They say over 20,000 people ride, here is a picture of hundreds riding along "our own private highway":

Time Off

2007-07-19T10:32:00.000-06:00

The plans are starting to come together and we will be in Rock Rapids on Saturday preparing for our 476 mile journey east to Bellevue, IA (near Dubuque) starting Sunday morning. Our team; "Friends of Jim" is named after Jim Robinson, who died this year from cancer. He started riding some years ago to lose some weight and reverse some heart problems. He was very successful at the those items, but was diagnosed last year with cancer. Even on Chemo during last years ride he was able to ride 20 miles and drive a support vehicle for the whole RAGBRAI. He is still an inspiration to all of us and we won't forget him, thanks again Jim!

Back to School

2007-07-17T21:24:00.000-06:00

PBS Wide Angle broadcast a show about kids in school in 7 different countries. Fascinating to see the challenges and opportunities in different countries and the obstacles these kids face through the years.

Here is a link to the program, which can be seen online.

Burning Saltwater

2007-07-13T08:46:00.000-06:00

This is quite amazing. If successful, we could bankrupt oil companies in the next decade. Bring on the big SUV's again!

Serenity Now

2007-07-10T15:00:00.000-06:00

I was reminded of this Seinfeld today when someone had computer problems. Frank Costanza and Serenity, like oil and water!

New York State of Mind

2007-07-10T07:34:00.000-06:00

By far one of my favorite songs

Nuruddin Farah

2007-07-05T06:51:00.000-06:00

Listened to a story today on NPR about Somalia. Nuruddin Farah is an author in exile from Somalia. Farah's novels chart the slow, nightmarish disintegration of his country into the civil war-torn place it is today. There is a headline in todays news about an attempt on Mogadishu Mayors life.

I intend to read some of Nuruddin's novels after listening to this story, after I finish reading RFK & J.Edger, and Wikinomics.

Benefits to Soldiers

2007-07-02T10:03:00.000-06:00

I received a heavily forwarded, very old email today which repeats a rant from Rush Limbaugh about payments to 9/11 victims. Limbaugh compares the compensation of 9/11 victims families to that of the soldiers families, and how unfair it is. Yes it is unfair, where have you been Rush?

I find it amazing that he was a proponent of us going into Iraq, knowing full well the way our military pays people, and now complains adamently about it. Maybe he and others like him can see why there are so many reasons against a war like this in the first place. On the day of signing up for service, we treat these "boys" like kings, and on return like lepers.

On further research I found an article from CBS; "Dispensing The 9/11 Victims Fund Is A Thankless, Complicated Job". The monies were set up by Congress to avoid lawsuits against the airline industry. Kenneth Feinberg had the job of dispersing those funds and it has changed him for life. Of course Limbaugh didn't get in to these specifics, it doesn't fit his black/white anti-liberal message.

Okoboji

2007-07-01T20:55:00.000-06:00

During my bike ride our dog was a little hot, so she found the bike showers and laid down in the little pond which formed in the curb. Now does that look refreshing or what?

And here, Lu took the helm of the boat. She didn't throw me overboard, but I wasn't sure if I would ever get to drive after she got her hands on the wheel! With all the fast boating, our dog became sick and puked on Lu.

Roy & Bobby's

2007-06-26T13:53:00.000-06:00

Went to eat at Roy & Bobby's yesterday. They have homemade buns with hand-pattied burgers. They have moved from a narrow basement cafe to an above ground space at the YMCA in Sioux Falls. They are very friendly and serve up a fantastic burger, homemade cookies, and some great memorabilia, including the following:

The Eleven Things You Didn't Learn in School
written by Charles Sykes
Charles Sykes wrote for high school and college graduates a list of 11 things they did not learn in school. In his book, Dumbing Down Our Kids, he talks about how to feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality, and set them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1.
Life is not fair; get used to it.
Rule 2.
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will
expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good
about yourself.
Rule 3.
You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of
high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone,
until you earn both.
Rule 4.
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
He doesn't have tenure.
Rule 5.
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grand-
parents had a different word for burger flipping; they
called it opportunity.
Rule 6.
If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine
about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7.
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as
they are now. They got that way from paying your bills,
cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how
cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the
parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the
closet in your own room.
Rule 8.
Your school may have done away with winners and losers,
but life has not. In some schools they have abolished
failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want
to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest
resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9.
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers
off, and very few employers are interested in helping you
find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10.
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have
to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11.
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

