Thank you for your sacrifice in 2007. Thank you for fighting the evil that some refuse to name. Thank you. God bless you and your families. Hold your heads high, use your experiences in a terrible situation, to make this world a better place, to make yourselves better individuals.
Peace to you, in 2008.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
A writer's diary
A writer’s diary Part I
Let's walk for a while. Here. In pretend land.
I think I've always been a writer, though I didn't know it, until very late--perhaps too late. As a boy, I was a very good reader, and in the area that I lived in, there were only a small number of other children to play with. This, combined with a relatively unhappy childhood, caused me to dream wakened dreams, to form characters out of nothing, to idealize heroes of ancient myths. I loved comic books too. In class, I would day dream, and when I read books, I would become so entranced as to lose mental contact with my surroundings. Back in the third grade one day, I was reading the book, Baked Beans for Breakfast. Even now, I remember the tattered cover. As I read, my feet kept wandering into the aisle, and my body, turning in my seat, sideways. My teacher told me several times to keep my feet clear of the aisle and to sit straight at my desk, however, my mind lost contact with my appendages, and after several warnings, I was sent to stand in the hallway. When Darth Vader's protoge' (The school principle) made his routine patrol of the school, he found me standing outside the classroom door. I told him the reason for my excommunication, and I could see a look of surprise on his face. He told me with an uncharacteristically weak voice to return to my chair and keep my feet under my desk. I think his message did the trick. My feet are under my desk right now, but I do sometimes lean my chair back on two legs. Oh well.
My reading continued all through high school and college. One time in college, I overheard two of my professors talking about me. It's always fun to be a fly on the wall, so I listened to the whole thing. My speech class teacher was telling my creative writing teacher that my speeches were very good and original, and the creative writing teacher replied back that my writings were the same. Looking back, I wish they'd come to me personally and spurred me on a little more, but it's not their fault. They were extremely busy, I know.
After graduation, I went to work for the US Border Patrol in Arizona, but returned to Maine after only a year, for family reasons. Then, I gained a job with the Bangor Police Department. It was there that I learned more about myself, other people, and the world, than at any other time in my life. I owe a debt of gratitude to ex-Chief Donald Winslow for giving me the opportunity to wear the badge, to serve with honor. People were always asking me to tell them stories about my experiences at the department, and the more I told them, the more they wanted to hear. They said I told the stories well, with an animation. Most of my friends were disappointed when I left the department because they wouldn't get to hear my stories anymore! One more thing that bears relevence here: When I wrote my police reports, I remember a strange feeling would come over me, like the act of envisioning the circumstances, combined with the movements of typing or penning, sparked up a portion of my brain that lay dormant under normal circumstances. Before I would start the report, I would feel a sense of dread, but once I began, I seemed pulled along. It's the same now. Of course in my reports, I left out fiction!
So that's the road to here. One novel finished--maybe to never see publication, but a learning experience nontheless. Steven King had four of em in a trunk; they went unpublished until he finally wrote Carrie.
In my next installment, I'll talk about the writer's trance.
Let's walk for a while. Here. In pretend land.
I think I've always been a writer, though I didn't know it, until very late--perhaps too late. As a boy, I was a very good reader, and in the area that I lived in, there were only a small number of other children to play with. This, combined with a relatively unhappy childhood, caused me to dream wakened dreams, to form characters out of nothing, to idealize heroes of ancient myths. I loved comic books too. In class, I would day dream, and when I read books, I would become so entranced as to lose mental contact with my surroundings. Back in the third grade one day, I was reading the book, Baked Beans for Breakfast. Even now, I remember the tattered cover. As I read, my feet kept wandering into the aisle, and my body, turning in my seat, sideways. My teacher told me several times to keep my feet clear of the aisle and to sit straight at my desk, however, my mind lost contact with my appendages, and after several warnings, I was sent to stand in the hallway. When Darth Vader's protoge' (The school principle) made his routine patrol of the school, he found me standing outside the classroom door. I told him the reason for my excommunication, and I could see a look of surprise on his face. He told me with an uncharacteristically weak voice to return to my chair and keep my feet under my desk. I think his message did the trick. My feet are under my desk right now, but I do sometimes lean my chair back on two legs. Oh well.
My reading continued all through high school and college. One time in college, I overheard two of my professors talking about me. It's always fun to be a fly on the wall, so I listened to the whole thing. My speech class teacher was telling my creative writing teacher that my speeches were very good and original, and the creative writing teacher replied back that my writings were the same. Looking back, I wish they'd come to me personally and spurred me on a little more, but it's not their fault. They were extremely busy, I know.
