I don't know if hypocratize is a word; I don't think it is. However, I am going to make it a verb and use it anyway.
Every
once and awhile, I delve into the murky world of opinion letters in my local paper. While many that write there are probably to the right of
Glen Beck and have posters of Ann Coulter on their walls at home, some
are to the left of Dianne Feinstein and Howard Dean. As regular readers
will know, I am definitely a man of faith - but I also like to think
that I am a man of reason.
This morning, I couldn't help myself
- I had to respond to a letter writer who lambasted the folks that
gathered at the Pensacola courthouse downtown to pray and walk in
support of Frank Lay and Robert Freeman. You can see the letter that
prompted my response here - entitled, "Would they defend Muslim prayer?"
I wrote last Friday about the outcome of Lay and Freeman's trial, so I won't go into that again. But I thought Mr. Caine's opinion letter
and my response (below) might make an interesting epilogue - although
I'm sure the issue of prayer in schools and in the public square in
general, will be news for the foreseeable future.
Call me intolerant if you think I'm intolerant - but don't call me a hypocrite if you mean to call me intolerant!
I enjoyed the dichotomy of Mr. Caine’s opinion (Would They Defend Muslim
Prayer? Letters, 23 September 2009). On the one hand, he cries, ‘Hypocrites!’
among other things, when referring to the supporters (he calls them protesters)
at Frank Lay’s recent trial. But then, he proceeds to name-call, using every
buzz-word and derogatory term I’ve seen in the papers over the last six months.
So, if people who support Christian prayer are hypocrites (a person who
pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he
or she does not actually possess…), why were they at the courthouse engaging in
Christian prayer?
If you’re going to put down a group of people, shouldn’t you call them by a
name that you really mean? Mr. Caine’s letter screams his opinion that
Christians are intolerant while espousing that, on the other hand, folks like
him are the pillar of rational, intelligent behavior.
Christians supporting Christian prayer is not hypocritical, Christians
supporting Christian prayer over Muslim prayer is not hypocritical. Calling
Christians hypocrites, when you really mean to call them intolerant, while you
yourself exhibit intolerant behavior? Now that’s being a hypocrite.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Justice is served
Late yesterday, Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and Athletic Director Robert Freeman were found not guilty of violating a court-ordered ban on prayer in school - at least when students are/were present. This article outlines the history and outcome of yesterday's hearing.
I read about it in the paper version of the paper this morning and was bowled over that hundreds of supporters for the accused walked around the courthouse in downtown Pensacola seven times - some even blowing on ram's horns. That is awesome!
I spoke with someone who was there all day and throughout the rain - which was frequent - many stood strong in support of the Pace HS principal and his AD. Whatever your thoughts on prayer in school, I love you, but can anyone deny that the downward spiral of behavior and accountability in our youth today parallels the removal of faith from the public square.
With all due respect to those of other faiths - or those of no faith - whether I would ask you to examine your need to believe in God and the saving grace of His Son Jesus or not, removing any mention of God from public life is not helping us build a better America.
Personally, I think Judge Rodgers made the right call.
X
I read about it in the paper version of the paper this morning and was bowled over that hundreds of supporters for the accused walked around the courthouse in downtown Pensacola seven times - some even blowing on ram's horns. That is awesome!
I spoke with someone who was there all day and throughout the rain - which was frequent - many stood strong in support of the Pace HS principal and his AD. Whatever your thoughts on prayer in school, I love you, but can anyone deny that the downward spiral of behavior and accountability in our youth today parallels the removal of faith from the public square.
With all due respect to those of other faiths - or those of no faith - whether I would ask you to examine your need to believe in God and the saving grace of His Son Jesus or not, removing any mention of God from public life is not helping us build a better America.
Personally, I think Judge Rodgers made the right call.
