Thursday, May 31, 2007
Indoctrinate U
Looks quite interesting, and I'll vouch for it's premise.
The great thing is, though, that even though this documentary rightly describes the situation in American Universities, there are folks like InterVarsity Staff & students who are salt & light there. By the Grace of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit, they're preserving, illuminating and salutarily disrupting the system.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Saving and Investing
Sean has a post that links to a question by a 20 year old asking the Simple Dollar how he can retire at 40. I haven't been impressed by what I see of the American ideal of "retirement", but what also caught my eye was the suggestion that the young person put 20% of his income into the S&P 500.
Last year, Mary asked me about where she should save and we looked together at Vanguard Funds. We settled on the Star Fund, which is a "fund of funds". That is, it is a group of Vanguard mutual funds into which a dollar invested will be allocated by the Star Fund manager. This gives great diversification. Because these are Vanguard Funds, there is no sales commission and there are very low maintenance fees. There is no maintenance fee at all for the Star Fund management. So the maintenance fees that are allocated to one's account are those of the particular funds that make up the Star Fund portfolio. Morningstar gives the Star Fund 4 (out of 5 stars), which is very good.
There are some other savings plans that have caught my eye. One involves investing in Savings Bonds, of all places. There is no sales commission here either, and no maintenance fee. Of particular interest to me are I Savings Bonds. These are bonds that guarantee an initial rate and have an inflation component, which tracks the CPI. Having lived through the inflationary 70s, I can tell you that inflation risks are important considerations. I Bonds are accrual securities. The interest they earn are not paid out, but are added to the principal. In the meanwhile, there is no income tax payable until the bonds are redeemed. I Savings Bonds qualify for the education tax exclusion. That is, if the proceeds are used to pay qualified college expenses, no federal taxes are due! Go to the government's website for more information on buying US securities.
You can redeem the bonds after one year, but the idea is to use these for "deep savings". Of course, savings bonds and other US treasury obligations are the safest investments you can make. I wouldn't put all of my savings in the S&P 500 (for which Vanguard has a very cheap fund), as the Simple Dollar seems to suggest, I would allocate about 40% to Savings Bonds.
I learned about I Savings Bonds by reading about them in an article by Annette Thau in the AAII Journal. The AAII is the American Association of Individual Investors. One has to be a member to access that article on-line, but I would recommend joining that organization and reading the monthly magazine. You will be amazed at how much you can pick up about sensible investing from that publication.
Last year, Mary asked me about where she should save and we looked together at Vanguard Funds. We settled on the Star Fund, which is a "fund of funds". That is, it is a group of Vanguard mutual funds into which a dollar invested will be allocated by the Star Fund manager. This gives great diversification. Because these are Vanguard Funds, there is no sales commission and there are very low maintenance fees. There is no maintenance fee at all for the Star Fund management. So the maintenance fees that are allocated to one's account are those of the particular funds that make up the Star Fund portfolio. Morningstar gives the Star Fund 4 (out of 5 stars), which is very good.
There are some other savings plans that have caught my eye. One involves investing in Savings Bonds, of all places. There is no sales commission here either, and no maintenance fee. Of particular interest to me are I Savings Bonds. These are bonds that guarantee an initial rate and have an inflation component, which tracks the CPI. Having lived through the inflationary 70s, I can tell you that inflation risks are important considerations. I Bonds are accrual securities. The interest they earn are not paid out, but are added to the principal. In the meanwhile, there is no income tax payable until the bonds are redeemed. I Savings Bonds qualify for the education tax exclusion. That is, if the proceeds are used to pay qualified college expenses, no federal taxes are due! Go to the government's website for more information on buying US securities.
You can redeem the bonds after one year, but the idea is to use these for "deep savings". Of course, savings bonds and other US treasury obligations are the safest investments you can make. I wouldn't put all of my savings in the S&P 500 (for which Vanguard has a very cheap fund), as the Simple Dollar seems to suggest, I would allocate about 40% to Savings Bonds.