RAGBRAI XXXV

2007-06-25T11:02:00.000-06:00

One month away from RAGBRAI - (ride accross Iowa) and starting to get excited. Looks like it is going to be a great ride. Lance Armstrong has decided to join in, and one of my favorite bands; Blues Traveler will be playing. I found this picture on the web, with a great quote below that really explains it all:

Fast Cars

2007-06-24T22:17:00.000-06:00

Was reading about a guy who converted a $1 million Ferrari Enzo to a $4 million Ferrari P4/5. To get an idea of the Enzo here is a video of the Enzo vs. McLaren F1(the dude driving is quite funny, he must have wet his pants a couple times):

And here is a picture of the P4/5.

Can't say if I had the cash I would convert, but I do like the look of the P4/5 better too.

Frost/Nixon Interviews

2007-06-18T16:10:00.001-06:00

Listened to a story on NPR about the Frost interviews with Nixon long after impeachment(now a play on Broadway). Both men had a lot at stake going into these interviews. Frost apparently did well towards the end, but Nixon didn't let his guard down.

In the radio program one man talked about how people like to put one "simple" label on a person when we are all 3-dimensional. Like how people want to say "Nixon was a crook" when he was so much more complex than just that. This gentlemen talked of climbing a ladder and how we finally reach a level we are comfortable/competent at, or maybe it exceeds our level. This is how he felt Nixon was, he grew up "a geek" but then married the best looking girl in town, and became President of the U.S. But that wasn't the level he was comfortable with, he wanted to be fighting against his enemies in some way, so he went back to a lower level and eventually self-destructed.

Listen to the program on NPR for more, it is thought provoking: Frost/Nixon Interviews.

Night - Elie Weisel

2007-06-09T15:41:00.000-06:00

A true Jewish documentation of Elie Weisel and his family's suffering at several of Germany's concentration camps. Probably the most moving story I have ever read. At one point Elie thinks to himself about how this cannot be happening in this civilized world. A man of the community once tried to warn them about what was going on and no one would believe him. Here is the website of the book http://www.nightthebook.com/ .

Also, here is a link to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Crazy Love Movie

2007-06-09T15:13:00.000-06:00

This true story took place originally in the 1950's in NYC. A wealthy insecure attorney pursues an insecure beautiful girl. She rejects him, he has some thugs throw lye in her face (which blinds her), he goes to prison, gets out, and surprise, they get married!! Talk about crazy, this tops them all. On the NPR program they have excerpts from these two and all they do is argue continuously. As crazy as it sounds I hope to see this after listening to director Dan Klores tell about the making of the documentary. Crazy Love Movie Website.

Bike Stunts

2007-06-08T17:41:00.001-06:00

Six Day War

2007-06-07T09:57:00.000-06:00

NPR is doing a special report: Six Day War: Shaping the Modern Middle East which took place in June of 1967, forty years ago. I watched a program on PBS a couple days ago about the SDW also and found it very fascinating. In one of the programs someone spoke of the divine aspect of this and how Israel returned to it's promised land. Man that sounds familiar, kind of like, um, ..... maybe gW???

In the program they were saying that at the time most Israeli's were very secular and didn't believe in "divine intervention", but then this happened and many people changed. Too bad.

Nick Nolte

2007-06-05T22:11:00.000-06:00

This pic of Nic Nolte has reappeared due to Paris Hilton's mug shot recently.

Touch Screen Computer on TED

2007-06-05T17:40:00.000-06:00

This video was sent to me recently. It is definitely the future of computing; using both hands and all fingers on a screen to manipulate images and data. Quite amazing.

Here is the video link, I don't know how to embed on my blog yet.

Jeff Han is a research scientist for NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Here, he demonstrates—for the first time publicly—his intuitive, "interface-free," touch-driven computer screen, which can be manipulated intuitively with the fingertips, and responds to varying levels of pressure.

Les Hammer

2007-06-02T09:58:00.000-06:00

When we were younger and looking for things to do, we would often go to Les Hammer's Horse Acadamy near Brandon, SD and rent horses for a day. One story we used to talk about a lot was the time Les took a 2X4 to a horse that was acting up.

Then there was the time I learned that horses like to roll in water. I brought the horse to the little pond on Les' acreage. When the horse started splashing himself by stomping his legs, Rhonda K. yelled, "that horse is going to roll, get him out of there". Luckily I was able to get him out prior to "the roll" but it apparently was a close call.

