Mark's Notebook


	Only a mediocre person is always at his best. - W. Somerset Maugham

20041022b.src0100600001266300000360000000233610163463241011455 0ustar markbuserOne Person's Treasure

... is just another's blog

Friday 22 October 2004, 5:31 pm
Keywords: Christian Topics

What can you expect to find here?

Of course, this is the place where I'll share the details about my accident, surgery, hospital stay, and convalescence. But there are lots of other things to share also.

It seems that others use this kind of forum to share web links, and mine will be no different. I already have a list of almost 1000 excellent links to share, but this forum will let me show you the best of the best.

You'll find ideas about the web, computer usability, Macintosh and Palm, nonfiction books, faith, theology, and church history.

Oops ... forgot also to mention that there will be a lot of discussion of music and dancing! Doh!

Hopefully you'll find that Jesus is at the center of our lives and that affects our outlook on many things. And we're constantly growing, hence changing. Hopefully you'll see that different ideas can be explored in a way that is curious, logical, and allows for change over time. To grow in a healthy fashion, one must be open to new ideas, but discerning enough to reject bad ideas. Growing in Christ is a daily process of learning more about him. Maybe we can all learn together.

20041023a.src0100600001266300000360000000472510163461666011472 0ustar markbuserHometown Boy Falls From Bicycle, Scores Guest Appearance On "ER"

1098581208 Accident, Favorite, Humor

San Jose - Tuesday October 12, 2004

Milpitas resident Mark "Mixed-Up" Brautigam fell from his bicycle Tuesday near the DMV office in Willow Glen, and was whisked by paramedics to San Jose Hospital for treatment of a hip fracture.

After falling, the intrepid cyclist first called his wife Mary, then called 911, and was able to make one last quick call to Calvary Chapel San Jose before his cell phone battery gave up the ghost. At CCSJ, Mr. Brautigam contacted Kathy Acomb, who immediately organized a prayer watch for the weekly Tuesday evening men's and women's bible studies.

After hauling himself to the sidewalk, but unable to stand, Mr. Brautigam ventured back into the street to retrieve his bicycle, which was hindering traffic. The blocked SUV was driven by a soccer mom, who didn't bother to call 911 because she was late for practice.

Regarding the injured cyclist, Willow Glen merchant E. B. White said, "He's a doofus." Local resident Charles Parham said "He's always been a klutz." Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel was reported to have said, "These older guys just have to realize they can't do these tricks forever. At some point they have to make way for the younger folks to take over." Elderly resident Joseph Smith said, "These crazy guys just barrel through here like a bat out of a deep place, knocking everyone else over. He deserved what he got."

The 48 year old Mr. Brautigam, who was going over 2 MPH at the time of the fall, said, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Paramedics said the cyclist's injuries looked like bruises but no broken bones. But they took Mr. Brautigam to the San Jose Hospital emergency room, where x-rays revealed a fracture in the neck of the femur. Surgery commenced at 7:00 pm. After being administered a spinal injection, Mr. Brautigam's next words were reportedly "Ow! Ow! Ow!" as surgeons began to slice into the hip muscle. In response to this unforeseen circumstance and the patient's constant humorous chatting with the operating room staff, the doctors administered general anesthesia in order to shut him up.

The patient emerged two and a half hours later with enough titanium in his hip to trip every airport security system between here and Toronto.

Recent word from Hollywood is that Mr. Brautigam's nude scenes on "ER" were left on the cutting room floor. Fortunate indeed.

20041023b.src0100600001266300000360000000173210163461167011462 0ustar markbuserMaybe you should sell your bike on ebay (a reader response) 1098586224 Accident, Favorite, Humor

This response from Paul Gaboury:

Hey Mark that sounds like a horrible and painful accident. When I was 65 my dad advised me i was too old to do my lifestyle and slow down. Not knowing how old you are am unable offer clinical advice. At 75 I retired from hockey when had hip replacement but that was a piece of cake and no pain whatsoever. At 81 quit skiing as couldn't balance--for instance today at 89 walked into a door opening, scraped off a typical elbow scab and bled all over looking for bandaids. Have quit my golf club and square dancing but Dale and I enthused over ballroom dancing--class lessons twice a week, and we go to black tie supper dances once a month.

So think about it. Maybe you should sell your bike on ebay and concentrate on your dancing. Somewhat safer.

Say hi to Mary for us.

Paul

Mark says:

Paul, thanks for the best chuckle I've had all week!

20041024a.src0100600001266300000360000000051210147745276011465 0ustar markbuserLink: Prayer and Intercession

1098669671 Christian

My friend Eddie Noragong put together this neat site about prayer and intercession. There is so much here I can't explain it all. Lots of links. The focus of the site is to spur revival by promoting personal and corporate prayer.

www.justpray.net

20041025a.src0100600001266300000360000000712110163461145011455 0ustar markbuserUpdate: Paraguay

1098721977 Christian

My brother in law and his wife are missionaries in Paraguay. Here is their latest newsletter.

-----

Paraguay
October 2004

October 17 we finished our 40 Days of Purpose campaign at the San Lorenzo church. We want to share some of the exciting things that happened during our journey.

Ramon and Teresa belong to a large, organized religious group in the city. They began attending a small group for the 40 Days and faithfully read their book, A Purpose Driven Life, each day. As the 40 days progressed, they came to realize that the group they belonged to was not teaching the Bible. They were told by their leaders that the Bible is a mystical book, and only their leaders can interpret it. Through the 40 Days, Ramon and Teresa learned "...because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven..." Matthew 13:11 They now know that they can read the Bible and understand it for themselves.

Macumba is Brazilian black magic commonly practiced here in Paraguay. Another couple that began attending the 40 Days were victims of this, their neighbors were constantly leaving dead animals, and other evidences of curses in front of their home. They could not sleep at night and lived with a constant feeling of anxiety. When they began attending the 40 Days, they accepted Christ and were taught how to resist the powers of the black magic. Since then they rest better and live in Christ's victory.

A 17 year old exchange student began attending the church a week before the 40 Days. We had a book in English which we loaned to her. the first week she accepted Christ and is now being discipled by Melanie. She works with our children's programs and is active in the youth group.

Felipe and his son Alberto bravely opened their home for the 40 Days. Friends and neighbors began attending and the group grew each week. As a result of this outreach, they will be having regular meetings each week in their home, 2 groups for men and one for women.

Jorge and Rosa struggled to make a decision to open their home. In the end, Jorge lead 2 groups, one at his house and another at Rosas sisters home. Now Jorge and Rosa will continue with their groups.

8 small groups were meeting regularly before the 40 Days. 21 small groups are regularly meeting now. Over 70 people accepted Christ for the first time during these meetings and many others were exposed to the gospel.

At a ladies tea after the 40 Days, 8 women accepted Christ. Evidence that the people are understanding the importance of our mission here on earth.

Continue to pray for all of the people mentioned above. Especially for the new believers, that they would continue to baptism and serve the Lord faithfully.

Our next big event is a national missions conference to be held at the San Lorenzo on November 13th. The purpose is to encourage Paraguayans to complete the work of evangelizing Paraguay and to support Latin missions in other countries.

Thanks for all of your prayers and for your faithfulness in giving towards the Great Commission Fund, from which we receive our support. We are working towards finishing construction on the San Lorenzo church before our returning to California in May of 2005. At the moment we are at a standstill because of lack of funds. We need $1000.00 to finish the 3rd floor roof. You can support this effort by giving to our Work Special.

Your servants in Christ,

Bob and Brenda Boston

CC 13173
Shopping del Sol
Asuncion, Paraguay
(595-21-605-648)

The Christian and Missionary Alliance
P.O. Box 35000
Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500

20041026a.src0100600001266300000360000000653010163462466011470 0ustar markbuserBooks I'm Reading Now

1098827035 Christian

I've had a lot of time to read while recuperating. Here are some of the books I've been reading:

American Faith: Its Religious, Political, and Economic Foundations, by Ernest Sutherland Bates, 1940. More information here.
Authentic Christianity, by Ray Stedman.
We Would See Jesus, by Roy Hession.
I Am : The Unveiling of God by Steve Fry.
12 Steps for the Recovering Pharisee (Like Me), by John Fischer.
Through faith alone: 365 devotional readings from Martin Luther, by Martin Luther.
Youth Aflame: Manual for Discipleship, by Winkie Pratney.
Son of Web Pages That Suck: Learn Good Design by Looking at Bad Design, by Vincent Flanders.
A Little Java, A Few Patterns, by Matthias Felleisen and Daniel P. Friedman.
Faith of Our Sons: Voices from the American Homefront -- The Wartime Diary of a Marine's Father, by Frank Schaeffer.

I really like all the books and recordings of John Fischer. In my personal opinion, he is one of the few Christian recording artists who genuinely projects the true gospel in his music. Nothing legalistic, nothing phony, but nothing mushy either. He was trained by Ray Stedman at Peninsula Bible Church back around 1970-1975. The two books have similar content. Fischer's book is about how we can be pharisees without even realizing it, and how we have to decide whether we will judge others and be judged, or let others stand by grace, and so stand by grace ourselves. Stedman's book, an exposition of 2 Corinthians, is how we can start to live in the spirit by acknowledging how much we live in the power of the flesh. In both cases, the first steps are humility and honesty.

Anyway, recently I digitized a set of tapes I made at a Lutheran Youth Alive (LYA) congress in Fresno, California in 1975. John Fischer performed quite a bit at that convention, along with Dennis and Danny Agajanian. Listening to that old music was a freeing experience.

Steve Fry and Winkie Pratney are more voices from my early days. Steve's book is a 40-day devotional, with each day covering one facet of God's character. As with most devotional books, I don't agree with everything he has to say, but most days bring a fresh perspective on something. Winkie's book is quite legalistic, but I figure now's a good time to be reading it, while I'm also reading all the other anti-legalistic books.

Mary gave me Frank Schaeffer's book to read. Her son and her ex-husband recommended it. Mary says it accurately portrays the strong and wide-ranging emotions of one whose child is in the service, especially during wartime. Mary's son Matthew is with the US Marines in Iraq, and it is not easy for us to cope with him being in a dangerous place. I'm reading the book so I can better understand what my wife is going through. I intend to post more information about Matthew over time, or maybe I'll have Mary herself write something up.

I was reading some books on ASP and JSP before the accident, but I don't yet have the concentration to work on those any longer. I get stronger each day, so hopefully I'll be back reading the more technical books soon.

20041027a.src0100600001266300000360000000412410163461676011470 0ustar markbuserDoes God Dance? Nothing but quotes; no original content here. 1098938076 Christian, Favorite

For almost two years, I've used the same "sig" line on my email:

I would believe only in a god who could dance.
 -- Friedrich Nietzsche

I thought this quote appropriate since I am both a Christian and a dancer. It expresses my hope that God might be a dancer also.

Responses to the line have varied. The dancers seemed to love it. Christians were taken aback that I would quote a heathen philosopher. One sincere Christian even sent me a link to a web site about how Nietzsche had started out as a Christian but had wandered from the light into the bleakest darkness. All true, but even that doesn't dilute my own hope that God might be joyous enough to dance, and my hope that in this small way I can reach out to my unsaved dancing friends.

Today I read the most wonderful passages from Steve Fry's devotional book I Am: The Unveiling Of God. The chapter is called "The God Who Celebrates," and here we go:

"God's joy knows no bounds. Zephaniah 3:17 says, "He will rejoice over you with singing." The word joy here is a pretty animated word. In the Hebrew, it literally means "to become excited to the point of dancing in a whirlwind." Most translators have chosen a less vigorous description for our English Bibles because they can't conceive of a God of such emotional intensity.
"We don't trust our emotions and therefore hesitate to ascribe to God any emotional fervor that would smack of imbalance. But in thinking this way about God, we miss one of the most precious attributes of his character -- that he gets so excited about you and me that he exhibitis the kind of joy that can only be captured in the imagery of a whirling dance.
"The Hebrews knew God not just as the God of covenant, but as the God of celebration. Again and again in the Psalms we find exhortations to rejoice. How would we be called to rejoice with such intensity except that God himself rejoices with such intensity?"

This book is worth the price for this one chapter alone.

20041028a.src0100600001266300000360000000111710147745276011473 0ustar markbuserLinks to Christian Sites

1099029458 Christian

I've put together a searchable list of links to Christian sites.

www.mixed-up.com/faith/links.html

My favorite topics are church history in general, and the reformation and development of denominations in particular.

There are also links to (supposedly) all the churches in the US and all the Christian radio stations in the US.

Some of the search engine still needs to be implemented, and many of the sites are not yet categorized, but you can currently search based on keyword or page title.

20041030a.src0100600001266300000360000001046710163462523011461 0ustar markbuserPalm Tungsten C and D-Link DI-624 Problems

1099191905 Computer

While confined to the house and spending a lot of time in bed resting my hip, I've made a habit of using my Palm Tungsten C to check email and even surf the web a little bit. The Tungsten C has built-in WiFi (802.11b) and comes stock with a basic email program and a web browser that supports Javascript. I've used it in the past while traveling, but mostly as a novelty, "just because I can." (Of course, my wife thinks this is another expression of my nerdity. Why would anyone want to check email while on vacation?) But in this particular situation, it was actually quite handy and even liberating to check email without having to get out of bed. The Tungsten C supports the Graffiti 2 alphabet, but it also comes with a tiny keyboard that is marginally less frustrating than Graffiti. (I prefer the original Graffiti alphabet; the new Graffiti 2 alphabet supports two-stroke characters but with less reliability than the original.) So even for composing short email messages it is not too painful. I highly recommend this solution for those confined to bed.

When I got the Tungsten C, I also bought a wireless router to use as an access point. At first, I bought a Netgear router becuase I already had a very reliable Netgear router with firewall but no wireless capability. The new WGR614v2 with wireless capability should have been a drop-in replacement for my existing FR114P, but it never worked. I sent several emails to Netgear and I used their web site support form, but I never got a reply. So I returned the faulty router and bought one from their competition.

The D-Link DI-624 also would not function as a drop-in replacement for the Netgear FR114P. However, I was able to get it to function as a wireless access point by connecting both routers together. This actually is a good situation because

I can still benefit from the Netgear's superior firewall.
I can still use the Netgear's print server.
I have more expansion ports available.

After having some minor problems with the web browser on the Palm, I checked all around for upgrades. Palm had a Tungsten 3.0 Update, and D-Link had updates from my current 2.28 to 2.42 and 2.50. However, after installing all these updates, nothing wireless would work. No connection, no email, no web, no ping. Since I have no other wireless devices, and I'm not driving yet, Mary kindly took me down to the local Denny's, where they have free wireless access. There, I was able to determine that the Palm was working fine; therefore there must be some problem with the router.

D-Link suggests that you back up your settings before upgrading the firmware. I dutifully did so. But after installing either of 2.42 or 2.50, I could not read those settings back in. I got a "checksum error" when trying to read the settings file back in.

Fortunately, the D-Link router allows you to "upgrade" from 2.50 to 2.42, and even from 2.42 to 2.28. After restoring the firmware to the 2.28 version, I was able to read my settings file, and now everything works again. Hallelujah!

But what about upgrading to the latest 2.50 firmware? Well, it is important to be able to restore all the previous settings. If this can't be automated by reading the previous settings file, then you must manually set everything as it was before. But many of the screens have changed! There are more options in the later firmware, and some options have moved from one screen to another. So at this point I do not know whether there was some setting I failed to set properly, or whether the 2.42 and 2.50 firmware do not work as well. Frankly, I'm tempted just to leave everything as it is now, since it all works again.

But maybe I'll take screen shots of all the current settings, upgrade to 2.50 again, then use the screen shots to root around and make everything as similar as possible. It does seem that one can fall back to 2.28 without incident.

But this is not the way these upgrades should work!

Here are support pages for these devices:

20041031a.src0100600001266300000360000001224210163461707011456 0ustar markbuserEmergency Room

1099274013 Accident

Tuesday October 12, 2004

After I fell, I first called Mary. But when I realized I could not get up, and therefore I would not be able to get into Mary's car, then I called 911. I knew they could get me into an ambulance for transport.

The paramedics were very friendly. They were going to lock my bicycle to a traffic sign and leave the key with the store owner on the corner, who said he would keep it for me. But Mary showed up shortly after the paramedics. They took the bicycle apart so she could put it in the trunk of her new little Honda, and they used my bungee cord to close the trunk lid as much as possible. Mary couldn't believe how helpful they were.

The paramedics poked at my leg and really did say that it did not appear to be broken ... if it were really broken, just their touching the leg would cause me a lot of pain. However, they advised that I really should visit a hospital and be checked out; if I left on my own, they couldn't be held responsible for me. I knew this was a legal necessity on their part. But of course I had called them because I wanted to be taken to a hospital!

So off we went. They lifted me onto a gurney. Being lifted onto the gurney, and having the gurney lifted into the ambulance, felt like a roller coaster ride. I had to trust them ... I had no choice. I could not move my leg at all. They gave me my little black bag, my water bottle and my helmet. I don't know why they didn't give my helmet to Mary to keep with the bicycle.

My first choice was Alexian Brothers hospital, which is nearest our house, and I thought Mary got very good care there several years ago when she had hernia surgery. But Mary suggested San Jose Hospital downtown instead, for insurance reasons. Because her trunk lid was not closed fully, she brought my bicycle home while I got a ride to the hospital.

At the hospital, I had to be transferred from one gurney to another. The ER's gurney was next to a wall and there was no room for paramedics to lift me from one to another. I volunteered to shove myself from one gurney to the other using my good leg, while one of them held my bad leg to keep it out of the way. In a few minutes, we repeated this same procedure as I shoved myself from the new gurney onto the x-ray table. In retrospect, this may not have been wise, as the x-rays showed a fracture. It's possible I made things worse, but not likely much worse.

After x-rays I was returned to the ER to wait for a surgeon to free up. Just before I had arrived, a child with a broken wrist had also been admitted. The orthopedic surgeon on duty specialized in wrists, and a long surgery was anticipated for the child. Now it was about 5:00 pm and Mary arrived. She would not let me drink from my water bottle. I argued with her. When I asked the nurse, she said no, if I were to have surgery tonight they would want my stomach empty. There were lots of questions about when I had last eaten. They were still uncertain whether I would have surgery tonight or tomorrow.

At 6:40 pm, I was informed that the child's wrist surgery had gone quickly, and I was scheduled for 7:00 pm surgery ... in just a few minutes. Mary and I prayed, and I had no misgivings about the surgery at all. Mary especially prayed that the doctors would have wisdom in case special decisions had to be made during the surgery. She has better foresight about those things than I do.

They wheeled me into pre-op at precisely 7:00 pm. They gave me a shot of morphine that never had any effect. They kept asking me which hip. I asked them whether they would keep asking me which hip until the morphine made me forget! The surgeon informed me of all kinds of minor risks with the surgery. As if I might change my mind. Doh! Again, a legal necessity, but at least I knew what kinds of things we would be looking for during follow-up care.

He would be putting four titanium screws "about this long" (he held his hands about eight inches apart) into the bone to hold it together. Yow!

They brought me into the operating room at 7:20 pm. I don't remember how I got onto the operating table. (I hope they lifted me.) I asked for more morphine since the first shot hadn't made me woozy as they'd suggested. After the second shot the lights on the ceiling started moving. I asked if that were the intended effect ... just trying to keep them informed. They had to roll me onto my "bad" side in order to administer the spinal injection. The medicine flows "down" due to gravity and numbs the side that will have surgery, but not the other side. Then they started to strap me into a "frog" position with my legs separated. But the spinal injection was insufficient so they had to administer a general. They had wanted to avoid this because it had not been fully eight hours since I had eaten.

Having a mask put over my face is the last thing I remember. When I awoke at 9:30 pm, Mary was with me in post-op. I started talking and looking around. Apparently the nurse was trying to tell me not to move my head, but I didn't hear her or didn't understand. Throwing up was definitely the worst part of the whole experience. Mary kept saying, "Stop saying you're sorry about throwing up! You can't help it! It's OK." I guess I'm just too polite.

20041031b.src0100600001266300000360000000116010147745276011464 0ustar markbuserScrewy Math

1099274530 Accident, Humor

Just a funny little story.

At the first follow-up appointment, I got to see the x-rays after the operation. They showed what looked like large head bolts in my hip. I was surprised how large they were. I thought maybe the x-rays showed a magnified view of my hip.

I told the doctor, the screws look like they are 1/4-inch screws. Without any indication of sarcasm, he said, "No, they are 6.5 millimeter screws."

Doh! Do the math!

(Online Conversion - Common Length Conversions)
www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm

20041031c.src0100600001266300000360000000451010163463247011460 0ustar markbuserHoly Halloween

1099277806 Favorite

Our church has a "Harvest Festival" in their gym tonight. It's a way to keep the kids safe and free from exposure to "witches" and other evil influences.

Actually, I don't like the idea of kids bugging their neighbors and "haunting" the streets after dark. When I was a child, we lived on a dead-end street that intersected one other street. We were allowed to trick-or-treat only on those two streets, and when we were very small, only with our parents. All our friends lived on those streets, and all their parents and all the other adults knew us well. Many of our neighbors took photos of everyone who came to their door.

But now as a society maybe we don't know our neighbors so well. Things are very different in our heterogeneous neighborhood in 2004 than they were on two semi-rural streets in 1964. I don't worry about any bad things happening. But I do worry that it is almost in a way impolite to impose our children on neighbors that don't really know them well. Perhaps it's my natural reticence that makes me feel this way.

Since I can't very easily answer the doorbell because of my limited mobility, I wanted to go to church, watch the kids I know from the vantage point of a chair to the side. (I suppose with my walker, I could do a lion-tamer or updated Quasimodo imitation. Lame. Ha ha.)

But Mary doesn't like to drive on Halloween when kids are roaming dimly-lit streets, and it's hard to argue with her. (Especially since she has the car keys.) It seems that those who have rung our doorbell have been polite youngsters. I can hear, but from the computer I cannot see. In past years it has been feast or famine. One year Mary emptied the candy bowl while I had to work. Another year we had only a couple teenagers. Last year, we had only one adult neighbor visit! Mary was appalled that an adult would go trick-or-treating. But perhaps Mary didn't understand her "heterogeneous" accent when she said it was just an excuse to meet her neighbors. I thought this was a good thing ... trying to correct all the obvious problems with Halloween.

Let's get to know our neighbors. Protecting our children is a supreme value among all factions of our society. And loving one's neighbor is a value that goes back at least as far as Leviticus 19:18.

20041101a.src0100600001266300000360000000162210163452012011441 0ustar markbuserKorean Missionaries Carrying Word to Hard-to-Sway Places New York Times 1099338238 Christian, News

By Norimitsu Onishi

South Korean Christian missionaries have become known for aggressively going to the hardest-to-evangelize corners of the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/01/international/asia/01missionaries.html?th

South Korean Is Killed in Iraq by His Captors
Wednesday, June 23, 2004

By Edward Wong and James Glanz

An interpreter who dreamed of becoming a Christian missionary in the Arab world was beheaded by insurgents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/23/international/middleeast/23IRAQ.html?th

You might need to register with NY Times to read these articles. It's easy and free.

20041101b.src0100600001266300000360000000057710163451706011463 0ustar markbuserFaith at Work New York Times 1099339069 Christian, News

By Russell Shorto

With the rise of office ministries and job-site prayer groups, will religion be the next workplace issue?

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/31/magazine/31FAITH.html

You might need to register with NY Times to read this article. It's easy and free.

20041101c.src0100600001266300000360000000273410163451641011457 0ustar markbuserOlder NY Times Articles

1099341918 Christian, News

Leading Muslim Clerics in Iraq Condemn Bombing of Churches
Tuesday, August 3, 2004

By Ian Fisher

Still, some Christians said they feared that the attacks were a frightening signal of a rise of fundamentalist Islam.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/international/middleeast/03iraq.html?th

Bombs Explode Near Churches in 2 Iraqi Cities
Monday, August 2, 2004

By Somini Sengupta and Ian Fisher

In the first significant attacks against Iraq's Christian minority, at least 12 people were killed and 27 wounded.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/02/international/middleeast/02iraq.html?th

Hug an Evangelical
Saturday, April 24, 2004

By Nicholas D. Kristof

If liberals demand more tolerance for gays and lesbians, then liberals need to be more respectful of conservative Christians.

"It's always easy to point out the intolerance of others. What's harder is to practice inclusiveness oneself. And bigotry toward people based on their faith is just as repugnant as bigotry toward people based on their sexuality."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/opinion/24KRIS.html?th

You might need to register with NY Times to read these articles. It's easy and free.

20041101d.src0100600001266300000360000001451410163461714011461 0ustar markbuserActivities Of Daily Living

1099369727 Accident, Favorite

Mary's degree in Occupational Therapy has been a great help to me both in the hospital and during my ~~imprisonment~~ rehabilitation at home. Not only did she know all the right questions to ask while I was still in the hospital, but she knew how to set things up for me at home before I even arrived. Mary's friend Kathleen Brandt, who also has a degree in OT, helped her set up the house to make things easier for me.

Unless you have an elderly or handicapped relative, or yourself have restricted mobility, you probably don't think in great detail about such mundane daily activities as getting into or out of bed, taking a shower, using the toilet, getting dressed, or eating breakfast. But for someone with limited mobility, these can all be trials. They are called "activities of daily living" and they are the staple of occupational therapists.

In my particular case, there is one major physical problem, and two minor ones. The major problem is that I am not allowed to place any weight on my left foot, and ideally I should not even let the left foot rest on the ground. The minor problems are (1) that I cannot bend my left knee very much due to stiffness in the leg muscles above the knee, and (2) I am not allowed to separate my legs very much because this "abduction" exacerbates the problem of the one small piece of bone that could not be re-attached with pins.