I learned about I Savings Bonds by reading about them in an article by Annette Thau in the AAII Journal. The AAII is the American Association of Individual Investors. One has to be a member to access that article on-line, but I would recommend joining that organization and reading the monthly magazine. You will be amazed at how much you can pick up about sensible investing from that publication.
No to Cable Yes to Free
We stopped subscribing to cable when Macon was in junior high. Not only was it the expense, we couldn't see supporting MTV, much less running the risk that our children would be exposed to it. In addition, we were trying to reduce tv watching, not make it more attractive.
Presently we use an interesting technology for linking to commercial TV by pulling TV energy out of the air. No, we are not talking about satellite TV, which costs money. The method we use, costs no money.
Oh, yeah, we get it: rabbit ears, that sort of thing. But what are you going to do when HDTV is mandatory?
We can get HDTV out of the air for free as well. All the networks offer HDTV programs. You just need the right outside antenna. TV listings are available at antennaweb.org, and this website will show you what sort of antenna you need in your location to get both digital and analog broadcasts.
We use this other technology you might be interested in, a portable, sort of laptop technology. You use it for reading things . . .
(Thanks to Popular Mechanics for the HDTV info.)
Presently we use an interesting technology for linking to commercial TV by pulling TV energy out of the air. No, we are not talking about satellite TV, which costs money. The method we use, costs no money.
Oh, yeah, we get it: rabbit ears, that sort of thing. But what are you going to do when HDTV is mandatory?
We can get HDTV out of the air for free as well. All the networks offer HDTV programs. You just need the right outside antenna. TV listings are available at antennaweb.org, and this website will show you what sort of antenna you need in your location to get both digital and analog broadcasts.
We use this other technology you might be interested in, a portable, sort of laptop technology. You use it for reading things . . .
(Thanks to Popular Mechanics for the HDTV info.)
Holy-Davidson
CREDO: I believe the machine I sit on can tell the world exactly where I stand.
COMMENTARY: Fists forward and boot heels to the wind. Exposed metal slathered with chrome. Fat rubber steamrolling an endless slab of highway. A V-Twin motor feeding your ears. Any questions? Didn't think so. www.harley-davidson.com
EXHORTATION: Live by it.
-From the ad in this month's Popular Mechanics.
I would like to think that the irony is intentional.
COMMENTARY: Fists forward and boot heels to the wind. Exposed metal slathered with chrome. Fat rubber steamrolling an endless slab of highway. A V-Twin motor feeding your ears. Any questions? Didn't think so. www.harley-davidson.com
EXHORTATION: Live by it.
-From the ad in this month's Popular Mechanics.
I would like to think that the irony is intentional.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
The Church a Little Weaker
World Magazine in its May 19, 2007, issue, reports the following:
Montreat (N.C.) Presbyterian Church, a flagship congregation of the 2.3-million-member Presbyterian Church (USA), won its freedom from the liberal-run denomination. Following hours of contentious debate, the Presbytery of Western North Carolina voted 185-69 to "dismiss" the congregation to the more conservative 75,000-member Evangelical Presbyterian Church. But delegates also voted 174-35 to take over the church's property pending up to six months' further study.
The Montreat church had voted 311-27 last January to leave the PCUSA. Complicating the property matter, the congregation meets in the large chapel of Montreat College, a conservative PCUSA school that sits on the grounds of a PCUSA national conference center. The church owns a separate three-story educational and office building on property held by its trustees. Montreat pastor Richard White contends that under state law, the church owns its property. PCUSA rules say church property is held in trust for the denomination.
The dismissal vote authorized the presbytery to organize a "continuing Montreat Presbyterian Church" from among a small number of dissidents, who would be granted use of 10 percent of the educational building.
Montreat (N.C.) Presbyterian Church, a flagship congregation of the 2.3-million-member Presbyterian Church (USA), won its freedom from the liberal-run denomination. Following hours of contentious debate, the Presbytery of Western North Carolina voted 185-69 to "dismiss" the congregation to the more conservative 75,000-member Evangelical Presbyterian Church. But delegates also voted 174-35 to take over the church's property pending up to six months' further study.