X
Powered by ScribeFire.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Loyalty hath no bounds in Cyberspace
It seems I'm leaning toward making Blogger the permanent home for the Stream. Honest, officer, it was nothing premeditated; I just feel like I need to consolidate my electronic soul.
I have some really cool friends over at LJ and I will definitely give them my forwarding address. I do hope they drop by and say hello here - maybe even become followers; what I call Riders on the Stream. It would be so nice to have the box over there to the left full of attractive little icons.
Going a bit deeper, what does this say about Google? I've always been a fan of Microsoft, even when barely resisting the urge to toss my PC into the backyard and use it for target practice. I don't care what anyone says, Bill Gates & co. are responsible for us all sitting here and typing on a personal computer today.
But Google - they are going one step further. They want to be the Microsoft of the Internet. They want to control all the portals - the on-ramps to the Information Super Highway - so to speak. And maybe not just the on-ramps; maybe the gas stations, cafes, bookstores, and everything else, too.
I'm not using their browser - I'm a dedicated Firefox boy (sorry Bill) - but I've got this blog, and I've got a Google website for my novels. Keeping up the original Stream of Consciousness over at LJ and trying to link it here or even post blogs here, too, was just becoming too high maintenance.
What about social networking? Who owns Facebook? Right now, as far as I can tell, it's private - run by founder Mark Zuckerberg. But how long will it be before Google, Microsoft, or someone else tries to gobble it up?
MySpace? I'm not really in love with MySpace anymore. I had a fling with it and still play a few of the increasingly annoying viral games there (i.e. Mobsters). But the more I think about it, the more of a black hole it seems to be. And although we live in the land of the free - especially in CyberSpace - I find a lot of the people there don't have very good manners. Call me a prude, but I don't need to be bombarded with the F-word to know how serious someone is about a particular subject or issue.
Besides, in my humble opinion, we're already sliding down the slippery slope of selfishness fast enough without needing MY space to enable our selfishness even further.
So, drop back by sometime. I don't always require a soap box for my blog entries. Most of the time it's just about writing, music, sports - especially soccer - or something I heard on NPR one morning and felt like sharing.
So with apologies to Jim Morrison and the Doors, I bid you adieu, for now
Riders on the Storm...
X
I have some really cool friends over at LJ and I will definitely give them my forwarding address. I do hope they drop by and say hello here - maybe even become followers; what I call Riders on the Stream. It would be so nice to have the box over there to the left full of attractive little icons.
Going a bit deeper, what does this say about Google? I've always been a fan of Microsoft, even when barely resisting the urge to toss my PC into the backyard and use it for target practice. I don't care what anyone says, Bill Gates & co. are responsible for us all sitting here and typing on a personal computer today.
But Google - they are going one step further. They want to be the Microsoft of the Internet. They want to control all the portals - the on-ramps to the Information Super Highway - so to speak. And maybe not just the on-ramps; maybe the gas stations, cafes, bookstores, and everything else, too.
I'm not using their browser - I'm a dedicated Firefox boy (sorry Bill) - but I've got this blog, and I've got a Google website for my novels. Keeping up the original Stream of Consciousness over at LJ and trying to link it here or even post blogs here, too, was just becoming too high maintenance.
What about social networking? Who owns Facebook? Right now, as far as I can tell, it's private - run by founder Mark Zuckerberg. But how long will it be before Google, Microsoft, or someone else tries to gobble it up?
MySpace? I'm not really in love with MySpace anymore. I had a fling with it and still play a few of the increasingly annoying viral games there (i.e. Mobsters). But the more I think about it, the more of a black hole it seems to be. And although we live in the land of the free - especially in CyberSpace - I find a lot of the people there don't have very good manners. Call me a prude, but I don't need to be bombarded with the F-word to know how serious someone is about a particular subject or issue.
Besides, in my humble opinion, we're already sliding down the slippery slope of selfishness fast enough without needing MY space to enable our selfishness even further.
