“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
— Mahatma Gandhi

As I was cruising Digg (social news site, “wisdom” of the pre-pubescent masses) today, I ran across this gem. It’s no surprise that Digg, like most popular online communities, openly mocks Christians for what they consider religious blindness and just plain stupidity. This is the social network that votes for conspiracy theories, and stories about Brittany Spears, but that’s beside the point (lets just say it’s a good thing 14 year olds don’t run the world).

This site has a list of stupid quotes harvested off the ‘net from “Christian” chatrooms and forums. It is a colection of the craziest and most asanine quotes I think I have ever read. I can imagine the overweight guy brushing his cat off the keyboard on Feburary 19th last year to write the following post, cat landing and scurrying through the pile of Wal-mart bags and McDonalds wrappers, towards the TV set that has it’s knob broken off and is permanently set to TBN. He (KettleWhistle) sits down, logs on to the Israel Forum and writes his 5,000th post:

http://flatearth.meetup.com/

What is called ‘Science’ today and ’scientists’ consist of the same old gang of witch doctors, sorcerers, tellers of tales, the ‘Priest-Entertainers’ for the common people. ‘Science’ consists of a weird, way-out occult concoction of jibberish theory-theology… nothing good has ever come from ’science’ — In fact, technology is not in any way related to the web of idiotic scientific theory. ALL inventors have been anti-science. The Wright brothers said: “Science theory held us up for years. When we threw out all science, started from experiment and experience, then we invented the airplane.” By the way, airplanes all fly level on this Plane earth!

The Fact the Earth is Flat is not my opinion, it is a Proved Fact! While all we need to know is that the Bible says the Earth is flat (Is.40:22, Ez.7:2, Dn.2:35; 4:10-11,20, Mt.4:8)… but for a second can you imagine what these so-called ’scientists would have us believe — If the earth really was round, that would mean there arre people who are HANGING DOWN, HEAD DOWNWARDS while we are standing head up? But since the theory allows to travel to those parts of the earth where the people are said to hand head downward, and still to fancy ourselves to be heads upwards, and our friends whom we have left behind us to be heads downwards! LOL! What foolishness! TheWHOLE THING IS A MYTH – A DREAM – A DELUSION – and a snare, and, instead of there being any evidence at all in this direction to substantiate this popular theory, it is plain proof that the Earth is Not A Globe!

Also, be sure to know the Sun and Moon are about 3,000 miles away are both 32 miles across. The Planets are ‘tiny.’ Sun and Moon do Move, earth does NOT move, whirl, spin or gyrate (1 Sam.2:8, 1 Chr.16:30; Job 9:6, 38:4-6; Ps.96:10, 104:5, Is.13:10, Mic.6:2). Australians do NOT hang by their feet under the world… this is a FACT, not a theory! Also a Fact the Spinning, Whirling, Gyrating Ball World Planet, Globe Idea is Entirely 100% now and at all times in the Past, a RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE… a Blind Dogmatic Article of Faith in the Religion for the Blind unreasoning beast of prey. No earthly reason for a Sane, Upright Member of the Elite True Christians to subscribe to it. Also a Fact, today the Elite of Earth ALL live on the Flat World. Only the illogical, unreasoning “herd”… prefers the way-out occult weird theology of the old Greek superstitution earth a spinning ball! Both Copernecious and Newton, the inventors of the “modern” superstitions (400 year OLD modern) have said: “It is not possible for a Sane reasonable person to ever really believe these Theories.” Thus sayeth Newton-Copernecious. What sayeth THOU?

It is truly sad that people believe these things, but it’s even sadder that they represent themselves as believers and spread their opinions online. If we think we’re isolated to finding these people on the internet though, we’re terrible mistaken too. There’s a church here in whatcom county(link takes you to the internet archive, their site’s gone dark) with the following quote in their STATEMENT OF FAITH (You know, those things where you say there’s only one God and he loves us and sent his Son to die and rise from the dead so we could be made like him and brought back to communion with God?):

We believe that God, through his Son Jesus Christ created all things. There is nothing in this universe or in Heaven that was not created by Jesus Christ. We do not believe there are other life forms on other planets or any other place in the universe. We are silent where the Bible is silent…

Why can’t moderate, normal, intelligent Christians get the same attention?! I guess the headline “Normal guy expresses opinion and religious conviction in a way that is respectful and inspiring” wouldn’t get a lot of Diggs.