The Montreat church had voted 311-27 last January to leave the PCUSA. Complicating the property matter, the congregation meets in the large chapel of Montreat College, a conservative PCUSA school that sits on the grounds of a PCUSA national conference center. The church owns a separate three-story educational and office building on property held by its trustees. Montreat pastor Richard White contends that under state law, the church owns its property. PCUSA rules say church property is held in trust for the denomination.
The dismissal vote authorized the presbytery to organize a "continuing Montreat Presbyterian Church" from among a small number of dissidents, who would be granted use of 10 percent of the educational building.
The Genographic Project
Last year I clipped an article from the WSJ with the headline Project Hopes to Trace Your Ancestors Back 10,000 Years. The article reported a joint project commenced by the National Geographic Society and IBM to assemble a massive genetic database that would catalog certain genetic markers left in DNA from generation to generation. The result would be that one could see what path his ancestors took on their migration from East Africa, from whence modern man supposedly came, to his eventual home. (With Mary, that eventual home would be? Oh well. She always was a homebody.) I checked the status of this project recently, and it seems to be well under way.
Mail-in DNA testing kits are available. You would send in a swab taken from your cheek and the lab will find the markers in your DNA and match them with the movement of different groups of humans up to 60,000 years ago. Go here for more information.
(I must say that after visiting Kenya, it would not be a leap to think that God established the Garden there.)
Mail-in DNA testing kits are available. You would send in a swab taken from your cheek and the lab will find the markers in your DNA and match them with the movement of different groups of humans up to 60,000 years ago. Go here for more information.
(I must say that after visiting Kenya, it would not be a leap to think that God established the Garden there.)
Some Non-Intuitive Economic History
Much has been made about the rise of child labor [during the Industrial Revolution] and too little about the fact that, for the first time, there was remunerative work available for people of all ages. As economist W. H. Hutt [my link] has shown, work in the factories for young people was far less grueling than it had been on the farm, which is one reason parents favored the factory. As for working hours, it is documented that when factories would reduce hours, the employees would leave to go to work for factories that made it possible for them to work longer hours and earn additional wages. The main effect of legislation that limited working hours for minors was to drive employment to smaller workshops that could more easily evade the law.
In the midst of all this change, many people seemed only to observe an increase in the number of the poor. In a paradoxical way, this too was a sign of social progress, since so many of these unfortunate people might have been dead in past ages. But the deaths of the past were unseen and forgotten, whereas current poverty was omnipresent. Meanwhile, as economic development expanded in the nineteenth century, there was a dramatic growth of a middle class that now had access to consumer goods once available only to kings—not to mention plenty of new goods being created by the engine of capitalism.
From Socialism, Free Enterprise, and the Common Good, a speech by the Rev. Robert A. Sirico at Hillsdale College. The entire text is worth reading.
In the midst of all this change, many people seemed only to observe an increase in the number of the poor. In a paradoxical way, this too was a sign of social progress, since so many of these unfortunate people might have been dead in past ages. But the deaths of the past were unseen and forgotten, whereas current poverty was omnipresent. Meanwhile, as economic development expanded in the nineteenth century, there was a dramatic growth of a middle class that now had access to consumer goods once available only to kings—not to mention plenty of new goods being created by the engine of capitalism.
From Socialism, Free Enterprise, and the Common Good, a speech by the Rev. Robert A. Sirico at Hillsdale College. The entire text is worth reading.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
How awesome was Square One TV?
So totally awesome. That's how. Check this classic out.
You can find more Square One Videos here.
Sadly, there are no Mathnet clips. Those were my favorite.
You can find more Square One Videos here.
Sadly, there are no Mathnet clips. Those were my favorite.
"The Pledge of Allegiance" - by Senator John McCain
As you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971, the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room. This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few hundred POWs 10,000 miles from home.
One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the US Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country and our military provide for people who want to work and want to succeed.
As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves, and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he created an American flag and sewed on the inside of his shirt. Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of our day now, but I can assure you that in that stark cell it was indeed the most important and meaningful event.