After graduation, I went to work for the US Border Patrol in Arizona, but returned to Maine after only a year, for family reasons. Then, I gained a job with the Bangor Police Department. It was there that I learned more about myself, other people, and the world, than at any other time in my life. I owe a debt of gratitude to ex-Chief Donald Winslow for giving me the opportunity to wear the badge, to serve with honor. People were always asking me to tell them stories about my experiences at the department, and the more I told them, the more they wanted to hear. They said I told the stories well, with an animation. Most of my friends were disappointed when I left the department because they wouldn't get to hear my stories anymore! One more thing that bears relevence here: When I wrote my police reports, I remember a strange feeling would come over me, like the act of envisioning the circumstances, combined with the movements of typing or penning, sparked up a portion of my brain that lay dormant under normal circumstances. Before I would start the report, I would feel a sense of dread, but once I began, I seemed pulled along. It's the same now. Of course in my reports, I left out fiction!
So that's the road to here. One novel finished--maybe to never see publication, but a learning experience nontheless. Steven King had four of em in a trunk; they went unpublished until he finally wrote Carrie.
In my next installment, I'll talk about the writer's trance.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Benazir Bhutto--You won't hear the truth in the following days
Yesterday, as far as information currently available shows, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, most likely by Al-Qaeda operatives or one of Al-Qaeda'a branches. The act of assassinating potential or current heads of state is considered so aborrent to the Western mind, that we do not even consider it as a way to avoid war, which costs thousands of innocent lives.
But Bhutto was not the answer for Pakistan. Her history is stained with corruption and greed. It is quite obvious that she was not driven by a love of her people, but a love of power and money.
The images of a woman running for public office in a Muslim country had a narcotic effect on us. The pictures of Musharraf, in his military uniform, were instinctively repulsive. But we had it backwards, because we assumed the context was the same as our own. Many in the know sources state that the Pakistani military is the LEAST corrupt organization in the country.
In the 90's, while Bhutto was Pakistan's Prime Minister, she and her husband were exiled from Pakistan after they were accused of diverting funds from the Pakistani Air Force, to overseas business interests. Musharraf allowed her to enter the country again.
In the end, Bhutto will become a martyr. And once again, the extremists have miscalculated and alienated the people that all along they have claimed to represent. The extremist's blood lust is their downfall, just as in Iraq.
But Bhutto was not the answer for Pakistan. Her history is stained with corruption and greed. It is quite obvious that she was not driven by a love of her people, but a love of power and money.
The images of a woman running for public office in a Muslim country had a narcotic effect on us. The pictures of Musharraf, in his military uniform, were instinctively repulsive. But we had it backwards, because we assumed the context was the same as our own. Many in the know sources state that the Pakistani military is the LEAST corrupt organization in the country.
In the 90's, while Bhutto was Pakistan's Prime Minister, she and her husband were exiled from Pakistan after they were accused of diverting funds from the Pakistani Air Force, to overseas business interests. Musharraf allowed her to enter the country again.
In the end, Bhutto will become a martyr. And once again, the extremists have miscalculated and alienated the people that all along they have claimed to represent. The extremist's blood lust is their downfall, just as in Iraq.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Christ--The Peacegiver of Christmas
I am a testimony personified, regarding the redemptive power of Christianity. Call it mystical, call it psychological, call it mularky--I'm here to say, that Christianity is real, and in the my opinion the only true religion. This is not to say that other religions do not have good and true things to say--but they cannot make me right with God.
There is the Me, that I was before I was a Christian, and there is the Me after, though the Me after still evolves. I was, before, a liar, thief, miscreant, a disorganized and incorrigible child. The day after my conversion, I remember sitting in English class, taking a spelling test in High School. I had never felt as I felt then, never experienced that kind of peace--never before or since I suppose.
There have been ups and downs. But unlike any artificial remedy and religion created in the minds of men-- my belief and hope rests in this and this alone: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasing life." John 3:16. That's all I have folks. I don't have my righteousness; I've probably broken virually every commandment in one fashion or another. Murder? Yes. Jesus stated that whoever calls his brother a fool commits murder with his mouth.
Non-believers should read the bible and they should remember context. How much of it is merely meant to point out our weakness and our need for Christ. How the peak of the bible story is the death of Christ and his ressurection-- a crescendo that shows us our faults--and then points to a saviour, one who will take our faults and make us what we need to be.
