What's a blidget?

A blidget is a BLog wIDGET ... BL____IDGET ... blidget. Displays a blog feed in a java applet.

Build one at www.widgetbox.com.

It looks like the picture above. I put mine at www.jrpeet.com.

Conservative voices on immigration bill

Comprehensively Bad: Faux immigration reform

Excerpt:

What the American people have “wanted for a long time” in the five and half years since 9/11 is for the Bush administration to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to “provide for the common defense” by securing the borders and interior of the United States of America — in this solemn duty the administration has failed miserably.


Practical Compromise

Excerpt:

How can we think of reforming something called Section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to solve our problems with absorbing 12 million illegal aliens when we have yet to solidify the southern border? That’s what irks about the long, Rube Goldbergian machinations of the proposed law. We can’t even make the current one work.


Myth Monopoly - Misleading amnesty advocacy

Excerpt:

The ease with which people can move back and forth between the United States and Mexico — as contrasted with those who made a one-way trip across the Atlantic in earlier times — reduces still further the likelihood that these new immigrants will assimilate and become an integral part of the American society as readily as many earlier immigrants did.

Claims that the new immigration bill will have “tough” requirements, including learning English, have little credibility in view of the way existing laws are not being enforced. What does “learning English” mean? I can say arrivederci and buongiorno but does that mean that I speak Italian?

Comment: I agreed the least with the above article!

Deliberating Senators - An immigration-bill honor roll.

Comment: Good Senatorial quotes!

Immigration inconsistencies

Excerpt:

Consider the current arguments about the immigration bill. For oh so long, the supporters of the bill have been making two points: 1) It is impossible for the U.S. government to actually identify and round up all the illegals in the country; and, 2) a fence on the border is bound to be ineffective as well as immoral. Indeed opponents of the fence have idiotically compared it to the Berlin Wall — although one protects a free country from illegal intrusion while the other kept enslaved people from escaping their slavery. Now, suddenly, these same people claim that the same previously nitwit bureaucracy will not only be able to find all 12 million (or 20 million) illegals, but will be able to flawlessly run background checks, and to positively identify each individual as well as monitor all American businesses to make sure no new illegals are being hired and the newly legal are in perfect compliance with their limited status.

New immig law? Enforce old ones first

Excerpt:

But do we really need another major law? The Bush administration still hasn't implemented various measures passed by Congress over the past decade and refuses to take other steps that are within its power. Given this neglect, it's hard to justify yet another bill - much less a piece of legislation that will run hundreds pages in its final form - on top of the existing pile. Let's look at a few of the initiatives already on the books that have languished in bureaucratic or political purgatory rather than getting done:

Comment .. read the entire article for the list!

Severe Storms

Storm warnings in effect for Twin Cities area

Excerpt:

An Xcel spokeswoman said power is out for about 12,000 homes in a line between Plymouth and Maple Grove.

Comments:

1. I work downtown on the 14th floor of 100 Washington. We were advised to move away from the West windows (and of course the immediate, human nature reaction was to stand at the windows and look out West at the storm). Ultimately we moved to an inbound area and hung out.
   
2. I called my neighbor who is one house to the South of us, and she is OK. She did go to her basement to wait out the storm.
   

Jerry Falwell - Enter into the joy of your lord

Liberty University police officers carry the coffin of the Rev. Jerry Falwell as Falwell's wife, Macel Falwell, stands next to her son Jonathan Falwell, second from left, and grandson Paul, left, outside the Thomas Road Baptist Church Sunday, May 20, 2007, in Lynchburg, Va. The coffin was moved into the sanctuary where a public viewing took place Sunday afternoon.

Matthew 25:23, "Enter into the joy of your lord"

Farewell

Excerpt:

Nearly 10,000 mourners began arriving as early as 3:30 a.m. After the sanctuary filled, people were directed to overflow seating at Liberty University's football stadium and basketball arena, where images of the funeral were beamed in.

Dishwasher Pete

Everything and the Kitchen Sink: The Memoir of a Dishwasher

Books
Everything and the Kitchen Sink: The Memoir of a Dishwasher
By CHARLES McGRATH
Published: May 23, 2007
Pete Jordan washes dishes across the country in his new book, “Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All 50 States.”