Have you ever tried putting on pants when you are not allowed to put both feet on the floor? Have you ever tried putting on socks or tying your shoes when you cannot reach your foot? Have you ever tried getting out of bed without separating your legs, and without pushing with both legs?

From the first day I was in the hospital, occupational therapists and physical therapists worked with me to help me put on socks, put on pants, and use a walker to hobble around. It's not too difficult with aids like sticks and sock pullers, but it could probably be much more difficult for someone older, or who had multiple disabilities, or who had arthritis.

Mary was proactive getting things arranged for me at home. My brother Craig brought some items like a walker, a commode, and a shower chair that my mother and my aunt had used when they were ill. Pastor Eddie of Calvary Chapel San Jose sent a brother who lives near us, Gabriel, to install some aids in our house, and Mary's son Aaron also installed some aids. Here is a list of all the aids I am using or have used:

Commode. I used this a lot the first three or four days after I got out of the hospital. Mostly because I was too tired to hobble all the way to the bathroom. Mary put it right next to the bed. Kathleen had the idea of putting water in it ahead of time to dilute whatever I might do into it.
Reacher sticks of various kinds. One has a hook on the end and it is useful for picking up clothes or pulling up pants by the belt loops. Another has a grip and a trigger; it is more useful for picking up books or papers. It can also be used to reach items on the dresser without getting out of bed. There is also a long shoehorn that I haven't really used much until recently.
Sock puller. This is a clever little invention. It is smooth plastic on one side, and terry cloth on the other. It has two rope handles. You curl it up and place the sock over it, plastic side in, and terry cloth side against the sock. Then you use the rope handles to pull it over your foot. The foot slides against the smooth plastic, but the terry cloth holds the sock firmly and pulls it up.
Grab bars. Gabriel installed one on the wall opposite the toilet, and Aaron installed one diagonally in the shower. These help me to sit on the toilet or get into the shower while placing weight onto only one leg.
Raised toilet seat. This makes it easier for me to sit on the toilet because I don't have to lower myself as far to sit, and I don't have to raise myself as far to stand up.
Shower chair. This lets me sit in the shower, and it also helps me to get into the shower. The details of using it show how difficult it can be do so something as simple as getting into the shower, while not placing the left foot on the floor. Move the chair to one end of the shower. Holding onto the walker, lower my butt onto the chair so that my butt is in the shower but my legs are still out. Put my right leg into the shower. Stand on the right leg, hanging onto the diagonal grab bar. (Left leg is still hanging outside the shower.) Move the chair back a little. Sit down again. Angle the left leg into the shower. To get out, reverse the process, if I can even remember what the process was.
Walker. I was released from the hospital late Friday night. Fortunately Craig brought an old walker, because the hospital supply did not deliver the new one until Saturday afternoon. I don't know how I would have got into the house if Craig didn't have something I could use temporarily. Mary bought a basket for it, and David Brandt modified the basket to fit the new walker.

Mary made lots of other little accommodations for me. The first day out we bought slippers so I would not have to worry about tying shoes. She also bought me pajamas and new sweats so I could dress in comfortable clothes without a lot of effort. We bought boxer shorts because they are much easier to put on than briefs.

Every day she fills six water bottles that she scatters around the house so I have some in every room. She put all kinds of paper plates, paper bowls, and plastic ware on the kitchen table so I don't have to carry them back and forth from the cabinet. And she put a trash can on the table so I can just throw them away when finished. She bought little cans of fruit so I can eat a snack at the table without rooting through the cabinets or using a can opener.

There are lots of web sites devoted to ADL. Just search for "activities of daily living" using your favorite search engine. My search also showed this commercial site that has photographs of all these kinds of aids:

http://www.disabilityproducts.com/

We did not buy our products from this web site. It just happens to show some good photographs. We bought all our supplies in person from this store located next to San Jose Hospital:

San Jose Medical Market
24 N. 14th St., Suite 140
San Jose, CA 95112
408-280-0416

20041102a.src0100600001266300000360000000305410147745276011466 0ustar markbuserGoblins On The Doorstep

1099431240 Humor

Two very scary characters approach my door.

"Trick or trick!"

Isn't it a little late? Halloween was two days ago!

"It's never too late until the polls close. Trick or trick!"

Shouldn't that be "trick or treat"?

"I'm here for treats, but he just wants to trick you."
"No, he wants to trick you. Don't listen to him."

You guys come around every four years looking for treats.

"Don't give anything to him. He'll spend it all on pork in other districts."
"Don't give anything to him. He'll spend it on military conquests in other countries."

Those definitely sound like tricks.

"I'll make sure you can get health insurance when you get laid off and go looking for work at Wal*Mart."
"No, he'll make sure that when your job goes overseas, you won't even be able to get work at Wal*Mart."

So, what's the good news?

"He'll destroy our military superiority."
"He'll start drafting you and your children."

Now you're starting to scare me!

"He'll take away your guns."
"He'll teach you all about guns in boot camp!"

Ack!

"He'll make sure you never see your social security."
"He'll make sure you pay twice as much for social security as you'll ever see."

Go away!

"He'll kill all your unborn babies."
"He'll kill all your teenagers in foreign wars."

Aieee! They're even scarier than last time! Honey! Give them, something, anything, just get rid of them!

"He he he."
"We're gettin' a boatload of loot this time."
"I wonder if mom will let us eat it all tonight?"

20041102b.src0100600001266300000360000000356010147745276011471 0ustar markbuserMartin Luther on Good Works

1099432339 Christian, Favorite

This from today's devotions in Martin Luther's book. It is next to impossible to fully learn this about good works. This is why we have to remind ourselves every day to abide in Christ and not "do it ourselves."

Whoever doesn't live in me is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Branches like this are gathered, thrown into a fire, and burned. -- John 15:6

When I was a monk, I read the mass daily. I weakened myself with prayer and fasting so much that I couldn't have kept it up for much longer. Yet all of my efforts couldn't help me in the smallest temptation. I could never say to God, "I have done all this. Look at it, and be merciful to me." What did I achieve with all this striving? Nothing. I merely tormented myself, ruined my health, and wasted my time. Now I'm forced to listen to Christ's judgement on my works. He says, "You did all this without me. That's why it amounts to nothing. Your works don't belong in my kingdom. They can't help you or anyone else obtain eternal life."
So in this passage, Christ has passed a terrifying judgement over all works -- no matter how great, glorious, and beautiful they might appear. If these works are performed apart from Christ, they amount to nothing. They may appear to be great in the eyes of the world, for the world considers them excellent and precious. But in Christ's kingdom and before God, they are truly nothing. They don't grow out of him, nor do they remain in him. They won't pass God's test. As Christ says, they will be tossed into the fire as if they were rotten, withered branches -- branches without any sap or strength. So let others carve from these branches and see what they can create apart from Christ. Let them try to create a tree from its fruit. No matter what they do, all of their works will add up to a big zero.

20041104a.src0100600001266300000360000000317410163451473011462 0ustar markbuserTwo Nations Under God New York Times Op-Ed 1099597206 Christian, News

By Thomas L. Friedman

In this election it seemed as though people voted not on President Bush's performance, but for what team they were on.

"The Democrats have ceded to Republicans a monopoly on the moral and spiritual sources of American politics," noted the Harvard University political theorist Michael J. Sandel. "They will not recover as a party until they again have candidates who can speak to those moral and spiritual yearnings - but turn them to progressive purposes in domestic policy and foreign affairs."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/04/opinion/04friedman.html?th

The Red Zone

By Maureen Dowd

The president got re-elected by dividing the country along fault lines of fear, intolerance, ignorance and religious rule.

"Mr. Bush, whose administration drummed up fake evidence to trick us into war with Iraq, sticking our troops in an immoral position with no exit strategy, won on 'moral issues.'"

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/04/opinion/04dowd.html?th

The Day the Enlightenment Went Out

By Garry Wills

George W. Bush's victory signals the triumph of belief over fact.

"Can a people that believes more fervently in the Virgin Birth than in evolution still be called an Enlightened nation?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/04/opinion/04wills.html?th

You might need to register with NY Times to read these articles. It's easy and free.

20041106a.src0100600001266300000360000000367110163463071011463 0ustar markbuserTime to Get Religion New York Times Op-Ed 1099767065 Christian, News

By Nicholas D. Kristof

Democrats need to give a more prominent voice to Middle American, gun-shooting, Spanish-speaking, Bible-toting centrists.

"Don't be afraid of religion. Offer government support for faith-based programs to aid the homeless, prisoners and AIDS victims. And argue theology with Republicans: there's much more biblical ammunition to support liberals than conservatives."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/opinion/06kristof.html?th

The Values-Vote Myth

By David Brooks

It was not throngs of homophobic, Red America values-voters that put George Bush over the top.

"But the same insularity that caused many liberals to lose touch with the rest of the country now causes them to simplify, misunderstand and condescend to the people who voted for Bush. If you want to understand why Democrats keep losing elections, just listen to some coastal and university town liberals talk about how conformist and intolerant people in Red America are. It makes you wonder: why is it that people who are completely closed-minded talk endlessly about how open-minded they are?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/opinion/06brooks.html?th

On a Word and a Prayer

By Steven Waldman

Religious voters love President Bush for reasons broader and more vague than merely his positions on specific issues.

"Christians feel misunderstood and persecuted and believe Mr. Bush's victory and presence in the White House is their vindication. The materials circulated in churches repeatedly made the point that Mr. Bush's open discussion of his faith had been mocked by elites, yet he persevered in defending his faith and, by extension, theirs."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/opinion/06waldman.html?th

20041107a.src0100600001266300000360000000106710163451265011463 0ustar markbuserMartian Robots, Taking Orders From a Manhattan Walk-Up New York Times 1099860962 News

By Kenneth Chang

These days, when one of NASA's rovers drills a hole in a rock on Mars, the commands come from Lower Manhattan, from a second-floor office on Elizabeth Street, surrounded by dusted-off tenements.

"It is almost surreal. "You walk down the street and there are shoe stores, bakeries and here we're controlling some robotic mechanism on Mars."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/science/07mars.html?th

20041107b.src0100600001266300000360000000224310163451223011453 0ustar markbuserLiving for Today, Locked in a Paralyzed Body New York Times 1099861159 Health, News

By John Schwartz and James Estrin

A.L.S., or Lou Gehrig's disease, is often described as a kind of living death in which the body goes flaccid while the mind remains intact and acutely aware. The prospect of being trapped in an inert body and being totally dependent on others drives many sufferers to suicide.

What keeps many patients alive, experts say, is a sense of having unfinished business - perhaps a milestone "like getting the last kid off to college," said Dr. Mellar P. Davis, a professor of hematology and medical oncology at the Cleveland Clinic.

Many patients, Dr. Ganzini said, have deep religious beliefs that help sustain them, and they are able, "to find hope in the future, find meaning and tolerate the daily ongoing losses that they are experiencing."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/health/07ALS.html?th

Mark says: My Uncle Marvin had this disease for a while before he passed away. We actually considered teaching him sign language so he could communicate. He could think clearly but he could not speak.

20041109a.src0100600001266300000360000000326210163461717011467 0ustar markbuserProgress Report: Accident

1100024150 Accident

I have been in some pain since Saturday. Even took some pain killers on Saturday night so I could sleep. This is unusual since I have been doing well for a couple of weeks. It seemed a bit of a setback.

This last week has seen several milestones. Drove the car for the first time since the accident. Took a shower without Mary here to watch after me. I was able to tie my shoes by myself. Big steps forward.

But Mary thinks I overextended myself. Tuesday night at church was difficult because I got lost looking for the new restroom. Spent too much time on the walker. Also, I'm way overdue for a chiropractor appointment, and I think a lot of this pain is not in my hip but in my lower back.

Bill and Chris McCorquodale prayed for me at church Sunday. We need wisdom to know when to call the doctors and what to ask of them, and the doctors need wisdom.

If it seems that web site updates are coming slowly, this is why. If you're waiting for your cue sheet or square dance event to get posted, please be patient. Even just sitting at the computer can be painful. Lying in bed is the best therapy.

I typed up most of this on the Palm Pilot while lying in bed. I probably won't do that again ... way too much work.

I've finished up a bunch of books and started a bunch of new ones. Will post the links later. Also been keeping tabs on a bunch of new ideas for the journal.

The New York Times sends me the headlines every morning in an email. I've looked at a bunch of more conservative newspapers but none of them have a setup to send me a free email. Can anyone suggest a conservative newspaper that will send me an email every morning?

More later ...

20041109b.src0100600001266300000360000000140710147745276011476 0ustar markbuserFractured Femur Tales

1100048763 Accident

Mary found this diagram on the internet, and she graciously marked it up with my injuries and the treatment.

The diagram on the left shows the two fractures. One sliced right through the neck of the femur, and the other was just a little chip.

The diagram on the right shows where they inserted the four titanium pins. Actually, they are screws with pins inside, so sometimes they call them pins, and sometimes screws.

To give an idea of perspective, the screws are actually about six inches long, and one-quarter inch in diameter.

You might notice that the pelvic structures in the two diagrams are not exactly the same. This has nothing to do with the surgery. Can anyone tell why they are different?

20041109c.src0100600001266300000360000000223310147745276011475 0ustar markbuserBest Square Dance Club Names

1100070280 Square, Favorite

Gnat Boxers
Wooster, Ohio
http://www.the-daily-record.com/past_issues/08_aug/990823dr2.html

And they told me the really big ones were in Minnesota. Oh, wait, that was mosquitoes.

Hippo Hubbubs
Berlin, Germany
http://hippo-hubbubs.gmxhome.de/we%20about%20us.htm

Explanation on the web page, if you can understand it.

Rubber Dollies
Berlin, Germany
http://rubber-dollies-sdc.de/

I don't even want to know.

Fallen Arches
Moab, Utah - home of Arches National Park
http://westerncosquaredancing.homestead.com/

Wish we'd known about this one when we were on vacation there.

Hoosier Corners
Richmond, Indiana
http://www.sharpsites.net/hoosiercorners/

Hoosier daddy, little girl?

Honorable Mention:
I could have sworn that I once saw an ad for a challenge club called the Blank Stares.

20041111a.src0100600001266300000360000000273510163451120011447 0ustar markbuserWanted by the Police: A Good Interface New York Times 1100211842 Computer, News

By Katie Hafner

How the flawed interface design of a police dispatch system became a municipal issue in San Jose, Calif.

"Such complaints have a familiar ring. Anyone who encounters technology daily - that is to say, just about everyone - has a story of new hardware or software, at work or at home, that is poorly designed, hard to use and seemingly worse than what it was intended to replace. Yet because the safety of police officers and the public is involved, the problems in San Jose are of particular concern.

"It's a prescription for disaster to develop a big system without testing it with users before it's launched. There are always issues in the user interface that need to be smoothed over.

"Officers say they are being distracted by the tasks they are expected to perform on the new system when their full attention should be given to what is happening outside the patrol car. Sergeant DeMers said one officer recently was so distracted by what he was doing on the 12-inch touch screen that he crashed into a parked car.

"The Chicago Police Department had similar problems in 1999 when it rolled out an ambitious computer system without having tested it with on-the-beat police officers first."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/11/technology/circuits/11cops.html?th

Mark says: Why didn't they come to me for a GUI consult?

20041111b.src0100600001266300000360000000272010163451056011452 0ustar markbuserCrisis in Sudan Washington Post 1100213257 News

By Ed O'Keefe and Jeffrey Marcus

An increasingly dire situation in Darfur in western Sudan has devolved into the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to international observers and the U.S. State Department. A State Department report issued Sept. 9 says that 1.2 million people have been displaced from their homes in Sudan while at least 200,000 have fled to neighboring Chad. As many as 405 villages have been destroyed and and more than 100 others significantly damaged. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports at least 50,000 people have died as a result of the conflict between government-backed Arab militias and Africans in western Sudan.

What Is the Situation in Sudan?
How Did This Happen?
What Is the International Community Doing?
How Does This Relate to Sudan’s Civil War?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20765-2004Jul1.html

Related:

Sudan, Rebels Reach Accord On Darfur
Government Approves No-Fly Zone, Access to Aid

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38097-2004Nov9.html

After Accord, Sudan Camp Raided
Shelters Reportedly Destroyed and Residents Beaten

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41010-2004Nov10.html

20041111c.src0100600001266300000360000000216510163461722011457 0ustar markbuserLiberal Christians Challenge 'Values Vote' Washington Post 1100214100 Christian, News

By Alan Cooperman

Liberal Christian leaders argued yesterday that the moral values held by most Americans are much broader than the handful of issues emphasized by religious conservatives in the 2004 presidential campaign.

Battling the notion that "values voters" swept President Bush to victory because of opposition to gay marriage and abortion, three liberal groups released a post-election poll in which 33 percent of voters said the nation's most urgent moral problem was "greed and materialism" and 31 percent said it was "poverty and economic justice." Sixteen percent cited abortion, and 12 percent named same-sex marriage.

Tom Perriello, an organizer at Res Publica, said the poll shows that "while there may be a solid 20 percent who are very focused on abortion and gay marriage, for most Americans of faith, there are other moral issues of greater urgency, and that's where the religious middle is."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38001-2004Nov9.html

20041111d.src0100600001266300000360000000330410147745276011467 0ustar markbuserPowerless

1100235845

We lost power at 9:30 this morning. Power was not restored until after 12 noon. The radio said that 4000 customers in our town were without power, and PG&E had no idea what was causing the problem, even at 11:30 am, two full hours after the outage started.

Whoa! I used to work for a company that made computer equipment that allowed electrical utilities to monitor stuff like this. PG&E had no idea what was causing the problem? Maybe they should have bought our product.

At 5:45, we lost power again. This time, the radio said that 500 customers were still without power from the 9:30 am outage. But at least now they knew that the cause of the outage was an automobile running into a power pole. Even without computers, how hard could it be to figure that out? Some poor shmuck sat in his car for two hours before someone noticed he had hit a power pole.

Anyway, now this was a new outage. We certainly should not be included in the 500 customers still hurting from the morning, because this was a new outage. So how many were affected by the afternoon outage, which lasted one hour?

Nowhere on the PG&E web site can one research these outages. You must call an automated 800 number to get any information. PG&E has a real credibility problem when

They don't even know what caused an outage in a valley residential community (not in the hills), two hours after it happened;
When you listen to the radio and all the information is old;
When their web site doesn't give any information.

And, as Mary says, every year you pay more and you get less service. It's no wonder PG&E is in Chapter 11. They are a service company, and their service is inconsistent at best.

20041112a.src0100600001266300000360000000226110163461075011454 0ustar markbuserFood allergy vaccine promising San Jose Mercury News 1100287849 Gluten, Health, News

By Esther Landhuis

A new vaccine developed by a Stanford-led research team could one day enable millions of food allergy sufferers to fearlessly bite into a peanut butter sandwich. Tested in dogs thus far, the vaccine curbs allergic reactions to peanuts, milk and wheat.

"We're finally entering a realm where different treatment approaches for food allergy are being developed and really look like they're on the five- to 10-year horizon," said Dr. Robert Wood, a pediatric allergist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

The Stanford work -- a joint effort with University of California scientists at Berkeley, San Francisco and Davis -- comes during an unprecedented rise in food allergies. In the past five years, peanut allergies in U.S. kids have doubled, and the number of Americans with food allergies has grown from 6 million to 11 million.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/10162659.htm

Mark says: Both Mary and I are allergic to both peanuts and wheat gluten. This study could mean a lot for our future health.

20041112b.src0100600001266300000360000000634410236251712011457 0ustar markbuser29 New Cue Sheets Posted

1100328370 Rounds

pdf 13 Jours En France, Waltz, VI, Doi
pdf 13 Jours En France 5, Waltz, V+2+2, Doi
pdf A Taste Of Mine, Bolero/Cha Cha, VI, Doi
pdf Beautiful Ohio, Waltz, VI, Doi
pdf Bei Mir Bist Du Schon, Jive, IV+2, Doi
pdf Besame Mucho 3, Rumba, III+1, Doi
pdf Danny Boy, Bolero, V+2+1, Doi
pdf Everybody Loves Somebody, West Coast, V+2, Doi
pdf Fly Me To The Moon, Waltz, VI, Doi
pdf La Golondorina, Rumba, IV+2, Doi
pdf Let's Dance, Quickstep, V+1, Doi
pdf Lorelei, Waltz, V+2+U, Doi
pdf Lorelei 4, Waltz, IV, Doi
pdf Nata Per Me, Rumba, VI, Doi
pdf Opus 39 No. 15 (Brahms), Waltz, IV+2, Doi
pdf Opus 64 No. 2 (Chopin), Waltz/Viennese, V+2+U, Doi
pdf Red Sails In The Sunset, Foxtrot, IV+2, Doi
pdf Rose Room, Foxtrot, V+2, Doi
pdf Sans Toi M'ami, Bolero, III+2, Doi
pdf Scheherazade, Waltz, V+2, Doi
pdf Schubert's Serenade, Waltz, IV+2, Doi
pdf There's No Business Like Show Business, Quickstep, VI, Doi
pdf They Say It's Wonderful, Foxtrot, VI, Doi
pdf With A Song In My Heart, Rumba, V+2, Doi
pdf Sunbeam (Rayo De Sol), Rumba, IV+2, Sechrist
pdf Warm And Fuzzy Foxtrot, Foxtrot, V, Pyles
pdf Carousel Rumba, Rumba, III+2, Auriene
pdf Sweeter Than You, Slow Two Step, IV+2, Hilton
pdf Bizness Of Luv V, Foxtrot, V+, Sechrist

The most recently posted cue sheets always appear here:

http://www.mixed-up.com/round/all-over/recent.html

Cue sheet submission guidelines are here:

http://www.mixed-up.com/round/all-over/submit.html

20041112b.src.JS0100644001266300000360000000530410145331112011765 0ustar markbuser29 New Cue Sheets Posted

1100328370 Rounds

The most recently posted cue sheets always appear here:

http://www.mixed-up.com/round/all-over/recent.html

Cue sheet submission guidelines are here:

http://www.mixed-up.com/round/all-over/submit.html

20041114a.src0100600001266300000360000001600010147745276011464 0ustar markbuserCue sheet index updated - 100 new cue sheets added

1100420732 Rounds

There are over 100 new cue sheets from various sites. Also, Roundalab updated over 100 of their cue sheets to PDF files. These are way too many to list, but here is a sampling of the very newest dances:

pdf Big Blue Frog, Two Step, II+2, Scherrer
pdf Boom Boom, Cha Cha/Merengue, V+1+U, Rumble
Back Home Again, Two Step/Foxtrot, III+1, Gomez
pdf Beauty And The Beast, Bolero, V+2, Kincaid

pdf Can't Wait Until Tonight, Rumba, III+1, Geiger/Jarmuth
pdf Comme Un Garcon (Like A Boy), Cha Cha/Foxtrot, III+2, Woodruff
pdf Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Jive, IV+2, Lillefield
pdf Christmas At Our House, Waltz, II+2, Woodruff

pdf Flim Flam Man, Foxtrot, III+1, Scherrer
pdf Footloose, Two Step, II, Rumble
pdf Five Guys Named Moe, Quickstep, VI, Goss
pdf Fingersnap, West Coast/Jive, V+1+1, Woodruff

pdf Going To France, West Coast/Foxtrot, V+2+1, Woodruff
pdf Gaelic Morning, Waltz, II, Ackerman

pdf Harvest Moon, Two Step, II, Ackerman
pdf Honky Tonk Jive, Jive, V+2, Walz
pdf Hot Hot Samba, Samba, IV, Moore
pdf House Of Blue Lights, Two Step/Single Swing, III+2, Oliver
Home Grown Tomatoes, Two Step, II, Young
pdf Hope, Waltz, VI, Lamberty

pdf I Heard It Through The Grapevine Cha, Cha Cha, IV, Pyles
pdf I Love You More, Bolero, IV+2, Hamilton
pdf Jingle Bell Rock, Jive, IV+2, Rotscheid
pdf Just A Closer Walk, Two Step, II+1, Frisella
pdf Keep Me From Blowing Away, Waltz, IV, Scherrer

pdf Letkiss, Mambo/Two Step, IV+1, ECTA
pdf Little Black Book, Two Step, II+1, Mouser
pdf Libertango, Tango, V+1, Lamberty
pdf Love Don't Live Here Any More, Two Step, II+2, Woodruff

pdf Me And Millie, Two Step, II, Pyles
pdf Manhattan, Foxtrot, V+1, Lillefield
pdf Mama Inez, Rumba, IV+2+1, Barton
pdf My Way, Rumba, V, Szabo
pdf My Bonny Lassie, Two Step/Cha, III+2, McCurley

pdf Once In A While, Foxtrot, III+1, Micketti
pdf On My Own, Rumba, III+1, Pilachowski/DeLauter
pdf Painted Rose, Foxtrot, V+1, Martin

pdf Respect, Cha Cha, IV+1, Scherrer
pdf Rock Right, Jive, IV+1, Woodruff
pdf Roll Out The Barrel, Polka/Two Step, II, Cibula
pdf RosesForElizabeth, Two Step, III, Bliss
pdf Rumba My Way, Rumba, III+2, Silvia

pdf She's 2 Hot To Go, Two Step, II, Lillefield
pdf She's No Lady, Two Step/Jive, III+2, Roberts
pdf Sergeant Preston, Mixed, IV+1, Woodruff
pdf Some Broken Hearts Never Mend, Two Step, II+2, Paull
pdf Something To Talk About, Cha Cha, IV+2, Gomez/Salas
pdf Speak Low III, Rumba, III+2, Steinke
pdf Sunflower II, Two Step, II, Elliott

pdf Too Much Fun, Two Step, II, Pyles
pdf That Darn Cat, FoxtrotWest CoastJive, V+2+1, Woodruff
pdf That's The Way I Like It, Cha Cha, IV+1+3, Szabo
pdf Tango Reverie, Tango, IV+2, Nelson
pdf Things You Do, The, Two Step, II+2, Oren
pdf Trapeze Quickstep, Quickstep, IV, Bingham
pdf Tres Hombres Paraglidos, Tango, III+1, Booth
pdf True Love Ways, Slow Two Step, IV+1, Brown
pdf Tu Nombre (Quisiera Decir), Rumba, V+2, Cibula
pdf Tulane, Jive, VI, Fisher
pdf Tuxedo Tango, Tango, VI, Moore

pdf Un P'tit Foxtrot, Foxtrot, IV+2+1, Tucker
pdf Uptown, Jive, V, Francis

pdf Warm and Fuzzy Foxtrot, Foxtrot, V, Pyles
pdf Waltzing With You, Waltz, II+1, Scherrer
pdf Way You Do, The, West Coast, VI, Shibata
pdf Way You Do, The, West Coast, VI, Shibata
pdf Waltz Serenade, Waltz, II, Tirrell

The best place to look for your cue sheets is always here:

http://www.mixed-up.com/round/all-over/

20041114b.src0100600001266300000360000000121210163462712011451 0ustar markbuserPurple America Color Coded Election Results By County 1100422779

Using County-by-County election return data from USA Today together with County boundary data from the US Census' Tiger database, they produced a graphic depicting the results. Of course, blue is for the democrats, red is for the republicans, and green is for all other. Each county's color is a mix of these three color components in proportion to the results for that county.