Christianity--despite the falsehoods believed by those who hate it--is not about YOU. It does not say that you must be better, or be thrown to perdition. It states that you CANNOT be good enough for God, but here, right here, "...as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal life. And: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
So, it's Christmas. I want you to remember the words of God's angel, spoken to Mary and Joseph, with Jesus sleeping in a stable manger somewhere in Bethlehem. The words were not: "From now on, all people will have more rules to follow, more commandments and laws to keep them from judgement!" No, the words were these: "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord...Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:10-11.
There is the Me, that I was before I was a Christian, and there is the Me after, though the Me after still evolves. I was, before, a liar, thief, miscreant, a disorganized and incorrigible child. The day after my conversion, I remember sitting in English class, taking a spelling test in High School. I had never felt as I felt then, never experienced that kind of peace--never before or since I suppose.
There have been ups and downs. But unlike any artificial remedy and religion created in the minds of men-- my belief and hope rests in this and this alone: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasing life." John 3:16. That's all I have folks. I don't have my righteousness; I've probably broken virually every commandment in one fashion or another. Murder? Yes. Jesus stated that whoever calls his brother a fool commits murder with his mouth.
Non-believers should read the bible and they should remember context. How much of it is merely meant to point out our weakness and our need for Christ. How the peak of the bible story is the death of Christ and his ressurection-- a crescendo that shows us our faults--and then points to a saviour, one who will take our faults and make us what we need to be.
Christianity--despite the falsehoods believed by those who hate it--is not about YOU. It does not say that you must be better, or be thrown to perdition. It states that you CANNOT be good enough for God, but here, right here, "...as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal life. And: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
So, it's Christmas. I want you to remember the words of God's angel, spoken to Mary and Joseph, with Jesus sleeping in a stable manger somewhere in Bethlehem. The words were not: "From now on, all people will have more rules to follow, more commandments and laws to keep them from judgement!" No, the words were these: "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord...Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:10-11.
Monday, December 3, 2007
KGB--Mindkiller
The Russian KGB was the most effective intelligence agency ever employed by any government in human history. In Soviet society, the KGB's tendrils reached into every aspect of Russian life. Commerce, media, schools. And the insidious power of the KBG reached far beyond the borders of Mother Russia. It crossed the ocean and grasped the hearts and minds of many elites in the 1950s, right here in America. It took advantage of Truman's one weakness: His refusal to confront the Red Threat. Truman denied it existed within our borders.
Joseph McCarthy was right. Most of the people that he accused of having communist ties were later found to be Red Sympathyzers. But so complete was the KGB's monstrous propoganda machine, that they made McCarthy into a pariah. Some would say that McCarthy was too ruthless, but he saw problems everyone else missed or willfully ignored. And his ruthlessess pales when juxtaposed with Russian intelligence agancies.
I do not believe, as some do, that the Soviets intentionally deconstructed their empire so that they could sneak up on the West at a later date. I believe that they knew that they were indeed defeated, and decided to lay low, recoup their powers, and take advantage of the inevitable future resentment of American power. They know history better than we do. They understand that cultures clash, and that superpowers intervene more often in world events than other countries do. So they waited, and smiled, and bowed, all the while concealed a dagger. That dagger is Putin and his ilk; Children of Russian intelligence, nationalists, idealogues.
We will be dealing with Russia for decades. What is their next move in their power play? Who knows. They are notoriously patient and have cultivated an ability to think outside the box that outstrips our own. At least as far as the military intelligence issue goes.
Just remember, when you hear the leftists speaking today, the children of the 60s, remember that they are unknowing acolytes of Trotsky. They were converted to the faith in the restless expanses of University, and Hillary Clinton leads their charge.
Joseph McCarthy was right. Most of the people that he accused of having communist ties were later found to be Red Sympathyzers. But so complete was the KGB's monstrous propoganda machine, that they made McCarthy into a pariah. Some would say that McCarthy was too ruthless, but he saw problems everyone else missed or willfully ignored. And his ruthlessess pales when juxtaposed with Russian intelligence agancies.
I do not believe, as some do, that the Soviets intentionally deconstructed their empire so that they could sneak up on the West at a later date. I believe that they knew that they were indeed defeated, and decided to lay low, recoup their powers, and take advantage of the inevitable future resentment of American power. They know history better than we do. They understand that cultures clash, and that superpowers intervene more often in world events than other countries do. So they waited, and smiled, and bowed, all the while concealed a dagger. That dagger is Putin and his ilk; Children of Russian intelligence, nationalists, idealogues.
