Technos: globally hosted operating system

I post here a link:

I want to take a closer look at this and other like technologies when I have more time and then I'll make some more commentary. This would be a nice solution to the 200USD per person laptop idea as a thin client and/or a minimalist computer could be used, and once on the 'net, the sky is the limit.

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General Announcement

Due to continuing work on home projects, chores, work, life, etc. the blog entries will have to slow down for awhile. But stay tuned...

Librarian Activities

In addition to my shelfari account, I am joining LibraryThing since it links directly to my friendfeed. To begin with, I will list only those books that I have on my Amazon.com wish list since friendfeed only shows any new additions to the Amazon wish list.

Blog layout

I've just installed a widget at the very bottom of my blog that links to my shelfari page (just scroll straight to the bottom to see the titles). I just wish that friendfeed would link to it.

Personal Update: Home Project 2008 pictures & commentary

We didn't start taking pictures until we were well into the project, consequently this picture doesn't show the hideous dog-smellin' skanky carpet that I removed and the nasty 80's dark wood paneling that covered half the room (with no sheet rock behind) that I had to remove:

The insulation was only R7 so we added R13 on top since the wall was open.

This unflattering picture is here to illustrate that I had to correct some wiring that the previous owner had screwed up:


Another unflattering picture of sister Wendy (fellow congregant from Faith PCiT who is skilled in sheetrock and mud:


Before paint:


Sam Irwin the master painter:


The back door:


Finally we begin on the flooring:


The following three photos represent the completion of the flooring and molding (As of this post, I still have to trim out the electrical and install the molding for the windows.):

Personal Update: Home Project

I'm offline due to my ridiculously time consuming home project. Once I have completed this project, I'll try to post some pictures here.

Archaeology: Route of the Exodus?

This is some food for thought:Route?

W: FW: The Mission: Pictures

This is a daguerreotype of the test of the "State 4 Vacuum Manipulation" before the fateful test in the hanger of the SS Bayern:


And this shot from the hall might have given us pause:

Technology: My next backup drive

Wow, 100 Terabytes per disk.

Discourse: Example of Cowardice

A number of friends, associates, and random bloggers of subjects of interest to me have linked to the blog entitled, "Scribblative Agincourting" (at wordpress which isn't very good), and so I have had a chance to sample a number of entries on that blog and have noted that they do not allow anyone to comment. I just want to state categorically that to say something provocative and then not allow anyone to dissent to your opinion is the height of cowardice.
Another observation I should like to make is that the way to spread the gospel and promote the reformation of society is not to jump up and down like a rebellious two-year old (verbally or in writing) and spew your opinions as if they were pronouncements from ON HIGH. Of course we all have opinions, but the height of courage and generosity is to invite discussion and (gasp) dissension.
Stalin would be proud of these "useful idiots".

My fear is that as our own evil empire (USA) grows in power, these fools will increase the probability of any Reformed Christians getting rounded up for the camps, when or if the persecution comes.

Now as my venting is over, I also want to ask why burn all that energy criticizing a civilization that is on its way to oblivion? Why not use your talents to build bridges to other branches of Christianity (instead of beating them over the head)?
Do you think the international bankers and their puppets give a rip about what you have to say about them?

Anyway, it was just for the record...

W: LP: FD: BK: Pictures: Zosima the Elder

Here is one artist's conception of the character Zosima in Dostoevsky's BK:

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At the beginning of part two of The Brothers Karamasov, the character introduced earlier as the elder at the monastery gives his farewell sermon to the other monks in attendance. He makes good points that would be good advice for all Christians; here is the quote:

“Love one another, fathers,” the elder taught (as far as Alyosha could recall afterwards). “Love God’s people. For we are not holier than those in the world because we have come here and shut ourselves within these walls, but, on the contrary, anyone who comes here, by the very fact that he has come, already knows himself to be worse than all those who are in the world, worse than all on earth...And the longer a monk lives within his walls, the more keenly he must be aware of it. For otherwise he had no reason to come here. But when he knows that he is not only worse than all those in the world, but is also guilty before all people, on behalf of all and for all, for all human sins, the world's and each person's, only then will the goal of our unity be achieved. For you must know, my dear ones, that each of us is undoubtedly guilty on behalf of all and for all on earth, not only because of the common guilt of the world, but personally, each one of us, for all people and for each person on this earth. This knowledge is the crown of the monk's path, and of every man's path on earth. For monks are not a different sort of men, but only such as all men on earth ought also to be. Only then will our hearts be moved to a love that is infinite, universal, and that knows no satiety. Then each of us will be able to gain the whole world by love and wash away the world's sins with his tears...Let each of you keep close company with his heart, let each of you confess to himself untiringly. Do not be afraid of your sin, even when you perceive it, provided you are repentant, but do not place conditions on God. Again I say, do not be proud. Do not be proud before the lowly, do not be proud before the great either. And do not hate those who reject you, disgrace you, revile you, and slander you. Do not hate atheists, teachers of evil, materialists, not even those among them who are wicked, nor those who are good, for many of them are good, especially in our time. Remember them thus in your prayers: save, Lord, those whom there is no one to pray for, save also those who do not want to pray to you. And add at once: it is not in my pride that I pray for it, Lord, for I myself am more vile than all...Love God's people, do not let newcomers draw your flock away, for if in your laziness and disdainful pride, in your self interest most of all, you fall asleep, they will come from all sides and lead your flock away. Teach the Gospel to the people untiringly...Do not engage in usury...Do not love silver and gold, do not keep it...Believe, and hold fast to the banner. Raise it high..."