Excerpt:

Mr. Jordan grew up one of seven children in a San Francisco family that didn’t own a dishwashing machine. His father thought he should finish college, and for a while couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge his son’s profession, which in an opinion survey of job desirability, Mr. Jordan points out, then ranked 735th out of 740. Only envelope stuffer, prostitute, drug dealer, fortuneteller and beggar were lower.

Comment: I doubt I read the book, but the article is interesting. I'm not sure why someone this sharp is satisfied with this career! The following answers this question:

Stretches of “Dishwasher” read like a slacker’s idyll. Mr. Jordan is seldom without a girlfriend, and there are countless couches where he is welcome to crash. But some of his slackerdom is notional, even though to this day he claims, “I obviously would prefer not to work, and I think I proved that on plenty of occasions.”


Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States

Comment: I would pay a couple of bucks for this book (used only)!

For the Love of a Good Burger

Comment: Like the juxtaposition of this article by the vegan article? They call that "editorial policy"!

For the Love of a Good Burger

The Minimalist
For the Love of a Good Burger
By MARK BITTMAN
Published: May 23, 2007
It’s almost as easy to cook a really great burger as it is to cook a mediocre one.

Comment: My wife makes great hamburgers. She puts sun dried tomatoes and onions in them! Stone ground mustard is an essential condiment!

Death by Veganism

Death by Veganism

Op-Ed Contributor
Death by Veganism
By NINA PLANCK
Published: May 21, 2007
You cannot create and nourish a robust baby merely on foods from plants.

Excerpt:

Indigenous cuisines offer clues about what humans, naturally omnivorous, need to survive, reproduce and grow: traditional vegetarian diets, as in India, invariably include dairy and eggs for complete protein, essential fats and vitamins. There are no vegan societies for a simple reason: a vegan diet is not adequate in the long run.

My view: Less meat is good ... no meat is bad!

Freedom Rock

Freedom Rock

Ray (Bubba) Sorensen II

Excerpt:

Every year, for the last five years, a talented artist, Ray (Bubba) Sorensen II, has done a Memorial Day tribute to our servicemen and servicewomen, both past and present, with a stirring tableau painted on a large granite boulder which stands next to Highway 25. The huge granite boulder came out of the nearby Schillberg Rock Quarry and it weighs approx. 56 ton (50.8Mg) and is 12 ft (3.7m) high.

For years this boulder was known as "the graffiti rock" and was decorated for high school rivalries, love interests, etc. Since the Memorial Day paintings began, the "rock" has remained with the annual tribute intact.

Comment: I hope to visit this someday. It is S/SW of Des Moines

Artist's tribute has become sacred to vets

Excerpt:

Ray "Bubba" Sorensen wanted to quit years ago, but there he was turning up again and again at a 56-ton boulder to paint murals of the sacrifices of America's servicemembers.

For nine years, he has painted on the boulder, called "Freedom Rock." It has made him a celebrity in this swath of central Iowa farm country and has become a Memorial Day tradition that draws thousands of people.

"I'm thanking these guys who signed up to do a job no one else wants to do," says the 27-year-old graphic artist from Ames, Iowa, whose idea began with a spurt of patriotism after watching the movie Saving Private Ryan.

Before Sorensen began painting murals each May, the boulder about 40 miles west of Des Moines on an empty stretch of Highway 25 was covered with graffiti.

The Tree of Knowledge

Hans Sebald Beham's Portrayal of the Tree of Knowledge

The nature and significancy of the tree of knowledge of good and evil are not so clear. By the tree of knowledge, indeed, it is altogether probable, we are to understand a tree the fruit of which would impart knowledge. This may be inferred:

1. From analogy As the tree of life sustained or imparted life, so the tree of knowledge was appointed to communicate knowledge.
   
2. From the suggestion of the tempter, who assured the woman that eating of the fruit of that tree would open her eyes.
   
3. She so understood the designation, for she regarded the tree as desirable to render wise.
   
4. The effect of eating of the forbidden fruit was that the eyes of the transgressors were opened.
   
5. And in the twenty-second verse, we read that God said of fallen man, “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.” Unless this be understood ironically, which in this connection seems altogether unnatural, it must mean that Adam had, by eating the forbidden fruit, attained a knowledge in some respects analogous to the knowledge of God, however different in its nature and effects.
   

This, therefore, seems plain from the whole narrative, that the tree of knowledge was a tree the fruit of which imparted knowledge. Not indeed from any inherent virtue, it may be, in the tree itself, but from the appointment of God. It is not necessary to suppose that the forbidden fruit had the power to corrupt either the corporeal or moral nature of man, and thus produce the experimental knowledge of good and evil. All that the text requires is that knowledge followed the eating of that fruit.