So, drop back by sometime. I don't always require a soap box for my blog entries. Most of the time it's just about writing, music, sports - especially soccer - or something I heard on NPR one morning and felt like sharing.
So with apologies to Jim Morrison and the Doors, I bid you adieu, for now
Riders on the Storm...
X
Friday, April 3, 2009
Dourado a must-read!
I just finished reading the exciting debut novel from David Wood - Dourado. This is high adventure in the mold of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels and every bit as satisfying.
For a full review check out http://xanthorpe.livejournal.com/19499.html
Dourado is published by Gryphonwood Press.
X
Friday, March 20, 2009
Seattle MLS debut is perfect!
I haven't been to all the websites and blogs yet but I did visit The Beautiful Game and get his take - he lives in Seattle. The Sounders kicked off their regular MLS season last night with a 3-nil thrashing of last year's runner-ups, the New York Red Bulls. The pundits have been trying to tamp down expectations in the Northwest - Seattle is, after all, an expansion team. Whether it was opening night, Cinderella good-fortune or whether the men in Rave Green are for real, only time will tell.
But count me in...
I live in Florida - I've been a Buccaneers fan all my life - the Tampa Bay and Seattle NFL expansion franchises came into NFL existence the same year - 1976 - so I've had no good reason to support Seattle sports.
I remember being in Seattle, maybe around 1994, when the universities of Miami and Washington played in a big college football game - I can't remember now if it was a bowl game or not - I think it was. Suffice it to say, my friend and I were not the most popular guys in the tavern!
But last night...last night was poetry. I could pick apart some sloppy play on the Sounders side but compared to New York, they played exquisite football. My son is begging for one of those Rave Green, long-sleeved jerseys - I might get one myself.
Call it bandwagon hopping or whatever, but I think I've found a team to root for in MLS. I'll always root for Donovan - I just like that guy for some reason - but pulling for the LA Galaxy always seemed hollow. Even Beckham's return from AC Milan in July may not be able to quell the green wave from the Pacific Northwest - at least where football excitement in the USA is concerned.
Congratulations to all the players, coaches, staff and owners in Seattle. And a special nod to Drew Carey, one of the minority owners who has really been a cheerleader for the team.
Happy Friday!
X
Powered by ScribeFire.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Leave it to the Irish
It's Friday - and you know what that means.
In this article, MSNBC reports that Europe's largest low-cost carrier, Ireland's Ryanair, is mulling over whether to put pay toilets on their aircraft.
I can invoke the, "Leave it to the Irish," expression because, thanks to my Pop, I are one, as they say.
I love Ireland and I love the Irish; and by no means does Ryanair have the corner on the budget airline market in Europe. EasyJet, better known as SleazyJet, is right up there delivering the best Euro air travel cattle-class has to offer. But please; pay toilets on airplanes? Talk about financial meltdowns!
What are the potential pros and cons:
Pros
1. It's Europe. Flights aren't that long and unless you've had a few pints in the lounge waiting to rush the boarding ramp, chances are you can make it an hour or two without needing to use the Lav.
2. According to the article, making the toilets 'pay-as-you-go' will help lower fares. I guess keeping the loo cleaner brings down maintenance costs. Of course, one bad apple...
3. Lots less wobbly tourists bumping the aisle-sitters as they bobble back and forth to do their business - oh, and not as many window-sitters climbing up and down.
Cons
1. Er, about that curry you had for lunch.
2. You know there are people hammering it in the lounge before the flight - and they'll be by the window. It's Murphy's law.
3. What about the kids? "Dad, I have to go...now!"
And don't forget the biggie: "Where did I put that copper?"
Can't you see the people in the rear seats scalping for bog entry?
"Why yes, I have a pound coin. If you'll just slip me that fiver, you're in like Flynn!"
People will find a way to profit from anything.
I won't be flying in Europe any time soon. But come on, you know it won't be long before Southwest says, "Now there's a good idea!"
