The UmBlog

I bought Snow Leopard for my computer today. I don't consider myself an early adopter, but I had the day off from work, and the Image via Wikipedia upgrade is only 30 bucks. It had several hiccups on installation. A few times it gave me a message saying it couldn't read the disc and that I needed to clean it. I did this a few times. Then when it got to the restart stage of the install, Skype and Adobe updater launched and seemed to interrupt the rest of the installation. So I had to begin the installation all over again. But now I'm online on the new OS. I'm using Safari to write this blog. One of my many griefs with Safari and Blogger is the inability to paste anything into the "Compose" window. Pasting only worked in the "Edit HTML" window. It works now. But I really like Zemanta in Firefox which fetches links and pictures for me. I'll be staying on Firefox for awhile. In fact, I will finish this post in Firefox, but, Snow Leopard is here, and...

Image via Wikipedia My dog is a rescue dog. We've had her for several years now. She will still run away if given the opportunity. She will still bark at me when I come home like I'm an invader. She will still steal food off the counter. She will still jump on the furniture. But she also identifies with us as her pack. She is still thrilled when we come home. She usually remembers her rules. In exchange, she's well fed, treated for disease, petted, walked, spoken too, cared for and loved. I have a master too. He rescued me. Some people get worked up about God forcing His love on us. They call it "divine rape" and object to the insult to their free will. But I view God as our rescuer. It's not divine rape. It's divine rescue. We all are in the dog pound, doomed for execution unless we are adopted. The floors of our cages are covered with excrement and urine and flies. It's very noisy in there. When he picks us, he brings us to his kingdom. And we learn ...

Article 1, Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes; To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States; To establish post offices and post roads; To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and di...

I don't know. He hasn't told me. When he walked among us, he was the embodiment of universal health care. Crowds came to him sick and corwds went away from him healed. He hates sin and its effects on us, including illness and death. He also is concerned with soul care. He heals broken souls as well as broken bodies. He's even more concerned with souls because they are forever, but our bodies are limited. He says, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell . Matthew 10:28. The church has always been concerned for the sick and dying. Many American hospitals were started by religious conviction, and some are still supported denominationally. Healthcare is given away around the world by the church as well as in the U.S. For every WorldVision , there are a hundred tiny, single-location, church-sponsored outfits. I think, he does support universal health care, but not the way our co...

There's no better cure for a fat, lazy summer than a book that will chill your very soul. Reading about the siege of Leningrad in WW2, from summer 1941 to January 1944, will make you shiver through their winter without fuel, and feel guilty for eating another hamburger while hundreds Cover of Leningrad: State of Siege of thousands died of starvation because of the Nazi siege and communist corruption. Michael Jones writes a 300 page history with abundant first person accounts, diaries, intercepted letters, oral histories, and personal sketches in Leningrad: State of Siege . I didn't review it here, but, previously, I had read an excellent account of the battle for Stalingrad . That battle was the turning point of the Nazi tide into Russia. Leningrad was not much of a battle though. Hitler was so impressed with the speed which his armies reached Leningrad, that he decided to bypass it, and starve it to death, so that the armies could go on to Moscow, a poor decision on his part ...

It's nice to touch base with people you haven't seen or heard for 20 years. It's nice to see their kids. It's nice to hear what's going on in people's thoughts and lives. But I didn't want to update my "status." Things like "eating breakfast" or "IMing friends" or "enjoying peace and quiet" weren't cutting it for me. It's fine that others are telling their friends that, but it wasn't for me. This is also why I'm not on Twitter yet. But I am on a journey. And I decided to take snapshots of my journey and post them on Facebook. So on my Facebook page I share something that grabbed me from my morning reading in the Bible. As a family, we are reading, this year, through the New Testament together, one chapter at a time. We aren't reading it straight through. We meander. We'll read one gospel, then one short epistle, one middle epistle, and one long epistle. Eventually, we'll finish the year off...

My big one is about tax funded abortions, but that's an easy one to guess from me. My other concern though is about appeals. In my state, when one disagrees with their insurance company or HMO regarding payment for services, one has the option of appealing through a state grievance board, which can and will overrule the coverage provider. When the state becomes the provider, the chances of it ruling against itself are about as rare as this blog getting featured at HuffPo. My other quip, made on Facebook , is that nationalized healthcare won't solve medical inequalities, just codify them. For more thoughts, I recommend reading this blog by Frank Beckwith, who teaches philosophy and law. It seems to me that one should be deeply concerned about this, especially if one has elderly parents. If, let's say, H.R. 3200 or something close to it were to become law and the public option pushes private insurance into near non-existence (as would surely happen with all the incentives in...

Climbing Monadnock Mountain , the most-hike mountain in the world is not the only thing to do in the region, but I did like it. See the earlier report . We enjoyed two other opportunities as well, the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge and the Jaffrey cupcake festival . Last year, when we camped up there, we had talked about going to the Cathedral, but never got around to it. We missed it when it looked like the picture on their home page . In that picture, the trees are growing up among the benches facing the altar and Monadnock Mountain. But in Image by Getty Images via Daylife December 2008, New Hampshire experienced the worst ice storm in this generation, and they lost many of their trees. So we got to enjoy the new cathedral, and there is nothing to complain about. There is still a gorgeous view of the mountain. And worship can still happen. This place is dedicated to the military, so by necessity, it is interfaith. There are a couple outdoor chapels. This main one has a more low ...

Unlike last time , two years ago, I wore shoes and the 11.5 miles were only 3 minutes faster, 1' 48", 42nd in my age group . I don't think shoes made the big difference. I wear Nike Free 3.0 shoes, which are barely there. There not made for "support" but for flexibility and freedom. I would not have worn shoes if I had decided to start running back in June instead of July. I went out a few times in early July barefoot, but I was going too far too soon. The best way to condition the feet is with patience, 1 mile every other day for a week then adding a mile every week. Instead, I ended up getting too many blisters and too many days off to recover. Eventually, I gave up and put the shoes on with 2 weeks to prepare. I squeezed in a few 4 milers and two 8 mile runs. I asked my wife and another running friend, Kristen, who couldn't run due to sesamoid issues to meet us at the awful 8 mile hill. They said many of the runners appreciated their location. The day wa...