DEFCON begins today. DEFCON is an annual convention for people involved with internet and computer security. The attendees range in interest from people working for NSA to the friendly neighborhood teenage hacker. Skill levels run from the people who probably really did invent the internet (Sorry Al) to those who know how to turn on a computer (my spot). The sessions can be happy jargon love-fests, projection of technology trends or exploring the political moves to control technology.
I believe DEFCON has always met in Las Vegas but it is continually changing, or shall we say getting chased out of, hotels and convention centers. They drink a lot and party hard. They take anything with wires and electric current as a challenge. If you have ever heard of the college pranks of stuffing telephone booths or swallowing goldfish, this is the modern computer chip version of that. For instance one elevator I was on always stopped at the eighth floor and the button stayed lit up. One of the hackers got into the controls and made it happen. Why? Good question. Unfortunately the only answer is “Because they could.”
For me it is an annual ritual with my geek son. He has been paying our way for twelve years now. It gives us a lot of time to talk and issues to examine.
It should be a good weekend.
homo unius libri
Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship
Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship
This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.
Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.
This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.
Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.
Opus 2014-204: Getting into Good Hands
We need to turn our health insurance over to the auto insurance industry.
This is not original with me. I am sure you have heard it before. I may have written on it before. We have turned the health insurance “need” into a version of the Divine Right of Kings. Consumers think their wishes are God’s commands. Or the primary focus of government.
Think about your auto insurance. It doesn’t cover tune ups, windshield wipers, oil changes, flat tires or any other regular maintenance. It doesn’t pay for a blown gasket, a bent axle, an overheated radiator or other things that go wrong. It covers major accidents. And you get to chose whether you want more than the basic property damage and personal liability. You decide what you pay for and live with the results.
In health insurance we want someone else to pay for every little ache, pain and inconvenience that our bodies present us with. We want prescriptions for things we could buy over the counter. I remember when my doctor started getting excited about my low vitamin D count. He put me on some expensive intense dosage until I finally asked, “Can’t I buy this over the counter?” It was much cheaper.
Think about the times you have gone to the doctor in the past year. How many of the visits would you have made if you were paying for them? Obviously if you have a heart attack or a stroke you need some help. If you had to pay for it would you go to see a doctor because you were light headed or had an ache just here?
Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no.
There are answers. The problem is that most of us want a system where we have Lexus care with Kia fare.
homo unius libri
This is not original with me. I am sure you have heard it before. I may have written on it before. We have turned the health insurance “need” into a version of the Divine Right of Kings. Consumers think their wishes are God’s commands. Or the primary focus of government.
Think about your auto insurance. It doesn’t cover tune ups, windshield wipers, oil changes, flat tires or any other regular maintenance. It doesn’t pay for a blown gasket, a bent axle, an overheated radiator or other things that go wrong. It covers major accidents. And you get to chose whether you want more than the basic property damage and personal liability. You decide what you pay for and live with the results.
In health insurance we want someone else to pay for every little ache, pain and inconvenience that our bodies present us with. We want prescriptions for things we could buy over the counter. I remember when my doctor started getting excited about my low vitamin D count. He put me on some expensive intense dosage until I finally asked, “Can’t I buy this over the counter?” It was much cheaper.
Think about the times you have gone to the doctor in the past year. How many of the visits would you have made if you were paying for them? Obviously if you have a heart attack or a stroke you need some help. If you had to pay for it would you go to see a doctor because you were light headed or had an ache just here?
Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no.
There are answers. The problem is that most of us want a system where we have Lexus care with Kia fare.
homo unius libri
Opus 2014-203: Ode to Old: Living in Glasses Houses
I am glad that I have worn glasses all my life.
I am not forced to hide my need for glasses. I didn’t have a big issue when I switched to bifocals.
I watch other people as they are faced with age and limitations. It can be an eighth grader at school or a mature professional. They squint. They get up close. They have others read for them. They fake it. Anything but admit that they need corrective lenses.
Remember, if you are crippled, a crutch is a help not a shame.
So if you are one of those who can’t read the street signs or the board, get some glasses. If you have them, get ‘em out and put ‘em on.