That's what I like about driving. You are captain of your own ship, as it were. Heck, in a dire situation, you can pull off to the side of the road if there are no rest stops or bio-hazardous gas stations handy.
Air travel used to be so cool.
X
In this article, MSNBC reports that Europe's largest low-cost carrier, Ireland's Ryanair, is mulling over whether to put pay toilets on their aircraft.
I can invoke the, "Leave it to the Irish," expression because, thanks to my Pop, I are one, as they say.
I love Ireland and I love the Irish; and by no means does Ryanair have the corner on the budget airline market in Europe. EasyJet, better known as SleazyJet, is right up there delivering the best Euro air travel cattle-class has to offer. But please; pay toilets on airplanes? Talk about financial meltdowns!
What are the potential pros and cons:
Pros
1. It's Europe. Flights aren't that long and unless you've had a few pints in the lounge waiting to rush the boarding ramp, chances are you can make it an hour or two without needing to use the Lav.
2. According to the article, making the toilets 'pay-as-you-go' will help lower fares. I guess keeping the loo cleaner brings down maintenance costs. Of course, one bad apple...
3. Lots less wobbly tourists bumping the aisle-sitters as they bobble back and forth to do their business - oh, and not as many window-sitters climbing up and down.
Cons
1. Er, about that curry you had for lunch.
2. You know there are people hammering it in the lounge before the flight - and they'll be by the window. It's Murphy's law.
3. What about the kids? "Dad, I have to go...now!"
And don't forget the biggie: "Where did I put that copper?"
Can't you see the people in the rear seats scalping for bog entry?
"Why yes, I have a pound coin. If you'll just slip me that fiver, you're in like Flynn!"
People will find a way to profit from anything.
I won't be flying in Europe any time soon. But come on, you know it won't be long before Southwest says, "Now there's a good idea!"
That's what I like about driving. You are captain of your own ship, as it were. Heck, in a dire situation, you can pull off to the side of the road if there are no rest stops or bio-hazardous gas stations handy.
Air travel used to be so cool.
X
Powered by ScribeFire.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Kindle; Amazon's technological cudgel or a nudge for the attention-challenged?
In an article published today, Helen A.S. Popkin asked an average American (not!) why she owns a Kindle.
Do Kindle owners hate books? - Technotica - MSNBC.com
I've heard of these electronic readers and I've even seen the adds for the 2-dot-oh on Amazon. I don't think I'm against them per se, as I own a PDA (Dell's Axim X30) and regularly use a sweet electronic bible suite.
What are the advantages for me? I can search any of seven translations quickly, compare results, view background material for each of the books in the Bible and follow a smorgasbord of devotionals and reading plans to help keep me In the Word. I can add an endless - limited only by the size of my SD card - amount of other Bible-related material: Maps, encyclopedia, etc.
So, as we go back to the original question, I am naturally on the side of the technoratti that Amazon is cultivating. The 2.0 lists for $359 (and even offers free Super Saver shipping). "Golly Beave, how do you think Dad's gonna pay for that?"
I know at least one person that has a Kindle and honestly, I can't recall if I've ever asked how they liked it. So all you Kindle owners out there - pipe up and let the world know what you think!
As for the article? If I had to guess, I'd say the subject, Sarah Lally Brown, and her husband, must not have children. Sarah talks about having three books going at one time and is into a variety of what I consider time-consuming activiities:
Oh, one last thing, as an author, I find the picture of Mrs. Brown enchanting. Her face is tremendously interesting and I envision a character in one of my novels having one just like it.
X
Do Kindle owners hate books? - Technotica - MSNBC.com
I've heard of these electronic readers and I've even seen the adds for the 2-dot-oh on Amazon. I don't think I'm against them per se, as I own a PDA (Dell's Axim X30) and regularly use a sweet electronic bible suite.