One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically, and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all of us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then, they opened the door of the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as we could. The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept. Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room.
As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag. He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to Pledge our allegiance to our flag and country.
So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote freedom around the world. You must remember our duty, our honor, and our country.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Before our Memorial Day Celebration, I plan to lead our family in the Pledge of Allegiance. Hopefully this small gesture will remind us of the brave men and women in our armed forces that continue to protect our freedoms and rights as citizens of the United States of America.
One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the US Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country and our military provide for people who want to work and want to succeed.
As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves, and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he created an American flag and sewed on the inside of his shirt. Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of our day now, but I can assure you that in that stark cell it was indeed the most important and meaningful event.
One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically, and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all of us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then, they opened the door of the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as we could. The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept. Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room.
As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag. He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to Pledge our allegiance to our flag and country.
So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote freedom around the world. You must remember our duty, our honor, and our country.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Before our Memorial Day Celebration, I plan to lead our family in the Pledge of Allegiance. Hopefully this small gesture will remind us of the brave men and women in our armed forces that continue to protect our freedoms and rights as citizens of the United States of America.
Friday, May 25, 2007
"Cleaning" Hard Drives
At our office, we are disposing of some old servers. Carol has arranged to have the drives "cleaned" by some sort of process. I've taken the opportunity to do the same with some old computers around our house. As to the computers at our house, I removed the hard drives before sending them off. I am not sure what I will do with the drives, but I have in mind to use an electric drill and make a few holes.
Carol, as our office adminsitrator, keeps an eye on a list serve sourced by a web publisher called Technolawyer. She sent me this post:
For anyone interested, there is a free program available at dban.sourceforge.net that will let you securely wipe an old hard drive. The site doesn't look like much, but this program has been around for a long time and I have used it many times. Everyone should do it before you think about selling a computer on ebay or donating it to a school. A simple format does not delete any data on a drive, it just marks the area as "usable." Because of this, it is amazing how much personal information (cc numbers, ss numbers) can be recovered from old drives and computers that are sold on eBay every day.
Carol, as our office adminsitrator, keeps an eye on a list serve sourced by a web publisher called Technolawyer. She sent me this post:
For anyone interested, there is a free program available at dban.sourceforge.net that will let you securely wipe an old hard drive. The site doesn't look like much, but this program has been around for a long time and I have used it many times. Everyone should do it before you think about selling a computer on ebay or donating it to a school. A simple format does not delete any data on a drive, it just marks the area as "usable." Because of this, it is amazing how much personal information (cc numbers, ss numbers) can be recovered from old drives and computers that are sold on eBay every day.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
I Have Never Gone to Class on a Wooden Floor Before
May 5, 2007
It was a sobering Easter. We were enjoying being together, and it began to dawn on us that it was the last Easter we would be with JT for many years. Watching the twins find their eggs put us back in the spirit of the day.
After Easter, we took a train to the coast for our last vacation together. The way it is supposed to work is that the train would leave at 7 in the evening and you would arrive at 9am. They provided bedding, and it would be a fun way to get down to Mombassa. The way it was supposed to work didn’t; the train broke down in the middle of the night and we didn’t get to Mombassa until 2pm.
What was great was that the car that was supposed to pick us up at 9 had broken down and was still there, so we managed to push start it and get to our hotel. It was a sweet time, with lots of walks on the beach and just enjoying being together.
It got a bit old on the way back, when the train broke down again and instead of arriving at 9am we arrived at 3pm. When I asked someone on the train about it, he said `It could be worse; it was last week.’
JT has made his final decision on a college. He is going to Wake Forest, which was always one of his top choices. They have the highest pass rate of CPA’s of any college in the country, my sister and her husband are only a few hours away, and they gave him a wonderfully generous aid package. He also made the varsity rugby team here at RVA, which was a huge thrill for him.