The results are more realistic and revealing than the state-by-state maps used by the news networks.

http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/

20041115a.src0100600001266300000360000001156310163461730011462 0ustar markbuserRecovering from a Computer Crash

1100566192 Computer

After 22 months, my Mac G4 tower finally crashed big time. I was installing the driver for the Logitech Quick Cam Zoom White when it happened, but after examination I'm not at all certain that's what caused the problem. Anyway, the computer would no longer boot. The initial screen (with the large gray apple and the clock movement at the bottom) never goes away, but a random color pattern appeared on the screen above the apple.

Well, no problem. I have installer CDs here; I can boot from them and diagnose the problem. But the computer will no longer boot from the Mac OS X installer CD or the Hardware Test CD. Hmmm ... I've seen this before, on our computer at church. In that case, we had to attach an external drive and install OS X to that drive. In this case, since I have three internal hard disks, maybe I can install OS X to one of the extras. But I have to disconnect the problematic internal drive first. This is not so easy since I have a broken hip and crawling around on the floor is painful.

Anyway, I've installed OS X to another internal drive, I've re-mounted the first drive, and the process of repairing disk permissions is happening now while I type away on Mary's PC. (On a side note, Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 for PC really wreaks havoc with my site. The margins are all wrong and there is a horizontal scroll bar that isn't necessary.)

So here are my questions:

Why won't the Mac boot from the CD even when holding down the "C" key per instructions?
What does someone do when they encounter this problem but they don't happen to have an extra drive around?

OK, the diagnostics report that there are bad "extents files" or something like that on the disk. In human-speak, this means that thre are some "invisible" files known only to the computer, and they are critical for knowing where my own real files are, and those invisible files are corrupted. The Apple utilities can't fix it, and I don't have any other utilites like Norton.

Well, this gives me an opportunity to do some housecleaning. The process of restoring the disk to working condition looks something like this:

Since I can mount the bad disk, I can copy all its files to one of the other disks.
Note: I did this using a backup program, to make sure I get everything.
Wipe the drive clean.
Install the OS that came with the computer (Mac OS 10.2).
Upgrade to the latest version of the OS (10.2.8), and install all the latest security updates, etc.
OK, first major problem. I can't access my own files on the other disks. I can view them, but I can't change them or move them around. This is a Unix and Mac permissions issue. First, I have to change all the owners to me. Then I have to change the "uchg" flag that has kept the files locked even though they belong to me. Changing the owners requires using the Unix "sudo" and "chown" commands. There is some information about the "uchg" problem and how to fix it here.
Install the applications that came with the computer, and upgrade all of them to the latest versions.
Install my most critical program first: email. Then copy all my old mailboxes back from the backup copy.
Install all the other programs I use regularly (it looks like there are about 25 of them).
Note: I made it a point to install everything using the installers. I did not just copy my programs back from the backup copy. There are two reasons: (1) It makes for a cleaner, smaller install; and (2) it avoids problems should one of those applications have been corrupted by the crash.
Note: when your application files get corrupted, they can become dangerous. When your document files get corrupted, you might not be able to read them any longer, but they shouldn't mess up your computer.
There are still a few random drivers like scanner and Zip drive that I haven't re-installed yet.
I still have to copy all my old documents back over from the backup copy.
Note: This is easiest if all your document files are in well-defined places on your disk. I put most of my files in a "Personal" directory at the root of the disk. For large projects like audio files, I put them in their own directories at the root of the disk. The worst place for your files is the "home" directory your computer makes for you. This is because the computer also puts preference files and other corruptable files there, and when you restore your backup you don't want to retrieve those potentially bad files. If you avoid leaving your files there, you won't get confused when you restore your backup.

It seems I'm back up and running now. The crash occurred at 1:15 pm on Sunday. It's now 4:45 pm on Monday. Deducting eight hours for sleep, it has taken me 19 hours to fix this mess, and I'm still not quite done.

20041115b.src0100600001266300000360000001002710163462313011453 0ustar markbuserMac Programs I Know and Maybe Love

1100569483 Computer

These are the programs I use regularly on my Mac G4 tower. I'd like to really say they are the "best", but my comments might sometimes indicate otherwise. So don't necessarily take this list as a recommendation.

Since I had to re-install all of these within the last day, it seemed like a good time to enumerate them.

Applications

Eudora email. I've been using Eudora on every kind of computer for 10 years.
Backup Toolkit, from FWB Software (no longer supported, but works well.)
Peak LE and Deck LE, from BIAS. These are music and audio editing programs. I use these products, but I don't recommend them. They are not necessarily as easy to use as competing products. And registering them is always a nightmare, even when just upgrading.
Adobe Acrobat 6, For posting cue sheets and fliers online.
Code Warrior, from Metrowerks, a development environment for Mac OS X.
MP3 Rage, from Chaotic Software, lets you manipulate the fields in MP3 files.

Vital Utilities

Doublecommand key swap extension, from Michael Baltaks. I use this program to swap keys on my Microsoft keyboard, to make it easier (on my wrists) to use it with a Mac. Specifically, I swap the "control" and "command" keys (to a PC user, that's the "control" and "Windows" keys).
Launch Bar, from Objective Development. An amazing file launching program.
Lite Switch X, from Proteron, an application switching program.
A funny graphic from the Proteron page:
(The rest of their site is equally informative.)

Internet Stuff

Yahoo Messenger, for chatting with my son Matthew who is serving with the Marines in Iraq. This is our newest toy. Well, except for the Logitech webcam we bought to use with it. My computer crashed when I tried to install the Logitech software. Maybe a coincidence.
Mozilla and Firefox, from Mozilla, web browsers that I use for testing my site.
Netscape, a web browser that I use for testing my site.
Opera, a web browser that I use for testing my site.
RBrowser, a graphical FTP program that I use for backing up my web site.
Limewire.

Palm Stuff

Palm Desktop, which I use with a Palm Tungsten C.
iSilo X, which lets you store web pages and whole web sites on your Palm device for later viewing.
Memo Safe, from DeepNet Technologies, which lets you encrypt sensitive information in your Palm's memo pad.
NOTE: The original posting incorrectly said that we were using PDASafeID, a cumbersome program from Handmark.
Documents To Go, from Dataviz. Lets you view MS Word and Excel files on your Palm device. Came bundled with the Palm Tungsten C.

All The Usual Suspects

Mac OS 10.2.8, from Apple. I have install disks for 10.3.3 (Panther), but I haven't been brave enough to try it yet.
Graphic Converter, from Lemke Software. This program came bundled with the computer. Nevertheless, it is the best.
Microsoft Office, especially Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.
Toast 5 Titanium, from Roxio. For burning CDs and DVDs.
Real Player, for listening to audio posted online.
Windows Media Player, from Microsoft, for listening to audio posted online.
Safari, from Apple, a browser that comes bundled with the computer. The fastest web browser I have ever used.
Canon i560 printer driver.

20041115c.src0100600001266300000360000000536310163461737011474 0ustar markbuserCue sheet index updated - 50 new cue sheets added

1100577363 Rounds

Here is a sampling:

pdf And That Reminds Me, Foxtrot, V+2, Vogt
pdf All You Ever Do, Two Step, II+1, Seurer
pdf Always, A Taste Of Samba, Cha ChaJiveSamba, IV+2U, Dufrene
pdf Baby You've Got What It Takes, Jive, III+2, Helms
pdf Cha Cha Bonita, Cha Cha, V+1, Molitoris
pdf Coquette II, Two Step, II, Connelly
pdf Dancing On The Ceiling, Quickstep, IV+1, Shane
pdf Dark Waltz, Waltz, VI, Vogt
pdf Dipsy Doodle, Two Step, II, Connelly
pdf Don't Break My Stride, Cha Cha/Foxtrot, III+3U, Allred
pdf Don't You Remember, Waltz, VI, Gosselin
pdf Fais Do Do, Two Step, II+2, Dufrene
pdf Fields Of Athenry, Slow Two Step, IV+1, Taylor
pdf Forever In Blue Jeans, Cha Cha, III, LaBau
pdf Guitars, Cadillacs Two Step, Two Step, II+2, Winze
pdf Harbour Lights, Foxtrot/Jive, IV, Seely
pdf Illusion Of My Life, Argentine Tango Vals, V, Noble
pdf Once Again, Waltz, II, Lewis
pdf People, Rumba, VI, Shibata
pdf Perfidia Bolero, Bolero, V, Nolen
pdf Rumba Concerto, Rumba, VI, Goss
pdf Shamey Shamey Shame, Jive, V+2+2, Woodruff
pdf These Foolish Things, Mixed, IV+1, Bahr
pdf This Is Our Dance, Waltz, III+2, Borengasser
pdf You Left The Water Running, Jive, IV+2, Read

The best place to look for your cue sheets is always here:

http://www.mixed-up.com/round/all-over/

20041116a.src0100600001266300000360000000264510163463077011472 0ustar markbuserValley gains 4,300 jobs in October San Jose Mercury News 1100655641 News

By Margaret Steen

Santa Clara County's job market continued its recovery in October, adding 4,300 jobs, the most in that month since 1997. The county's unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a point, to 5.3 percent.

The county had 846,000 jobs, up 4,300 from the revised September figure, but still well short of the peak of 1,070,200 reached in December 2000. Still, it's not clear whether the numbers signal an improvement in hiring in the tech sector. Much of the growth came from seasonal gains in government and education and health services. The manufacturing sector lost 400 jobs.

"They don't hire those people unless they have real customers ready to spend money," said Donn Ledwick, owner of Professional Search Associates in San Jose. "To me that's just a key indicator that we might be looking at a sustained period of uptick in the tech market."

Candidates "are not as readily available for work as they were six months ago," said Grace Coquia, recruiting manager for the professional services division of Manpower in San Jose. "The market has really turned."

Still, it's not yet an employees' market. Employers continue to be very picky, asking for applicants who are an exact match for a long list of qualifications.

http://www.mercurynews.com:80/mld/mercurynews/news/10193641.htm

20041116b.src0100600001266300000360000000101210163461230011443 0ustar markbuserNot funny at the time?

1100674365 Accident

Annette Woodruff says:

I read through your notebook and enjoyed the humorous description of your accident.... although I don't suppose you thought it was funny at the time.

Mark replies:

Actually, at the time I was in pain, but I did think it was quite funny. My first thought was "I fell down and I can't get back up!" My second thought is that now I have much more in common with my retired round dance friends than I ever wanted to! (Most of them are elderly.)

20041117a.src0100600001266300000360000000222710163461742011464 0ustar markbuserDiplomacy and Darfur Washington Post Editorial 1100719880 News

Cease-fires, undertakings and protocols have been negotiated and signed; still the genocide continues. Two U.N. Security Council resolutions have condemned the government's behavior; still the genocide continues.

Sudan's rulers believe they can exterminate tens of thousands of people in Darfur and get away with it. Its strategy remains unchanged: to cement control over Darfur by decimating the tribes that back various local rebels. The government has participated in unprovoked assaults on villages, murdering men, raping women and tossing children into flames that consume their huts.

There is little prospect of security for Darfur's people -- and therefore little prospect of a return to destroyed villages, a resumption of agricultural production and an escape from starvation -- without a serious peacekeeping force. More than a year and a half into Darfur's genocide, the United States and its allies have proved unwilling to consider that kind of commitment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55673-2004Nov16.html

20041117b.src0100600001266300000360000000213710163460736011467 0ustar markbuserCARE Official Abducted in Iraq Presumed Dead Washington Post 1100720572 News

By Karl Vick

The British government concluded Tuesday that Margaret Hassan, a British-Iraqi relief official who worked on behalf of poor Iraqis for more than 20 years, was probably killed by kidnappers who seized her in Baghdad a month ago.

The abduction of Hassan, 59, had provoked outrage among Iraqis. Hassan had remained in the country in support of humanitarian efforts during and after the U.S. invasion, defying risks that led most aid organizations to withdraw from Iraq.

British officials reported Hassan's likely death after studying a videotape provided by al-Jazeera television in which a blindfolded woman was shot in the head at point-blank range.

There have been more than 170 kidnappings since April, and at least 34 people have been killed. The killings of hostages have brought widespread condemnation from among Iraqis, who often say such atrocities sully the image of Islam.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54134-2004Nov16.html

20041117c.src0100600001266300000360000000312110163462722011457 0ustar markbuserReport urges 6-month delay for hospital closing San Jose Mercury News 1100721137 News, Health, Accident

By April Lynch

The imminent closing of San Jose Medical Center should be postponed until June to limit the health care difficulties that are likely to follow, according a report released Tuesday.

Emergency room patients, trauma victims and senior citizens living near San Jose's downtown will be among the groups hit hardest when the hospital closes its doors Dec. 9, the report found.

HCA officials did not respond to calls seeking comment Tuesday. But the for-profit company has given no indication of delaying San Jose Medical Center's closing, and local officials and residents don't expect the hospital to keep its doors open longer.

The company has focused on plans to expand Regional Medical Center of San Jose, another hospital it owns about two miles away. HCA has also proposed moving San Jose Medical Center's trauma center to Regional, but county officials have final say over those plans and are not rushing their review.

San Jose Medical Center handled more than 31,000 emergency room cases last year, and that care will now fall to other local hospitals. About 1,900 patients received care at the hospital's trauma center last year, and the county's two remaining trauma centers at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Stanford University Medical Center will now have to expand their services.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_vall
ey/10202602.htm

20041118a.src0100600001266300000360000000156110147745276011476 0ustar markbuserProgress Report: Recovery from Bicycle Accident

1100766513 Accident

We have an appointment for follow-up with the orthopedic surgeon on November 24 (the day before Thanksgiving). In preparation, we have to have x-rays done again. We plan to do that tomorrow afternoon (Thursday).

After experiencing a lot of pain the weekend of November 6-7, things have gotten a lot better. I have a lot more mobility in my hip, and pain is infrequent. I usually have pain after sitting in a hard chair, like in my computer room, in the kitchen, or at church. But a lot less pain when sitting in the softer chair in front of the TV. :-)

We hope that the doctor will OK me to start putting weight on the left leg next week. The initial estimate was six to eight weeks, and we just passed the five week mark. We are encouraged by the much-decreased stiffness and pain over the last few days.

20041118b.src0100600001266300000360000000400610163463110011452 0ustar markbuserHow do I do this? A Programming Problem 1100767229 Computers

I want to distribute a CD that has PDF and HTML files on it. It will have a searchable database of the documents on the CD. There will be about 7000 documents on the CD. The documents can be searched by specific content that I can specify, but not by their internal content. So I will construct a database that allows this kind of searching.

I want the input and output to be in HTML. That is, the user enters their search criteria into an HTML form, and the browser returns a list of the documents that match their criteria. I would like this CD to work on PC, Mac, Unix, whatever. So I need to construct the database in a common language.

It could be done in JavaScript, and such things are commonly done this way. But JavaScript is quite slow for this particular purpose. The database has about 7000 records and 10 fields.

An alternative would be to do this in Java, which would be much faster. But it doesn't seem possible to make a Java applet that just outputs text into the browser window. (Not picture text, but text text with links etc.)

Really, I want this program to behave like a CGI, but I don't want to require the user to have a web server, only a web browser.

Other similar projects get around the slowness of JavaScript by creating large indexes. For example, the Blue Letter Bible does this to allow you to search for specific text in the King James version of the Bible. This is a huge search task but the optimizations have made it relatively painless.

But the large audience for the BLB project makes that huge optimization effort worthwile. In contrast, the audience for my proposed CD would be quite small, and I want the project to entail as little effort as possible. I already have a similar database on the web site that uses a CGI built in C++, so creating the CD might possibly be a matter of porting the C++ code to Java.

If I could find a way to load the resulting text as HTML into a browser window. There's the rub.

20041118c.src0100600001266300000360000000333010163461746011467 0ustar markbuserUnder the Cover of Islam New York Times Op-Ed 1100813178 News, Christian

By Irshad Manji

Secular Europe can't quite grasp the life of a liberal Muslim.

From Amsterdam to Barcelona to Paris to Berlin, people incredulously ask me one type of question that I'm never asked in the United States and Canada: Why does an independent-minded woman care about God? Why do you need religion at all?

To a lot of Europeans, still steeped in memories of the Catholic Church's intellectual repression, religion is an irrational force.

Not so in North America. Because it has long been a society of immigrants seeking religious tolerance, religion itself is not seen as irrational.

The mass immigration of Muslims is bringing faith back into the public realm and creating a post-Enlightenment modernity for Western Europe. This return of religion threatens secular humanism, the orthodoxy that has prevailed since the French Revolution. Paradoxically, because many Western Europeans feel that they're losing Enlightenment values amid the flood of "people of faith," they wind up sympathizing with those in the Muslim world who resent imported values that challenge their own.

Why do I, an independent-minded woman, bother with Islam? Religion supplies a set of values, including discipline, that serve as a counterweight to the materialism of life in the West. I could have become a runaway materialist, a robotic mall rat who resorts to retail therapy in pursuit of fulfillment. I didn't. That's because religion introduces competing claims. It injects a tension that compels me to think and allows me to avoid fundamentalisms of my own.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/18/opinion/18manji.html?th

20041118d.src0100600001266300000360000000264410163461064011470 0ustar markbuserGoogle Plans New Service for Scientists and Scholars New York Times 1100813768 Comptuers, News

By John Markoff

Google Scholar is intended as a first stop for researchers looking for scholarly literature like peer-reviewed papers, books, abstracts and technical reports.

The new Google service, which includes a listing of scientific citations as well as ways to find materials at libraries that are not online, will not initially include the text advertisements that are shown on standard pages for Google search results.

However, company executives say it is likely that advertisements will eventually accompany search results on Google Scholar. One academic publishing executive, John Sack, director of HighWire Press at Stanford University, said that such advertising could be quite profitable.

"The commercial reason for doing this is that you can target areas with high-quality, high-payback ads," Mr. Sack said. "An advertisement that goes next to an article on cloning techniques is probably going to be for services that are pretty expensive."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/18/technology/18google.html?th

Mark says:

Well, doh! Isn't this what the web was designed for? Except for the ads, of course. Capitalism at its finest.

First, they hijack a free service for commercial and frivolous use. Then they want to charge to use it for its intended purpose.

20041118e.src0100600001266300000360000000227410163463254011473 0ustar markbuserMIT Wants to Make Computing as Easy as Breathing Washington Post 1100816486 News, Computers

By Leslie Walker

The MIT professor and researcher explained that the prototype wasn't about size or shape. It was about the invisible wiring on its silicon chip, designed so it can be reprogrammed to allow one device to perform many tasks, allowing a cell phone to morph suddenly into a TV or scanner. Today's computer chips, by contrast, are pre-wired with fixed sets of instructions.

He wants to redesign chip software and hardware for the mobile age, creating chips that can power chameleon devices. If devices were chameleon-like, he reasons that people could get more done with less gear, theoretically making computing more mobile. Also, devices embedded in "intelligent" rooms and stationary objects could accomplish more simply by retrieving new instruction sets.

"Call it a universal logic chip that can do anything."

"About a year ago, we started developing the operating system, which needs a lot of properties, including the ability to be rapidly configurable."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58945-2004Nov17.html

20041118f.src0100600001266300000360000000264710163462730011476 0ustar markbuserPhishing Feeds Internet Black Markets Washington Post 1100817507 Computers, News

By Brian Krebs

Thousands of consumers are taken in each month by phishing, a rapidly growing form of fraud that blends old-fashioned confidence scams with innovations in technological trickery. The crooks often are members of criminal networks that traffic in stolen data, perpetuating a crime that can haunt victims for years after it was committed.

The scammers make a few small credit card charges or take little bites from the bank account. Then they stop, giving the account holder a false sense of security. In reality, their data is being moved into online black markets. There, it is sold to criminal gangs based in places such as Russia, Ukraine or West Africa. The gangs profit by using the data to open new credit lines for buying high-priced items that they sell for cash.

Another trick that harkens back to the dawn of the World Wide Web is starting to see new life: fake online storefronts that harvest credit card information. In these scams, thieves build Web sites hawking everything from sporting goods to contact lenses at bargain-basement prices, advertising the wares with large doses of spam. The Web sites look authentic thanks to pictures and descriptions of goods lifted from real online stores.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59347-2004Nov18.html

20041119a.src0100600001266300000360000000431010163462634011462 0ustar markbuserCompanies Forced to Fight Phishing Washington Post 1100907186 Computers, News

By Brian Krebs

Phishers now focus almost exclusively on banks and online shopping sites. During the past 10 months, nearly 60 percent of their attacks targeted Citibank or US Bank, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group. EarthLink and America Online are the targets for about 3 percent of the scams.

Phishers profit by stealing personal financial information and teaming up with international criminal syndicates that include computer hackers, virus writers and identity thieves. Working together, they fence the stolen data and cover their tracks by routing their e-mails and Web sites through multiple Internet hosts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61916-2004Nov19.html

Related stories:

A Brief History of Phishing

Before mid-2003, most phishing scams arrived in text-heavy e-mails. They were rife with spelling errors and poor grammar that tipped recipients off. But phishers are honing their writing and design skills, creating messages that are more difficult to discern as forgeries. Here is a brief timeline of the development of phishing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59350-2004Nov18.html

How to Fend off Phishing

The best way to avoid becoming a phishing victim is to remember that real companies almost never send e-mail asking you to submit personal data. The message might include fancy graphics, trademark symbols and an authentic-looking e-mail address in the "from" line, but all of that can be easily faked. Here are some easy ways to tell.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59383-2004Nov18.html

Phishing Schemes Scar Victims

An estimated 1.8 million Americans gave out personal information in phishing scams in the last year. It is becoming one of the most prevalent means of identity theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59349-2004Nov18.html

20041119b.src0100600001266300000360000000536110163461755011475 0ustar markbuserWhat Is Gluten Intolerance?

1100916593 Gluten

It is sometimes hard to communicate what we can eat and what we cannot. This information comes from the misc.kids Allergy and Asthma FAQ.

A common allergy is to gluten, a mixture of proteins found in wheat and other grains (rye, oats, barley etc.). Gluten is the portion of flour that gives a porous, spongy texture to bread. It is also used as a base in cosmetic powders and creams. Reactions range from runny nose and itchy eyes to upset stomach to severe gas. In children (and adults!), personality changes can be a symptom - inability to concentrate, irritableness, crankiness, difficulties with mental alertness and memory. Some research indicates there may be a connection between attention deficit disorders and undiagnosed gluten allergies.
Severe reactions to wheat occur in the condition known as Celiac-Sprue. For people with this condition, the intestine reacts strongly to gluten products. The small cilia on the intestinal wall gradually flatten, reducing the ability of the intestines to absorb nutrients. This is a serious condition leading to malnutrition. The treatment consists of avoiding wheat and gluten in any form. In Western cultures, this can be VERY difficult. Remember that other grains such as rye and oats can cause problems, since they contain small amounts of gluten. It is unknown whether a child will outgrow this condition, but the current safe opinion is that gluten must be avoided for life.
It can be difficult to avoid gluten in processed foods. It's used as a starch, binder, bulking agent, formulation aid, stabilizer, shaper, thickener, emulsific filler and as a glaze. Some foods labeled "wheat free" may still contain gluten. Even things like lip gloss, make-up, shampoo and hand cream can contain gluten.
It is possible to have good food without eating a wheat-based diet. A number of cuisines are not based on wheat and provide alternatives around which to center your diet. Chinese, Indian, and other Asian countries often center the diet around rice. Some Eastern European countries use other grains such as millet and buckwheat.
A number of substitutes for wheat in baking are available. For gluten free baked products, a mixture of rice flour, potato starch flour, and tapioca flour can be used.
Any baking done without wheat will take practice; you have to learn a whole new way of doing it. The products are not exactly like wheat products but are tasty and satisfying. Most are as easy to make as the wheat version (after a few initial failures while learning). For many cookies and cakes, the results are very good. For breads, the results are better termed satisfactory but still quite good in their own way.