What are the advantages for me? I can search any of seven translations quickly, compare results, view background material for each of the books in the Bible and follow a smorgasbord of devotionals and reading plans to help keep me In the Word. I can add an endless - limited only by the size of my SD card - amount of other Bible-related material: Maps, encyclopedia, etc.
So, as we go back to the original question, I am naturally on the side of the technoratti that Amazon is cultivating. The 2.0 lists for $359 (and even offers free Super Saver shipping). "Golly Beave, how do you think Dad's gonna pay for that?"
I know at least one person that has a Kindle and honestly, I can't recall if I've ever asked how they liked it. So all you Kindle owners out there - pipe up and let the world know what you think!
As for the article? If I had to guess, I'd say the subject, Sarah Lally Brown, and her husband, must not have children. Sarah talks about having three books going at one time and is into a variety of what I consider time-consuming activiities:
- Vegetable gardening
- Canning
- Sewing
- Sawing Logs
- Tending chickens
Oh, one last thing, as an author, I find the picture of Mrs. Brown enchanting. Her face is tremendously interesting and I envision a character in one of my novels having one just like it.
X
Powered by ScribeFire.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
ScribeFire - part 2
Right. Here we are, back at ScribeFire and looking to provide some more feedback on features and quality. Yesterday, I did the test run and after having a few false starts on the publishing side, figured out that I needed a quick refresh to view the blog entries I set up with the wizard (not this guy), I was off and publishing. Although I can't publish to both of my blogs simultaneously, I can select them one at a time and publish the same content to both - very nice.
What about content, you might ask? Here's a video of a (reportedly) 6-year old kid playing the beautiful game. Although many of the clips are obviously sped up, he still has sick skills:
Yeah, he's got skills but he needs to be taught that football (soccer) is a team game and he needs to learn how to pass. Ball hog!
Clicking on the handy 'YouTube" button brings up a window where you can type in a search string and the window displays the videos that meet your search criteria. Select the one you want and quicker than this guy can say, "Bam!" you've embedded a video clip.
Inserting an image was somewhat more problematic. While ScribeFire lets me manipulate images from several locations, I can't understand the upload via API or FTP options when I just want to paste an image into a post. Before all the web meisters jump on board, I know what FTP is - use it all the time - I just can't figure out how to apply it in this instance. ScribeFire kept trying to sign me into Picasa Web albums with my Google account.- annoying.
In summary, at the end of two days of admittedly limited experimentation, I would rate ScribeFire 4 out of 5 stars. It's easy to set up, easy to use, and offers a slew of great features. The only knock at this point is the sticky image wicket.
Happy blogging.
X
p.s. One more thing, I can't see anywhere to put my tags in for Live Journal. make that 3.75 stars :-)
- On the bulleted-list thing, well, you can see for yourself
- Clicking on the little down-arrow at the end of the formatting bar reveals two list options:
- Ordered lists
- Unordered lists
What about content, you might ask? Here's a video of a (reportedly) 6-year old kid playing the beautiful game. Although many of the clips are obviously sped up, he still has sick skills:
Yeah, he's got skills but he needs to be taught that football (soccer) is a team game and he needs to learn how to pass. Ball hog!
Clicking on the handy 'YouTube" button brings up a window where you can type in a search string and the window displays the videos that meet your search criteria. Select the one you want and quicker than this guy can say, "Bam!" you've embedded a video clip.
Inserting an image was somewhat more problematic. While ScribeFire lets me manipulate images from several locations, I can't understand the upload via API or FTP options when I just want to paste an image into a post. Before all the web meisters jump on board, I know what FTP is - use it all the time - I just can't figure out how to apply it in this instance. ScribeFire kept trying to sign me into Picasa Web albums with my Google account.- annoying.
In summary, at the end of two days of admittedly limited experimentation, I would rate ScribeFire 4 out of 5 stars. It's easy to set up, easy to use, and offers a slew of great features. The only knock at this point is the sticky image wicket.
Happy blogging.