Well Les passed away on May 30, 2007 at the age of 86. His obituary is here at George Boom and there are comments left by many, including me, who rode is horses, on this page. So I'll say; "thanks for the memories Les, and seems like you lived a full, colorful life".

Separation of Church and State

2007-05-28T16:43:00.000-06:00

On our drive back from Mpls, Lu and I had a discussion about "separation of church and state". We both believe this separation has been severely damaged due to the works of individuals like Jerry Falwell. One cannot just blame one individual though, because had it not been him, someone else would have come along and done this. In a very Christian society such as ours, it was inevitable that the Christian's would become politically active. Now we need to be much more vigilant to keep the separation very clear. gW and his administration have taken many liberties to include religious groups in government and we have turned a blind eye. The latest debacle with Gonzales demonstrates a tip of the iceberg of gW's intentions and ignorance.

I found the American's United website and and followed that to Freedom First to sign the petition to add my name to the petition safeguarding separation of church and state and protecting religious liberty. Remember, the First Amendment only states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . ." (wikipedia), it doesn't automatically guarantee they will be separate, we citizens need to be vigilant in forcing our lawmakers, executives, and justices to get it this way.

Stick Men Fighting

2007-05-24T21:48:00.001-06:00

Came across this video of stick men fighting, pretty funny.

Join the Friends of Charles Darwin

2007-05-21T21:45:00.000-06:00

Join the Friends of Charles Darwin

Social Intelligence

2007-05-21T20:51:00.000-06:00

Was reading a little of the book Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and found his website to be excellent with a blog too! One thing that really sticks out was his thoughts about tickling kids to laughter. His research found that animals such as rats even have this same susceptibility to tickling. Tickling has to have an unexpectedness too it and one must be comfortable first before tickling will work - why it didn't work when I tried to tickle Lu as she was studying!
The second thing I found very compelling was his research as to why children like scary(soft - not gruesome like Freddy) movies. In summary, in my words, the child knows they are safe, yet they like the thrill, and they know they will return to a safe state. Kind of a way of "shocking the brain" I guess. Very good book for parents to understand child development.

Zeng Jinyan

2007-05-16T21:08:00.000-06:00

Zeng Jinyan was selected as one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential persons in the world.

Here is an excerpt from the article: Zeng Jinyan is the online progeny of the protester who blocked a column of advancing tanks during China's Tiananmen uprising in 1989. When Zeng's husband, AIDS and environmental activist Hu Jia, was detained by the Chinese government without any legal proceedings last year, Zeng, now 22, started a blog detailing her experiences and the oppressive activities of the country's secret police. Since then, her blog has been blocked in China, and she and her husband have been harassed, intimidated and subjected to round-the-clock surveillance. But she has steadfastly continued to blog, attracting an international audience with her sardonic style—and her courage. She is Tiananmen 2.0.
Blogs are by nature very personal—an intimate, often ferocious expression of the blogger's passions. This intimacy creates an unusually close bond between blogger and reader. It's why I feel so connected to Zeng, even though we live on opposite sides of the world and have never met—or even spoken to each other. By blogging truth to power, she is planting the seeds of a new—and true—cultural revolution. Let a thousand blogs bloom.

Here is a Q&A with Zeng

SD Pictures

2007-05-15T13:41:00.000-06:00

Here is a photographer we used at Egger Steel. He has some really great pictures of farms, prairie, farmers, and others here in South Dakota: PeopleScapes.com.

Greensburg Tornado

2007-05-07T10:05:00.000-06:00

This site has a link to an aerial survey of the devastation in Greensburg, KS after the tornado hit on Friday, May 4th. Wiped out most of the homes. Here is Tornado Project - then go to Recent Tornado's and then to aerial survey.

Pike Place Fish Market

2007-05-04T07:42:00.000-06:00

I was in Seattle over the weekend and spent a little time at the Pike Place Fish Market. I didn't have a camera, but found some great videos on their website. These guys are quite entertaining, and really have a great time at work. Here is the website for videos : Pike Place Videos.

I also traveled on Ferry to Bainbridge Island, biked through Magnolia and saw the fish ladder, and saw a Mariners game. I plan to post more as time affords. This weekend I'll be going to Boone, Iowa with a group of youth.