20041120a.src0100600001266300000360000000406710163461761011463 0ustar markbuserIn Time of Turmoil, Graham Offers Soothing Words New York Times 1100986802 Christian, News

The Rev. Billy Graham spoke on Thursday at the 92,000-seat Rose Bowl, the beginning of a four-day crusade that organizers say is his 416th worldwide and his next-to-last.

It was 55 years ago that a young preacher drew thousands to his tent revival in the streets of Los Angeles.

Dr. Graham returned to Southern California this week an old man, shuffling along on a walker, having suffered a broken hip and a leg in the last year. He spoke for 30 minutes on Thursday evening at the 92,000-seat Rose Bowl, the beginning of a four-day crusade here that organizers say is his 416th worldwide and his next-to-last. Dr. Graham's final evangelical crusade, health permitting, is scheduled for June in New York City.

Dr. Graham's testimony was free of incendiary topics of the day like gay marriage, Islamic fundamentalism or the presidential election. He told The Los Angeles Times this week that though he phoned President Bush to congratulate him on his victory, he has not told anyone who he voted for.

People at the crusade said they were pleased that the idea of moral values had bubbled into the national debate, but they also said it was a mistake to think that Mr. Bush enjoyed their support simply because he is an anti-abortion Christian. Their concerns, they say, are like other Americans' and range from the economy to Iraq to self-sufficiency to sizing up a man who they believe means what he says.

The state of the American culture is alarming, many of the faithful said. The litany included the explosion of pornography and gambling, half-naked starlets on television, the dissolution of the traditional family, drugs, violence.

It is not so much that conservative Christians want to push their moral values on others, they said, as it is that they feel others are pushing their values upon them. The debate, to them, is whose values will be the voice in the public square.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/20/national/20graham.html?th

20041120b.src0100600001266300000360000000241410202551616011447 0ustar markbuserNegotiators Add Abortion Clause to Spending Bill New York Times 1100987078 News

House and Senate negotiators have tucked a potentially far-reaching anti-abortion provision into a $388 billion must-pass spending bill.

The abortion language would bar federal, state and local agencies from withholding taxpayer money from health care providers that refuse to provide or pay for abortions or refuse to offer abortion counseling or referrals. Current federal law, aimed at protecting Roman Catholic doctors, provides such "conscience protection" to doctors who do not want to undergo abortion training. The new language would expand that protection to all health care providers, including hospitals, doctors, clinics and insurers.

"It's something we've had a longstanding interest in," said Douglas Johnson, a spokesman for the National Right to Life Committee. He added, "This is in response to an orchestrated campaign by pro-abortion groups across the country to use government agencies to coerce health care providers to participate in abortions."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/20/politics/20spend.html?th

Mark says: This doesn't sound like an anti-abortion provision to me. It sounds like a freedom-of-choice provision.

20041120c.src0100600001266300000360000000261410150040461011443 0ustar markbuserA Gluten-Free Thanksgiving

1100990408 Gluten

In all honesty, we're actually getting a lot of help. We've delegated almost everything except the turkey, gravy, and stuffing to others.

But, in fact, here's what we need to keep track of:

No wheat flour to be used in cooking the turkey. We plan to use the same method as last year. The turkey gets baked in a plastic bag. Substitute rice flour or potato flour.
No wheat flour to be used in making the gravy. This means the gravy must be made from scratch; all gravy mixes in the store have wheat flour. (I found a company on the internet that might make a gluten-free mix, but it's too late to order it.)
Why does a gravy mix have to use wheat flour, when corn starch works much better as a thickening agent?
No bread crumbs to be used in making the stuffing. Last year I made a rice stuffing that everyone loved. It has celery, cranberries, apples, and maybe nuts (I don't recall right now). The recipe comes straight out of Betty Crocker, my favorite cookbook.
We need to buy gluten-free corn flakes and gluten-free sour cream for someone who's making a special potato dish.
Why would corn flakes have to have wheat flour in them? Wouldn't one expect them to be made of, um, corn?
Why would sour cream have to have "modified food starch?" Isn't sour cream supposed to be a dairy product? Doh!

20041120d.src0100644001266300000360000000534010163462402011462 0ustar markbuserOf Webcams, Videoconferencing and Marines

1101019232 Computers

Well, I installed the Logitech Quick Cam Zoom (White) software again. I had to download it from the Logitech web site, because the install CD did not come with Mac OS X drivers. Because the computer crashed catastrophically after the last time I installed this software, I downloaded it again just to make sure ... I even downloaded it twice again using different browsers. No differences between any of the files.

Anyway, the driver and program installed OK. The camera will zoom in but not out. All the zoom and focus is in software. The unit cannot be focused manually in hardware (e.g. with a ring).

We used Yahoo Messenger to chat with Mary's son Matthew today. Matthew is with the Marines in Iraq. We have the opportunity to chat with him sometimes. We can view his webcam, but when he tried to view ours, his computer crashed. We have no idea why.

Mary's son Aaron gave us another webcam that someone gave to him. This webcam came without any software, documentation, or much identifying information. It does say "IBM PC Camera" but no model number. By plugging into the Mac's USB port and querying USB Prober, I was able to determine that it is manufactured by Xirlink. That was enough to help me find documentation and drivers on cameratechsupport.com, a neat site that I'd never seen before.

There were lots of complaints about the PC Camera on Amazon, in particular poor picture quality, lack of focus control, and over-sensitivity to light conditions. There were also warnings on the cameratechsupport.com site about particular problems with Yahoo Messenger, including image reversals and multiple images.

The PC software installed without problems on Mary's Dell laptop. We did the reboot as advised. The PC recgonized the USB camera immediately and installed all the drivers without even asking. Image quality was poor at first until Mary used the manual focus ring to adjust it. We also found that it does not require nearly as much light as the Amazon reviews might lead one to believe.

We were able to use Yahoo Messenger to chat with each other from adjacent bedrooms in the house. Photo quality of the PC Camera was at least as good as with the Logitech Quick Cam, and perhaps better.

We hope that when we chat with Matthew again that he will be able to see his mom without crashing. He has been gone since early September, and while we have seen him on the webcam, he has not seen us.

References:

20041121a.src0100644001266300000360000000126110151171742011457 0ustar markbuserX-rays of a Hip Fracture

1101024043 Accident

Here are the two most recent x-rays of my left hip. The first shows the four screws. The fracture is barely visible, if at all. The second x-ray shows the small "chip" that wasn't fastened with a pin. The red arrows points toward the "chip."

CORRECTION:

We saw the doctor on Wednesday November 24 and he corrected us. The red arrow does not point to the "chip." The yellow arrow does. It is hard to see it. It is in the yellow circle. It is shallow (about 14 inch thick) and long (about 1 to 1-12 inches long). It has healed up OK but not perfectly.

Figure 1

Figure 2

20041121b.src0100644001266300000360000000575710163462115011476 0ustar markbuserBooks I'm Reading Now

1101094148 Christian, Computers

Since starting to spend more time on the computer, I've been reading less. But I've started some new books (and finished a few) over the last month:

What on Earth Are We Doing?: Finding Our Place As Christians in the World, by John Fischer.
I always like to be reading a book by John Fischer. His kind of Christianity, inherited from the late Ray Stedman of Peninsula Bible Church, is the most genuine. This book is about being Christian instruments of healing in a decaying society, instead of remaining isolated from the very society that needs us so much and where Jesus sent us to save individuals.
Azusa Street Till Now: Eyewitness Accounts of the Move of God, by Clara Davis.
An ultimately disappointing book about the history of the 20th-century American Pentecostal movement, with a tip of the hat to the Charismatic movement of the 1950's and 1960's.
The Power of a Praying Husband, by Stormie Omartian.
I read this book about a year ago with the object of understanding my wife better. Now I've read it again with the object of actually praying.
Protestantism in America: A Narrative History, by Jerald C. Brauer.
I always like to be reading a history book, and this one is a good follow-up to the last one I read, American Faith. Its outlook is more evangelical than American Faith, but its conclusions are much the same: that the 17th-century movements that have had the most effect on American society were the Quaker and Baptist; and that the influence of the middle colonies, where religious freedom was paramount, far outweighed the influence of Puritan New England and the Methodist South.
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, by Mark Allan Powell.
An exhaustive encyclopedia of all CCM acts, including 1970's icons like Love Song and Marsha Stevens, and their 1960's precursors like Ralph Carmichael.
The Billboard Guide to Contemporary Christian Music, by Barry Alfonso.
Not nearly as exhaustive as Powell's book, and quite disappointing. One would have expected a Billboard volume to have more breadth.
Mostly Harmless, by Douglas Adams.
Mostly boring. Inferior to the previous installments in his "trilogy".
Constructing Accessible Web Sites, by Jim Thatcher et al.
Just a little something I grabbed to read while fixing up my crashed computer. I've finished about 25% of it, and it's pretty pedantic so far, and not very useful. But the remainder of the book promises to be more practical.
Danny Goodman's Javascript Handbook, by Danny Goodman.
A quick read, covers lots of interesting topics.
Essential CSS and DHTML for Web Professionals (2nd Edition), by Dan Livingston.
Another quick read. Really just a quick introduction to CSS, then an examination of menus with a little animation.

20041122a.src0100644001266300000360000000216510163450076011467 0ustar markbuserSome Hard-Liners in Turkey See Diversity as Divisive New York Times 1101156066 News, Christian

By Susan Sachs

Under pressure from the European Union and civil rights advocates, Turkey has started to reassess the way it has treated religious minorities.

Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan's government has prepared legislation that would give Christian and Jewish foundations more freedom to manage their own assets and elect their board members. Parliament is expected to vote on the bill before Dec. 17, when European Union leaders are to decide whether to open accession talks with Turkey.

For many Turks, even a discussion of religious or ethnic minorities raises fears of separatism. Some have argued that lifting government controls on religious institutions, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, would undermine Turkey's secular foundations. And Turkey's president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, recently warned that drawing attention to Turkey's sectarian or cultural diversity harmed the state.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/international/europe/21turkey.html?th

20041122b.src0100644001266300000360000000357110163461770011475 0ustar markbuserMany Who Voted for 'Values' Still Like Their Television Sin New York Times 1101157472 News, Christian

By Bill Carter

In interviews, representatives of the four big broadcast networks as well as Hollywood production studios said the nightly television ratings bore little relation to the message apparently sent by a significant percentage of voters.

With "Desperate Housewives" and "C.S.I." leading the ratings, television shows are far more likely to keep pumping from the deep well of murder, mayhem and sexual transgression than seek diversion along the straight and narrow path.

"Desperate Housewives" on ABC is the big new hit of the television season, ranked second over all in the country, behind only "C.S.I." on CBS. This satire of suburbia and modern relationships features, among other morally challenged characters, a married woman in her 30's having an affair with a high-school-age gardener, and has prompted several advertisers, including Lowe's, to pull their advertisements.

In the greater Atlanta market, reaching more than two million households, "Desperate Housewives" is the top-rated show. Nearly 58 percent of the voters in those counties voted for President Bush.

The divide between what people accept as proper in public and what they choose to enjoy in their private lives is, unsurprisingly, nothing new in the history of the world or this country.

"When the Pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock left behind writing, it was William Bradford's, and you can clearly see what they believed in and what their values were," said Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University, referring to the colony's first governor. "Then you look at the court records and you see all kinds of fornication, adultery and bestiality."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/business/media/22tube.html?th

20041122c.src0100644001266300000360000000043010150477266011470 0ustar markbuserEarthquakes and Faults in the San Francisco Bay Area

1101164826

A USGS map depicts both active and inactive faults and earthquakes magnitude 1.5 to 7.0 in the greater San Francisco Bay area.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/2004/2848/

20041123a.src0100644001266300000360000000127510163447777011507 0ustar markbuserNew Tools to Help Patients Reclaim Damaged Senses New York Times 1101230525 News, Health

By Sandra Blakeslee

Using novel electronic aids, vision can be represented on the skin, tongue or through the ears. If the sense of touch is gone from one part of the body, it can be routed to an area where touch sensations are intact. Pilots confused by foggy conditions, in which the horizon disappears, can right their aircraft by monitoring sensations on the tongue or trunk. Surgeons can feel on their tongues the tip of a probe inside a patient's body, enabling precise movements.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/23/science/23sens.html?th

20041123b.src0100644001266300000360000000150510163447732011473 0ustar markbuserMore Visas For Foreign Workers: Quota Raised to Fill High-Tech Jobs Washington Post 1101231775 News

Associated Press

Congress is letting employers hire 20,000 more foreign high-tech workers under a special visa program after businesses reached the annual ceiling on the first day of the government's fiscal year.

The popular H-1B visas are granted to foreigners in specialty professions such as architecture, engineering, medicine, biotechnology and computer programming. Under the program, employers must pay foreign workers the prevailing wage for their job fields and show that qualified U.S. workers are not being passed over.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6204-2004Nov22.html

Uh, hello? Qualified US workers not being passed over?

20041123c.src0100644001266300000360000000127010163447660011473 0ustar markbuserSan Jose named safest big city 4th year in row San Jose Mercury News 1101234291 News

By Crystal Carreon

For the fourth year in a row, the capital of Silicon Valley is also the capital of safest cities with populations of more than 500,000.

The determination is based on 2003 FBI crime statistics for murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft.

Compared with other urban cities, San Jose's homicide rate remains particularly low at about 2.8 percent per 100,000 people.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_vall
ey/10252513.htm

20041124a.src0100644001266300000360000001045310163460730011466 0ustar markbuserUpdate: Accident Recovery

1101331488 Accident

We had x-rays done last week. Earlier this morning we visited the doctor, the orthopedic surgeon who did the emergency surgery. He says things are healing up nicely. There is one section along the main fracture that is not getting as good a blood supply, so it is healing more slowly. Also, the second small fracture is healing up OK but not perfectly. But it is healed up enough that I can start moving my leg more.

Note: I made a mistake in the description of the x-rays. If you take another look at that journal entry, I've noted the mistake and corrected it.

The heads of the screws are sticking out a ways out of the bone. It is not unusual that as the bone joins back together it shrinks a little. The only potential drawback is that a bursa might form where the screws stick out. This could result in some bursitis later.

He also noticed some arthritis forming in each hip, on the pelvis, a little more on the left than the right. These are bone spurs. You can see them clearly on x-ray #1, but you have to know where they are. These might cause some pain in the future. He did give us some advice about supplements we can take to relieve arthritis: Chondroitin and Glucosamine Sulfate. These are advertised a lot on the radio, but the doctor says the research shows that they really do work, not just to relieve the pain, but to actually restore the cartilage.

He gave me some advice on some kinds of exercise I can do. The first thing he suggested was a stationary bicycle, which was the first thing I had thought of. This is a good way to get all the muscles moving without having to bear a lot of weight.

Others have suggested water therapy, and I asked him about this. He says it is very good to "lie in the water and kick." There might be enough room to do this in the hot tub at our local gym.

The gym where we are members has one major drawback. It is on the second floor of a large building and there are two large flights of stairs outside the entrance. I definitely can't navigate the stairs in my walker, and I don't really want to "hop up on one leg" without the walker. So I might look into getting a temporary membership at another local gym that is on ground level.

Our chiropractor suggested that we might want to pursue physical therapy at their facility. They have a treadmill where they can suspend you overhead to reduce the weight you're bearing. It is a nifty setup that I used once before when recovering from a bad back. They can start you out with just a little weight bearing (1/4 of body weight), then increase it incrementally until you're bearing full weight. The doctor wrote me a referral so that the insurance will pay for the physical therapy. If you need this kind of PT, I recommend them.

Health Now Medical Center
Fremont at Mary
Sunnyvale, CA
408-733-0400
http://www.healthnowmedical.com/

So, the bottom line is now I can start bearing weight on my left leg, but only just a little. I must still use the walker. Since even a cane bears only 30% of your body weight, I won't be eligible to use that for a while yet, when I'm able to bear 70% weight on my own.

Our next appointment is in early January, and the doctor wrote us a requisition to get more x-rays then. Since San Jose Hospital is closing, we'll have to visit the radiology department at Alexian Brothers (now "Regional"), which is closer to our house anyway.

Since the doctor approved that I can start bearing a little weight on the left leg, we're going to celebrate tonight by going to our favorite restaurant, Zahir's. They were closed for a while but recently reopened. We had our wedding reception there and we've been back many times. I wish we could say that we will diet afterward, but tomorrow 24 people are coming over for a huge Thanksgiving dinner. And we have lots to give thanks for.

Zahir's Cafe
1380 South Main Street, Milpitas, California 95035
408 946-4000
http://www.zahirscafe.com/

There was a good review of Zahir's in last Sunday's Mercury News.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/columnists/sheila_himme
l/10238253.htm

20041124b.src0100644001266300000360000000323710163463272011475 0ustar markbuserZahir's succeeds far from crowds at restaurant row San Jose Mercury News Restaurant Review 1101360483 News

By Sheila Himmel

For 24 years, the tall, courtly Zahir Quddus, an immigrant from Afghanistan, has greeted customers and fed them dependable Continental cuisine in a semi-undisclosed location. He has begun to warm it up with plants and paintings, and the round, open fireplace performs nicely at this time of year.

Salads include Greek, Caesar and spinach. The Kentucky limestone lettuce salad ($5.75) comes with a lot of bay shrimp and a little too much vinaigrette, but the lettuce is a nice change of pace from field greens. It's a tasty, light butter lettuce with crunchy ribs.

Mary likes the Greek salad; Mark likes the Limestone.

On to entrees, with a page each for chicken, seafood, veal, beef and surf-and-turf. Your server also will recite the daily specials, reflecting the Continental range of longtime chef Luis Saldivar.

Mary likes the pepper steak. Mark likes the salmon piccata, which we had served at our wedding reception here.

For dessert, a pyramid shape shows up as a chocolate mousse.

Mary says this is a true chocoholic's delight. Mark says the look on Mary's face as she eats it is worth the price.

Bread is fresh. Service is earnest. The many white-shirted, neck-tied servers take their work seriously, and Quddus makes a point of visiting each table.

Zahir's Cafe
1380 S. Main St., just south of Great Mall Parkway, Milpitas.
(408) 946-4000

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/columnists/sheila_himme
l/10238253.htm

20041125a.src0100644001266300000360000000053110151316746011467 0ustar markbuserMcCloud Dance Country, Summer 2005, 20 Dance Workshops

1101372875 Rounds, Squares

9 Round Dance Workshops
4 Plus Workshops
4 Advanced Workshops
2 Challenge Workshops
1 Ballroom Workshop

http://www.mixed-up.com/cgi-bin/calendar/search?C=A&search=mccloud

20041125b.src0100644001266300000360000000144410163463277011501 0ustar markbuserSquare and Round Dance Calendar - 100 new events posted

1101453375 Squares, Rounds

Posted 100 new events to the square and round dance calendar. These include events such as:

http://www.mixed-up.com/cgi-bin/calendar/search

20041126a.src0100644001266300000360000000274010163460724011473 0ustar markbuserTransplanted Traditions for Troops in Iraq Washington Post 1101503813 News

Turkey Trot and Holiday Feast Offer Respite at a Base Warmed by thoughts of Home

By Jackie Spinner

Some Thanksgiving traditions, like the Turkey Trot, can be transplanted -- even to the palm groves and farm fields near Baqubah in eastern Iraq. But Thanksgiving Day brought more than a race to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the Army's 1st Infantry Division, whose soldiers are among the 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq who celebrated the holiday away from their families.

Civilian cooks, with soldiers supervising them, prepared a multi-course meal for the troops. Large silver platters in the center of the dining facility were filled with shrimp cocktail, which soldiers nibbled on while waiting in a long line to reach the servers, in white chef's hats and aprons, dishing out freshly carved roast turkey, prime rib, smoked ham and Cornish hens. There were also fresh crab legs, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans and hot rolls.

The cooks started Wednesday and worked through the night to make Thanksgiving dinner for 2,013 people. The food was imported from the United States to Kuwait, Abuan said, then sent by truck to a military base in Balad, just north of Baghdad, and on to Warhorse.

"Getting through the holidays means we're that much closer to going home."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13014-2004Nov25.html

20041127a.src0100644001266300000360000000131110152046016011455 0ustar markbuserSquare and Round Dance Calendar - 140 new events posted

1101548558 Squares, Rounds

Posted 140 new events to the square and round dance calendar. These include events such as:

San Jose area events for 2006, 2007, and 2008
San Diego hoedowns for 2005
North State hoedowns for 2005, including Mt. Shasta, Yreka, Anderson, and Santa Rosa
Vermont hoedowns for 2005
Square dance events in Scotland!

http://www.mixed-up.com/cgi-bin/calendar/search

20041127b.src0100644001266300000360000000243310163447524011477 0ustar markbuserOnline shoppers warned to be vigilant San Jose Mercury News 1101587500 News, Computers

By Dan Lee

Security experts tell of an underground world where spammers, hackers and other miscreants devise schemes to steal personal information such as passwords or Social Security numbers. These criminals even hawk lists of stolen credit card numbers in Internet chat rooms.

Experts say reputable companies will never send e-mails asking for personal information. Instead of clicking on any e-mail link, users should restart their browser and type that company's address to make sure they are connecting to the real Web site.

Tips:

Shop at sites that provide SSL, or Secured Sockets Layer, technology that encrypts credit card numbers and other information that is sent over the Internet. A "lock" icon appears on such sites, and their address begins with "https" instead of just "http."

If you use a separate card just for shopping -- and not recurring bill payments -- it will be less of a hassle if the shopping card has to be canceled.

Don't use the same password for everything. Use a different password for every site.

Carefully research e-commerce sites you are not familiar with.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/10282987.htm

20041129a.src0100644001266300000360000000310110163462736011473 0ustar markbuserCruel irony -- Gehrig's disease expert stricken San Francisco Chronicle 1101764454 News, Health

By Carl T. Hall

Dr. Richard Olney first got interested in the neuromuscular disease known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, when the daughter of his favorite teacher in junior high school died of it.

In June, Olney, 56, regarded as one of the top ALS clinicians in the country, was diagnosed with ALS.

At first, Olney suspected the instability he began noticing in his right knee, and later a progressive weakening in both legs, was caused by compression of a disk in his spinal column. But after three surgeries failed to halt the early symptoms, Dr. Robert Layzer, Olney's colleague in the UCSF neurology department, confirmed that the culprit was ALS.

Despite the surgeries, the weakness spread to his arms. Lately it's noticeably affected his speech. It will, in all likelihood, keep getting worse, eventually making it difficult even to swallow, or breathe. Then it will end.

ALS is marked by the degeneration of select nerve cells, originating in the brain or spinal cord, that drive the muscles. One of its more unsettling characteristics is that it spares most parts of the brain, including the cortical neurons that underlie alertness and conscious thought. So patients get a front-row seat at their own demise.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/11/29/ALS.TMP&nl=top

Mark says:

My Uncle Marvin had this disease. He lost speech and other motor skills but remained quite alert.

20041129b.src0100644001266300000360000000167510163460664011510 0ustar markbuserCompany Hopes to Take Outsourcing to a New Level: Africa Washington Post 1101765234 News, Computers

By Mary Ellen Slayter

Rising Data Solutions opened the first outsource call center in Ghana, a West African nation of about 20 million people. The company circumvents the country's limited telephone infrastructure by relying on voice-over-Internet protocol.

"Outsourcing is here to stay. Period," said Karim Morsli, the Gaithersburg company's chief information officer. "But we give people an option to India."

Morsli said Ghana's low cost of living, stable democratic government and literate, English-speaking population make it well- suited as an outsourcing location. He said his company can provide call-center outsourcing for 25 to 30 percent less than what it would cost in India.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18825-2004Nov28.html

Mark says: Sigh.

20041129c.src0100644001266300000360000000562010163447413011500 0ustar markbuserFogerty's revival San Jose Mercury News 1101766126 News, Music

By Brad Kava

The swampy sound of Fogerty's music sounds as if it came from the delta, but he had never been there. "So many of my great icons were from Mississippi," said the 59-year-old, who wrote nine Top 10 singles for Creedence Clearwater Revival from 1969 to 1971, but stopped playing them after fights with his record label, Fantasy, and its owner, Saul Zaentz.

The flash: "I realized, there is some wise guy with a big cigar who owns your songs, but you need to be singing your songs."

You can hear the result on his current tour, which began in June at Saratoga's Villa Montalvo and hits the Grand Ballroom in San Francisco on Wednesday. He mixes rarely played Creedence classics with material from his excellent new album, "Deja Vu (All Over Again)."

The album, his first in seven years, features a wide range of styles: some scathing Vietnam and Iraq war politics in the title cut; a couple of surprising countryish tunes, accompanied by Dobro player Jerry Douglas and bassist Victor Krauss; and some up-tempo material, inspired by the same rock 'n' roll lightheartedness as "Louie, Louie."

The album is only 35 minutes long. Keeping the album short, he says, is a way to make sure there will be others to follow. It also cuts out the excess that plagues artists who feel compelled to fill 72 minutes of disc space with a couple of good songs and lots of filler.

The title cut harks back to one of his early hits, "Fortunate Son," written during the Nixon administration and -- déjà vu -- these days applied to George W. Bush. Fogerty, along with Bruce Springsteen and Dave Matthews, campaigned for John Kerry largely in opposition to the war in Iraq, which Fogerty compares to the Vietnam War.

