My Own Thoughts

Times-Picayune news on all Katrina-effected areas. Obviously their focus in New Orleans, but they’re writing. Updates about every half hour. Superdome folks moving to the Astrodome. No electricity for 16 weeks. No going home for that long. Dry areas will be flooded soon because of the levee break which is not taking the planned repairing. [...]

“Iraq: About 650 die in stampede spurred by rumors of bomber Terrorism creates more terror. Now, here’s an assignment for all you moral equivalence advocates. Please compile a list similar to the one below of similar bombings and other attacks taking place in and around churches since 1980. The shootings by Muslims in Pakistani churches, [...]

The LA governor has announced a Day of Prayer. “As we face the devastation wrought by Katrina, as we search for those in need, as we comfort those in pain and as we begin the long task of rebuilding, we turn to God for strength, hope and comfort. “I have declared August 31, 2005, a [...]

I mentioned before that 1/3 of medical studies are wrong. Turns out there is less than a 50% chance that a scientific paper is true. This is significant because a paper is what scientists publish in journals to give the information from their studies. And these papers are what the next person relies on to [...]

“However, did you know that WMD were found in Iraq? Not just a couple…but lots of them.” A mother who lost her son in Iraq was interviewed on Fox News had this to say: “I have seen photos of entire fighter jets buried in the sand. I have seen pictures of entire caches of weapons [...]

When my wife and I first met, she asked me what I did for a living. I explained that I was a software engineer. She was impressed, and assumed that it was a very difficult job, requiring exceptional skill. I told her that I thought you could almost teach chimpanzees to do it. I was [...]

I’ve seen the idea on Intellecutelle. List movie quotes that have become a part of your family’s vocabulary. “My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” “I do not think it means what you think it means.” “My precious.” (Which weirds me out when my youngest does it.)

Smokers have a typical personality. Extrovert, into risk, impulsive, gets angry easily, likes parties, has many friends to talk to, has sex more often (40% more often in college)… They are indifferent to others’ opinions and they are defiant. Just the kind of person an adolescent would be attracted to. And just the kind of [...]

This post is going to be in draft mode until my husband finishes the book. It is his book and I really shouldn’t be reading it. In 17 years together, I have only read two of his books before he read it. Once without his permission. Which I haven’t done again until this one. And [...]

I recognized this word when Stephen J. Cannell used it and I understood what it meant. But today, when I mentioned it in class, I could not remember what it meant. So… Here’s the definition. To tear or wear off the skin of; abrade. To censure strongly; denounce: an editorial that excoriated the administration for [...]

Matthew Yglesias writes that the economy is atrocious. He bases this, in part, on on this article which says that poverty has risen for the fourth year in a row. I went and read the article. It included some positive points. “Commerce Department spokeswoman E.R. Anderson said they mirror a trend in the ’80s and [...]

Archaeologists investigating an ancient hospital site founded by Augustinian monks about 845 years ago have found evidence that they used to chew on the bitter vetch plant to stave off hunger pains. …After months of research and excavation experts have identified the remains of plant tubers belonging to lathyrus linifolius, the bitter vetch plant, in [...]

Rather than waiting for a troubled school district to fix itself, nearly a dozen housing developers in Aurora are taking matters into their own hands, proposing a network of specialized schools – maybe even their own district – to lure tens of thousands of suburban homeowners. …Experts say it has the potential to drastically recast [...]

My baby sister wrecked my dad’s RV, so she called me and asked if I could pick her up this morning and take her home. So I did. I got up before I would normally have to, drove my car over there, picked her up, took her to her house across town (62 miles), and [...]

Starting with why a church should have multiple services this article rafts through a variety of topics. Under “Padded Cow” came a discussion of children’s classrooms at church. As you walk in the building, you quickly spy the “launch zone.” Mom checks you in, you get a name tag, and then you hop onto a [...]

A citizen of the United States is a native-born, foreign-born, or naturalized person who owes allegiance to the United States and who is entitled to its protection. — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. America has been invaded by an army of illegal aliens who are quickly gaining more rights than Americans. Last week in Arizona, [...]

A great post on the history of mathematics, numbering came through India to Arabia then to us, and the concept of zero is found at Impearls.

Homeschooling this year is being done according to a syllabus. The hope is that each of the boys will know exactly what they have to do. It will also encourage me to keep them on track so we don’t spend the summer playing catch up. Hopefully, it will also encourage R to participate in homeschooling [...]

A man was stabbing a woman in Wal-Mart. Another man shot the bad guy. The bad guy’s dead. The woman may live. Did you read that anywhere in the news? I didn’t. The Smallest Minority has the story.

We prayed in church this morning for the people in the path of the hurricane and the city of New Orleans. I want God to cup his hands and send those fierce winds somewhere else– into water and not land. As Jesus said on the Sea of Galilee, I want God to say, “Peace. Be [...]