I’m proud of my oldest son, but in some ways he has been a huge disappointment. When I was a little heathen kid, the only prayer I ever remember praying was that God would make a Spider-Man movie. Usually, movies arrive in Kenya after the DVD has come out. But, in an effort to combat piracy, the Spider-Man 3 opened on Friday in Nairobi, just the same as the states.
And JT says to me: `Dad, I really think I should wait until I’m done with my Calc and French AP on Wednesday.’
Blowing off Spider-Man to STUDY? This HAS to come from Nancy’s side.
The sixth computer center is done and we have moved into a new area. This is the poorest school we work with. It is completely Masai, a tribe that still lives in mud and dung huts, and so the contrast between the center and the school is striking:
(The newest center in Namunja)
(The kitchen in Namunja)
The contrast to how they live is even more striking:
(A nearby home)
When I told one of the teachers what we were planning to do, he just started laughing and saying `Here? Here?’ And he just laughed again.
It is the furthest school because the roads are non-existent, and I blow a tire every time I go. It is the furthest place from any civilization, as I understand civilization, that I have ever been. It isn’t to say that I don’t respect the Masai and love their culture, but it is so different than anything I know.
At all the other schools, none of the children had seen a computer before, but they all knew what they were. At this school, many of the students had no clue what a computer was.
School starts up on May 8th, and our teacher tells me that the students come everyday to peer inside and look in wonder at what they will learn. One student told me `I have never gone to class on a wooden floor before.’ All their classrooms have dirt floors.
This school has tripled in size because of the food you have provided, and now they are going to learn computers.
Thank you for the computer center, and for the wooden floor.
Your pal
Steve Peifer
Rift Valley Academy
It was a sobering Easter. We were enjoying being together, and it began to dawn on us that it was the last Easter we would be with JT for many years. Watching the twins find their eggs put us back in the spirit of the day.
After Easter, we took a train to the coast for our last vacation together. The way it is supposed to work is that the train would leave at 7 in the evening and you would arrive at 9am. They provided bedding, and it would be a fun way to get down to Mombassa. The way it was supposed to work didn’t; the train broke down in the middle of the night and we didn’t get to Mombassa until 2pm.
What was great was that the car that was supposed to pick us up at 9 had broken down and was still there, so we managed to push start it and get to our hotel. It was a sweet time, with lots of walks on the beach and just enjoying being together.
It got a bit old on the way back, when the train broke down again and instead of arriving at 9am we arrived at 3pm. When I asked someone on the train about it, he said `It could be worse; it was last week.’
JT has made his final decision on a college. He is going to Wake Forest, which was always one of his top choices. They have the highest pass rate of CPA’s of any college in the country, my sister and her husband are only a few hours away, and they gave him a wonderfully generous aid package. He also made the varsity rugby team here at RVA, which was a huge thrill for him.
I’m proud of my oldest son, but in some ways he has been a huge disappointment. When I was a little heathen kid, the only prayer I ever remember praying was that God would make a Spider-Man movie. Usually, movies arrive in Kenya after the DVD has come out. But, in an effort to combat piracy, the Spider-Man 3 opened on Friday in Nairobi, just the same as the states.
And JT says to me: `Dad, I really think I should wait until I’m done with my Calc and French AP on Wednesday.’
Blowing off Spider-Man to STUDY? This HAS to come from Nancy’s side.
The sixth computer center is done and we have moved into a new area. This is the poorest school we work with. It is completely Masai, a tribe that still lives in mud and dung huts, and so the contrast between the center and the school is striking:
(The newest center in Namunja)
(The kitchen in Namunja)
The contrast to how they live is even more striking:
(A nearby home)
When I told one of the teachers what we were planning to do, he just started laughing and saying `Here? Here?’ And he just laughed again.
It is the furthest school because the roads are non-existent, and I blow a tire every time I go. It is the furthest place from any civilization, as I understand civilization, that I have ever been. It isn’t to say that I don’t respect the Masai and love their culture, but it is so different than anything I know.
At all the other schools, none of the children had seen a computer before, but they all knew what they were. At this school, many of the students had no clue what a computer was.