End Quote.

It all sounds somewhat universalistic, but taken in the right spirit with attention to right doctrine these are good sentiments.
Here is my confession I made in prayer to God as I worshiped today.

Personal & general: The Mental Gravity Well of Life

This is an open letter to my friend Mark and a way to set forth two things weighing on my mind.

A major reality that many of us must carry is the economic pressure of supporting a family in a two income economy.
I want to illustrate this point with the following account: After I moved to Tacoma in September of 2001 and took upon myself a huge (for me) mortgage, I found myself two and half months after my loan had closed, unemployed. For the next Forty months I remained under-employed (Does anyone know how humiliating it is to be in a Calvinist/winner type community and be on the out of work prayer list?). I struggled to keep from losing the house and had to put off maintenance on health, automobiles, and house. I even had to liquidate a retirement annuity at a substantial tax penalty to keep from losing the house. Now the Lord was good and provided me short two week to five month jobs here and there, and He also gave me opportunities for side jobs. I even thought about starting my own Electrical contracting business, but I had no capital and no credit. I started on a shoe-string budget "under the table" until I could get enough capital to go legitimate with full bonding, name, etc. During this shoe-string phase, I had a customer who was supposed to be a Christian, who did not pay me for nine months. The amount was only $900.00, but I really needed that money to eat and pay my supply bill. The positive entrepreneur would just roll with this sort of difficulty and keep on trying, but I am not naturally a positive business-minded person. This experience left me with a bad taste and I decided to seek employment with an organization that could weather the ups and downs of the market. In the state of Washington, these types of organizations are typically government agencies. This is how I came to be working at the Port of Seattle Airport. This job is a great job and a direct provision from the generous hand of God. With this job comes other pressures. In addition to the normal state of "the more you make, the more people's hands are open to be filled", there is the backlogged maintenance of home projects that must be done while working full time. And I must have excellent performance at work or the job could be in jeopardy. I tell you, I come home some mornings after working all night so tired that I just want to blow my brains out. Anyway, not to complain, I am grateful in the extreme for God's great provision and I pray often that He would also provide for you and your family.

The other factor that can wear a pilgrim down(probably unique to Americans) that I want to make is the observation and analysis of the decline and fall of our civilization. As you have blogged about the problems in Christianity and its decline in our culture, you have also observed the many ways our political system has imploded. See my entry on citizenship to see my rationale for the next few sentences. Many of us who care about our country, need to change our expectations. In the competition of the nations on the global stage, there is only the Will to Power. Our nation is not a Christian nation (by the true definition of Christianity there can be no Christian nation) and our leaders' constant pandering (from the left & right) to the civil religion of our country holds us back from really trouncing the other nations. Our country is profoundly flawed and without excuse in its behaviors (as all nations), but who said that nation-states in the modern epoch are supposed to behave in a certain way? The nature of "Total War" was the accepted modus operandi of the various empires and tribes from the time Noah stepped off the Ark. In ancient days, when another power defeated you, they burned your libraries, killed your men, and raped and enslaved your women and children. So now in the modern era, we are appalled when Nazis, Communists, & quasi-democratic empires dust off for use the ancient standard of "Total War". Why are we surprised? This is just the world's system that will be defeated and judged by Jesus Christ. But the news of the death of our civilization can be disconcerting. We like our materialism and (up until the last few years) our ability to complain without getting arrested and imprisoned. We were born into a land of great potential and opportunity and we were fed impossible ideals. I have and am having a hard time adjusting to the new global paradigm. I would hazard a guess that this is hard for many of us.

Of course these two observations could be totally off mark and it is just my own vain imagination that I am reflecting here, but these factors can weigh a pilgrim down here at the end at the bottom of our mental gravity well.

God's grace shown in His resiliant creation

Whenever the environmental doom and gloomers spew their bucal diarrhea, read this article and realize that the earth is tougher than everyone thinks.