Nick Turns TEN

2007-04-24T21:36:00.000-06:00

It was my nephew Nick's 10th birthday today so here's to Nick and being TEN. Hurray! Check out the pictures on Syslblog below:

syslblog: Sleep Over

Gangs of Iraq

2007-04-19T21:36:00.000-06:00

Two years ago, President Bush announced his exit strategy for the U.S. military in Iraq. It was a plan critically dependent upon training Iraqi security forces. "Our strategy can be summed up this way," said the president. "As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down."
But despite a four-year training effort -- costing $15 billion and producing more than 300,000 Iraqi soldiers and national police -- the violence in Iraq has only intensified.

Gangs of Iraq

The Gangs of Iraq is an excellent PBS Frontline documentary that traces U.S. efforts in training the new Iraqi security force from 2003 to the present. Its power is that it provides a chronological timeline of events and offers much needed context for the news that you see today.

Extreme Unicycling

2007-04-17T21:12:00.000-06:00

Extreme Unicycling

Map to Europe

2007-04-12T13:56:00.000-06:00

Do this and you will laugh, guaranteed.
1. go to www.google.com
2. click on "maps"
3. click on "get directions"
4. type "New York" in the first box (the "from" box)
5. type "London" in the second box (the "to" box)
6. scroll down to step #23

Also note the time. Google people have entirely too much fun!

Suite Madame Blue

2007-04-11T18:35:00.000-06:00

This song was posted on a discussion site I visit. Was written in 1976 during our bicentennial as a protest song. I have always liked this song, and do think it passes on a great message about looking at what we stand for and where we are at now. I look at politics and if I wanted to be a candidate in the U.S. I would need millions to even think about announcing. This is ridiculous when we see the candidates trying to build up war chests to outspend in order to destroy their opponents.

Sweet Madame Blue MP3

YouTube Video Link

by Dennis DeYoung
performed by Styx

Time after time I sit and I wait for your call
I know I’m a fool but what can I say
Whatever the price I’ll pay…for you, Madame Blue

Once long ago, a word from your lips and the world turned around
But somehow you’ve changed, you’re so far away
I long for the past and dream of the days with you, Madame Blue

Suite Madame Blue, gaze in your looking glass
You’re not a child anymore
Suite Madame Blue, the future is all but past
Dressed in your jewels, you made your own rules
You conquered the world and more …………..heaven’s door

America….America…America..America..
America….America…America..America..
America….America…America..America..

Red white and blue, gaze in your looking glass
You’re not a child anymore
Red, white, and blue, the future is all but past
So lift up your heart, make a new start
And lead us away from here…

Jonestown

2007-04-09T21:34:00.000-06:00

PBS aired a documentary on Jonestown tonight. Of course it was extremely well done, and very eye-opening. Throughout the program they talked to many people who were either there at Jonestown or were X-members. The people who lost family members; wives, children, mothers, sisters, and lived to tell about it had such an impact, and have to live with this terrible memory.

Some of these people talked about how happy they were in Guyana before Jones arrived and the community they had developed. When he was about to be exposed by a journalist in San Francisco he ran to Guyana. Everything turned dark when he arrived and it was only a matter of time before he killed them. Deborah Layton's Affidavit documented all of the horrors of Jonestown.

MBA Class Picture

2007-04-02T18:34:00.000-06:00

Here's the wild and crazy MBA group I graduated with. Graduated in December 2006 from the University of South Dakota, and it already seems like years ago. I sure don't miss staying up and writing papers, Thursday nights after class at Old Chicago were usually the best!

Samurai Shortstop

2007-04-01T22:18:00.000-06:00

A friend recommende this book: Samurai Shortstop. After WWII when being a Samurai in Japan was illegal, baseball was your next choice.

bike club

2007-04-01T22:14:00.000-06:00

I keep getting errors when trying to edit my links. Here is the local bike club site: SEBC

Idi Amin

2007-03-26T21:34:00.000-06:00

Lu and I watched "The Last King Of Scotland" which is a fictional show on the ruthless presidency of Idi Amin of Uganda. The show was done so that it appeared as if it were filmed in the 70's. Forest Whitaker did a fabulous job as Idi Amin and I can see why he received the Oscar. I was quite impressed by the film and wanted to know more about the portrayal of the doctor. I looked up the movie on Wikipedia and found that the whole story of the doctor was fictional and "based" on the life of another individual. That was quite a let down. There are some pretty graphic mutilation scenes and torture, which made Lu nauseaous.