School starts up on May 8th, and our teacher tells me that the students come everyday to peer inside and look in wonder at what they will learn. One student told me `I have never gone to class on a wooden floor before.’ All their classrooms have dirt floors.
This school has tripled in size because of the food you have provided, and now they are going to learn computers.
Thank you for the computer center, and for the wooden floor.
Your pal
Steve Peifer
Rift Valley Academy
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The Greatest Album of All Time
I would love it if Iron Maiden lived next door. That way, I could barbecue pork tenderloin for them, and we could talk together about how awesome their new album is.
New Terminator TV Series.
Seriously! Called the Sarah Connor Chronicles. On Fox ('course).
Check it out. Looks pretty dang good to me!
Sydney Bristow is Dead, long live Sarah Connor!
Check it out. Looks pretty dang good to me!
Sydney Bristow is Dead, long live Sarah Connor!
More on Pocket New Testaments in War
An excerpt from a biography of Mel H. Nesteby posted on the website of an organization known as the "American Ex-Prisoners of War Organization":
Mel enlisted in the Army on 17 May, 1941,.at Fargo, N.D. He chose a warm part of the world, in contrast to the frigid temperatures of Alaska, in which to serve, and the Philippine Islands over the Panama Canal Zone. Since he had been driving a big Caterpillar tractor in his farm work, he figured that he would be qualified for operating a tank. At Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, Minn., Mel was sworn into the Army. Mel and some other recruits attended a service at a nearby Methodist Church. Each young man was presented a pocket-sized New Testament. This little book was a divine gift, with a significance far beyond expectations. It sustained Mel through all his trials in the coming years. Not only that , but it brought the presence of Jesus to men who had reached the final hours of their lives: men so sick and so destitute that they were beyond recovery. This little Bible was confiscated by the Japanese at the time of surrender; but miraculously, it was returned to Mel. On its second page, it bears the stamp of the Japanese Imperial Army censor, with a date line inserted, and it is a sacred keepsake today.
Houston Baptist University has a Bible Museum. If you will scroll down this post, you will find an article entitled "A Veteren's Day Look at Soldier Bibles" that discusses them in earlier wars.
See also this history of the Pocket New Testament League.
And find the pocket New Testament reference in this amazing story of WW II.
Mel enlisted in the Army on 17 May, 1941,.at Fargo, N.D. He chose a warm part of the world, in contrast to the frigid temperatures of Alaska, in which to serve, and the Philippine Islands over the Panama Canal Zone. Since he had been driving a big Caterpillar tractor in his farm work, he figured that he would be qualified for operating a tank. At Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, Minn., Mel was sworn into the Army. Mel and some other recruits attended a service at a nearby Methodist Church. Each young man was presented a pocket-sized New Testament. This little book was a divine gift, with a significance far beyond expectations. It sustained Mel through all his trials in the coming years. Not only that , but it brought the presence of Jesus to men who had reached the final hours of their lives: men so sick and so destitute that they were beyond recovery. This little Bible was confiscated by the Japanese at the time of surrender; but miraculously, it was returned to Mel. On its second page, it bears the stamp of the Japanese Imperial Army censor, with a date line inserted, and it is a sacred keepsake today.
Houston Baptist University has a Bible Museum. If you will scroll down this post, you will find an article entitled "A Veteren's Day Look at Soldier Bibles" that discusses them in earlier wars.
See also this history of the Pocket New Testament League.
And find the pocket New Testament reference in this amazing story of WW II.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Two Items of Evidence for Our's Once Being a Christian Nation
Among my mother's things, she left a pocket New Testament that my dad carried during WW II when he was in the Navy. My mother said that the government gave one of these to each service man and woman. The first page of this little book has the heading "The White House - Washington" and this message:
As Commander-in-Chief I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspirition. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest inspirations of the human soul.