It doesn’t hurt, really, and you will be able to read what I have to say.
homo unius libri
I am not forced to hide my need for glasses. I didn’t have a big issue when I switched to bifocals.
I watch other people as they are faced with age and limitations. It can be an eighth grader at school or a mature professional. They squint. They get up close. They have others read for them. They fake it. Anything but admit that they need corrective lenses.
Remember, if you are crippled, a crutch is a help not a shame.
So if you are one of those who can’t read the street signs or the board, get some glasses. If you have them, get ‘em out and put ‘em on.
It doesn’t hurt, really, and you will be able to read what I have to say.
homo unius libri
Opus 2014-202: New Terms: Theophobia
I was reading in Proverbs and came across one of the references to the fear of the Lord. My mind went on a tangent. I thought of a term that gets thrown around a lot, “homophobic”, and began to wonder why we have not heard much about theophobia, the fear of God. I thought I was onto something new.
Wikipedia has an entire category on words ending in “phobia.” Theophobia was on the list with a linking article.
Oh, well.
I glanced down the list and saw two ways to divide it. One type of title would be the linking of a Greek or Latin root with phobia. Examples would be acrophobia, a fear of heights, not to be confused with arachnophobia, a fear of spiders. The best is phobophobia, a fear of fear. The other type would be linking some English word with phobia. I found two dazzlers: bozophobia and sissyphobia.
Pick your poison, or phobia.
homo unius libri
I was reading in Proverbs and came across one of the references to the fear of the Lord. My mind went on a tangent. I thought of a term that gets thrown around a lot, “homophobic”, and began to wonder why we have not heard much about theophobia, the fear of God. I thought I was onto something new.
Wikipedia has an entire category on words ending in “phobia.” Theophobia was on the list with a linking article.
Oh, well.
I glanced down the list and saw two ways to divide it. One type of title would be the linking of a Greek or Latin root with phobia. Examples would be acrophobia, a fear of heights, not to be confused with arachnophobia, a fear of spiders. The best is phobophobia, a fear of fear. The other type would be linking some English word with phobia. I found two dazzlers: bozophobia and sissyphobia.
Pick your poison, or phobia.
homo unius libri
Opus 2014-201: Wobegon Fathers
I have finally gotten around to reading Lake Wobegon Days. It appeared at a book sale when I happened to have some change, so I bought it. I am not sure that I would have missed that much but I am committed to finishing it. The biggest problem is knowing where Keillor inserts his tongue in his cheek and when he is telling it was as it was. I guess that is part of the charm but I like to know what is true because I don’t want to quote it as fact if it is just good fiction.
Garrison Keillor is a well known liberal. He is also a talented man. He says some things that read very well and express what I see happening. The problem is he is mocking as he writes. This passage stood out to me.
Grab your truth wherever you can find it.
Keillor, Garrison. Lake Wobegon Days. New York: Viking, 1985.
homo unius libri
Garrison Keillor is a well known liberal. He is also a talented man. He says some things that read very well and express what I see happening. The problem is he is mocking as he writes. This passage stood out to me.
“Father Emil had spoken the week before Father’s Day and said that agnostic liberals had cut fatherhood off at the knees. These liberals aimed to destroy authority and stability, and so had undermined the Father. Look at television, Father had said - Dad is shown as a dummy who stumbles around and breaks things and gets into trouble, usually to be rescued by a small child or a pet. Children watch hours of this junk every week. Their fathers allow them to watch it because fathers want to be pals, not meanies. But children find other children to be pals. Children need fathers to be fathers.” pages 157-158I don’t follow Keillor but my guess is that he is one of the “agnostic liberals” he is writing about. What he said was true and accurate. My feeling is that he and his friends really think this is foolish conservative twaddle. The problem is, as a public school teacher, in the trenches with the products of these kinds of fathers, I must say that Keillor’s mockery was irony because it is true.
Grab your truth wherever you can find it.
Keillor, Garrison. Lake Wobegon Days. New York: Viking, 1985.
homo unius libri
Opus 2014-200: The Christian Two-Step
One of the songs we have been working to learn at our church has a chorus that starts off,
“Give us clean hands,
Give us pure hearts;
Let us not lift our souls to another.”