The biggest surprise in the new set is in some of his influences, stretching from bluegrass masters to current rockers Smash Mouth and Good Charlotte, bands his sons, 13 and 14, turned him onto.

The album is exquisitely produced, fine sounding in the car or on headphones. Creedence was always a car band, Fogerty says. He always understood that people can only hear a little at a time -- guitar or vocals -- on a car radio, so he kept things simple.

At one time, Zaentz, of Fantasy Records, sued Fogerty, claiming that his new material was too close to his older work, which the record label owned. The court ruled in favor of Fogerty.

Although he is often criticized for seeming to repeat himself musically, Fogerty compares his approach to that of artists like Irving Berlin, Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley, who created a wealth of songs in a signature style.

John Fogerty
Regency Center Grand Ballroom,
1300 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco.
8 p.m. Wednesday.
Tickets $42.50, (408) 998-8497, www.ticketmaster.com

http://www.mercurynews.com:80/mld/mercurynews/news/10290925.htm

20041129d.src0100644001266300000360000001310310153007571011470 0ustar markbuserIn The Hospital

1101795118 Accident

They wheeled me into pre-op at 7:00 pm as promised. Surgery commenced around 7:30, and at 9:30 I awoke in post-op with Mary at my side. This was on Tuesday, October 12. I was in the hospital until Friday the 15th.

The first night I only wanted to sleep. The nurses woke me up every hour to check vital signs. This didn't bother me. With all the meds in me, I didn't care about anything.

I mostly slept between around 11:00 pm and 3:00 am the whole time I was in the hospital. I was never really comfortable enough to sleep the night through, even with all the drugs. I did sleep a lot during the day, though, since staying awake was way too boring. I hate TV, and I didn't have enough energy to read a book.

Mary visited me every day. Some days I had to chase her away so she could get her own things done. Pastor Eddie Munoz from Calvary Chapel visited me one day. My Aunt Roe visited me one day. And Kathleen and David Brandt also visited me, and they helped Mary with a lot of things at home.

The first morning (Wednesday) they tried to get me to urinate. I couldn't do this lying on my back or lying on my side. The nurses even tried to help me, letting me stand up by the side of the bed and holding me steady. But nothing. I'm not really sure whether this was the result of medications or just a "shy bladder." But Mary says the medications do shut everything down. Anyway, eventually they did put in a catheter because they were worried about the bladder becoming distended. This was an experience, but not as gruesome as I anticipated. The worse part was having it in for a day and feeling it "tugging" all the time. Eventually they pinned the tube down to the bed to keep it from tugging. This helped a lot. For the most part, it just gave the sensation that I was peeing constantly.

That very first day they sent an occupational therapist (OT) in the morning and a physical therapist (PT) in the afternoon. The OT helped me with things like putting on socks and pants. This is not so easy when you can't move your leg, and when you can't place weight on one leg. The PT showed me how to get in and out of bed without placing weight on the foot, and she showed me how to use the walker. It felt good to get out of bed and "walk" around. But it was relatively painless because of the medications.

They gave me some soap and water, and Mary washed me up a bit.

I was quite heavily medicated the whole first day of recovery. Before surgery, they had given me two doses of morphine, plus a spinal. But the spinal wasn't effective, so they administered a general afterward. So the whole next day, I had all the benefits and drawbacks of both. The spinal lasts 24 hours, so until about 7:30 on Wednesday night I felt no pain, which was a great benefit. But when they administer the general, they must shut down the digestive systems. So that whole first day I could not eat or drink anything. My stomach just did not work, and everything came back up. Fortunately I was getting some fluids through the IV.

After 7:30 on Wednesday night, as the spinal wore off, I did start feeling some pain. They started giving me Vicodin then. It was supposed to last only 3-4 hours but I actually took just one per day, usually in the morning.

I definitely did not get as much attention from the nurses during the day as at night. At night they woke me up every hour, but during the day they did not ever respond when I pressed the button. Fortunately for all of us, I was not very demanding. But there were times when Mary sat with me during the day, and even she could not find a nurse anywhere. My roommate, an elderly gentleman, got lots of attention. And apparently we were right next door to a room where they tried to restrain drug addicts and other malcontents. I only faintly heard a row one time.

On Thursday I started eating again, and passed a little gas. I took these as good signs that digestive systems were back online, and I asked them to remove the catheter. It took a while to get approval for this, but eventually they relented. It was a real milestone when they let me use the walker to access the restroom, and I was able to urinate on my own. Yes!

We hoped that I would be released on Thursday, but an internist became concerned that my blood oxygen count was low. I tend to be asthmatic and short of breath anyway, but they were particularly concerned that my BOX level dropped after using the walker for PT. The physical therapists also noticed that I was not nearly as steady on the walker the second day, and I had some nausea in the middle of one of my walks. We think it was natural that I was not in as good form the second day, since all the anesthetic had worn off by then. Anyway, the doctor ordered up a bunch of lung scans that didn't happen until late Thursday night, so release before Friday became impossible.

Things went well on Friday. With some breathing exercises, my BOX levels became acceptable. I did well on the walker. I had my first bowel movement since the surgery. I got up and washed myself in the bathroom. I even sat up in a chair to eat lunch. But the doctor did not make rounds until after dinner, so we twiddled our thumbs all day. Eventually they released me around 9:30 pm and we got home right around 10:00 pm. It had been just about 72 hours since I got out of surgery.

In all, I think the doctors and nurses took good care of me, and in particular the internist took extra steps to diagnose a potentially dangerous condition. Mary was also very helpful. She tried to be there every time I talked to a doctor or physical therapist, so she could remind me later of things I might forget.

20041130a.src0100644001266300000360000000367010163461522011466 0ustar markbuserWho Is John Stott? New York Times 1101841711 News, Christian

By David Brooks

Many people are misinformed about evangelical Christians. There is a world of difference between real-life people of faith and the made-for-TV, Elmer Gantry-style blowhards who are selected to represent them. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are held up as spokesmen for evangelicals, which is ridiculous. Meanwhile people like John Stott, who are actually important, get ignored.

If evangelicals could elect a pope, Stott is the person they would likely choose. He was the framer of the Lausanne Covenant, a crucial organizing document for modern evangelicalism. He is the author of more than 40 books, which have been translated into over 72 languages and have sold in the millions. Now rector emeritus at All Souls, Langham Place, in London, he has traveled the world preaching and teaching.

His is a voice that is friendly, courteous and natural. It is humble and self-critical, but also confident, joyful and optimistic. Stott's mission is to pierce through all the encrustations and share direct contact with Jesus. Stott says that the central message of the gospel is not the teachings of Jesus, but Jesus himself, the human/divine figure. He is always bringing people back to the concrete reality of Jesus' life and sacrifice.

There's been a lot of twaddle written recently about the supposed opposition between faith and reason. To read Stott is to see someone practicing "thoughtful allegiance" to scripture. For him, Christianity means probing the mysteries of Christ. He is always exploring paradoxes. Jesus teaches humility, so why does he talk about himself so much? What does it mean to gain power through weakness, or freedom through obedience? In many cases the truth is not found in the middle of apparent opposites, but on both extremes simultaneously.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/30/opinion/30brooks.html?th

20041130b.src0100644001266300000360000000305210163462645011470 0ustar markbuserAmbulances stop delivering patients to emergency room San Jose Mercury News 1101842763 News, Health, Accident

By Barbara Feder Ostrov

Ambulances stopped delivering patients to San Jose Medical Center's emergency room Monday and its trauma center was shut down in preparation for the downtown hospital's closing next week.

San Jose Medical Center will still accept walk-in patients to its emergency room until the hospital closes at 5 p.m. Dec. 9. The hospital also will treat some walk-in trauma patients, depending on the severity of their injuries.

But nearly all trauma patients are transported by ambulance, and they will now be taken to the county's other two trauma centers at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto and Valley Medical Center in San Jose. Many services at the hospital already have been shut down; there are about 50 patients in the hospital now, compared to a usual patient population of 110 to 150 during winter months.

The nearest hospital is Regional Medical Center of San Jose, owned by the same company, which is 2 1/2 miles away. Regional has applied to open a trauma center to replace the one that closed at San Jose Medical Center, but approval by county officials could take months.

http://www.mercurynews.com:80/mld/mercurynews/news/10301486.htm

Mark says:

What the newspapers don't report: SJ Medical Center is closing because 30 percent of their patients don't have insurance, yet the hospital is required by law to treat them. So many of the patient bills go unpaid.

20041130c.src0100644001266300000360000000363210163463312011465 0ustar markbuserCredit reports -- free for all San Francisco Chronicle 1101858818 News

By Kathleen Pender

Starting Wednesday, residents of California and 12 other Western states can get a free copy of their credit report from each of the nation's three major credit bureaus once every 12 months. By September 2005, at the end of a phased rollout, residents of all 50 states will have the same opportunity.

Free credit reports were mandated by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, the reincarnation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The new law "is a hard-fought victory for consumers," says Jennette Gayer, a consumer advocate with CalPIRG.

Consumers can request their reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion from a single, jointly operated Web site, address or phone number.

To request a report, go to www.annualcreditreport.com (the address must be typed in your browser). The site is being tested today and many users have been able to get their reports, although it is not officially live until Wednesday. You can also request a free report by calling (877) 322-8228 or mail a request to P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

At the Web site, you first enter some basic information, such as name, address, Social Security number and date of birth. Next, select the bureau or bureaus from which you want a report. After selecting each bureau, you will be asked some questions to verify your identity. For example, you may have to identify your mortgage company or the balance on a credit card.

Those who check their reports on a regular basis should be able to spot and correct potentially costly errors and make life harder for identity thieves. In California, victims of identity theft can get a free credit report every month for a limited time.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/11/30/BUGFGA3H1H1.DTL

20041201a.src0100644001266300000360000000067110153444507011466 0ustar markbuserBoycott Christmas!

1101941021 Humor

http://www.xmasresistance.org/

Also: the new movie "Christmas with the Kranks" is based on a very funny novel, "Skipping Christmas" by John Grisham. I hear the movie itself is not so good. Or as my brother might say, "Two stars ... my kind of movie!"

20041201b.src0100644001266300000360000000330710163463116011464 0ustar markbuserAmy's Kitchen to head north San Francisco Chronicle 1101941694 Gluten, Health

California loses part of organic food firm to Medford, Ore.

David R. Baker

Amy's Kitchen, a Santa Rosa company famous for its frozen vegetarian foods, will build a manufacturing plant in Oregon, despite Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's efforts to keep all the firm's operations in California.

The company, which has been hunting for room to expand, will open a new plant in Medford while keeping its headquarters in Santa Rosa, one of the firm's founders said Tuesday.

Andy Berliner, who founded the company with his wife, Rachel, in 1987, said that while California has recently improved its business climate, Amy's will save about $1 million a year by expanding in Oregon instead of California.

"It surprised us ... how business-friendly other states are, how much they place job retention at the top of their priorities," he said. "There's an attempt to rekindle that spirit here in California, but I think it had been largely forgotten."

A Schwarzenegger spokesman said the governor is pleased that Amy's won't leave the state altogether. But he said the company's expansion northward shows that California's business environment still needs work.

"It's a mixed bag," said spokesman Vince Sollitto. "They're just not going to add any jobs here until we make more progress."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/12/01/BUG27A480V1.DTL

Amy's Kitchen: http://amyskitchen.com/

Mark says:

Mary and I really like Amy's gluten-free offerings. Their vegetarian enchiladas and gluten-free macaroni and cheese are among our favorites.

20041201c.src0100644001266300000360000000306210153512533011460 0ustar markbuserThe Simple Wheat-Tolerance Quiz

1101960255 Gluten, Health

Here is a simple quiz that requires you to be aware of what is in the food you eat and the food you bake.

Mary and I are intolerant to gluten, a protein found in wheat and some other grains. Our case is mild, but some people are gluten-intolerant to the point that ingesting even small amounts of gluten-containing grains can become life-threatening. This life-threatening condition is called Celiac's disease.

Here is a simple quiz. Can you tell which of the following food items are made with wheat? Note: there are no trick questions here. It should be obvious whether each food is made with wheat or not.

Yes	No	Food item

20041203a.src0100644001266300000360000001271010236251666011471 0ustar markbuser50 New cue sheets posted

1102061527 Rounds

Posted 50 new cue sheets by Annette Woodruff, Daisuke Doi, and Jim Chico.

pdf Around The Christmas Tree, Two Step/5-Count, III+1, Woodruff
pdf Christmas At Our House, Waltz, II+2, Woodruff
pdf Christmas Cha, Cha Cha, IV+1, Woodruff
pdf Christmas Island, Foxtrot, IV+1, Woodruff
pdf Comme Un Garcon (Like A Boy), Cha Cha/Foxtrot, III+, Woodruff
pdf Fingersnap, West Coast/Jive, V+1+1, Woodruff
pdf Glory Of Love, West Coast/Jive, V, Woodruff
pdf Going To France, West Coast/Foxtrot, V+2+1, Woodruff
pdf I'll Be Home For Christmas, Slow Two Step, IV+U, Woodruff
pdf Love Don't Live Here Any More, Two Step, II+2, Woodruff
pdf Mele Kalikimaka, Cha Cha/Jive, IV+2+1, Woodruff
pdf Petite Fleur, Foxtrot/Jive/Tango, IV+U, Woodruff
pdf Rock Right, Jive, IV+1, Woodruff
pdf Santa Baby, West Coast, V+U, Woodruff
pdf Sergeant Preston, Mixed, IV+1, Woodruff
pdf Shamey Shamey Shame, Jive, V+2+2, Woodruff
pdf Stop The Cavalry, Two Step, II, Woodruff
pdf That Darn Cat, Foxtrot/West Coast/Jive, V+2+1, Woodruff
pdf Warm and Fuzzy, Foxtrot/Jive/Two Step, IV+1+1, Woodruff
pdf Weihnachten, Two Step, III, Woodruff
pdf Whistling Robin, Two Step, I, Woodruff
pdf Wonderful Wonderful, Foxtrot, V+1, Woodruff

pdf Are You Lonesome IV, Waltz, IV+1, Chico
pdf He Drinks Tequila Two, Two Step, II+1, Chico

pdf Amazing Grace, Waltz, IV, Doi
pdf And I Love Her, Bolero, IV, Doi
pdf Ave Maria, Waltz, IV+2, Doi
pdf Can't Help Falling In Love, Bolero, III+2, Doi
pdf El Choclo, Tango, V+2, Doi
pdf Felicia, Tango, VI, Doi
pdf Historia De Un Amor, Rumba, IV+2, Doi
pdf Indian Love Call,, Foxtrot, III+2, Doi
pdf Limelight, Waltz, V+2, Doi
pdf Lover's Concerto, Cha Cha, VI, Doi
pdf Moon River Bolero, Bolero, V+2, Doi
pdf Moon River, Waltz, VI, Doi
pdf More Rumba, Rumba, VI, Doi
pdf My Prayer, Rumba, III+2, Doi
pdf Over The Rainbow, Foxtrot, IV+2, Doi
pdf So Far From The Beginning, Bolero, V+U, Doi
pdf Some Enchanted Evening, Bolero, IV+2, Doi
pdf Some Of These Days, Cha Cha, IV+2+1, Doi
pdf Something Stupid Cha Cha, Cha Cha, V+2+2, Doi
pdf Something Stupid Rumba, Rumba, V+2, Doi
pdf Spanish Town, Cha Cha, III+2, Doi
pdf Summer Serenade, Waltz, III+2, Doi
pdf Sway, Cha Cha, IV, Doi
pdf Swinging Safari, A, Jive, III+2, Doi
pdf Tennessee Waltz, Waltz, VI, Doi
pdf Tickled Pink, Quickstep, IV+2, Doi
pdf Wonderful World, Slow Two Step, IV+2, Doi

You can always find the most recently posted dances here:
http://www.mixed-up.com/round/all-over/recent.html

20041203b.src0100644001266300000360000000043410154414150011456 0ustar markbuserMary's Page

1102120487 Gluten

Mary's Page has cool links about rubber stamping, gluten intolerance, Christian books, and having a son in the Marines.

www.mixed-up.com/mary

20041205a.src0100644001266300000360000000711210163461513011464 0ustar markbuserMartin Luther on Faith and Works

1102309810 Christian

From "The Babylonian Captivity Of The Church:"

"For where there is the Word of the promising God, there must necessarily be the faith of the accepting man. It is plain, therefore, that the beginning of our salvation is a faith which clings to the Word of the promising God, who, without any effort on our part, in free and unmerited mercy takes the initiative and offers us the word of his promise. 'He sent forth his word, and thus healed them,', not: 'He accepted our work, and thus healed us.' First of all there is God's Word. After it follows faith; after faith, love; then love does every good work, for it does no wrong, indeed, it is the fulfilling of the law [Rom. 13:10]. In no other way can man come to God or deal with him than through faith. That is to say, that the author of salvation is not man, by any works of his own, but God, through his promise; and that all things depend on, and are upheld and preserved by, the word of his power [Heb. 1:3], through which he brought us forth, to be a kind of first fruits of his creatures [Jas. 1:18].

Nothing else is needed ... than a faith that relies confidently on this promise, believes Christ to be true in these words of his, and does not doubt that these infinite blessings have been bestowed upon it. Hard on this faith there follows, of itself, a most sweet stirring of the heart, whereby the spirit of man is enlarged and enriched (that is love, given by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ), so that he is drawn to Christ, that gracious and bounteous testator, and made a thoroughly new and different man. Who would not shed tears of gladness, indeed, almost faint for joy in Christ, if he believed with unshaken faith that this inestimable promise of Christ belonged to him? How could he help loving so great a benefactor, who of his own accord offers, promises, and grants such great riches and this eternal inheritance to one who is unworthy and deserving of something far different?

For God does not deal, nor has he ever dealt, with man otherwise than through a word of promise. We in turn cannot deal with God otherwise than through faith in the Word of his promise. He does not desire works, nor has he need of them; rather we deal with men and with ourselves on the basis of works. But God has need of this: that we consider him faithful in his promises [Heb. 10:23], and patiently persist in this belief, and thus worship him with faith, hope, and love. It is in this way that he obtains his glory among us, since it is not of ourselves who run, but of him who shows mercy [Rom. 9:16], promises, and gives, that we have and hold all good things.

These two, promise and faith, must necessarily go together. For without the promise there is nothing to be believed; while without faith the promise is useless, since it is established and fulfilled through faith. [The promise] can be approached and observed only in faith. Without this faith, whatever else is brought by way of prayers, preparations, works, signs, or gestures are incitements to impiety rather than exercises of piety. It usually happens that those who are thus prepared imagine themselves legitimately entitled to approach the altar, when in reality they are less prepared than at any other time or by any other work, by reason of the unbelief which they bring with them. O worthless religion of this age of ours, the most godless and thankless of all ages!

The safest course [is to be] prepared not to do or contribute much yourself, but to believe and accept all that is promised you.

From Three Treatises, by Martin Luther 20041206a.src0100644001266300000360000000222610163461527011473 0ustar markbuserA Christmas Tail Associated Press 1102363449 News

Salvation Army bell ringer back on four legs after cancer surgery

OLATHE, Kan. -- The Salvation Army's 20,000 shiny red kettles and trademark bell-ringers are easy to spot, but one helper stands out -- on four legs.

Providence, a 6-year-old German wire-haired pointer, is in her third season as a Salvation Army volunteer.

She's able to do all the things her colleagues do. Providence rings a bell with her mouth and has also learned to take donations and put them in the kettle.

"This is not a drooly-mouth dog," said her owner, Penny Shaffer.

For a while, however, it looked as though the dog's charity work would end.

In April, a tumor was discovered on the roof of her mouth. It was removed, but another one appeared 12 days later.

"They gave her zip chances," said Shaffer.

Surgery removed Providence's second tumor, three teeth and part of her upper jaw. Her jaw was reconstructed, and she had to be on a feeding tube for more than a month while she healed.

She went through 18 radiation treatments, and there's been no recurrence of cancer.

And last week, Providence returned to her bell-ringing post.

20041206b.src0100644001266300000360000000461310155142714011471 0ustar markbuserEvangelicals can still be saved Houston Chronicle 1102366156 News, Christian

Mainline Protestantism underwent a crisis in the early 20th century with the introduction of a liberal theology at odds with many points of traditional Christian belief. The disagreements erupted in what is known as the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy. Fundamentalists were evangelicals with an attitude. They opposed biblical criticism, all strains of liberal theology and the secularizing impulses of their age.

In the 1940s and 1950s, evangelicalism began to undergo a renewal. Prominent evangelical leaders such as Billy Graham rejected the negative fundamentalist mind-set. Evangelicals increasingly realized that they no longer stood in complete opposition to all strains of liberal theology or every idea articulated by secularists.

Evangelicalism became more at home in the world. It sent its sons and daughters to elite schools such as Harvard, Yale and Stanford. It rediscovered common areas of agreement with mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics.

In short, it became more and more diverse, less and less easy to characterize. Evangelicalism now covers a broad spectrum of religious belief and practice from the fundamentalist fringe to socially (though not theologically) liberal activists.

Democrats like to regard themselves as more cosmopolitan than Republicans. But they have been woefully unsophisticated in their analysis of evangelicals, whom they tend to paint in monochromatic hues.

In point of fact there always have been, and still are, evangelicals in the Democratic Party, including former President Jimmy Carter, who once caused distress in the media by announcing he was "born again."

At least 22 percent of self-identified evangelicals voted for John Kerry, a number buoyed by black evangelicals, who vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates.

However, this electoral setback is no reason for Democrats to walk away from a tough debate over values. People who love the Bible know that it has hard things to say about anyone who fails to take care of the poor and powerless.

Democrats believe that at their best they are a party that does precisely that — protects people who cannot protect themselves. It is certainly a starting point for a values conversation with evangelicals.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/2920482

20041206c.src0100644001266300000360000000413410163460521011466 0ustar markbuserIf you read the Gospels, the Religious Right is most often wrong Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star 1102366674 News, Christian

By Rick Mercier

All this hype about the God talk swirling around in our culture prompted me to do a little research (a big departure from how I usually prepare for writing a column). I cracked open my Bible and started rereading the Gospels.

And you know what? I can't see what all this sanctimonious values rhetoric has to do with Jesus. I've compared what I read in Gospels with what I've been hearing from the Religious Right, and I've concluded that the holier-than-thous must have traded in their red-letter editions of the Good Book for red-state versions that omit most of Jesus' teachings.

Jesus was quite a troublemaker. In fact, I'm thinking the Bush administration would have a special place for Jesus were the swarthy Nazarene to take up his ministry today in the U.S. of A.--in a cell with other Middle Eastern men awaiting deportation.

"How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Holy class warfare! No wonder Republicans have switched out the Jesus of the Gospels for a low-rent moralizer preoccupied with what other people are doing with their bodies.

Where in America is the Jesus who sides with the poor and the outcasts? Where in America is the Jesus who disdains those who wear their piousness on their sleeves? Where in America is the the Jesus with the prophetic voice, the radical who dares to tell the powerful what they don't want to hear?

Is he in the pews that fill every Sunday morning with the smug and complacent? Is he in a political party that fights for tax cuts for the rich while neglecting the needs of decent, hard-working Americans? Is he among the "God-and-country" demagogues who push an idolatrous nationalism and who see military service as the supreme form of sacrifice?

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2004/112004/11282004/1577602

20041206d.src0100644001266300000360000000411710163462745011502 0ustar markbuserCupertino schools sued over ban on founding father excerpts invoking religion Oakland Tribune 1102369921 News, Christian

A Cupertino public school teacher is suing his district and his principal, who banned him from using excerpts from the Declaration of Independence and other historical documents in his classroom because they contain references to God and Christianity.

Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek Elementary School in the Cupertino Union School District, filed the suit in U.S. District Court on Monday, arguing a First Amendment right to teach the history of our country and its founding fathers, which includes religious, and specifically Christian, references.

"I've never even tried to hint the kids need to believe this or this is the right religion to believe," Williams told the Oakland Tribune on Wednesday. "I'm just trying to teach history."

Williams' attorney said the principal's policy is a violation of the teacher's First Amendment rights and is blatant censorship of the writings of great men because they mention God or Christianity.

Speaking from his home Wednesday, a school holiday, Williams said the problems started last year after he responded to a student who asked why the Pledge of Allegiance includes the phrase under God.

Eventually a parent complained, and the principal started requesting his lesson plans and handouts.

The lawsuit does say Williams, who has been teaching eight years, is an orthodox Christian.

The state's fifth-grade social studies standards include learning about the religious, economic, social and cultural origins of the United States.

Williams said he thinks society has become hypersensitive to any reference of Christianity in the public arena, especially schools. He said he has taught students about Ramadan and Kwanzaa and been applauded for those lessons.

People are like, Oh good, that's diversity,' he said. As soon as Christianity is involved, it's separation of church and state.

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~2558339,00.html

20041208a.src0100644001266300000360000001066210163461534011476 0ustar markbuserGluten Quiz #2

1102568800 Gluten

Mary and I are intolerant to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, oats, barley, and some other grains. This means that eating just a little food with gluten can make us sick. Our case is mild, but some people are gluten-intolerant to the point that ingesting even small amounts of gluten-containing grains can become life-threatening. This life-threatening condition is called Celiac's disease.

Gluten often sneaks into food under names like modified food starch and hydrolized vegetable protein. Unless further specified, these are usually other names for "wheat flour," since wheat is the most inexpensive source of these starches.

Here is a quiz. Can you tell which of the following food items are made from grains that contain gluten? This quiz is not so easy. It requires not only that you know the grains used in these food items, but it also requires that you know something about how packaged foods are made.