This page bears the facsimile signature of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
At the back of the New Testament, the little book contains the Ten Commandments, and "Psalms, Prayers, and Hymns", including Psalms 19, 23, 24, 27, 46, 51, 91, and 121, The Lord's Prayer, A Prayer on Going into Battle, A Prayer for Loved Ones, A Prayer for a Pure Heart, A Prayer of Thanksgiving, Washington's Prayer for the Nation, A Prayer of Penitence, and hymns, Our God, Our Help; Lead On, O King Eternal; Onward Christian Solders; Faith of Our Fathers; Eternal Father, Strong to Save; How Firm a Foundation; Rock of Ages; Abide with Me; Now the Day is Over; America the Beautiful; My Country, 'Tis of Thee; the National Anthem. Finally there are two pages entitled "Where to Look" with scriptures. For example, If you are facing a crisis, read the 46th Psalm, page iv.
(As I leafed through this book, looking for notes, I found only one, a little piece of paper at Romans 10 with the citation "Romans 10: 1-10" in my dad's handwriting.)
Looking at this New Testament reminded me of the Bible that I received when I graduated from Duke University in 1968. It is a leather bound, gilt-edged RSV that each graduating senior received on the platform, just before being handed his or her diploma and shaking the president's hand. The first page of the Bible has a copy of the old Duke official seal at the top. The seal is circular with a cross prominent in the middle. The base of the cross appears to be the top of a mountain, perhaps Calvary, and the sun's rays blaze from behind. Along the circumference are the words Universitas Dukiana and Eruditio et Religio.
Below the seal are the words "presented to __________________ upon graduation from Duke University [class of] 1968. Below that inscription is the following:
THE AIMS of Duke University are to assert a faith in the eternal union of knowledge and religion set forth in the teachings and character of Jesus Christ, the son of God; to advance learning in all lines of truth; to defend scholarship against all false notions and ideals; to develop a Christian love of freedom and truth; to promote a sincere spirit of tolerance; to discourage all partisan and sectarian strife; and to render the largest permanent service to the individual, the state, the nation, and the church. Unto these ends shall the affairs of this University always be administered.
As Commander-in-Chief I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspirition. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest inspirations of the human soul.
This page bears the facsimile signature of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
At the back of the New Testament, the little book contains the Ten Commandments, and "Psalms, Prayers, and Hymns", including Psalms 19, 23, 24, 27, 46, 51, 91, and 121, The Lord's Prayer, A Prayer on Going into Battle, A Prayer for Loved Ones, A Prayer for a Pure Heart, A Prayer of Thanksgiving, Washington's Prayer for the Nation, A Prayer of Penitence, and hymns, Our God, Our Help; Lead On, O King Eternal; Onward Christian Solders; Faith of Our Fathers; Eternal Father, Strong to Save; How Firm a Foundation; Rock of Ages; Abide with Me; Now the Day is Over; America the Beautiful; My Country, 'Tis of Thee; the National Anthem. Finally there are two pages entitled "Where to Look" with scriptures. For example, If you are facing a crisis, read the 46th Psalm, page iv.
(As I leafed through this book, looking for notes, I found only one, a little piece of paper at Romans 10 with the citation "Romans 10: 1-10" in my dad's handwriting.)
Looking at this New Testament reminded me of the Bible that I received when I graduated from Duke University in 1968. It is a leather bound, gilt-edged RSV that each graduating senior received on the platform, just before being handed his or her diploma and shaking the president's hand. The first page of the Bible has a copy of the old Duke official seal at the top. The seal is circular with a cross prominent in the middle. The base of the cross appears to be the top of a mountain, perhaps Calvary, and the sun's rays blaze from behind. Along the circumference are the words Universitas Dukiana and Eruditio et Religio.
Below the seal are the words "presented to __________________ upon graduation from Duke University [class of] 1968. Below that inscription is the following:
THE AIMS of Duke University are to assert a faith in the eternal union of knowledge and religion set forth in the teachings and character of Jesus Christ, the son of God; to advance learning in all lines of truth; to defend scholarship against all false notions and ideals; to develop a Christian love of freedom and truth; to promote a sincere spirit of tolerance; to discourage all partisan and sectarian strife; and to render the largest permanent service to the individual, the state, the nation, and the church. Unto these ends shall the affairs of this University always be administered.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Yes, of course, feel free to question my sanity.