Wisdom of Larry the Cable Guy

2007-03-22T10:41:00.000-06:00

1. A day without sunshine is like night.
2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.
3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.
6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the
cheese in the trap.
9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.
14. OK, so what's the speed of dark?
15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?
18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?
20. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, "What
the heck happened?"
22. Just remember -- if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.
23. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear
bright until you hear them speak.
24. Life isn't like a box of chocolates . it's more like a jar of
jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow.

Fire Rainbow

2007-03-22T10:08:00.000-06:00

THIS IS A FIRE RAINBOW - THE RAREST OF ALL NATURALLY OCCURING ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA.

THE PICTURE WAS CAPTURED THIS WEEK ON THE IDAHO/WASHINGTON BORDER THE EVENT LASTED ABOUT 1 HOUR

CLOUDS HAVE TO BE CIRRUS, AT LEAST 20K FEET IN THE AIR, WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ICE CRYSTALS AND THE SUN HAS TO HIT THE CLOUDS AT PRECISELY 58 DEGREES.

Rumi

2007-03-04T23:00:00.000-06:00

On Speaking of Faith they had an interesting article about Rumi, the 13th-century Muslim mystic and poet. Some very insightful poems.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

2007-03-04T22:33:00.000-06:00

Arthur Schlesinger, a great historian, died on February 28th at age 89. He wrote speeches for Kennedy and others. Also won a Pulitzer prize for his book "Age of Jackson". Quote from Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. from Wikipedia "If we are to survive, we must have ideas, vision, and courage. These things are rarely produced by committees. Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by himself."

Morningstar: Stocks, Mutual Funds, and Investing

2007-03-01T11:03:00.000-06:00

Morningstar: Stocks, Mutual Funds, and Investing

Mei Mei on the Deck

2007-02-22T22:58:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture of our dog, which to this day is my favorite. Lu takes many pictures of her, but none compare to this one.

Heart Disease

2007-02-15T08:43:00.000-06:00

Watched a great program on PBS last night about heart disease. It was noted that heart disease was not one of the top ten major ailments prior to the 1900's. Due to our change in lifestyle, diets, and smoking, heart disease is the number one killer of men and women. I was suprised to hear it isn't the cholersteral/plack that blocks the blood, it is the inflamation, then rupture of the inside wall which causes blood clots. The program should be required viewing for all, especially people with family history of heart disease, like mine. I suggested to my wife, a resident, that doctors should show this program to every patient prior to them taking medication. Hopefully this would reduce the number of patients who stop medication (60%) after a first heart attack. Here is a link to the program Heart Disease in America

Showing Blog to Misty

2007-02-14T10:45:00.000-06:00

showed misty blog today. egger steel

Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire

2007-02-10T15:37:00.000-06:00

On Bob Edwards Weekend Edition he interviewed Rafe Esquith, a teacher who wrote "Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire". In one scene a student is reading Huck Finn and he starts to cry. Afterwards the teacher has a real in-depth conversation about how to "be yourself" and the pressure of society, media, etc. Also, he gets into discussion of them reading Shakespeare in class and how they actually "act it out" rather than just reading it.

He has an after school program called Hobart Shakespeareans , here is a video preview of them.

Red Flower

2007-02-05T21:43:00.000-06:00

A Few Good Men

2007-01-31T16:30:00.000-06:00

Here is a link to the best part of "A Few Good Men". I was thinking about this today for some reason, and love to see Jack go off on Tom Cruise. A definite classic.

Atheist in Jail

2007-01-30T17:40:00.000-06:00

A great article on Dilbert Blog about Atheists in Jail and here was another article from Infadel Guy

David Lynch

2007-01-27T15:50:00.000-06:00

On Bob Edwards Weekend, Bob was interviewing David Lynch the movie producer. He spoke of Transcendental Meditation, his movies, etc. I added a link to the David Lynch Foundation which promotes TM. He is a very fascinating person.

Funny Stuff

2007-01-27T13:47:00.000-06:00

Here is some other funny videos I saw on YouTube the other day:

Baby Laughing

Funny Commercials

Great Impressions

Seinfeld and Superman

The Yuckster

2007-01-18T23:49:00.000-06:00

Here is a video a friend sent to me of a man laughing for almost 10 minutes straight. His laugh reminds me of some cartoon character: its like "eee yuck yuck yuck" over and over and over again, it is contagious! Here it is:

The Yuckster

ENJOY!!