Biotech research is the wave of the future.

One of the Smallest Linux computers

This is so cool even if you just wanted to have a firewall, proxy server or (yes) the embedded digital analytic engine. The specs are as follows: http://www.picotux.com/techdatae.html

Energy for our Civilization

In the following link is an interesting and promising development to allow us to buy our energy needs from someone other that those who want to kill us: Renewable Crude Oil

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Cute Linux picture

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In "The Brothers Karamazov" a painting by Kramskoy is mentioned, so one of our literary group members uploaded a picture of the painting which I am posting here (it gives a flavor of what a 19th century Russian peasant looks like):

Proverbs 1 ESV Wordle

Proverbs 1 Wordle

I wish I had tank loads of grace

to be like this.

Socio-Technical: The Vision vs. reality

Here is the vision of what could have been for the international space station:



Here is what the short-sighted leaders of the few nations built:

Social Philosophy: On Citizenship

My brother blogged on the topic of the United States' treatment of the Japanese in WWII and caused me to consider a response on how then should we live.

In regard to being an American, I have been a patriot for a long time with brief interludes of rebellion. But as I have learned more about Christianity and am growing in my faith, I have started to realize that the United States is not and was not a "Christian Nation". What looks like Christianity in America is merely the civil religion.

Because of the transcendence of Christ's kingdom, all nations and people-groups are welcome into the church without regard to race, gender, social status, etc. In the face of God's kingdom, the nation-state is irrelevant (& immoral). This is one side of the biblical dialectic, but the other side is that God knows that we are born into nations and peoples, therefore, the bible addresses the ethics of living in this world (see Romans 13:1-7* etc.).

As the kingdom of Christ continues to expand, the Enemy becomes more desperate and uses nation-states, other religions & philosophies, and the one-worlders to fight God's kingdom. We are caught in the middle.

There are no Christian nations and as Christians we must use wisdom to know how not to violate God's Law in our service as citizens on earth.

For those who are not Christians and who lead the nations, there is only Real Politik and the Will to Power. But these leaders should also realize that the judgment day cometh.
Here is what God says about leaders of nations:

Psalm 2

1 Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

*Romans 13:1-7
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

--The New King James Version

Cosmos: Behold, Let there be light!

Cosmos: View from my cabin on Mars

Cosmos: The Pillars of God

Social Philosophy: Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

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As I continue my observations, I thought it might helpful to have a picture here of the author, Fyodor Dostoevsky:



Still in the first section at the scene of the interview with the elder at the monastery we have that character's remarks on love. I quote here:

"...,for active love is a harsh and fearful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams thirsts for immediate action, quickly performed, and with everyone watching. Indeed, it will go as far as the giving even of one's life, provided it does not take long but is soon over, as on stage, and everyone is looking on and praising. Whereas active love is labor and perseverance, and for some people, perhaps, a whole science. But I predict that even in that very moment when you see with horror that despite all your efforts, you not only have not come nearer your goal but seem to have gotten farther from it, at that very moment--I predict this to you--you will suddenly reach your goal and will clearly behold the wonder-working power of the Lord, who all the while has been loving you, and all the while has been mysteriously guiding you."

This kind of describes the sanctification process in the Christian. The more you become aware of your sin and deal with it the more you realize how much of a sinner you really are and how much you depend upon the power of Christ to free you from sin. And the more you rely on Christ, the more you can turn away from sin, but in utter dependence on our Lord. Doing good sometimes is just building up the habit of making the small decisions towards what it right and doing small good deeds to others without regard to reward or praise.


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Further on in the first section we are reading, at the time of the visit to the elder at the monastery, I found the character's observation on sin interesting. I quote it here:

"Above all, do not lie to yourself. A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern truth either in himself or anywhere around him, and thus falls into disrespect towards himself and others. Not respecting anyone, he ceases to love, and having no love, he gives himself up to passions and coarse pleasures, in order to occupy and amuse himself, and in his vices reaches complete bestiality*, and it all comes from lying continually to others and to himself. A man who lies to himself is often the first to take offense. It sometimes feels very good to take offense, doesn't it? And surely he knows that no one has offended him, and that he himself has invented the offense and told lies just for the beauty of it, that he has exaggerated for the sake of effect, that he has picked on a word and made a mountain out of a pea--he knows all of that, and still he is the first to take offense, he likes feeling offended, it gives him great pleasure, and thus he reaches the point of real hostility..."

In this passage the elder is speaking to the father of the dysfunctional Karamazov family, Fyodor Karamazov, and he nails the man's character. This portrayal of sin's progression is accurate and realistic because not only does the Bible point this out (*see Romans ch. 1), but in our everyday lives, we see in ourselves and in others this progression--unless it is reversed by the work of the Holy Spirit.