I was walking through the airport the other day, listening to the radio and reading my emails. On the same phone. Then I saw a cool sculpture so I snapped a picture of it. It didn’t look right (too many people everywhere), so I took a pic of myself to send to Kari in a text. I stopped just before sending because I realized what a prick I was. I was THAT guy, so I stopped. the point is, I COULD have sent that pic I took with my MP3 playing FM radio with bluetooth, a 3.2mp camera and a cellphone. I love it, and I’m not even Asian.

It has some problems, or I should say, I have some problems: it’s a quad band phone, but it has the wrong bands. It’s a UMTS handset, meaning it’s high-speed line is at 2100mhz. That’s fine int he rest of the world, but the US uses 1900mhz. That means I have 3g capabilities on a crequency that doesn’t exist, and I ignore the US’s 3.5g capabilities because I’m using that band for normal calls. Big f’n deal, I don’t have a 3.5g (those bastards still cal it 3g, and for once they’re being overly humble) plan from Cingular. The reason it’s a big deal is the phone drops two things to be a good UMTS device: EDGE (Cingular’s 2.Xg network) so I have to use regular 2g data transfer (slow), and the 850mhz band. Cingular still uses the 850mhz band, and it’s a good band for reaching into buildings and parking garages, because it’s a lower wave-legnth signal (goes through cement and some metals). Also means that here in Atlanta, where Cingular uses the 850 bad for data, my web browser and stuff doesn’t work so good.

As a side note, people are complaining about the tiny buttons. I ove te tiny buttons. Not only do they look awesome, they’re REALLY easy to find in the dark and when not looking at the phone.-

So, what’s the fix? The k850i supports both HSDPA (Cingular’s fancy 3.5g/3g network) AND EDGE (so I can use the data network when I visit poe-dunk Bellingham), and all 4 US bands. It also has a 5mp digital camera. It costs $400 new, but people are saying it’ll be around $200 with a contract when Cingular wises up.

In short, this phone will more than do until I can get the k850i, it’s the most amazing phone I have ever owned, and will be cherished for as long as I can keep it.

Well, as usual, I made a decision at exactly the wrong time. On the third I bought an HD-DVD player, thinking that all this Sony nonsense was going to flush Blu-ray down the tubes, then THIS happens?!

Sheesh, have I got bad timing or what? For once I turn my back on Apple and Sony, and salute Microsoft, and look at the thanks I get. Oh well, I guess now I can buy HD-DVDs for real cheap…

This cements the idea that when companies fight over formats, the consumers lose. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE competition. I love how competition makes companies fight FOR the consumer, but this was not one of those times. This was companies fighting over two disk formats, one of which is vastly superior, to the detriment of the consumer. It was an issue of pride and politics winning out over preference and parity.

First night club to implement this wins!

We pulled the trigger tonight: we bought a HD-DVD player. We found the Toshiba HD-A3 for $179 and used some Christmas money to pay the bill. We’re excited to see how it looks on the Aquos, and REALLY excited about the extras attached to this particular deal.

This A3 comes with 300 and The Bourne Identity in the package, and Amazon throws in 3 more HD-DVDs when we buy (we chose 2001, A Space Odyssey, Face Off and Blades of Glory). Of course, there’s the standard 5-free deal too. When the dust settles, we’ll have 10 free HD-DVDs, one HD-DVd from Christmas and a brand spanking new HD-DVD player, for $195 with tax.

Everyone’s invited anytime for a HD-DVD party!

I watched the trailer for the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight (Why so serious?). I can’t stop watching it. Over and Over. This Batman movie looks so dark, so twisted, and yes, so scary, I am going to have to see it in theaters when it finally rolls out.