The point of the song is to call us to a life of dedicated service to God. It is calling for the discipline of a lifetime. That is a good insight into the Christian life.
If you attend an evangelical church or have ever been to what is called a revival, you have seen people who will make a decision in a moment. This often involves a public action or statement and can be very emotional. It can be genuine or total emotion. Only time will tell.
Most people who “go forward” don’t stick with it. They either drift away when the moment fades or throw up their hands and say, “Enough.”
Our common culture is into fast food, quick fixes and hour dramas. We have short attention spans and want it now because we may not remember what it was in a few minutes. To our culture the call to salvation is like the drive-through when we are on the road. It gives us satisfaction now. It feeds a hunger that we feel. This is the grace that comes through salvation. It has many aspects such as justification and regeneration.
Our common culture tends to teach us to reject the tedium of sanctification. In Bible terms, sanctification means a life juxtapositioned to the common standards of our culture. For most Christian traditions it is the process of working out the ingrained habits and responses. Although there is an instantaneous aspect of sanctification the part that is often ignored is the life long learning of discipline. Sanctification is usually one step at a time. It is tedious. It never stops.
People tend to like the idea of being saved. It is exciting to sing, “Jesus is a wonderful savior.” People tend to reject sanctification. It means that we need to sing, “He is Lord.” As Americans, as humans, we don’t like the idea of someone lording it over us. We want to do our own thing.
Being a Christian is not a moment of emotion. It is not an occasional visit to church. It is not wearing a cross around your neck. It is a transformation that begins in a moment and continues for eternity.
I pray that you will take the first step and keep stepping.
Grace and peace.
homo unius libri
“Give us clean hands,
Give us pure hearts;
Let us not lift our souls to another.”
The point of the song is to call us to a life of dedicated service to God. It is calling for the discipline of a lifetime. That is a good insight into the Christian life.
If you attend an evangelical church or have ever been to what is called a revival, you have seen people who will make a decision in a moment. This often involves a public action or statement and can be very emotional. It can be genuine or total emotion. Only time will tell.
Most people who “go forward” don’t stick with it. They either drift away when the moment fades or throw up their hands and say, “Enough.”
Our common culture is into fast food, quick fixes and hour dramas. We have short attention spans and want it now because we may not remember what it was in a few minutes. To our culture the call to salvation is like the drive-through when we are on the road. It gives us satisfaction now. It feeds a hunger that we feel. This is the grace that comes through salvation. It has many aspects such as justification and regeneration.
Our common culture tends to teach us to reject the tedium of sanctification. In Bible terms, sanctification means a life juxtapositioned to the common standards of our culture. For most Christian traditions it is the process of working out the ingrained habits and responses. Although there is an instantaneous aspect of sanctification the part that is often ignored is the life long learning of discipline. Sanctification is usually one step at a time. It is tedious. It never stops.
People tend to like the idea of being saved. It is exciting to sing, “Jesus is a wonderful savior.” People tend to reject sanctification. It means that we need to sing, “He is Lord.” As Americans, as humans, we don’t like the idea of someone lording it over us. We want to do our own thing.
Being a Christian is not a moment of emotion. It is not an occasional visit to church. It is not wearing a cross around your neck. It is a transformation that begins in a moment and continues for eternity.
I pray that you will take the first step and keep stepping.
Grace and peace.
homo unius libri
Opus 2014-199: Headlines: Promises to Keep
Who said that presidents never keep their promises. You may not get to keep your doctor but you will get the promised increase in utility bills. According to the blog, Hot Air, The campaigning Barak Obama said in an interview with the San Fransico Chronicle,
The president’s promise to raise utility rates is being fulfilled according to CNSNews. Of course there are many factors in the cost of energy but if you go to the end of the article you will see that the average electricity generated per person is now lower in 2007.
Doesn’t Economics 101 teach something about supply and demand?
homo unius libri
“Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.”Interestingly enough, the liberal Chronicle has removed this but if you Google it you can find many references and a You Tube clip also.
The president’s promise to raise utility rates is being fulfilled according to CNSNews. Of course there are many factors in the cost of energy but if you go to the end of the article you will see that the average electricity generated per person is now lower in 2007.
Doesn’t Economics 101 teach something about supply and demand?
homo unius libri
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