X
p.s. One more thing, I can't see anywhere to put my tags in for Live Journal. make that 3.75 stars :-)
Powered by ScribeFire.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Blogging tools; useful?
This is just a quick entry to check out the new ScribeFire blogging add-on that I installed to Firefox this morning. I've messed around with a couple of different Live Journal blogging tools but have never found much use for them. Hopefully, I can put ScribeFire through its paces and post a reasonable performance account/recommendation so that my fellow bloggers will get something useful out of this.
As this is my first entry, I'll lay out some environmental notes:
I'm typing this entry in the ScribeFire window that opens a variety of ways:
- F8
- Tools menu (select ScribeFire)
- Small ScribeFire icon in the bottom right-hand corner of Firefox
The interface is a relatively clean WYSIWYG editor although I'm not seeing a spell checker right off the bat . Also, for bulleted-lists, there's not an icon on the formatting bar. This is a bummer because I like bulleted-lists.
I've also tried to put publishing links to both my Live Journal blog and my, er, Blogger blog in an effort to have ScribeFire publish entries to both blogs simultaneously. I'll let you know how that works out later.
The insert link function seems to work fairly seamlessly, defaulting to the active page in the browser, if you select the URL and then <ctrl-c>. There's also a neat little special character button that pops up another toolbar with a host of, you guessed it, special characters to click and insert. What? No Euro character/symbol? I guess I'll have to get on them about that - the Euro has been out for awhile now, hasn't it?
There's also a right-click function in the WYSIWYG window that's kind of nice. What ho! There's a spell-check thingy in the right-click menu; just right-click on the red-dotted, underlined word. The spell-checker offers some canned corrections or you can just add your word to the custom dictionary. Nice.
That's about all I have time for now; if you're reading this at Live Journal or Blogger, I guess it works!
X
As this is my first entry, I'll lay out some environmental notes:
I'm typing this entry in the ScribeFire window that opens a variety of ways:
- F8
- Tools menu (select ScribeFire)
- Small ScribeFire icon in the bottom right-hand corner of Firefox
The interface is a relatively clean WYSIWYG editor although I'm not seeing a spell checker right off the bat . Also, for bulleted-lists, there's not an icon on the formatting bar. This is a bummer because I like bulleted-lists.
I've also tried to put publishing links to both my Live Journal blog and my, er, Blogger blog in an effort to have ScribeFire publish entries to both blogs simultaneously. I'll let you know how that works out later.
The insert link function seems to work fairly seamlessly, defaulting to the active page in the browser, if you select the URL and then <ctrl-c>. There's also a neat little special character button that pops up another toolbar with a host of, you guessed it, special characters to click and insert. What? No Euro character/symbol? I guess I'll have to get on them about that - the Euro has been out for awhile now, hasn't it?
There's also a right-click function in the WYSIWYG window that's kind of nice. What ho! There's a spell-check thingy in the right-click menu; just right-click on the red-dotted, underlined word. The spell-checker offers some canned corrections or you can just add your word to the custom dictionary. Nice.
That's about all I have time for now; if you're reading this at Live Journal or Blogger, I guess it works!
X
Powered by ScribeFire.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Greetings to the big 'G'
Nothing tremendous here, just a hi, hello to anyone who happens by. I am maintaining the original Stream of Consciousness at Live Journal until such time as I can determine a) How to successfully export all posts from LJ to here and b) If it is worth my time and effort to do so.
Frankly, the only reason I am here is so that I could post to a member's blog over at CFRB.
That awesome group of folks is currently touring/reviewing Seabird, by Sherry Thompson - a fabulous book that you simply MUST read.
For now, please link over to the original Stream of Consciousness and follow the adventures of Xanthorpe there. Perhaps he will move here eventually; perhaps not. In either case, you will be entertained or, at the very least, some thoughts will be provoked.
Thanks for stopping by Stream II.
X
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)