As someone who’s scared of clowns, I was really hoping the Joker would be cast in this way. I was disappointed however, to find out Heat Ledger was the Joker. As it turns out, it looks like HEath might pull this off. With faded face paint, and a smile carved into his face with a knife, you they’re off to a good start. Add to the fact that he’s not a smiling, lovable, cartoony joker, but instead a psychopath murderous violent joker with an RPG, and you’ve got one seriously scary clown.

It doesn’t hurt that they tossed in a generous dosage of Maggie Gyllenhaal and Christian Bale.

All images taken from the trailer.

Yes, yes, yes. Please restore our failed fiscal system. If for no other reason, do it because Target’s holiday sales were broken out 85% Canadian, 15% American in Bellingham. My freeways are clogged and it’s not safe to walk across the street.

Seriously though, how on earth can we protect our interests at home while spending TRILLIONS on a war overseas. I supported the Iraq war, to restore stability in the Middle East, and to remove an evil man from power. I was wrong, it’s taking way too long, and it’s over. Iraq is now FUBAR and it’s our fault. Well guess what, it can’t be fixed. Retreat. Come home, lick our wounds, and rebuild America.

He’s absolutely right, the poor will only always be poor, no matter how hard they try to save, if their dollars are worth less and less every year.

I am going to register to vote this time, because there’s finally a candidate who I care about.

We’re selling Kari’s car so we’re ready to move to Houston. Of course, I made an online flyer for it.

Mitsubishi Mirage ES (2001, Rio Red Pearl) For Sale in Bellingham, WA

If you’re using IE 6 right now, visit help.piersystem.com and look at the light bulb graphic in the Tip of the Week box. Look all choppy? Now fire up Firefox if you can and take a look. The difference is astounding.

Why does IE 6 show the lightbulb all choppy while FF makes it look smooth and pretty? Does this have something to do with CoreImage?

GM is a big, dirty American company. They build big ugly cars and they seem to be so out of touch with their consumers it’s almost a joke. Anyone who has driven a Cobalt or an Impala knows what I’m talking about. If you don’t get it, for kicks and giggles test drive a Cobalt, then test drive a Mitsubishi Lancer; heck, drive a 6 year old Lancer like mine, then drive an ‘08 Cobalt. It’s shocking how bad the Cobalt is.

We’re running out of oil, and we’re desperate to get it from anyone we can. We are so dependent on oil, that we spend BILLIONS (with a B) on a war to secure the Middle East. This is while oil is less than $100 a barrel, but what happens when it’s twice that? Who will we be willing to attack when oil is $200 a barrel, Canada anybody?

How long do cars last these days? 10 years? 20 years? This means every new car sold today needs Oil for 20 years. GM quitely stood up and announced that they’re changing that. Sure Ford and Chrysler are doing their part by building total rubbish cars that will only run for 5 years, but GM is going one step further: FlexFuel.

The beauty of flexible fuel isn’t that you can pump starving 3rd world people’s food (corn) into your tank while gas is $3.50 a gallon, it’s that when Gas is $15 a gallon, we can pursue Methane, Propane, etc as alternative energy sources, and all those GM cars will be ready for it. GM’s also building the Volt, a performance oriented plug-in hybrid, and there’s a possibility the Volt will run on flex fuel. That means we can run on electric methane, electric propane, electric gasoline power, whatever suits your fancy.

So why is GM the only one doing this? The answer is simple: There is absolutely no infrastructure for alternative fuel stations, and automakers are stalling until one exists. Honda won’t build their fuel-cell vehicle if there are no filling stations for it. No automaker will build a methane-only, garbage-only, blood-of-poor-children only car until there is reasonable demand for it, and an infrastructure to support it.