The words “good and evil” in this connection admit of three interpretations.

1. In the first place, in Scripture, the ignorance of infancy is sometimes expressed by saying that a child cannot tell its right hand from its left; sometimes by saying, that he cannot discern between the evil and the good. Thus in Deut. i. 39, it is said, “Your children . . . had no knowledge between good and evil,” and in Is. vii. 16, “Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good.” On the other hand maturity, whether in intellectual or spiritual knowledge, is expressed by saying that one has power to distinguish between good and evil. Thus the perfect or mature believer has his “senses exercised to discern both good and evil,” Heb. v. 14. Agreeably to the analogy of these passages, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, is simply the tree of knowledge. The one expression is fully equivalent to the other. This interpretation relieves the passage of many difficulties. It is sustained also by the language of Eve, who said it was a tree desirable to make wise. Before he sinned, Adam had the ignorance of happiness and innocence. The happy do not know what sorrow is, and the innocent do not know what sin is. When he ate of the forbidden tree he attained a knowledge he never had before.
   
2. But, in the second place the words, “good and evil” may be taken in a moral sense. If this is so, the meaning cannot be that the fruit of that tree was to lead Adam to a knowledge of the distinction between right and wrong, and thus awaken his dormant moral nature. That knowledge he must have had from the beginning, and was a good not to be prohibited. Some suppose that by the knowledge of good and evil is meant the knowledge of what things are good and what are evil. This is a point determined for us by the revealed will of God. Whatever He commands is good, and what. ever He forbids is evil. The question is determined by authority. We cannot answer it from the nature of things, nor by considerations of expediency. Instead of submitting to the authority or Jew of God as the rule of duty, it is assumed that Adam aspired to know for himself what was good and what evil. It was emancipation from the trammels of authority that he sought. To this however, it may be objected that this was not the knowledge which he attained by eating the forbidden fruit. He was told that his eyed should be opened, that he should know good and evil; and his eyes were opened; the promised knowledge was attained. That knowledge, however, was not the ability to determine for himself between right and wrong. He had less of that knowledge after than before his fall.
   
3. In the third place, “good and evil” may be taken in a physical sense, for happiness and misery. Eating of the forbidden tree was to determine the question of Adam's being happy or miserable. It led to an experimental knowledge of the difference. God knew the nature and effects of evil from his omniscience. Adam could know them only from experience, and that knowledge he gained when he sinned.

Whichever of these particular interpretations be adopted, they all are included in the general statement that the tree of knowledge gave Adam a knowledge which he had not before; he came to an experimental knowledge of the difference between good and evil.


Hodge v 2 p. 125

---

Happenings:

1. Impala sunroof was repaired. The switch had failed (short). Village Chevrolet replaced for free even though the Impala is past the warranty mileage by 7,000 miles.
   
2. Kathee and I commenced Ruth tonight and read chapters 1 & 2
   

Experimenting

I added a widget from www.widgetbox.com in the right panel of my blog.

The widget displays an image of a random front page from any number of newspapers from www.newspaperindex.com

I emphasize that I am experimenting. My Yahoo feed of the stock market quit working and I wanted to add some content on the right. One concern I have is that some newspaper front pages may be offensive (not only to my readers .. but also for me!)

So I am going to give this a try for a couple of days. Feel free to provide feedback - even of the negative kind!

Finished on time ... but ...

Now, Pawlenty holds the cards

Excerpt:

The 2007 legislative session lurched Monday night to one of the most unusual finishes in memory, leaving Gov. Tim Pawlenty to decide single-handedly whether it succeeded or faltered.

Lacking the overall agreement that typically provides the guardrails for last-minute bill passage, legislators voted on major budget bills Monday without knowing whether Pawlenty would veto those bills and possibly call the Legislature back into special session.

Comments:

1. My Son commented the other night that the Minnesota law makers are really hard working people ... working into the night.
   
2. My response was that the Minnesota Legislature is like a procrastinating student that works into the night to complete assignments that are past due. Case to point: The DFL (Democrat Farm Labor party) wasted valuable time passing tax bills that they knew the Governor would veto.
   
3. Governor Pawlenty is a man of his word: "No new taxes". That is why his popularity rating in recent polls is over 55% favorable.
   