I have several weeks been trying to get my lawnmower to work. This is the one I bought about a year ago that has an electric starter. Well, the electric starter went South some months ago, but it had a back up pull cord that worked OK for awhile. Now the thing just won't start. I've changed the oil, changed the spark plug (twice). Today I will empty the gasoline tank with the old fuel and put in some gasoline fresh from the service station, to see if stale fuel is the problem. I fear stale gas is not the problem (at least not with the lawn mower), and I will have to take the mower to the shop. That will cost not only money but a lot of time.
As I was dealing with this problem yesterday, I remembered a Glenn Reynolds post about his purchasing a push mower. Great idea! No gas, no spark plug, no oil, no noise. So off I went to Home Depot and bought one.
Fortunately, it was quite late in the day when I brought the box with it home (oh, so light!), assembled the handle and connected it tothe base unit (oh, a marvel of engineering!), and started to push. And push. And push. Ugh! It was hard! But the sun was on its way down, and so I soon had to stop. That was a good thing, because it was a work out. I should have gotten ready with a strict, six-month kettle bell regimen. But I didn't.
Maybe it will rain today.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Prayer Request: Debbie Newman
This came to me via email this morning from Adrianna, one of the women in our church. We have an email/telephone "prayer chain" and this is part of it. (I added the links.)
Please pray for Debbie Newman, a 37 yr. old mother of 2, a 7 year old boy and teenage girl. She was recently bitten in the neck by a Brown Recluse Spider, had surgery yesterday and now today was diagnosed with a type of staph infection that has only a 20% chance of survival. The poison of the Brown Recluse is deadly enough and they may not have gotten out all the flesh and muscle that have the poison but now this deadly staph infection is added to the threat of the poison. Debbie is a life-long friend of my daughter, Joelle, and our family has know her since she was a child. She has always lived in Miami Springs. The spider that bit her was in her back yard in Miami Springs on Truxton Av. Pray for her, her children and then be careful. I had no idea these spiders were here in Miami.
UPDATE: Adrianna reports:
Sunday [Debbie] began responding to the antibiotics, they were planning surgery this morning [Monday] to remove more flesh, but when they saw she started to respond, they cancelled the surgery. This also means the antibotics are actually working on the Mercer Staph infection, as well.
Thanks for the prayer!
Please pray for Debbie Newman, a 37 yr. old mother of 2, a 7 year old boy and teenage girl. She was recently bitten in the neck by a Brown Recluse Spider, had surgery yesterday and now today was diagnosed with a type of staph infection that has only a 20% chance of survival. The poison of the Brown Recluse is deadly enough and they may not have gotten out all the flesh and muscle that have the poison but now this deadly staph infection is added to the threat of the poison. Debbie is a life-long friend of my daughter, Joelle, and our family has know her since she was a child. She has always lived in Miami Springs. The spider that bit her was in her back yard in Miami Springs on Truxton Av. Pray for her, her children and then be careful. I had no idea these spiders were here in Miami.
UPDATE: Adrianna reports:
Sunday [Debbie] began responding to the antibiotics, they were planning surgery this morning [Monday] to remove more flesh, but when they saw she started to respond, they cancelled the surgery. This also means the antibotics are actually working on the Mercer Staph infection, as well.
Thanks for the prayer!
"If she had done a miserable job as dean, MIT might have been more forgiving,"
MIT recently fired its admissions director, someone who had worked there successfully for 28 years, because she had falsely claimed when she first came to work that she had three degrees. James Taranto comments with his usual dry wit on that and the value generally of a college education.
For those interested in the Griggs vs. Duke Power Co. case that Toranto cites, you can find it here.
Toranto didn't finish high school, much less college.
Some of the dumbest people I know went to good schools, Some of the smartest either never went to college or didn't finish.
For those interested in the Griggs vs. Duke Power Co. case that Toranto cites, you can find it here.
Toranto didn't finish high school, much less college.
Some of the dumbest people I know went to good schools, Some of the smartest either never went to college or didn't finish.
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