Why do Honda and BMW advertise their Hydrogen-powered cars if they have no intention of building them? The same reason the Civic and Prius hybrids get the same mileage as a 1996 Toyota Corolla: Distraction. The American public has moved beyond ignorance regarding our oil dependence, and they want answers. Unfortunately we’re turning to the automakers and big auto doesn’t want to tell the public that it’s a political problem (I have no idea why they wouldn’t). Likewise, the federal government is denying that the Iraq war was ultimately for middle eastern stability, aka oil, and refusing to either a) legislate alt fuel programs or b) fund alt energy sources. The federal government and big auto are leaving it to big oil to fund all the research and get us out of this problem. Is big oil up to the challenge? Time will tell, but they seem to have a conflict of interest since $200 barrels of oil generated a whole heck of a lot of profits.

What’s our solution, America? Flex Fuel cars, and flex fuel conversions. It can cost thousands to convert your current car to flexible fuel, but the long term payoff can be huge. Hats off to you, GM. You can also help by getting the word out there, tell the government you don’t want to use oil, you only do because it’s the only affordable option. Tell them to divert the $476 billion dollars (at the time of this writing) into alternative energy infrastructure and research.

Link: Girl, 7, shot 6 times saving mom

What causes someone to do this? From the article I dig that she may have been a “special-needs” child, and perhaps her reasoning ability wasn’t really kicking in. Most kids would be terrified at the sight of a gun. Then again, if you live in Detroit a few blocks from a service station with bars in the windows, and men with guns sit on your porch, maybe you get a little desensitized.

Oh and mom, don’t worry, you can read the article; the young girl survives.

Kari and I are officially unofficially moving to Houston. We don’t know the timeline yet (that’s why it’s “officially unofficial,” and why we haven’t given 20 days to our property manager yet, or 30 days to Kari’s office) but we’re thinking of January some time. We’re waiting on a few things to come through at work before we make the leap. This will let me take what is essentially a different job at PIER, emphasizing sales support and building customer relationships. Hopefully I’l have to do less CSS/HTML stuff with this change, which will make the internet a better place overall.

We’re excited. It’s new and different, and quite the adventure.

We’re also not sure how long of a term this is, since PIER may need me elsewhere soon. It’s been fun being back in B’ham and seeing all the friends and family again, but the move will be god for us, it will force us to find our own way as a “family” and feel more independent.

Pray, if you will, that we would hear from work soon what the timeline is, as that is the most stressful part of all this.

UPDATE: I had a meeting with Gerald this week, and he filled me in on where we stand with the move. Apparently we’re waiting for a check to come in from Atlanta, and a board meeting to happen in Fort Bend County. He’s going to be gone for a while, so he wanted me to know that if the board meeting goes well on the 8th, and we have the Atlanta money by then, we’ll be moving at the end of January (this month!).

UPDATE: Well, I got the news today that we’re moving at the end of this month for sure now. We gave notice at Kari’s workplace, and we’re working with our landlord to get out of our lease. Now we have to get Kari on my health plan at work, find a new apartment in Houston, sell Kari’s car, sell a bunch of our other crap, climb into a U-haul and tow Lance down there with all our stuff. Madness! Thanks all for praying for this, you can continue praying that Kari and I won’t lose or minds packing everything and moving in 3 weeks, and that we will find a safe, comfortable apartment we can afford in Houston. If you want to buy any of our stuff, let us know!

I have now “swung the other way” and am sporting a brand new top-of-the-practical-line Victorinox carry-on. After reading reviews of various suitcases here and here, I decided that my luggage had to meet the following criteria:

1. It had to be a carry-on, since I trust the airlines about as far as I can throw them.
2. It had to be tough, since I travel 10-15 times a year.
3. It had to be versitle, expanding so I can use it as checked baggage, should the need arise.
4. It had to have hard sides, to keep all my pretty gadgets safe.
5. It had to be priced between $250 and $350.
6. Wheels would be nice.
7. It had to have high-quality ruberish wheels

The bag I found ended up having a bonus feature, that I simply LOVED: It’s TEAL!

So here’s what I need you, my esteemed, educated, and tolerant readers to tell me: Is my bag as gay as Dumbledore (Don’t tell Kari, she doesn’t know yet!) or is it as straight as Brandon Sherman (OK, maybe Bradon’s not the model of heterosexuality…).

Vote below in the comments…

Bellingham Herald – Hunt continues for gasoline leak

Can’t we just light a match ?