20041209a.src0100644001266300000360000000361310163461541011473 0ustar markbuserSadness prevails as S.J. hospital closes today San Jose Mercury News 1102618675 News, Health, Accident

By Barbara Feder Ostrov

San Jose Medical Center will close its doors for the last time today at 5 p.m.

All of the patients in the 324-bed hospital are gone now, recovered or transferred to other hospitals. The last patient, still recovering from surgery, was moved early Wednesday evening to Regional Medical Center of San Jose. The hospital will still take walk-in emergency patients today, and the emergency room will stay open as late as needed to treat the very last patient. But the number of patients coming to the ER has dwindled to a dozen or so a day since county officials began steering ambulances away from the hospital two weeks ago.

About 315 workers, including janitors, laundry workers, food servers and clerical staff members, will be laid off, less than earlier estimates of 400 to 500, said hospital spokeswoman Leslie Kelsay.

Nashville-based hospital owner HCA initially shocked San Jose when it abruptly announced in September that the financially troubled hospital would close in December, rather than in 2007 as previously planned. The loss of San Jose Medical Center's centrally located trauma center and emergency room, which provided critical medical care for the area's poor and elderly patients, stung the most.

Regional Medical Center, for years a sleepy community hospital also owned by HCA, is applying to the county for permission to open a trauma center to replace the one at San Jose Medical Center, a process that could take months. It also plans a 1- million-square-foot expansion that includes a new building, a rooftop helipad, more beds and new programs in cardiology and neurosurgery.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_vall
ey/10374845.htm

20041209b.src0100644001266300000360000000175110156121441011467 0ustar markbuserGallup Poll wants my opinions of San Jose Hospital outpatient care

1102619425 Accident

As I was posting the previous entry about the closing of San Jose Hospital, I received a phone call from the Gallup organization who wanted my opinions about a variety of issues regarding my recent outpatient visit there. That would be when I returned a couple weeks after surgery for follow-up x-rays.

They asked a lot of questions about comfort level, communication, room temperature, delays, protocol, and cleanliness, and they wanted to know my satisfaction level with each.

The last two questions, they wanted to know (1) what was my overall satisfaction level with the care, and (2) would I return to the hospital in the future.

!!!?!!!

After I stopped laughing, I informed the pollster that the hospital is closing today at 5:00 pm. She was genuinely surprised.

I did let her know that I would definitely go to Alexian Brothers Hospital (now known as "Regional Medical Center") for future care.

20041209c.src0100644001266300000360000000302010163446663011475 0ustar markbuserInternet hoax hoodwinks McNealy CNET News 1102619809 News, Computers

By Stephen Shankland

SAN FRANCISCO--Sun Microsystems Chief Executive Scott McNealy showed a photo during a Wednesday speech to illustrate how rapidly technology improves--but instead illustrated another computing phenomenon: how easy it is to fall for an Internet hoax.

At a keynote address here at the Oracle OpenWorld show, McNealy displayed a picture supposedly from the magazine "Popular Mechanics" showing how people in 1954 envisioned the home computer. His point was to show how far computing has advanced beyond what was expected. Alas, in reality the photo he used is a doctored picture of a nuclear submarine control room mock-up, according to the myth-debunking site Snopes.com.

The black-and-white photo, which has circulated by e-mail and Web postings, shows a man in an Eisenhower-era suit standing before a long panel studded with dozens of gauges and a single steering wheel. A bulky monitor looms above, and a keyboard is placed in front.

According to Snopes, the original image is a U.S. Navy photograph taken of a Smithsonian exhibit. The modified version was submitted to an image modification contest.

http://news.com.com/Internet+hoax+hoodwinks+McNealy/2100-1012_3-5484053.html?tag
=nefd.pop

20041209d.src0100644001266300000360000000275010163463124011476 0ustar markbuserControlling computer with thoughts a reality Houston Chronicle 1102621998 News, Computers, Health

WASHINGTON - Four people were able to control a computer using their thoughts and an electrode-studded "thinking cap", U.S. researchers say.

They reported Monday that their set-up could someday be adapted to help disabled people operate a motorized wheelchair or artificial limb.

While experiments have allowed a monkey to control a computer with its thoughts, electrodes were implanted into the animal's brain. This experiment, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, required no surgery and no implants.

"The results show that people can learn to use scalp-recorded electroencephalogram rhythms to control rapid and accurate movement of a cursor in two dimensions," Jonathan Wolpaw and Dennis McFarland of the New York State Department of Health and State University of New York in Albany wrote.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/tech/news/2935862

Mark says: Yawn. This is nothing new. They did not "control the computer" with their "thoughts." They just directed a cursor around the screen. Years ago, there were head-mounted devices that would track your eye movements to move the cursor around the screen. They worked by tracking subtle muscular movements in the head as you moved your eyes around. The only real drawback to these particular systems is that you looked like the uber-geek wearing the helmet.

20041209e.src0100644001266300000360000000533110156204036011472 0ustar markbuserWhy I Use A Credit Union Instead Of A Bank

1102645278

I'm the trustee of my dad's estate. He had a checking account at a local bank. OK, well, one of the large California-based banks. So I went there today to deposit some of his checks and get money to pay his bills.

The first thing they say is, "Your name is on the account, you are a co-signer on the account." Cool! That means I can have access to the account, right? "Well, no, you have to take this form, fill it out, have it notarized, and bring it back. Then wait 40 days and you'll get access to the account." Whoa? My dad put my name on the account, but I have to go through all this and wait?

So he calls his supervisor. She puts him on hold. What kind of a bank is this where you put people on hold internally for several minutes, when they are waiting on customers?

OK, cancel all the notary stuff. "Just fill out this form, you can deposit your checks, and we'll cut you a check to pay your bills." Great! "Oh, and fill out this deposit slip." Deposit slip? It's been so long since I filled out one of these I don't even remember how. At my credit union, I just sign the checks and they deposit them for me. I've got 11 checks here. "Do you need a calculator?" No, I'll just make up a large number for the bottom line, and hope you don't actually put the numbers into one of those computer-thingies to double-check my math. Doh!

So my dad opened this account in the 1960's. "We can't find your dad's signature card." So I have to wait until tomorrow when they'll cut me a cashier's check and put it in the mail. My broken hip is still healing, and as long as I'm using the walker I don't really want to drive back to a downtown bank and park in the underground garage. At least they will put the check in the mail. They'll also call me when they find the signature card.

Finally, "You have to notify all these people and tell them not to write checks to your dad any more." Understood. But some of them are stock dividends, and all of them are money that belongs to the estate, not money that belongs to me. So as long as I have papers that certify I'm the trustee, I should be able to deposit my dad's checks into any account I own, even if they are made out to him. But especially if they are made out to "the estate of."

Oh, did I forget to mention that they abandoned me four or five times, each time for five to ten minutes? Looking for signature cards, making photocopies, asking an absent manager what to do next.

Tomorrow, I visit my credit union to see if they can offer customer service any better than this. Maybe I don't understand all the legal angles, but customer service I do understand. Finding someone in a bank who understands probate issues should not be that difficult.

20041210a.src0100644001266300000360000000113310156414600011452 0ustar markbuserChristmas light displays San Jose Mercury News 1102715203 News

Here is a list of light displays in the San Jose area. There are maps to each location. They are in Campbell, Fremont, Gilroy, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Jose, San Martin, and Sunnyvale.

They include waterfalls, nativity scenes, victorian villages, cartoon characters, angels, trains. One in Fremont is collecting donations for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/home/10372949.htm

20041211a.src0100644001266300000360000000052410156543256011470 0ustar markbuserWhat My Mother Taught Me

1102759575 Humor

My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL:
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

And more ...

http://www.skywriting.net/inspirational/humor/what_my_mother_taught_me.html

20041212a.src0100644001266300000360000000257410163461404011470 0ustar markbuserAcoustic Keyboard Eavesdropping New York Times 1102885484 News, Computers

By Stephen Mihm

It is now possible to eavesdrop on a typist's keystrokes and, by exploiting minute variations in the sounds made by different keys, distinguish and decipher what is being typed.

Credit for this discovery goes to Dmitri Asonov, a computer-security researcher for I.B.M. at the Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif., who (with Rakesh Agrawal) published his results this year. The principle is a simple one. Keyboards are a bit like drums: the keys rest atop a plastic plate; different areas of the plate yield different sounds when struck. The human ear can't tell the difference, but if the sounds are recorded and processed by a highly sophisticated computer program, the computer can, with a little bit of practice, learn to translate the sounds of keystrokes into the appropriate letters and symbols.

This means that firewalls and passwords will amount to nothing if someone manages to bug a room and record the cacophony of keystrokes. Asonov managed to pull off this feat with readily available recording equipment at a short distance. Even as far away as 50 feet, and with significant background noise, he was able to replicate his success using a parabolic microphone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/magazine/12ACOUSTIC.html?th

20041212b.src0100644001266300000360000000645210163460446011475 0ustar markbuserChristmastime Consumerism Washington Post 1102886977 News

By Michelle Singletary

Even though I try hard not to get caught up in the commercialism of the holidays, I don't want my friends, relatives and especially my children to be disappointed with their presents or lack thereof.

When the holidays come around, it's hard not to overdo it. It's hard to resist the urge to shop till you virtually drop.

Perhaps you need someone to tell you to get a grip. So let me give it to you straight.

Give the guys a break. No matter what the TV commercial says, every kiss does not begin with "Kay." You've got to know that love is not measured by whether he knows to get you a diamond tennis bracelet. Please, get a grip.

"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me software to track my finances." I know this isn't an overly romantic gift, but let me tell you, not fighting about money can really lift your libido.

"On the second day of Christmas, my true love told me this: 'Honey, two-for-one deals don't save you money.' " You may be inclined to think your sweetheart is nuts to say such a thing. How is it that you don't save if you get two items for the price of one? But think about it. You never save when you spend. And you certainly never save when you buy two of something you need only one of -- or none at all.

"On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me four I Bonds and not a fondue set." Really, how much hot cheese do people eat? Inflation-adjusted savings bonds, or I Bonds, are currently paying 3.67 percent. I Bonds are low-risk, liquid-savings products. While you own them, they earn interest and protect you from inflation. You can buy I Bonds directly from the government, at most financial institutions or through payroll deduction. Go to www.savingsbonds.gov for more information.

"On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me f-i-v-e g-o-l-d-e-n r-u-l-e-s for simplifying the holidays." They are: The best present is your presence; it really is the thought that counts; it's the quality, not quantity, of the gifts; presents are forgotten, debt isn't; and finally, nobody sees a therapist as an adult because she didn't get a life-sized Barbie or Xbox as a child.

And if that gift list seems too lackluster, try this. Think about how each person on your list has touched your life during the year and let him or her know in writing.

Truly the best gift I ever received from my husband was a multi-page letter. At the top of each page, he listed various roles I played. For example, on one page he wrote the word "Sister." He then listed all the things I had done for my siblings that year and how each act reminded him of why he loved me.

I've long since forgotten many of the things my husband has given me over more than 20 holidays together, but I hold on to that letter.

Tell your children you won't get anything for them at Christmas that they saw on a television commercial. I tell you, this rule has been liberating for me. No more panic attacks about not getting the latest, hottest advertised toy. Effectively, this rule means you end up buying your children things they will play with for a long while or items that reflect what they actually like to do.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56885-2004Dec11.html

20041212c.src0100644001266300000360000000214410161151102011450 0ustar markbuserPost your cue sheets on mixed-up.com

1102900658 Rounds

I've created a mechanism where you can post your own cue sheets on the mixed-up.com web site without having to send them to me first.

The are a couple of simple rules:

The files must be PDF files.
The files can be no larger than 80 Kbytes.

If you want to post such cue sheets, just send me an email and I will give you the URL and a password. It helps if I already know you. :-) (I've had problems in the past with pornographers spamming my guestbook and other public areas.)

If your cue sheets are Microsoft Word documents or other documents that need to be converted to PDF, then you'll have to send them to me first so I can convert them.

If your cue sheet is larger than 80 Kbytes, you'll have to send it to me first. Maybe we can work together to reduce the size of the file.

Annette Woodruff tested the site and posted some of her cue sheets. If you search for "Woodruff", you'll find a section at the top of the results page that says "Recent Uploads." Those are the cue sheets she posted herself. Thanks, Annette!

20041213a.src0100644001266300000360000000135110163460501011456 0ustar markbuserMerry Craze Mass The Guardian UK 1102976646 News

How China has embraced all the bright lights and overindulgence of a very merry Craze Mass

I once asked a market trader in Nanjing, a woman in her 60s wearing a red beret, "What is Christmas? What's it for?"

"That is the date for USA God! You see my hat, this is their Craze Mass hat, westerners like the colour red ... I did wonder if that was true after everybody said capitalists like black; but as you know, those rich capitalists are very colourful. Money and wealth bring colour to human lives ... come on, buy one, forget your age ... we have missed out on a lot."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1370492,00.html

20041213b.src0100644001266300000360000000420610163461364011471 0ustar markbuserWiFi Neighborhoods San Jose Mercury News 1102977526 News, Computers

By Sam Diaz

Going online from "hotspots" at the airport, Starbucks or McDonald's was a major breakthrough in Internet technology. Now, the next generation of wireless Web surfing is happening in "hot zones," which are popping up in unlikely places.

Like the Los Gatos Opera House.

Marie Tallman, vice president of marketing at the opera house, admits that she isn't much of a techie and never imagined being a key player behind free wireless Internet service in downtown Los Gatos. She just wanted high-speed Internet in the building's meeting rooms so she could market the facility as a place for business gatherings.

Teaming with the nearby Tollhouse Hotel and another Los Gatos business -- a wireless networking company called Firetide -- the Opera House and the hotel now offer free high-speed WiFi Internet access and the town has a two-block WiFi zone that's much larger than the WiFi hotspots found at Starbucks.

Hot zones like the one in Los Gatos are springing up around the country, paving the way for corporate campuses, multi-block residential neighborhoods and, in some cases, entire cities to be blanketed with wireless Internet connections. Those WiFi zones could someday replace the wired broadband networks that require miles of expensive and cumbersome underground cables to reach homes and businesses.

The basis for WiFi zones is a technology called wireless mesh networking, which relies on multiple access points to send and receive signals, allowing Internet connections to blanket a wider area than a hotspot covers.

Networking companies are moving toward delivering citywide WiFi. Next month, Mountain View-based MetroFi will start offering residential WiFi Internet service to every home in Santa Clara and is already building the framework to do the same in Cupertino later next year.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/10404965.htm

Mark says: My stepson Aaron is going to get married at the Los Gatos Opera House next fall. Cool. I can surf if the wedding gets boring. Ouch! Just kidding!

20041213c.src0100644001266300000360000000377010163460420011467 0ustar markbuserHigh Tech Lets Old Recordings Speak Again Discovery Channel 1102978536 News, Computers

By Jennifer Viegas

July 23, 2004 — A high-tech system originally developed to track down elusive subatomic particles is now being used to digitize old records and cylinders previously thought to be unplayable, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The new system, created by Berkeley Lab scientists Vitaliy Fadeyev and Carl Haber, originally was used to determine particle path collisions in research on the Higgs boson, a theoretical particle believed to give objects mass. Now the technology plays and preserves records and tin and wax cylinders without even touching their grooves.

Fadeyev and Haber first tested it out on two LPs: "Goodnight Irene" by The Weavers and "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" by Marian Anderson. The albums, full of pops, skips, and scratches, played like new.

A powerful microscope called a SmartScope with a digital camera collects images of the groove patterns on records or cylinders, which rest on a table moved with precision motors. A computer program allows the microscope/camera combo to travel forward along the grooves until it reaches the end of the recording.

The captured image pattern transfers to a computer that translates the tiny, millimeter-sized lines into sound.

"For discs, the sound is stored in the side-to-side movement of the groove and the SmartScope had a good ability to image in the two-dimensional plane," Fadeyev said. "For cylinders, the sound is stored in the up-and-down undulations of the surface. So once we saw that the SmartScope worked reasonably well on disc, we looked for another instrument, which could measure surface heights."

The instrument they chose was a scanning probe that allows for capture of the three-dimensional patterns found on cylinders.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20040719/recording.html

Also:

http://www-cdf.lbl.gov/%7Eav/

20041214a.src0100644001266300000360000000240210163463170011462 0ustar markbuserOne Christian feeling hijacked by politics Christian Science Monitor 1103054769 News, Christian

By Gena Caponi Tabery

I live in a country that is increasingly eager to challenge its citizens' loyalty, among people of faith increasingly determined to dispute the faith of others. Some people who call themselves Christians - and some church leaders - are beginning to redefine Christianity in such a way as to exclude worshipers with whom they disagree. I fear a religion in which ideology is more important than theology.

If I question political decisions, am I un-American? If I don't agree with a fundamentalist, am I un-Christian?

There used to be two things that you didn't talk about for fear of causing offense: politics and religion. Today the two are so intertwined, you can't talk of one without the other. And when you do, them's fightin' words, pardner. Nowadays, so many people are looking for a fight.

I'm not. Neither am I afraid to pray in public. But I am afraid of my faith being hijacked to promote someone else's political agenda. I am afraid of my faith being used as a weapon in a crusade against anyone who dares to think or believe differently.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1213/p09s02-coop.html

20041214b.src0100644001266300000360000000102410163460352011461 0ustar markbuserMy Fantastic Slide Show

1103062343

Mary took over 2000 photos on our vacation in September. She picked 300 that were her favorites. Instead of just burning them to a CD, I used iDVD (for the first time) to make slide shows of the various locations we went to. That way, Matthew can view the photos on his DVD player while he is in Iraq.

Hopefully, my slide show isn't as boring as this one:

20041215a.src0100644001266300000360000000270210160114642011460 0ustar markbuserDouble Duty Associated Press 1103141282 News

Twin sisters both deliver sets of twin boys on same day

ATLANTA -- Two twin sisters are seeing double -- or make that quadruple -- after delivering two sets of twin boys Tuesday.

Twenty-one-year-olds Ashlee Spinks of Indianapolis and Andrea Springer of Conyers, Ga., delivered their boys by scheduled Caesarean sections Tuesday about an hour apart at Northside Hospital.

The women, who are fraternal twins, were six months pregnant when they found out they were both going to have twin boys due on the same date -- Jan. 1, 2005.

Spinks came to Georgia several weeks ago to share the pregnancy with her sister, and Spinks' husband, Bert Means, flew into town Monday to join the birthing party.

They said twins run in the families of all four parents, and that they did not use fertility drugs to conceive the babies.

Dr. Larry Matsumoto, a physician who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, said the chances of twin sisters being pregnant with twin boys due on the same date are probably one in a million.

"It's a blessing," Springer said from her hospital bed. "It's hard enough for a lot of people to get pregnant, especially pregnant with twins."

Springer gave birth to identical twins weighing just over 4 pounds each. Spinks gave birth to fraternal twins weighing 5-pounds, 9-ounces and 7-pounds, 4-ounces.

The women's doctor, James Dopson, said all four boys -- and their mothers -- were expected to be fine.

20041215b.src0100644001266300000360000000610410160122036011455 0ustar markbuserThou shalt not miss church on vacation Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram 1103143966 News, Christian

Many tourists find a way to worship, no matter where in the world they might be

A recent poll by the Travel Industry Association of America reported that 28 percent of travelers in the United States went to a church, temple, mosque or other house of worship. Residents in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas ranked among the most faithful, with 37 percent attendance. New Englanders are the biggest Sunday morning sleep-ins: only about 21 percent go to church on vacation.

The faithful, it seems, are called to worship wherever they are. "We have never considered vacations an opportunity to vacate church," says Dale Smith, pastor of Colleyville Presbyterian Church. "So when we're on vacation, we're almost always looking for a church in which to worship."

That quest has taken Smith and his wife to a small evangelical church in Colorado -- guitar, no organ, "much like a college campus fellowship meeting" -- and historic Lutheran churches in Dresden, Germany. "The liturgy was familiar and comfortable to us Presbyterians," Smith says of the latter.

When looking for a place to worship, most travelers stick within their own denomination. Smith looks for a church that serves weekly Communion. If there's no noteworthy church, synagogue or mosque nearby, Ayers opts for a church that's close to the hotel or maybe one with a good organ.

Finding a place to worship is as simple as doing an Internet search on a a denomination and destination city. Type in "Catholic" and "San Diego," for example, and you'll get St. Joseph's Cathedral on Third Avenue. "Muslim" and "Providence" calls up the Muslim American Da'wah Center in Rhode Island.

On a trip to Yellowstone National Park this fall, Bob and Martha Gamblin of Arlington found themselves surprised by a worship service. On Sunday morning, they returned to their room at the Old Faithful Inn and heard hymns coming from the inn's balcony. It turned out to be a nondenominational church service led by a volunteer from A Christian Ministry in the National Parks. The ministry is a 50-year-old organization that holds services in 35 national parks, including in Alaska and the West Indies. The service ended -- a little early -- when Old Faithful erupted.

"It was such a beautiful setting, and it was wonderful to think we were there with other Christians, worshipping together," says Martha Gamblin.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/10375101.htm?1c

Mark says:

When we were on vacation, I took a list of churches on my Palm.

We visited:

In the case of Vineyard, we found the church in the phone book but their street was not listed on any map. We prayed and just drove around until we found it. A miracle!

20041216a.src0100644001266300000360000000445310160357700011472 0ustar markbuserBuffalo moving from Santa Catalina to South Dakota prairie Associated Press 1103224768 News

After a life spent on a balmy Pacific island, 98 buffalo are being sent back to an authentic -- and frigid -- home on the range.

The buffalo began their journey Wednesday from Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of Southern California, to South Dakota, where they'll live on traditional rangelands of the Rosebud Lakota reservation.

The animals, some standing 5 feet at the shoulder and weighing several thousand pounds, are the descendants of an original herd of 14 brought from the prairie to appear in the 1920s silent movie, "The Vanishing American." Once the film was completed, the buffalo were simply left behind on the island.

"The idea was to get these buffalo that were taken from the plains some 80 years ago ... back to their homeland," said Maurice Lyons, chairman of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which is paying the $75,000 cost to ship the animals.

"To the Native Americans back there, these animals are sacred," he said. "It was very moving. They'll be going home to their relatives."

After being lured into pens with hay, the buffalo were herded onto two, 18-wheel trucks and then taken by barge the 24 miles across the sea to Long Beach.

From there, it was on to the reservation more than a thousand miles inland, where the animals should arrive Thursday night.

In the past, the numbers of island buffalo were thinned by auctioning animals. But the conservancy's new management decided to try a different approach.

"This seemed like a solution where everybody would win," she said.

About 150 buffalo continue to inhabit the island, living off its sparse vegetation. A smaller herd also means less destruction of native plants.

The Lakota reservation already has buffalo, and the conservancy said there shouldn't be any problems with the newcomers acclimating, despite the fact that they'll be moving to a place with subzero winters.

As a test, the conservancy shipped some buffalo to the reservation last year.

"The minute they hit the ground, it was like their genetics kicked in and immediately they began growing a winter coat," Baer said.

The newcomers will have a lot more room to roam.

"They're going from 42,000 acres to 900,000," Baer said. "So they got a pretty good deal except for the snowy winters."

20041216b.src0100644001266300000360000000240210163462755011475 0ustar markbuserWhy I Return to the Pews Christianity Today 1103225951 News, Christian

John Koessler

The church has often left me bemused, bored, or mystified, but I can no more abandon it than I can myself.

Down through the years I have made a surprising discovery. Most of the Christians I know are disappointed with their churches, finding them either too traditional or too modern. Their sermons are too theological or not theological enough. The people are cliquish. In the end, the root problem is always the same. It's the people.

Yet Sunday after Sunday these believers return to their pews, expecting God to meet them there once again. Some might view such attendance as an act of futility or an exercise in wishful thinking. I believe it is a work of grace.

The author of The Message and veteran pastor Eugene Peterson has written that when we get serious about the Christian life, we usually find ourselves in a place and among people that we find incompatible. "That place and people," Peterson explains, "is often called a church. It's hard to get over the disappointment that God, having made an exception in my case, doesn't call nice people to repentance."

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/012/33.52.html

20041217a.src0100644001266300000360000000041210361115535011463 0ustar markbuserWhat the heck?

1103317631

What the heck is this? At first, I thought it was just a ruse to get you to click on an American Express ad. But it truly looks like a Sponge Bob ripoff.

20041217b.src0100644001266300000360000000410110163461346011467 0ustar markbuserGetting money back a constant headache San Jose Mercury News Opinion 1103320160 News, Computers

By Mike Langberg

Mail-in rebates are the Scrooge of today's holidays, forcing shoppers to slice up their fingers while scraping off proof-of-purchase labels and baffling us with deliberately arcane redemption forms.

Shame on Best Buy, Hewlett-Packard, Circuit City, Sony, Fry's Electronics, Symantec and all the other electronics retailers and manufacturers that hypocritically claim devotion to their customers, yet collaborate in a system that customers universally despise.

Nowhere is the problem worse than in retail sales of computers and computer peripherals, with ads that trumpet prices hundreds of dollars lower than what you actually pay in the store.

Mail-in rebate offers are a misguided attempt to get ahead of the game with artificially low prices, because manufacturers and retailers know many consumers will never bother to complete the rebate forms.

Let's do the math: If you mark down an inkjet printer from $199 to $149 and sell 100,000 units, you've missed $5 million in revenue. If you offer a $50 rebate on a $199 printer and ultimately send checks to half the buyers, you've only sacrificed $2.5 million.