We will be dealing with Russia for decades. What is their next move in their power play? Who knows. They are notoriously patient and have cultivated an ability to think outside the box that outstrips our own. At least as far as the military intelligence issue goes.
Just remember, when you hear the leftists speaking today, the children of the 60s, remember that they are unknowing acolytes of Trotsky. They were converted to the faith in the restless expanses of University, and Hillary Clinton leads their charge.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Science as Dogma
We're going backwards. The scientific community no longer listens to outside views. It is a closed system, and closed systems are doomed--incestuous and doomed.
Science is now the Anti-God. It is now a monolithic structure, moving as a Juggernaut to destroy the last vestiges of the metaphysical. Darwinists do not seek truth. They seek to disprove God.
We have seen the same type of activity in the global warming community. Attempts to shut out dissenters. The dissenters are there, but they don't have microphones in their hands for the most part.
Darwinism is peppered with holes. What scientists cannot explain, they avoid. If there's a problem with the theory, they don't attack the problem--they avoid it.
Galileo was a dissenter. Science today is the Catholic Church of yesteryear. It has a dogma to spread. There is not enough room here to talk about all evolution's myriad problems. But let me say that some of them are so simple that even in high school they seemed evident to me. My teachers had no answers for my questions, and believe me, the questions were fundamental enough to need explanation.
Some very basic problems:
1) According to Darwinism, all life evolved from single-cell organisms. At some point a species that reproduced sexually came into existence. Where did it find a mate? How could another mate even exist, given the incredibly small chance of a creature mutating to exactly the same form as a mate? And then, what are the chances that it would find this mate? You want me to believe? Explain.
2) Human Population. The current human population growth is around 2% annually. Darwinists state that we've been here in a form that closely resembles out current state for about 2 million years. Let's be very kind to the scientists and reduce the population increase to one fourth what is today, to account for catastrophic die-offs, and then lets say we've only been around for one million years. So, (2x.07)to the millionth power. The number is something around 10 to the 2185 power (Human population). Impossible, even accounting for numerous die-offs. That number is larger than the number of electrons in the universe. Also, it took us 2 million years to make a light bulb?
3) The layman thinks that fossils secure a strong evidence in favor of evolution. Actually, they provide the strongest evidence against it. For one thing, there's a thing called the Cambrian Explosion, which Darwin himself stated was the best argument against his theory. In the Cambrian explosion, we find everything from the simplest life forms to fully developed life forms, all inhabiting the same rock strata, with no transitional forms. And every fossil out there lacks transitional forms. There are huge gaps in the fossil record for every species--not just man.
Science is now the Anti-God. It is now a monolithic structure, moving as a Juggernaut to destroy the last vestiges of the metaphysical. Darwinists do not seek truth. They seek to disprove God.
We have seen the same type of activity in the global warming community. Attempts to shut out dissenters. The dissenters are there, but they don't have microphones in their hands for the most part.
Darwinism is peppered with holes. What scientists cannot explain, they avoid. If there's a problem with the theory, they don't attack the problem--they avoid it.
Galileo was a dissenter. Science today is the Catholic Church of yesteryear. It has a dogma to spread. There is not enough room here to talk about all evolution's myriad problems. But let me say that some of them are so simple that even in high school they seemed evident to me. My teachers had no answers for my questions, and believe me, the questions were fundamental enough to need explanation.
Some very basic problems:
1) According to Darwinism, all life evolved from single-cell organisms. At some point a species that reproduced sexually came into existence. Where did it find a mate? How could another mate even exist, given the incredibly small chance of a creature mutating to exactly the same form as a mate? And then, what are the chances that it would find this mate? You want me to believe? Explain.
2) Human Population. The current human population growth is around 2% annually. Darwinists state that we've been here in a form that closely resembles out current state for about 2 million years. Let's be very kind to the scientists and reduce the population increase to one fourth what is today, to account for catastrophic die-offs, and then lets say we've only been around for one million years. So, (2x.07)to the millionth power. The number is something around 10 to the 2185 power (Human population). Impossible, even accounting for numerous die-offs. That number is larger than the number of electrons in the universe. Also, it took us 2 million years to make a light bulb?
3) The layman thinks that fossils secure a strong evidence in favor of evolution. Actually, they provide the strongest evidence against it. For one thing, there's a thing called the Cambrian Explosion, which Darwin himself stated was the best argument against his theory. In the Cambrian explosion, we find everything from the simplest life forms to fully developed life forms, all inhabiting the same rock strata, with no transitional forms. And every fossil out there lacks transitional forms. There are huge gaps in the fossil record for every species--not just man.
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