I had to watch it, just to see if JAred was in it, but alas it’s just someone else with the same idea.

Guys, it’s time for “Beautiful Jesus,” “Mmm God” and “What the Wilson’s want.” Before someone else makes the videos.

I decided to try again (3rd try) to sell this tape dispenser before giving it to Value Village. I guess giving it to charity to make a profit on would be the high-road here, but if I can get a few bucks for it I’m going to try.

So this time around I’m selling it from more of a philosophical stance. Maybe someone will appeal to my need to have hope in mankind (capitalism?) and buy it. Who knows?

Disgusting tape dispenser – represents all that is wrong in the world – $10 [craigslist]

The thing it, I’ve gotten two responses already:

Hello.

Are you British? I am and no-one has made me laugh with such an impressively disillusioned rant since I immigrated here. Now the tape dispenser has at least donated something positive to me. I laughed out loud, Thanks, I hope you find it a glorious home.

Xxxxxx

Hello,

Sorry I can’t take the little beast off your hands but that was very amusing. When I saw the title line I couldn’t imagine a tape dispenser really being as horrendous as all that but you’re right; it’s totally gross. I wish I could show you the baby “Defender of Freedom” statue I found in Parade magazine.

Cheers
xxxx x

What do you think?

Wow, I never thought this day would really come. RYD has reached the awesome level of “local superstardom” by being pubvlished in the local daily.

Who wouldn’t want to choose RYD? It’s a day to shake off the shackles of adult life and relish the fleeting joys of boyhood before going back to the regular world of work, bills and obligations. “I swear that my skin is glowing by the end of the day,” Bevens says. “It lasts me all year.”

Read the article here.

Shot with my Motorola V551, edited in iMovie HD (‘06), and posted to Youtube. Nice. Took about 20 minutes, Steve Jobs, you’re full of crap, iMovie HD is great. Worst. Keynote. Ever.

I know, I know “be careful with that joke, it’s an antique.”

Well, Kari and I are moving to the ‘burbs, and we’re getting a new car. Brian and Kelli have been motoring around in this little 1986 Civic wagon for some time, until last winter when it *kissed* a light pole in the snow. The bumper went through the AC Condenser and the radiator, requiring the replacement of all three. I’m going to see if I can use basically any civic front clip on this sucker, because CRX parts are a plenty, and I think the bigger grill opening in the bumper would look nice. Heh, nice. As nice as the Nissan Multi, or a phone booth on wheels.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t totally pumped to be driving this thing. It is, of coures, pretty ghetto fabulous. The thing is, I’ve been driving around that princess, Lance, for the last 3 years, and I’m ready for a car I can beat around a bit and work on. Of course, the best part of it all is the 4wd. It’s only an 80-20 system (80% driving the front wheels), but that’s better than the pure-front characteristics of Lance. I won’t be able to do much tail-out driving in the wagon, but it’ll have a little more uniform umph. Of course, it starts with 71 horsepower, which wont exactly make the car mind-numbing fast.

Anyways, I found this cool ad for the wagon, circa 1986. Pretty cool.

More to follow…

My commentary can only detract from this article… All I can say is “Wow.”

http://activerain.com/blogsview/34318/Some-People-Take-the

As Ben mused, most law enforcement is right on and legal, legitimately protecting innocent people and putting baddies in jail. This guide exists in part for the minority of law enforcement who are corrupt, in some part for the law enforcement that is of questionable legitimacy, and majorly for you avoiding being falsely accused, wasting court time and tax dollars. Stay honest, clean, legal and efficient.

Enjoy the video!

Kari and I have been looking for a new place to reside, and boy did we find it! This place is 1500 square feet, with a gas range and a gas fireplace, dishwasher, washer and dryer (in the laundry room of course), a jetted tub with separate shower, a second full bathroom and a second bedroom.

There’s finally room to play the Wii!

As Annie pointed out, there is one HUGE downside: our mailing address will be Bellis Fair Parkway. Yup, people will think we live in the mall. Sick. Livin’ in the “‘burbs.”