This system gives the industry an ugly incentive to manage down the number of rebate requests it approves, by making the process of applying unnecessarily complicated and by using trivial technicalities to reject legitimate requests. No one keeps statistics on this, but I've heard too many horror stories not to believe there aren't abuses in this largely unregulated system.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/columnists/mike_langberg/104
38389.htm

Mark says: I hope I get my rebate checks on Mary's Christmas present! PC Connection has a nice setup where you get all the forms online. I got last year's rebate checks on a disk drive and a wireless router without incident. Although they did take a few weeks, in both cases the companies kept me informed via email.

20041220a.src0100644001266300000360000000451410163462147011470 0ustar markbuserFace it and shop like a man!

1103574542 News

According to a Sears survey about men and shopping, 89 percent of men would rather watch their favorite sports team LOSE to their biggest rival than tackle holiday gift shopping.

So, it's no surprise that just one week before the holidays 77 percent of men finally get into the gift-giving groove and head out to shop.

71 percent of men indicate that the success of their favorite football team impacts the amount of time they spend on holiday shopping: the better their team is doing, the more they watch/attend the games and the less time they have to go shopping.

More than one-third of men (37 percent) would rather bake cookies than spend the afternoon holiday shopping in a crowded mall. Men in the West are most likely (42 percent) to choose baking cookies while men in the Northeast are least likely (27 percent) to favor baking cookies as an alternative.

As Playboy Magazine might say, "You call those men?"

89 percent of men agree that if they could fulfill all of their significant other's holiday wish list items at one store, then they would shop there.

When it comes to lingerie, this year men have no fear! Only 2 percent of men think the scariest thing about purchasing holiday gifts for their significant other is being caught by a friend in the ladies "intimates" section. Thirty-two percent of men surveyed think spending a large amount of money on a gift not on her wish list is scariest.

Almost half of men (49 percent) do not plan to spend more on their significant other's gifts this year than last.

According to men, some reasons for holiday shopping procrastination include:

72 percent don't know what to buy
59 percent don't want to go to several different stores for gifts
39 percent are watching football games during prime holiday shopping hours
18 percent are waiting for last-minute sales

And finally, when asked what would make for a more enjoyable holiday shopping experience, the survey shows:

50 percent of men would like a play-by-play of their significant other's ultimate holiday wish list
32 percent of men would like to shop while watching their favorite football team play
28 percent of men would like plasma screen TVs (tuned to sports shows) throughout the store

Mark says: I'm too busy making Christmas presents to have any time to shop.

20041220b.src0100644001266300000360000000246510163445744011500 0ustar markbuserBlinkered by the 'Christian' in Christmas? Christian Science Monitor 1103575710 News, Christian

By Rondi Adamson

I read this month that some Macy's stores are removing their traditional "Merry Christmas" signs and replacing them with supposedly more inclusive greetings such as "Happy Holidays." The goal is noble, if not the methods. The idea that there is something exclusive about saying "Merry Christmas," is, of course, nonsense. I am an atheist, and it doesn't make me feel excluded.

The reason we have a Dec. 25 holiday is because of Christmas. It is not because of Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Eid (when the latter falls close to Christmas).

My Jewish sister-in-law finds it amusing that Hanukkah, a relatively small Jewish holiday, is better known to Christians than the more significant Passover and Yom Kippur, largely due to our quest for inclusivity.

We celebrate Christmas because modern North America has Christian foundations, regardless of the changing demographics. Denying history is condescending to non-Christians and assumes a fragility and a lack of understanding on their part.

You don't need to be a believer to enjoy it. But there is no reason believers shouldn't feel free to call it Christmas.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1217/p09s01-coop.html

20041220c.src0100644001266300000360000000072710161636271011473 0ustar markbuserWish Jesus a Happy Birthday

1103576249

St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, decided to send Jesus a birthday card — online. "This is just a way to remember that this is all about Jesus' birthday."

The site, www.happybirthdayjesus.org, was launched yesterday with support from St. Martin parish and some local businesses. The church and the sponsors are covering the cost of the site, which they hope will reach people around the world.

20041220d.src0100644001266300000360000000314110163462766011475 0ustar markbuserPuritans disdained holiday The Exeter News-Letter 1103576968 News, Christian

By Barbara Rimkunas

In the 1870s, Exeter native Elizabeth Dow Leonard wrote her memories of a childhood in Exeter. Born in 1806, she has a great deal to tell us about Exeter in the decades after the American Revolution. Of Christmas she had this comment:

"Christmas was ignored as savoring too much of Popery, and when I was a little girl, only one family celebrated it even by a better dinner than usual. Our schools were kept open, and we lost all the sweet and holy influences ... the blessed season will bring to our children. Thanksgiving and the 4th of July were our only legitimate holidays."

The founders of Exeter, it seems, were strict Puritans who believed, quite rightly, that the birth date of Jesus was unknown and the Christmas date of Dec. 25 was derived from pagan celebrations surrounding the winter solstice and the Roman god, Mithra. In England, the holiday had become a riotous drunken festival very secular in nature.

The Anglican Church still observed the holiday, having inherited it from the Catholic Church. Exeter’s Puritan founders, however, were highly suspicious of anything connected to the Catholic Church, and as there were few Anglicans and fewer Catholics in the town, the holiday produced the same level of discomfort one might experience today when an uncle tells racist jokes at Thanksgiving. A true Christian wouldn’t think of celebrating a debauched holiday like Christmas.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/exeter/12172004/news/54421.htm

20041220e.src0100644001266300000360000000374110163453221011466 0ustar markbuserBethlehem bound again The Weekend Australian Opinion 1103579257 News, Christian

By James Murray

Many Christian prayers address God as "Almighty", which many would think a misnomer. Despite concerted pleas to end wars, heal people or achieve worthy ambitions, it is the experience of many that there is nobody there.

The psalms of the Old Testament are full of astonishment at God's failure to act against the wicked and his habit of rewarding goodness with tribulation. And in the controversies about putting Christ back into Christmas, or being politically correct and keeping him out, the raw facts might act as a corrective.

When the baby Yeshua, which we have romanised into Jesus, was born, he was deposited in a feed bin for warmth and safety. It was a Third World facsimile and, if the child was God incarnate, which is dogmatic Christian belief, he was utterly helpless - not a bad image if human experience of God is anything to go on.

Of course, the celebration of Christmas is a retail bonanza, the credit card an entree to often profligate spending. Not that this is inappropriate, considering that December 25, which the church chose as Christ's birthday, was the pagan festival of the Saturnalia, when orgiastic shenanigans were the order of the day. It has done a full circle, as celebrating Christmas did not happen for the first four centuries, and the Puritans refused to observe it.

As for the wild spending of Christmas, the Bethlehem fact file could again prove a corrective, if only because frugality - but not meanness - is good economic policy.

The little family in Nazareth was of no significance in the scheme of things but as modern movements show only too well, there can be significant power in the determination of even just one person. That Jesus was such a character, later events clearly proved.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11719519%255E7583,
00.html

20041220f.src0100644001266300000360000000645610163453201011473 0ustar markbuserChristmas in Hell The Pitch 1103580518 News, Christian

By Nadia Pflaum

The Sheffield Family Life Center’s annual pageant is a heartwarming little tale starring machine guns and the Antichrist.

If it's crazy to stage a Christmas play about the apocalyptic end times, complete with plastic-machine-gun-toting soldiers, the arrival of the Antichrist, the second coming of Jesus and fiery scenes of H-E-double-hockey sticks, then Sheffield pastors Felicito Bagunu and Roger Horne don't want to be sane.

Each year, Sheffield spends around $60,000 to produce six performances of Tribulation Christmas, the congregation's largest outreach event of the year. On average, church officials say, 1,400 souls come forward to devote their lives to Christ after watching it.

Sheffield's drama revolves around the plight of a couple, Dave and Lisa, who are running from the Antichrist's soldiers near the end of the Tribulation. They hide out in the cave of another refugee, a survivalist type who doesn't believe in God. There, they reflect on their predicament, flashing back to a scene before the rapture in which Lisa's mom, her wheelchair-bound grandfather and their local pastor all begged Lisa and Dave to become believers before it was too late. Lisa sings a song: "I Wish We'd All Been Ready." Another flashback recalls how the Antichrist came to power, seducing the masses, ascending to the head of the United Nations and decreeing that everyone allow an electronic chip -- UPC code No. 666 -- to be implanted in their hands or foreheads and used to track individuals and their purchased goods. The Antichrist is assassinated at a press conference but comes back to life with Satan's help and declares himself God. Lisa and Dave are captured by soldiers, but Jesus intervenes and banishes Satan, the Antichrist and the cave-dwelling nonbeliever to the Lake of Fire.

The original Tribulation Christmas was written in 1974 by Mike Brown, an evangelist at a church in St. Joseph, Missouri. He and Sheffield's Horne were friends then. When Horne took over as Sheffield's youth pastor in 1980, he remembered Brown's old script. Horne reworked some parts, and his youth groups began performing it in the early '80s.

"I can't talk right now. I'm at church. I'm getting a bullet hole put on my head," Craig A. Hampton says into his cell phone as he waits for his turn onstage at rehearsal. His deep baritone makes his voice audible from every corner of the massive sanctuary as he lounges in one of the folding church seats, cherry-flavored blood flowing from a volcanic wound above his right eye.

"Has anyone seen Jesus?" calls a stagehand. "Yo, son of God."

Jimmy Shrader, in Carhartt overalls over a white undershirt, is wearing his crotch-vise of a harness and taking flight pointers from Rebmann. "If everything's not in the right place [when the lines start lifting], it's too late," Rebmann tells him, motioning around Shrader's pelvis.

Shrader rises off his feet, then about 3 feet in the air. "How does it feel?" a crew member asks. "OK," he replies weakly. He cups both hands around his mouth, hiding his words from the flight technicians, and mouths, "It hurts!"

"I'm going to be singing soprano," he says. "I've just gotta think positive."

http://www.pitch.com/issues/2004-12-16/news/feature.html

20041220g.src0100644001266300000360000000057010161656761011501 0ustar markbuserThe Grinch who saved Christmas Salon.com 1103584753 News, Christian

The Grinch who saved Christmas

Battling the homosexuals, liberals and Jews, Bill O'Reilly and friends are making America safe for Christmas.

20041220h.src0100644001266300000360000000274410163453120011471 0ustar markbuser'Happy Holidays' protesters overlooking the real problem Republican-American 1103585111 News, Christian

Do you have the slightest belief that that 80-hour-a-week automaton ringing up your DVD at the local mall actually cares whether you have a Merry Christmas, happy holiday, or Rockin' Ramadan? Next year, they'll be replacing him with a self-service machine, and you'll probably be able to plug in your tailor-made greeting. "For Episcopalians, press 1. For Zoroastrians, press 6."

But Christians are offended. They're getting the shaft, no matter what the soothsayers scrutinizing the presidential election results say. It's not just Macy's. It's Target, which has given the Salvation Army the boot, insisting that the groups' euphonious pleas make shoppers feel guilty and open the doors for any other bleating mendicant to plead his case on Target's sectarian steps.

The problem is not the de-Christianization of Christmas. It's the commercialization of it. The celebration of the most humble and sacred of events has been commodified and exploited to the execrable point that we are actually boycotting stores that don't commercialize our holiday enough.

Christian groups do themselves a disservice taking on canards that make them look like sanctimonious ninnies. With so much in the world at stake, castigating the mall clerks seems about as useful as debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=14087

20041221a.src0100644001266300000360000000310710163453114011460 0ustar markbuserOnline Dangers Likely to Continue Growing in 2005 Washington Post 1103651360 News, Computers

By Brian Krebs, Robert MacMillan and David McGuire

Internet users witnessed yet another wave of spam, worms, viruses and other online attacks in 2004, and experts predict the online world will grow even more dangerous in 2005.

One of the most severe dangers to Internet users in 2004 was "phishing," a kind of fraud in which thieves design Web sites that pretend to represent real companies like Citibank or PayPal. They send cleverly disguised e-mail messages often telling people that their accounts will be suspended unless they submit information such as their credit card and bank routing numbers by clicking on a link provided in the message. That information often winds up being used by international hacker networks, and many people's credit subsequently has been damaged or ruined.

Next year promises renewed attempts to fight spam. Much junk e-mail still contains pitches for impotence remedies, investment schemes and other too-good-to-be-true offers that range from the hilarious to the vulgar, but an increasing amount contains worms, viruses and fraud schemes.

In 2004, just 12 percent of all e-mail on the Internet was legitimate, according to Redwood, Calif.-based e-mail filtering company Postini. The company, which quarantines up to 133 million spam messages for its customers each day, predicted that that number would shrink to 8 percent in 2005.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4005-2004Dec16.html

20041222a.src0100644001266300000360000000337310163462776011504 0ustar markbuserNon-Christians in winter: Don't be rigid about greetings Tallahassee Democrat 1103751792 News, Christian

By June Wiaz

Christians may wonder what non-Christians do on Christmas Day. We go to the movies and eat Chinese food. Sometimes Indian. You wouldn't believe how crowded Asian restaurants and theaters are in South Florida and New York on Christmas.

When a TV reporter for a local station asked my 10-year-old at the Winter Festival parade downtown a couple of weeks ago what was at the top of her list for Santa, she really didn't know how to answer. The reporter asked her three times before giving up and going to the next kid. When I talked to her about it later, Lily said she didn't want to make the interviewer feel bad so she didn't mention that she doesn't celebrate Christmas. Pretty thoughtful, I think.

I will not pretend that this is an easy time of year for American Jews, Hindus, Muslims or Buddhists, especially children who are constantly reminded of how they don't fit in. Some grow to wear their difference as a badge of honor; others conform to the majority later in life. Here in the South it's especially challenging since, as the unthinking reporter showed, some people just don't even stop to consider that there could be a few fig leaves mixed in with the mistletoe. Truth be told, often there are not. But when there might be, what harm is there in issuing a hearty and more encompassing seasonal greeting?

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/10433597.htm

Mark says: I don't know whether I'm more dismayed that a TV reporter might not be aware of disturbing a 10-year old, or endeartened that a 10-year old would be concerned about making a "grown up" feel bad.

20041222b.src0100644001266300000360000000423410163452241011464 0ustar markbuserAway with the manger Lawrence Journal-World 1103757931 News, Christian

By Jim Baker

As Dec. 25 approaches, many Americans find themselves amidst the annual, frenzied season of marathon shopping, endless gift giving and compulsive overeating -- in other words, overindulgence in all things Christmas.

Except, it would seem, for one thing: Jesus Christ.

Which raises an important question: Is the inherent religious message of this holiday -- the birth of a savior, the Prince of Peace -- drowned out more than ever in the swirl of marketing hype, commercialization and supporting the fourth-quarter profits of big business?

"We need some time to be reminded of what we actually are celebrating: the birth of Jesus Christ, the gift of God to mankind. Many people forget that and get lost in the parties and the gift giving."

And the drumbeat of consumption seems to pick up the pace every year, agree some members of the clergy in Lawrence and other Christians. "There seems to be just a gargantuan need to spend money and buy gifts, and that agenda is set by Alan Greenspan (chairman of the Federal Reserve) and the Wal-Mart specials more than by a spiritual aspect," says the Rev. Marcus McFaul, senior pastor of First Baptist Church. "As a result, we max out the credit card, and when we open our credit-card statement we ask, ‘Now, why did we do this?'"

Bill Browning, a student at the Washburn University School of Law and a Lawrence resident, sees much the same trend. "I would say that our contact with the holiday, as Americans, is necessarily commercial. You're reminded by commercials on TV that it's Christmas and that we're supposed to buy things. They've been marketing Christmas in October since long before I was born," says Browning, 39.

McFaul urges Christians to let their religious convictions and deepest beliefs guide their choice of gifts to others, such as donating money in a person's name to a charity that works to provide for basic human needs. "That's a gift that's a little bit more meaningful than a Salad Shooter or another Jessica Simpson CD," he says.

http://www.ljworld.com/section/satliving/story/190755

20041222c.src0100644001266300000360000000331110163452236011464 0ustar markbuserChristians, atheists face off on town green Middletown Press 1103759095 News, Christian

By Randall Beach

MILFORD -- Hundreds of counter protesters who say they want to "keep Christ in Christmas," dwarfed a handful of atheists who gathered on the Green Sunday to protest a Nativity display.

The display is a wooden structure with a glass case showing a Nativity scene. At its base is a baby Jesus in a cradle. Next to the cradle is a sign: "This display is provided by the Hyatt family and not erected, maintained or sponsored by the city of Milford."

The counter-protesters sang Christmas carols and "God Bless America," then recited "The Pledge of Allegiance." Their signs ranged from "Keep Christ in Christmas" to "This is a Christian nation - majority rules."

The Rev. Jim Loomer, pastor of the Berean Christian Center, tried to make peace. "Would anybody care to hear what they have to say?" Loomer asked the crowd. The response was a chorus of "No!" and "Go home!" "They should let these guys speak," Loomer said. "It’s America. Free speech."

When Dennis Paul Himes, Connecticut state director of American Atheists tried to read a statement explaining his position, he was drowned out by the shouting opposition. Himes later said he was surprised by the size of the crowd. Six atheists and about 250 others showed up.

Counter-protesters wished the atheists "Merry Christmas" and sang "Jesus Loves You."

http://www.middletownpress.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13589484&BRD=1645&PAG=461&de
pt_id=10856&rfi=6

Mark says: "Majority rules"? I thought that's exactly what "separation of church of state" was intended to prevent!

20041222d.src0100644001266300000360000000250010163452233011461 0ustar markbuserSuspended: putting peace in Christmas Cincinnati Enquirer 1103759521 News, Christian

By Peter Bronson

Eric Bast was suspended from Oak Hills High School for five days, because he distributed personal letters to 3,000 students telling them about the original Christmas gift, the love of Christ.

Eric's mother, Denise Bast, did something totally unexpected - she actually complimented Principal David Vannasdall. "He's one of the nicest people I've ever seen give someone a five-day suspension," she said.

Eric said he volunteered to be suspended so his friends who helped him would not be punished.

A senior with a cross shaved into his hair, Eric has been on the honor roll since 7th grade, but says, "I would spend the rest of my life on suspension to get the outcome of even one person committing his life to Christ."

The letter, at www.lettertomyfriends.com, is well written. But it quotes a tough Bible verse, John 14:6, and mentions heaven and hell. Some people were offended.

"He's not afraid to stand up and tell people what he believes," said Scott Duber, Eric's youth music pastor at Impact, an evangelical church.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041219/COL05/412190407/108
0/news01

20041222e.src0100644001266300000360000000444210162411005011460 0ustar markbuserWhat is Christmas all about? The Independent 1103761800 News, Christian

London's Oxford Street is the scene of an annual Christmas shopping frenzy. Can spirituality have any place here? Surprisingly, Clare Dwyer Hogg and Andy Sewell find God is alive and well in the thronging heart of consumerism.

I think Christmas has totally and utterly lost its way. Jesus' message was, "Feed the needy, don't be greedy." I don't really believe in giving presents, I think we should look after the needs of the world first, instead of buying someone a gift for £200, say, who doesn't need it. Let's think about the kids who are starving.
Christmas for me is about magic, snow, happiness, peace and family. The commercialisation is part of it too, to be honest. I like to give and receive presents. It's part of the occasion.
I'm not sure why Christmas is celebrated in Christianity, but anything to do with religion is good because all religions want to be peaceful. God is all-forgiving, merciful, all-compassionate. Christianity and Islam are different only because we believe Jesus was a prophet and they believe he was the Son of God. Politicians don't understand this.
People are always thinking about what they're going to buy and what they're going to do, but that's not my idea of Christmas at all. For me, it's just about being a normal everyday Christian.
Christmas is a marketing strategy to sell useless products. I'm allergic to it.
Every day should be Christmas, if you want to surprise your friends, why not?
Christmas is a time to be around your family. And to get presents as well, which is good.
I always really, really look forward to Christmas because it's a great family occasion. We have four children, three of them are very young and they get really excited about it. I think consumerism can get out of hand, though, so we try to be pretty careful about that. In fact, sometimes we even keep presents back from the children - we have very indulgent relatives. We don't want the children to develop acquisitive personalities. Two or three nice presents is more than enough, I think.
Christmas is a big, money-spinning idea. The flavour has gone.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=593107

20041222f.src0100644001266300000360000000265310163452224011474 0ustar markbuserIt's a double dose of the Nativity Boroughs Daily News 1103762203 News, Christian

By Charles W. Bell

The Church of the Epiphany, the historic Episcopal parish on the upper East Side, will present its Nativity Pageant tomorrow, but with a production twist so unusual that even the Rev. Andrew Mullins is shaking his head.

The tradition at Epiphany is to cast the youngest baby in the starring Nativity role. The problem is that this year, the youngest babies are twins, David and Eva Kim, who were born about four months ago.

Both will appear in the pageant - at the same time. This will require a little rewrite of the script, something Mullins is considering.

There is nothing new about improvising the church's pageant. Some dogs are dusted lightly with talcum powder to serve as sheep. Other dogs have toy horns attached to their heads and, voilà, reindeer! There also is a camel - two church members dressed in a two-hump outfit.

As for the babies, he said he is still working out some of the problems.

One is what to do when the Angel Gabriel presents the Baby Jesus to Mary. Another is whether the three Magi should present two sets of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Mullins is not overly worried. "I know we'll have a pageant," he said. "Beyond that, I think we better leave a little room for a miracle."

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/263035p-225222c.html

20041222g.src0100644001266300000360000000240710163452222011470 0ustar markbuserNativity Scene Causes A Stir The Lakeland Ledger 1103762604 News, Christian

By Diane Lacey Allen

Commissioner Randy Wilkinson repeatedly attempted to put a Christmas display on government property. Those efforts have consistently failed to gain support from his fellow commissioners.

Wilkinson's most recent attempt came just hours before grandparents at the First Baptist Church of Bartow erected a manger scene in front of the county building without the commission's permission.

Ever since Mary and Joseph showed up, wearing blue eye shadow, on the county's grass, people have been taking sides.

Richard Krumm suggested in an e-mail that Commissioner Bob English, who said Thursday that the display didn't belong on the county's lawn, "grow a backbone before opining about the First Baptist-made Nativity scene. What a girly-man!"

Friday, county employees continued to spruce up the administration building with secular greens and lights.

The holy family, a plastic lamb and a snowman remained on the knoll across from the courthouse, their fate on hold until next week's public meeting.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041218/NEWS/412180378/1134

Mark says: ROTFL!

20041222h.src0100644001266300000360000000331210163453057011474 0ustar markbuserJudge allows religious theme Washington Times 1103763478 News, Christian

By Julia Duin

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order this week that allows students in Plano, Texas, schools to hand out religious messages during classroom holiday parties, decorate in Christmas colors and use religious-themed holiday decorations.

A Dec. 6 letter to fourth-grade parents at Thomas Elementary from six teachers asks for Hershey's kisses, sugar cookies and white napkins and plates for a Winter Break party yesterday. It says parents were instructed to avoid red- and green-colored decorations, candy and icing on the cookies because of the colors' association with the holiday.

"Last year, parents were instructed to not bring any religious symbols to decorate the classroom with," attorney Kelly Shackelford said, "but they were asked to bring snowflakes, sleds and 'snowpeople.' They couldn't say 'snowmen.' People who sink to that level of [political correctness] I can't understand."

District officials said, "[The district] fosters acceptance of all cultures and welcomes the celebration of our diversity during the Winter Break parties."

A student attempting to pass out pencils with "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" had them confiscated. The student's mother went to the school to complain, and when she left upset, she was overheard saying, "Satan is sure in this building," which prompted the principal to call police. Officers confronted the mother on school property, he said.

"They asked her what sort of threat she had made and when she told them, they started laughing," he added.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041217-114549-6147r.htm

20041222i.src0100644001266300000360000000172110163463202011470 0ustar markbuserA Festivus for the Rest of Us

1103764959 News, Christian

Celebrated: December 23rd
Meal: Whatever you Want
The Festivus Pole: Not a tree, a pole. No decorations. Tinsel is very distracting from the true meaning of the holiday. The pole is tall, silver, hollow, long, skinny, and heavy.
The Airing Of Grievences: Over the dinner table, tell your family and friends all the ways they have disappointed you during the year.
Feats Of Strength: The head of the family tests his strength against another friend or family member. The great honor is given out to a different person each year. Festivus is not over until the head of the family is pinned.

http://www.kwillis.com/festivus.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/fashion/19FEST.html?pagewanted=2

http://www.crazygrrl.com/cards/index.php

20041222j.src0100644001266300000360000000417510163452212011476 0ustar markbuserThe politics of the Christmas story The Boston Globe 1103769643 News, Christian

By James Carroll

The single most important fact about the birth of Jesus, as recounted in the Gospels, is one that receives almost no emphasis in the American festival of Christmas. The child who was born in Bethlehem represented a drastic political challenge to the imperial power of Rome. The nativity story is told to make the point that Rome is the enemy of God, and in Jesus, Rome's day is over.

The Gospel of Luke puts a political cast on the story. The narrative begins with the decree of Caesar Augustus calling for a world census -- a creation of tax rolls that will tighten the empire's grip on its subject peoples. It was Caesar Augustus who turned the Roman republic into a dictatorship, a power-grab he reinforced by proclaiming himself divine. When the angel announces to shepherds that a "savior has been born," as scholars like Richard Horsley point out, those hearing the story would immediately understand that the blasphemous claim by Caesar Augustus to be "savior of the world" was being repudiated.