4. How does the public view the performance of the MN Legislature? Check it out here. Last time I checked 63% had the view that the Legislature (lead by the majority DFL in both bodies!) "did a lousy job". I agree completely!
   

The unwitting florist

A update on Flower, Limo, Bank Robbery:

Florist still amazed she was unwitting part of bank robbery

Excerpt:

Weddings and proms make spring weekends at Maria Donato's flower shop a hectic place.

So when a man called with a delivery order just after 9 a.m. Saturday, Maria said she didn't have time.

"It was a busy, busy day," Maria said.

The man, who said his name was Joe Larson, insisted, even offering a $50 tip.

European Pine Sawfly

Finally ... a name to the nasty bugs that afflict our 2 evergreens. We have them under control (dead) this year. Kathee powdered our evergreens first thing this year when she saw them. Until today, when I saw this article on WCCO, we did not know what they were.

University of Illinois - Bug Review: European Pine Sawfly

Excerpt:

Larvae hatch in early May from overwintering eggs that were laid in crescent shaped slits in the needles of conifers. Nearly all species of pine may be attacked, including Scots, Mugho, Red, Jack and Swiss Mountain. They begin to feed on old foliage and usually consume only the epidermis of the needles, leaving the core to dry and remain attached. The larvae are gregarious and feed in groups. For protection, they will rear their heads when disturbed. Larvae are found from early May to mid June and then drop to the ground to spin a small brown cocoon.

Comment: These things are really gross! Kathee kills 'em! (Fortunately they do not infect our two Colorado spruces!)

The Tree of Life

The Fall of Man by Lukas Cranach

According to the sacred narrative, there were two trees standing side by side in the garden of Eden which had a peculiar symbolical or sacramental character. The one was called the Tree of Life, the other the Tree of Knowledge. The former was the symbol of life, and its fruit was not to be eaten except on the condition of man's retaining his integrity. Whether the fruit of that tree had inherent virtue to impart life, i.e., to sustain the body of man in its youthful vigour and beauty, or gradually to refine it until it should become like to what the glorified body of Christ now is, or whether the connection between eating its fruit and immortality was simply conventional and sacramental, we cannot determine. It is enough to know that partaking of that tree secured in some way the enjoyment of eternal life. That this was the fact is plain, not only because man after his transgression was driven from paradise “lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” (Gen. iii. 22); but also because Christ is called the Tree of Life. He is so called because that tree was typical of Him, and the analogy is, that as He is the source of life, spiritual and eternal, to his people, so that tree was appointed to be the source of life to the first parents of our race and to all their descendants, had they not rebelled against God. Our Lord promises (Rev. ii. 7) to give to them who overcome, to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. In heaven there is said (Rev. xxii. 2) to be a tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations; and again (verse 14), “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” The symbolical and typical import of the tree of life is thus clear. As paradise was the type of heaven, so the tree which would have secured immortal life to obedient Adam in that terrestrial paradise is the type of Him who is the source of spiritual and eternal life to his people in the paradise above.

Hodge v 2 p. 124

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Happenings:

1. Rachel called to say she arrived safely in London.
   
2. Kathee and I completed the book of Judges - tomorrow we commence Ruth
   
3. Allstate issue still unresolved (roof claim). I need a check!
   
4. We have our Impala at Village Chevrolet for service.
   
5. Roger home from work and is out running!
   
6. Work: I looked at the web statistics for my company (internal only) Intranet site. We average 500 hits a week.
   

A Memorial Day Message from John Edwards

Message to America: Respect Memorial Day, by National Commander Paul A. Morin

Excerpt:

That’s because this column is about Memorial Day, a hallowed day that should be about honoring the more than one million men and women who died in the service of this nation in wars and conflicts dating back to 1775. It should be above politics. Period.

Yet one presidential candidate has blatantly violated the sanctity of this most special day. I recently received an e-mail from a group called “Supportthetroopsendthewar.com.” It included a video of former Sen. John Edwards. He calls on Americans to use Memorial Day weekend as a time to “bring an end to this war.” Shockingly, the video is titled “A Memorial Day Message from John Edwards,” with the smoking gun note, “Paid for by John Edwards for President.” Moreover, the e-mail recommends that Americans bring signs with the message “Support the troops, End the War” to local Memorial Day parades. Revolting is a kind word for it. It’s as inappropriate as a political bumper sticker on an Arlington headstone.

