Musings in Search of a Muse

And here I go again ... ready to disappear for another week. Heading off to see the folk (the singluar of "folks" since I have only one survivng parent). I'll be back by the 30th, so if there is anyone reading this, don't check back until then. I'll be in the Internet Free Zone. I can still take the laptop, but that won't matter.

In the meantime, try to figure out why the part of me that didn't want to go to church today won out, will ya?

Peace & Prayers

Yahoo! News - Arabs Say U.S. Policies Add to Mideast Insecurity "Many Arabs fear the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a precursor to a wider policy of forced regime change throughout the region, where Western-style democracy is -- at best -- in its infancy." Emphasis on the word fear?

I think it's safe to say that nearly all the conflicts around the world in the last hundred or so years have because some Western power has moved into an area without making an effort to understand the culture. Look at the creation of Iraq and Iran. Look at the creation of Israel in modern times. Look at the saddest example, the "sramble for Africa."

Peace & Prayers

"Secretary of State Colin Powell called the militant group Hamas an enemy of peace during a troubleshooting mission to the Middle East on Friday," according to a Reuters story today. So does this put them ahead of Iran on our invasion list?

Hey! I think I got it! Look >>>>>>

The right-side content box is lower. Still not where I want it to be, but ...

Back to the serious stuff for now: Think Iran is hiding something? I seem to recall a story some years ago when the old USSR fell that Iranian scientists were trying to buy nuclear info from economically-challenged ex-Soviet scientists. I'll have to search around for that. Honestly, it may have come from a Tom Clancy book.

Later! Peace & Prayers

Still workin' on getting the right-side content box in the right position. The links are fine now except for the background color of unvisited links. Well, actually, I kinda like it that way.

99% right so far. Here are the problems: (1) The content box on the right is too high up; (2) The links in the content box on the right are not all underlined.

Gonna go away and do some laundry and think about this for a bit.

Maybe this will work ....

Okay ... now how do I get the links to show up?

Oh! There you are! And the changes are .....

Umm ... Where's my blog?

Okay ... who does Iran see as such a threat that it wants nuclear weapons? Maybe it's someone else with nuclear weapons? Let's look at the list: France, United Kingdom, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, United States, remnants of the the old Soviet Union, North Korea Israel, ... well, seemingly everyone.

Really now, haven't people figured out that possessing a weapon of mass destruction (WMD), especially the nuclear kind, makes them more of a target than the supposed weakness of not having WMDs does?

Think about it. Peace & Prayers

Got a new mower today and took care of three lawns in the neighborhood. Man am I tired, but I like doing things for others. Most of my neighbors are aged and infirm so they need some help now and then. I gave up my electric mower for a gas mower to save time, but now I have to put up with the maintenance and mess.

What do you do for your neighbors?

Have you seen the new Blogger hoodie? Anyone wanna give me the scratch to buy one?

All hail paganism! Yeah, right. Don't people have a clue? Looks like it's on the rise. When people tolerate it I guess that's what will happen.

Of course, I'm guilty, too. As I type this I'm watching Charmed for the first time. And that's after watching 2 hours of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And I've read the Harry Potter books. Here's a question that that Christians (and I suppose Jews, Muslims, and others) are debating: Is it possible to enjoy these activities without endangering one's soul? There's one to pray on.

Peace & Prayers

Hmmm ... reading some past rants makes me think I need to write in MS Word and then publish. Then I could spell and grammar check.

Hee Hee Hee

Right. The only nation to have ever used a nuclear weapon (twice, no less) is once again warning another nation to not develop nuclear devices. If the effort and resources put into these warnings ... and the occassional war or two ... were put into shaping the world economy so that countries wouldn't need such weapons we'd all be much better. What a friggin' waste.

In related news ... why don't we finish what we started? We aren't done with Afganistan and Iraq is still simmering.

And I'm surprised that the countries who want the weapons don't ask the United States, France, Britain, Israel, and the other "elite" why the weapons are good for the goose but not the gander. When is the United States going to stop threatening and start letting the world make it's own decisions.

Israel/Palestine for example. Neither one really wants peace. Maybe because they are afraid of it. Maybe because if there is a peace the powers-that-be won't be the powers-that-be. Maybe someone is making a profit. Here's an idea:

Put up a wall, physical or otherwise, so that no one goes in and no one comes out. Put up a wall, physical or otherwise, so that no resources go in and no resources come out. No guns, no ammunition, no food, no medicine, no water. Only the fittest will survive, be it the strongest and baddest, or those that figure out that cooperation and friendship are the only paths to follow. If they want to fight, let them. Or, maybe, both sides will figure out that killing in God's name or killing because they think that God likes them better is simply wrong. God has chosen his favorites (it's in the Bible ... remember?) and hasn't directly intervened in about 2000 years. Sounds cruel? Well, is it any worse than living in fear that the person who just got on the bus is a living a bomb? Is it any worse than constantly watching the sky for helicopter-gunships? Is it any worse than forgetting God because of blinding rage, blinding grief, or blindling hate?

We were given directions on how to prosper: It's Love. It's love one another. It's Do unto others as you would have them do unto you not Do unto others then run. It's those pesky Ten Commandments that all three major monotheistic religions follow. Or say they follow.

Pray that more people remember this. Pray that they do it soon. Peace & Prayers.

Wow! I haven't been here in over a month? Well, let's see here ...

... I went away for a week or so to visit Mom.
... finals at school.
... lawn mowing has begun.
... didn't really think about it.
... haven't had much to rant about.

Yea, a little of all that and more, I guess, but mostly the latter. I should have been writing, it looks like. The war is over but people are still dying. In fact, people are dying all over without the war. Africa, for example. How about Israel/Palestine?

This ties in with my latest re-warped look at how God works. Yes, I believe in God and Jesus is my personal Savior, but I also believe that much of what happens does simply because we are corporeal beings. God isn't testing us since He already knows whether we will make it into Heaven or not. The point is that we don't know. So we (I mean the whole world) need to clean up our act and start treating each other with some brotherly love. OK ... not Cain & Abel brotherly love. But the kind that's usually associated with the phrase.

Good luck ... Peace & Prayers.