In modern times, the nativity story became spiritualized and sentimentalized, losing its political edge altogether. "Peace" replaced resistance as the main motif. The baby Jesus was universalized, removed from his decidedly Jewish context, and the narrative's explicit critiques of imperial dominance and of wealth were blunted.

This is how it came to be that Christmas in America has turned the nativity of Jesus on its head. No surprise there, for if the story were told today with Roman imperialism at its center, questions might arise about America's new self-understanding as an imperial power. A story of Jesus born into a land oppressed by a hated military occupation might prompt an examination of the American occupation of Iraq. A story of Jesus come decidedly to the poor might cast a pall over the festival of consumption.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/12/21/the_
politics_of_the_christmas_story/

20041222k.src0100644001266300000360000000127010163452207011474 0ustar markbuserDon't get your knickers twisted, morality isn't just about sex St.Petersburg Times Opinion 1103771822 News, Christian

By Diane Roberts

When did sexual morality become equated with morality in total? What about the morality of tax cuts for the rich and extra burdens for the poor? The morality of insisting that children be born then refusing them health care and a decent education? Capital punishment? Colonialism? Torture? Lying about reasons to send young men and women to their deaths in war?

Morality isn't just about reproductive organs.

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/12/18/Opinion/Don_t_get_your_knicke.shtml

20041223a.src0100644001266300000360000000367510163453044011476 0ustar markbuserHo! Ho! Is More Like Uh-Oh Yahoo News, Los Angeles Times 1103825247 News, Health

By J.R. Moehringer, Times Staff Writer

The questions from children these days are tougher than ever. True, for as long as children have climbed onto Santa's lap, they have been tenacious interrogators. But now, with thousands of children pining for a father or mother serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, the questions are as heart-rending as they are unanswerable. Can you please bring Daddy home from the war in time for Christmas morning?

Sometimes children stare intently and ask for peace on Earth. What's a Santa to say?

"I had a little girl on my knee," Victor Nevada recalls, "and she said she wanted 'a happy home' for Christmas. I looked up at the mom, and mom had bruises on her face. Now, what can I do? I can't phone the cops. I can't tell the child, 'Don't worry — Santa will send some hit men over and they'll take care of the old man.' I called Mom over, and she sat on my right knee, and mom and daughter faced each other and we had a little visit. What I could do was give that mom and daughter three or four minutes of peace."

On the Internet, a booming Santa industry is taking shape. Alan Kerr, founder of EmailSanta.com, says his website has received millions of e-mails in its seven years of existence — 500,000 this season alone. Many e-mails, he says, contain requests even more wrenching than those made in malls, as children turn to Santa for help not only with parents in the military, but parents who are sick, parents who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, parents who are abusive. So Kerr has teamed with child psychologists and police to develop special software that identifies those "in dire circumstances," whom he then directs to the proper social agency.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=5&u=/latimests/20041223/ts_latimes
/hohoismorelikeuhoh

20041223b.src0100644001266300000360000000473010163444546011477 0ustar markbuserConfronting Caesar Christianity Today Interview 1103825962 News, Christian

Interview by Stan Guthrie

Sunday Adelajah, a Nigerian who came to the former Soviet bloc 18 years ago to study journalism, became a pastor instead. Now Adelajah leads a 26,000-member Pentecostal church called the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations, in Kiev. In the wake of the presidential election controversy, Adelajah and the church have taken a stand in support of opposition candidate Victor Yuschenko, who was poisoned during the campaign.

How did you start your church?

The first four years, I couldn't get any Russians saved. But God directed me that if I really wanted to be effective, I must go to the down and out people, and I should not expect the "regular people" to come.

So I began to reach out to the alcoholic, because that was a national problem at that point. And we began to have some results. And I think the reason for that might be because the people who are alcoholic are already down and out, and they're already blind to any color.

But God helped me with the rehabilitation of these people. In the process, their relatives and parents would see that these people are becoming normal, and they don't smoke, they don't drink, they are tidy, and they wear clean clothes. They began to have their parents come and they now began to see me as their savior. And the parents, who never used to regard or have any respect for a black man, they began to rejoice and say, "Thank you for my son."

What is your role in the crisis as a leading pastor?

Putin has said, "You Ukrainians don't have authority, because this 'sect' and these 'cult groups' are mushrooming in your country." The candidate, the [current] prime minister, who has been supported by Putin, Viktor Yanukovych, said that one of the first things he's going to deal with if he becomes the president is these "cult" and "sectarian" groups. So this actually is a threat, not just to democracy, [but] to everything we've gained during all the years of independence.

The most important thing is that 80 percent of the nation is supporting Victor Yuschenko, who is an opposition candidate, and is a godly man. He shares God, and he respects all the churches, all the pastors. This is the time God has given to the [people of] Ukraine to have a free choice of where they want to go. The people want to go democratic.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/151/42.0.html

20041223c.src0100644001266300000360000000173210163452163011471 0ustar markbuserSkipping the holy season of Christmas Get Religion 1103827342 News, Christian

By Terry Mattingly

The Christmas wars seem extra, extra nasty this year -- or are being covered that way by the mainstream media. Perhaps this is all part of the values-based bitterness that followed 11/2. Are there really more angry Christians on the march these days or are there simply more upset reporters out there searching for angry Christians on the march, inspired by nightmare visions of dancing theocrats?

I can't right now take the time to post the URLs for even a 10th of the Christmas madness stories I have seen in the past few days. As always, this means we should happily turn to the tireless cybercrats at the Christianity Today weblog. Wear yourselves out, people. Click away.

http://getreligion.typepad.com/getreligion/2004/12/now_that_you_th.html

20041223d.src0100644001266300000360000000347210163452161011473 0ustar markbuserSchool Yuletide Observances Shift Into Neutral KTLA Television Los Angeles 1103828601 News, Christian

By Erika Hayasaki and Joel Rubin

In many parts of the country over the last month, conservative Christian groups have lashed out against what they say are practices that dilute Christmas from a profound religious celebration to a bland "holiday season."

But across Southern California, school officials say the combination of ever-more-diverse student populations and the threat of lawsuits by all sides leaves them little choice.

"We try to keep it pretty generic and just leave it at 'winter' and 'Santa Claus,' " Matassarin said. "We have Jehovah's Witnesses, who don't celebrate any of the holidays, we have Jewish students, students who celebrate Kwanzaa — the whole gamut."

This month, the Anti-Defamation League sent letters to school administrators throughout Southern California asking them to "be cautious in how they choose to employ religious symbols and teach about the holidays," and to include religious information in holiday activities only if it is "presented objectively as part of a secular program of education."

On the other side, Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative legal group based in Sacramento, objected that "teachers are sometimes unlawfully prohibited from acknowledging holidays such as Christmas."

The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based Christian legal group, wrote more than 5,000 school districts nationwide to explain that the U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled that public schools must ban the singing of religious Christmas carols or prohibit the distribution of candy canes or Christmas cards.

http://ktla.trb.com/news/local/la-me-xmas22dec22,0,2602873.story?coll=ktla-news-
1

20041223e.src0100644001266300000360000000360310162614150011465 0ustar markbuserTwas the night before Jesus came Not a poem about Christmas 1103829045 Christian

'Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house
Not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care
In hopes that Jesus would not come there.

The children were dressing to crawl into bed,
Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.
And Mom in her rocker with baby on her lap
Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.

When out of the East there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash!

When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here.
With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray
I knew in a moment this must be The Day!

The light of His face made me cover my head
It was Jesus! returning just like He had said.
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.

In the Book of Life which He held in His hand
Was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word as He searched for my name;
When He said "It's not here" my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love
He gathered to take to His Father above.
With those who were ready He rose without a sound
While all the rest were left standing around.

I fell to my knees, but it was too late;
I had waited too long and this sealed my fate.
I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight;
Oh, if only I had been ready tonight.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear;
The coming of Jesus is drawing near.
There's only one life and when comes the last call
We'll find that the Bible was true after all!

http://www.mymessiah.net/poem.htm

20041223f.src0100644001266300000360000000311610163453033011467 0ustar markbuserFrench pretzel logic and pagan Christmas trees Carolina Morning News 1103832850 News, Christian

By Jennifer Royse

Recently France has passed legislation designed to create a sharp distinction between church and state. In a bold, well-planned move to prevent young Muslim women from wearing headscarves in school, the French government passed a law banning all conspicuous religious symbols in schools.

Just what exactly is a "conspicuous religious symbol"? To be fair, along with the aforementioned scarves, the ban does include the use of Jewish skullcaps and the wearing of obviously large crucifixes. So the law does manage to smack three of the world's major religions square in the face.

Lagny-Sur-Marne, near Paris, boasts a high school where students were apparently aware of the law banning conspicuous religious symbols. They complained that the school's Christmas tree was certainly a conspicuous Christian image and therefore should be removed. Officials momentarily stymied by the students' impeccable logic had the offensive pine (or fir) removed last week.

The Christmas tree is back, and apparently is not in violation of French law. Turns out that a Christmas tree isn't really a conspicuous symbol of Christianity. It's pagan, therefore appropriate for placement in French schools. Pascal Pagny, mayor of Lagny-Sur-Marne, told Radio Europe 1 that "The tree was a symbol of year-end festivities long before Christianity existed. It is completely secular and pagan."

http://www.lowcountrynow.com/stories/122204/LOCvecinos.shtml

20041223g.src0100644001266300000360000000342410163452150011471 0ustar markbuserPraise for a secular Santa who delivers the goods The Australian 1103834685 News, Christian

By Irshad Manji

When I was growing up in Canada, Ho-Ho-Ho was a No-No-No - not because my parents deemed it so, but because I did. My defiance sprang from the Mennonite kid who incurred my second-grade teacher's wrath by refusing to make Christmas ornaments with the rest of our class. The moment she condemned him to stand in the hall, I felt my own rumblings of resistance.

A week later, I challenged my family's decision to put up a Christmas tree. The twinkle and tingle of tinsel made my sisters positively giddy. They laughed and decorated. I frowned and demonstrated. "We're supposed to be Muslims!" I protested to my mother. "Santa is for everybody," she calmly assured me.

I'd like to believe it's maturity that turned me around. Truth is, though, it's strategy as much as maturity: as a Muslim, I can claim religious immunity to the routine demands of Christmas while taking advantage of the occasion's small pleasures. I don't feel culturally compelled to buy expensive gifts -- or even cheap ones -- for people who get on my nerves most of the year.

Yet I appreciate that many of my friends choose to. Indulging in the rituals of Christmas, however exhausting, infuriating and impoverishing by turns, makes serious souls unusually human again. I love watching folks get excited the way they don't on any other holiday.

Relaxed conversation in front of a crackling fire -- we'd never squeeze that combination out of each other were it not for Christmas Day, when every monument to profit-making has resolutely shut down.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11762488%255E7583,
00.html

20041224a.src0100644001266300000360000000175310163444325011474 0ustar markbuserUS Retailers Say Christmas Not Just for Christians New York Times 1103918134 News, Christian

Reuters

Not all Christians think it is such a bad thing for Christ to be evicted from Christmas, with many youngsters too focused on Santa and his goodies to think of Jesus.

Commentator and author John Boykin, a Christian, argued on National Public Radio that celebrating Jesus' birth was not as important as his life and teachings, suggesting Easter was the proper holiday for Christians and Christmas should become a gift-giving secular holiday.

Espousing the motto "Keep Christ from Christmas," Boykin said Jesus "was not born to be the patron saint of fourth-quarter earnings."

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-retail-christmas.html

Mark says:

"US Christians Say Christmas Not Just for Retailers"
"US Christmas-shoppers Say Retailers Not Just for Christians"
"Retailers Say Christmas Not Just for US Christians"

20041224b.src0100644001266300000360000000660510163452131011470 0ustar markbuserI want my faith back Arkansas Times 1103920430 News, Christian

Getting personal about the political hijacking of religion.

By Jennifer Barnett Reed

“These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.”

— Matthew 15:8-9

With all the millions of children in our country who don’t have enough food, clothing, or love, how can right-wing Christians possibly still cling to the delusion that God thinks gay people are the biggest threat to Christian values? Times Jesus mentions the poor in the gospels: I lost count halfway through Matthew. Times he mentions homosexuality: Zero.

The hypocrisy hasn’t gone unnoticed outside our borders. The Rev. Randy Hyde, pastor of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, spent three months in Europe earlier this year. He said Europeans are suspicious of Americans “because we talk so much about religious values but don’t live them.”

Someone who signed himself matthew0724 said, “As an evangelical Christian, I feel the most important job I have been given is to be a witness to non-believers. Much of this witnessing is simply trying to live a Christ-like life so others will see the character of Jesus through me. My ability to be any kind of a witness, active or passive, has been drastically harmed by the religious right — specifically the Bush administration. By acting as if they own the franchise on Christianity, and then acting as un-Christlike as possible, many more people are inclined to dismiss my beliefs out of hand.”

“Traditional Democratic values are Christian values,” Cole Wakefield said. “But somehow ‘help the poor’ doesn’t matter, war doesn’t matter, because there are gay people around.”

Howard Gordon, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, blames Democrats for selling out — abandoning their historic positions on social programs and economic justice to cater to centrist voters. That’s allowed Republicans to push religious differences to the fore of what distinguishes the two parties, he said.

“What issues are left then?” Gordon asked. “ ‘They’re complicated heathens, we’re simple Christians.’ ”

But we also have black-and-white beliefs, just like conservatives do: Greed is wrong. Poverty is unjust. Compassion is commanded. If it’s certainty people want, we can give it to them in spades.

But there is hope to be had in a post-election poll that found that 33 percent of voters cited “greed and materialism” as the country’s greatest moral problem. Another 31 percent said “poverty and economic justice.” Only 16 percent rated abortion the most urgent, and 12 percent chose same-sex marriage.

The poll also asked voters what was the most important “moral issue” that affected their vote. Almost twice as many said the war in Iraq as chose abortion and same-sex marriage combined.

When we take back our faith, we will discover that faith challenges the powers that be to do justice for the poor instead of preaching a ‘prosperity gospel’ and supporting politicians who further enrich the wealthy. We will remember that faith hates violence and tries to reduce it, and exerts a fundamental presumption against war instead of justifying it in God’s name.

http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=cd3a8b03-56d6-495b
-b40b-46330316a2fc

20041226a.src0100644001266300000360000000675310163667367011520 0ustar markbuserPhysical Therapy

1104053436 Accident

My surgeon approved six weeks of physical therapy at my request. Actually, I requested it because my chiropractor's office said they could provide it. The office has a PT and and MD on staff, in addition to the nutritionists and massage therapists.

The surgeon suggested both water therapy and the stationary bicycle. Water therapy consists of simply moving the injured leg around in a small pool of warm water, such as a hot tub. It need not be hot, just warm. Some rehabilitation clinics have pools designed just for this purpose. The intention is that being in the water reduces the weight one is placing on the injured leg, while at the same time the water provides some resistance to motion in the lateral dimensions where muscle strengthening is needed.

My chiropractor's office has an alternative to water therapy. It is simply a treadmill with an overhead harness. They strap me in the harness and they can lift anywhere up to my full body weight off the ground. Then intention here is to restore a normal gait while still reducing the weight I'm placing on the injured leg.

I was disappointed that they didn't start me on the treadmill right away. But the physical therapist really knows her stuff. They started me out with isometric exercises. These consisted of simple exercises like squeezing a pillow between my knees, lying down while pushing my foot into the floor, etc. These exercises started stretching and strengthening the muscles with very little initial impact. This first phase lasted about two weeks.

After two weeks, we started two kinds of stronger exercises. One used rubber cords as resistance, and I had to pull my leg in every direction against the cord. This provided an isolated exercise for each muscle in the leg. They have these cords set up in the office.

The second kind of exercise was a set of leg lifts in every possible dimension with a one-pound weight around the ankle. This was initially painful in one or two dimensions, particlarly abduction and adduction (lateral movement of the legs apart, together, and across each other). They instructed me what kind of weights to buy at a local sports store.

In this phase, it sped things up tremendously that Mary happened to have some of the rubber cords at home, so I was able to do these exercises at home as well as in the office. So after just a few days, I developed enough strength that I could walk a few steps without the walker or any other supports. When they saw this, they put me into the treadmill phase sooner than planned.

We started this whole series on November 29, right after Thanksgiving. They put me on the treadmill for the first time on December 16. With each new type of exercise I've been quite sore initially. But for the last three days or so I've been able to walk at will around the house without the walker. I'm using a cane for "moral support" but not often for physical support. (Using the cane causes more pain in my wrist than not using it causes in my hip.)

Maybe someday I'll find the time to scan the instructions for all these exercises and post them here.

We'll have new x-rays taken before the new year, and the first week of January we meet the surgeon again for another follow-up, hopefully the last.

Is it too optimistic to expect that I might be able to go to Mac World Expo in San Francisco in mid-January? Moscone Center is a huge building. At this point, I haven't even been to Costco or Wal-Mart yet. But you've gotta think big.

20041226b.src0100644001266300000360000001461710163667234011510 0ustar markbuserThe Meaning Of Christmas

1104056280 Christian

So what is the practical meaning of Christmas? Anyone can say it is a celebration of the birth of Christ, but who actually gives gifts to him and not to family members on that day?

When I was a child, Christmas meant getting up very early to open gifts from the folks and then be rushed off reluctantly to an early church serivce. There was always a big dinner with lots of aunts and uncles in attendance. Food consisted of turkey with all the trimmings, jello salads, and pies.

As we grew older, we wanted to share in giving gifts as well as receiving them. This probably didn't happen until we were into high school or even out of school, because until we had jobs there wasn't much money to spend on others.

When we became adults, we made concerted efforts to take some of the load off our parents, and to find suitable gifts for them. We seldom had success on either front. The aunties were never willing to concede their jello-making monopoly. And my parents were often notoriously difficult to shop for (or even create things for).

When I was in high school I met Jesus and honoring his birth made more sense to me. But the hectic ready-making for Christmas morning turned all other priorities upside down, and it was always with bleary eyes that we went to church to do that honor, irrespective of any desire to do so. And often with irritation grown of frustrations or disappointments with shopping or crafting.

For many years Christmas was a difficult time for all of us. They became most difficult of all in 1998 when my mother went into the hospital on Christmas day, and passed away the next day. As much as we tried to pull together as a family, Christmas was always a strain after that. Now we are lucky to get all of my brothers and sisters together in the same room on any occasion, even Christmas. Perhaps we discovered that the glue that held our family together was not Jesus, but my mother.

Fortunately I was introduced to Mary's family in 1997, and that gave me a glimpse of a different kind of Christmas. Mary's nephews and nieces ranged in age from 6 to 11 (at that time), and it was a joy to buy, or preferably make, gifts for them.

Every year since 1999, Mary and I have had a "tradition" of making special craft projects for everyone in close family, about 18 people in all. One year it was cardboard boxes in the shape of stockings, covered with cloth, with goodies inside. Another time it was small wooden boxes, painted with different designs, filled with little treasures. Mary has taken to making sets of rubber-stamped all-occasion greeting cards, which everyone loves. Last year I made binders with covers laden with family photographs, tailored to each family member. (I'm not yet divulging this year's project because not all have been distributed yet!)

But where is Christ in all of this? Jesus loved the little children, but eventually they all grow up and become difficult adults, much harder to love. Jesus loved to give to others, but would he stay up late nights doing art projects while neglecting his relationship with his Father, as we do in order to meet our self-imposed deadlines? And of course the artists always wants to draw attention to himself and his effort; this is part of the artist personality. Did Jesus have this neurosis? God forbid!

I like to think that in my mother I saw something of what Jesus was like. She baked the turkey, she baked the pies, but she desired to see us eat them; she did not desire to brag about them. She reluctantly let us wash the dishes, her fine china and silver that she never quite felt comfortable trusting us with.

So this year, Mary and I missed going to church with the rest of the family because we were still working on craft projects at the last minute. We did not get home until 4:00 am, which meant that we were not up early enough to go to any church today (and which also means that after sleeping in, now at 2:00 am I'm not too tired to be typing up all this). So Jesus escaped us completely. I don't even recall saying grace when we ate last night.

We can say with certainty that we did not become caught up in the consumerism of the season, although without a doubt we did spend money. But honoring Jesus must mean more than rejecting the consumer mentality. It must mean more than just spending time with family. Anyone of any religion, or even no religion, can do those things as well or better than we did.

Reading some of the articles I've posted recently, one might be tempted to think that honoring Jesus means saying "Merry CHRISTmas" to everyone in earshot, and suing those who don't respond in kind. Or perhaps it means refusing to put up a "pagan" decorated tree. Perhaps it means eating turkey instead of chinese food. Perhaps it means shopping at Wal-Mart instead of at Target. Would complaining about how the country is going to hell in a bucket suffice? No, everyone does that, whether they are attempting to honor Jesus or not.

My stepson (and Mary's son) is serving with the U.S. Marines in Iraq. We chat with him on the computer almost every day. He has been telling us about near-misses and fallen friends. We have been praying for him every day. Perhaps the way we can most honor Jesus is to acknowledge the role he plays in our lives. He sustains us while our son is in a dangerous situation. He sustains our son as well. We can do nothing but pray. God has put us in this situation against our will. We can do nothing but look to him for comfort, safety, and encouragement. So now God has us right where he wants us. We have no choice but to honor him with lips and lives. We can do nothing for our son. But we can expect our God to do miracles.

"And we have such confidence through Christ toward God; not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as being out of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God." - 2 Corinthians 3:4-5

When we have failed in every other way, we can look to God, the source of our lives, our sustainer, and our only comfort. No matter what else we might do on this Christmas day, if we do that, we honor Jesus in the way that he wants to be honored.

Jesus, thank you for continuing to take care of us, our son, and our families. Thank you for remembering our friends who are ill, relatives who have been in the hospital recently, and nieces whose mothers have died and left no one to take care of them. Help us to be your hands, mouth and eyes to those who need you as acutely as we do. Amen.

20041226c.src0100644001266300000360000000223310163642567011502 0ustar markbuserPope Offers Plea for Peace in Christmas Message New York Times 1104102775 News, Christian

By Ian Fisher

"I think of Africa, of the tragedy of Darfur in Sudan, of the Ivory Coast and of the Great Lakes region," which includes Congo and Rwanda, the pope, who is 84, told thousands of people on the chilly, rain-drenched cobblestones of St. Peter's Square. "With great apprehension I follow the situation in Iraq."

He also referred to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The issue is always important to the Vatican since the region is revered as the birthplace of Jesus.

In a square decorated by a huge Christmas tree and life-size Nativity scene, he called on help from Jesus for "an end to the spread of violence in its many forms."

"You, prince of true peace, help us to understand that the only way to build peace is to flee in horror from evil, and to pursue goodness with courage and perseverance," he said. "Men and women of good will, of every people on the earth, come with trust to the crib of the Savior."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/26/international/europe/26pope.html?th

20041230a.src0100644001266300000360000000251210165046272011464 0ustar markbuserParty in the LIttle Apple! Associated Press 1104432314 News

Kansas town wants to celebrate like its namesake

Associated Press

Manhattan, Kansas -- New York, eat your heart out.

So goes the message from this heartland town known as the Little Apple, where a New Year's event modeled after the one in Times Square is planned.

Organizers of the second annual Little Apple New Year's Eve Celebration and Ball Drop expect attendance to balloon this year.

Their "eat your heart out" slogan goes along with a marketing strategy focused on locals accustomed to celebrating the holiday wherever Kansas State University is playing in a bowl game. For the first time in 11 years, the Wildcats football team is absent from the New Year's Day bowl lineup.

Kate Watson, an organizer of the Little Apple celebration, said there has been a 70 percent increase in traffic this year at the event's Web site. She's hoping last year's crowd of 4,800 revelers will grow to 8,000.

A five-foot-diameter aluminum ball will be lowered at the New Year's Eve celebration from a 20-foot-tall marquee at a Manhattan bookstore.

It's reminiscent of the ball drop in the Big Apple, a Times Square tradition for nearly a century. But the crowd is expected to be just a tiny fraction of that in Times Square, where an estimated 750,000 people gathered last New Year's Eve.

20041230b.src0100644001266300000360000000356110165050327011466 0ustar markbuserReaders 'state' our Word of the Year San Francisco Chronicle 1104432949 News

Vlae Kershner, SF Gate news director

"Red state/blue state" is the Word of the Year.

The paired terms identify states that vote Republican (red) or Democrat, according to the colors used on television electoral maps. This year, their meanings were extended to differentiate states by cultural factors as well.

"Red state/blue state" got 41 percent of the vote among the more than 2,800 people who responded to our poll by yesterday.

"Wardrobe malfunction," finished second, followed by "blog," "insurgents" and "iPod."

This is the fourth year for the contest, in which readers nominate and vote on the choices. Prior winners were "9-11" in 2001, "nukular" in 2002 and "metrosexual" in 2003.

Red state/blue state -- This matched set from TV election-night maps became the shorthand way of expressing the country's deep political and cultural divisions.

Wardrobe malfunction -- This excuse, offered by Justin Timberlake for his and Janet Jackson's Super strip-tease act, became shorthand for a year of debate over what's fit for the airwaves, which led to the planned departure of Howard Stern for satellite radio.

Blog -- This word has been around for awhile, but what could be more 2004 than the term for a web journal. Just ask Dan Rather.

Insurgents -- Terrorists? Rebels? Loyalists? Nope, the media-certified word for the other side in Iraq is about the blandest term possible.

iPod -- Five years after Napster, the future of downloadable music finally became clear with the success of the Apple music player.

A few other words received multiple nominations, including "low-carb," "girlie-men," "BALCO," and, with several spellings, "duuuuude."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2004/12/30/word30.DTL