Edwards is hardly the first politician from either political party to exploit this day, a holiday that was consecrated with the blood of American heroes. But the e-mail makes me sick nonetheless. It needs to stop. This isn’t about Edwards, it’s about everybody. As national commander of The American Legion, I implore all candidates to refrain from politicking on Memorial Day.

The families of those killed in war should not be led to believe that their loved ones died for a less-than-worthy cause. They died because they took an oath to defend this nation and its Constitution. The sacrifice is the same whether it’s for a “popular war” or an unpopular one. Memorial Day should be an occasion to bring Americans together to honor these heroes.

Comments: Good read and a reminder that soldiers go where their country sends them! A close relative of mine was opposed to the Iraq war, but volunteered to go with his fellow Marines! Consider my earlier post on Sgt. Allen J. Dunckley. His funeral will be this Thursday (May 24th). He leaves a young wife, Jen; and two young children, Joshua (3) and Hanna (2). He was just 25!

Memorial Day commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. On Memorial Day remember him and others like him who have so sacrificed. And forget John Edwards!

Note to self ... I don't have a commercial kitchen

At breakfast today, Beloved Spouse (Kathee) questioned me about the height of the coffee maker that I ordered yesterday.

Wow ... didn't think about that!

She measured the undercabinet height and it is 17". I checked the coffee maker height ... 17.8". Panic set in!

Thankfully I was able to cancel the order and I ordered another Bunn ... an A10. Still "commercial" quality. But shorter.

Here's a picture of the A10:



Speaking of A10's - this is what I normally associate with A10!



A10 Warthog

What kind of plane is this?

I first read about it today: here and here.

End of an era at 4th Baptist Church

Today was the final Sunday for Pastor Douglas McLachlan at Fourth Baptist Church.

Today Pastor and Marie were honored for their 18 years of service at our Church. They really ministered to Kathee and me and will be greatly missed!

Expensive coffee makers

Mr Coffee

One year ago (almost to the week), I bought the most expensive coffee maker we have ever owned. After 33 years of marriage we have had (it seems) probably a dozen coffee pots.

Our first one was a wedding present - a Corning Ware Floral Bouquet Electromatic Percolator. (For those who would like a nostalgic coffee maker ... search Ebay!) We actually had more than one of these ... as the handles kept breaking. I think we had three of these before we moved away from percolated coffee and moved up to drip coffee makers.

Corning Ware Electromatic Percolator

We have had between half a dozen and 10 (per the wife) drip coffee makers. They seem to last about a year or two. Sometimes the carafe breaks ... and a replacement carafe is not available, or costs more than replacing the entire coffee maker, etc. We've typically paid between $ 20 and $ 30 for these machines.

Last year, I bought a Mr. Coffee expensive coffee maker! The last one I would need for a long time. No more el-cheapo ones! I spent approximately $ 60. at Target for this one (illustrated above). It died today. What happened? My enterprising son took the bottom off to figure it out. There is a red hose that connects to a nipple. But the nipple is tucked way up inside the machine. No way to reach fingers up to reconnect. Just pushing the hose up against the nipple wouldn't do it ... it just kept slipping off. So today the made-in-China, semi-expensive Mr. Coffee went in the trash.

We have a French press hand coffee maker. This is labor intensive but makes great coffee: not much of it ... but enough for 2. Kathee made French press for us after dinner.

Meanwhile I am moving on up to a Bunn commercial coffee maker!. I figure if these are good enough for the rigors of my company's break room, one will be good enough for my kitchen. I'll let you know.

Bunn VP171

Required classroom viewing? X 4!

So how did it become required classroom viewing?

Excerpt:

First it was his world history class. Then he saw it in his economics class. And his world issues class. And his environment class. In total, 18-year-old McKenzie, a Northern Ontario high schooler, says he has had the film An Inconvenient Truth shown to him by four different teachers this year.

"I really don't understand why they keep showing it," says McKenzie

McKenzie says he has educated himself enough about both sides of the climate- change controversy to know that the Al Gore movie is too one-sided to be taught as fact. Even scientists who back Mr. Gore's message admit they're uncomfortable with liberties the politician takes with "science" in the film. But, McKenzie says most of his classmates are credulous. His teachers are not much more discerning. "They don't know there's another side to the argument," he says.

Comment: I congratulate McKenzie for being bright enough to know that Gore's film and views are pseudo-science!