Daughter - Pearl Jam

2007-01-18T13:36:00.000-06:00

A great song - here it is on YouTube:

Daugher - Pearl Jam - Verona, Italy 2000

WAR PIGS

2007-01-14T10:46:00.000-06:00

Listened to Black Sabbath "War Pigs" on the radio - here is a link to YouTube video:
OZZY / BLACK SABBATH WAR PIGS
A search on wikipedia indicates: War pigs, also known as incendiary pigs, are those pigs speculated to have been used at most rarely in ancient warfare as a countermeasure to war elephants.

That just blows me away; sending flaming pigs after an enemy to scare away elephents. PETA might not have approved of that!

Lyrics to Black Sabbath Song:
Generals gathered in their masses,
just like witches at black masses.
Evil minds that plot destruction,
sorcerers of death's construction.
In the fields the bodies burning,
as the war machine keeps turning.
Death and hatred to mankind,
poisoning their brainwashed minds.
Oh lord, yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away.
They only started the war.
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah.

Time will tell on their power minds,
making war just for fun.
Treating people just like pawns in chess,
wait till their judgement day comes, yeah.

Now in darkness world stops turning,
ashes where the bodies burning.
No more War Pigs have the power,
Hand of God has struck the hour.
Day of judgement, God is calling,
on their knees the war pigs crawling.
Begging mercies for their sins,
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings.
Oh lord, yeah!
--Black Sabbath, War Pigs

Neil deGrasse

2007-01-12T21:34:00.000-06:00

I watched a video by Neil deGrasse Tyson at Beyond Belief 2006 on YouTube. He really gets "in your face" about the facts of science .

Iwo Jima

2007-01-07T18:08:00.000-06:00

Lu and I watched "Flags of our Fathers" last night, a little late yes, but we like to go to the $3 theatre. A fantastic film, but then, any film Clint Eastwood is involved in always is. We were a little confused as to who was speaking during the film because it switches around so much but I liked the way it was done. The insight into Ira Hayes life was very moving and upsetting. I believe we have made great progress with our treatment of American Indians, but there is still progress to be made. One other fact I found interesting; 110,000 American troops were sent to Iwo Jima to overtake 21,000 Japanese, while we only have around 150,000 in Iraq today to control a population of almost 29million (wikipedia), the 40th largest nation.

Here are a couple pictures from The Battle of Iwo Jima. The first is of the first group who put the first flag up, then the second group, which is the picture we are all so familiar with.

Hank Hansen (without helmet), Boots Thomas (seated), John Bradley (behind Thomas) Phil Ward (hand visible grasping pole), Jim Michaels (with carbine) and Chuck Lindberg (behind Michaels).

The front four are (left to right) Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley and Harlon Block.
The back two are Michael Strank (behind Sousley) and Rene Gagnon (behind Bradley).

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali

2007-01-06T13:37:00.000-06:00

Listened to a program on NPR today "Wait, Wait, don't Tell Me" and they talked about Superman vs. Muhammad Ali. I find it interesting and a definite "sign of those times". Here are some pictures and a link to a website detailing the "big fight". http://nightwing.superman.ws/adventures/supermanvsali.htm

Can you guess who the winner is?

Chongqing at Night

2007-01-01T21:23:00.000-06:00

These are some pictures from Frank, from ChongQing, China. The city Lu studied in and I taught in. And the final picture is Frank and his friend Helene.

Cartoonist Article

2007-01-01T21:09:00.000-06:00

This is a newspaper article sent to me by a friend in China who is studying cartoon voicing.

2007-01-01T00:01:00.000-06:00

Quartus

2006-12-31T23:48:00.000-06:00

Listened to some great music tonight in downtown Sioux Falls. The band reminded me a lot of John Mayer, their name is Quartus. Too bad the venue they played in wasn't so great; a bank lobby which was all glass and three stories high. Still very impressive music.

2006-07-05T10:57:00.001-06:00

Read about a blog done by a person who was in London bombing 7/7/05. Makes all my troubles seem quite trivial. Hope things work out well for her and those involved.

Last time I blogged was 2003 when I opened this account. Been a lot of places and done quite a lot since then. Now married over 3 years and in a new home as of June 1. Hope the future goes as well as the past 3 years, and hopefully I will do a little more blogging.

Sioux Falls Website

2003-10-27T10:39:00.000-06:00

The City of Sioux Falls

First Blog

2002-03-14T21:52:00.000-06:00

Just starting blogger after reading about it in newsweek. I like the idea so much I told some friends about it already today. Snowing here in South Dakota, seems like winter will never end. We had some very nice days this winter, so it seems as if winter should be over!