Look here for an invite to our giftless house warming party soon! We move in on the 15th of August, just 2 short weeks!

PIER is hiring! The position is for Office Administrator [WARNING:Word Doc], and I’d love to work with one of my friends. Email me and I’ll get you an interview.

Ok, bu now I shouldn’t think this is as funny as I do, but heck, this is really funny.

Wait for 0:20

“Oh my goodness.” Priceless.

Well, here I am in Jakarta. I wish I could say I was roughing it (Kari’s probably glad I’m not), but someone just rang my doorbell and brought me some fresh fruit for my room. Doorbell? Fresh fruit? Yes, I’m staying at the Ritz Carlton. This is a NICE hotel, the nicest in Indonesia, or so my cab driver tells me. Roughing it? More like working it.

I got to Indonesia last night as accidentally walked past the first immigration station. I could have walked all the way out and gotten into a cab too, but I stopped to ask an immigration agent and he helped me start the process in the right place. All this, while soldiers stand by with guns. We have a good system in America, that we can enforce rules and security so well without the visible presence of the military.

After getting m luggage, for the life of me I couldn’t find my chauffeur. I took a cab from a company heard was reputable, and was startled to hear that it would cost 350,000 Rupiahs, and that they only took cash. Not knowing what a Rupiah was worth, I fearfully approached the ATM, and used my debit card to withdraw 500,000 Rupiahs. It worked, so I guessed a Rupiah wasn’t too much. (When I got back to the hotel, I discovered that a Rupiah is about equivalent to $0.0001 USD. That’s 1/100th of a penny, making a 350,000 Rupiah about the same as $38. Not bad for a one-hour cab ride.) The cabbie was nice, an Indonesian immigrant who was making way to immigrte once again, this time to Canada. He had a job lined up to work on a farm in Manitoba for $2000 CAD a month. The CAD govt. will take over 40% of that, leaving him with about $15,000 a year. But, he explains, a good salary in Indonesia, for a resident, is about $1200 USD per year. On top of the poor pay, they work 6 days a week, sometimes for 80 or more hours a week. He seemed upbeat about it, not bitter at all, but as I pressed, he said that foreign workers come in and make at least 10 times what nationals earn, most of the time more. They live in the south part of the city, while the north side remains tin shacks and children begging in the street. According to Wikitravel, the Indonesian government is trying to stop that, by barring foreign workers from getting jobs here, but there’s only so much they can do. It was a very enlightening ride. Cabbie, good luck moving to Canada.

That pales though, in comparison to the cabbie in Sydney on Saturday. Talk about friendly. I had snuck out the enter-only doors of the international terminal and stopped a cabbie who was dropping people off. He looked terrified as I climbed into his car, and once I was inside he sped off, looking in his mirror. He was scared, because apparently a police officer was coming to ticket him for picking me up, while I was taking my precious time loading my bags and haggling on price. He ended up taking me into the city, and on a guided tour. He took me across the harbor bridge, to a park on the other side where he explained he could take an amazing picture of me with the harbor bridge and the opera house in the background. He delivered as promised, then dropped me off a the opera house to fend for myself. Not bad for $35, and the whole while he was not only pointing out landmarks and talking about Sydney, but also playing his son, Chad Peralta’s CD. Now, I’m not into “Pop Rock” in the least, and some of these songs were tweaked and cliche’d to death, but a couple of them were really good, the kid has a decent voice and is a great guitarist. He played an older CD, one that was released locally before his fame struck, and played a song on there he wrote himself. It was funny listening to a kid sing about his childhood, while riding in the back seat of his dad’s taxi. Very fun experience.

• Anyways, the photos from Sydney are here: http://flickr.com/photos/lach/tags/sydney/
• The photos from the Ritz Carlton in Jakarta are here: http://flickr.com/photos/lach/tags/ritzcarltonjakarta/

Keep your eyes on Flickr for more photos of my trip!

I can’t wait to be home in America, with my wife, tap water I can brush my teeth with, low American prices, dry cappuccinos, dry heat, and the damn TSA (God bless ‘em).