Middle America's Worldview

We actually accomplished alot this weekend. Cleaning house, preparing for a yard sale, mowing the yard, just to name a few ocurences this weekend. I am glad we did get alot done, considering another week of running is already here.

I was also on-call last week. I had one call during the week, but Sunday made up for it. I was working most of the day on a re-occuring issue for one of our servers. I am hoping this time, they found the culprit (possibly backup tapes).

This week, I look forward to the following evenings.

Mon- Running at least seven errands with the kids.
Tue- Kel's B-day evening.
Wed- TeamKids
Thur-School Board meeting
Fri- (Do I get this evening off?)

Unreal.

I found this interesting and wanted to share it. These are the most frequent questions/answers for Mike Evans.

What is the present status of Iran's nuclear program?

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stated that Iran will have 3000 centrifuges by the end of July. This is the number needed to build an atomic bomb. The Agency has said the Iran will have 8000 by the end of the year.
Found here.

You met with President Barzani during a State invitation to northern Iraq in April 2007. What is the status of Kurdistan now?

The U.S. Base in the capital, Erbil, will be empty by the end of this month. The 1500 South Koreans that now man the base are leaving Iraq. If the U.S. does not occupy the base, the Turks will invade. The Turks have oil contracts with Iran and do not want the Kurds to control the Kirkuk oil fields (considered the largest untapped reserves in the world).

HAMAS has recently taken over Gaza; why?

Iran has given the order for HAMAS to attempt to destabilize Israel. The same thing was done last summer through Iran's other sub-contractor, Hezbollah. I was on the northern border of Israel when some 4000 missiles were fired into Israel. Why? To weaken Israel so it will not attack Iran's nuclear reactors. HAMAS' plan is to establish an Islamic theocracy from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River with no Jews. Their constitution says, "The day of judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then Jews will hide under rocks and the rocks will cry out, 'Oh, Muslim, a Jew is hidden behind me; come and kill him.'" HAMAS airs a daily show "Tomorrow's Pioneers," a Mickey Mouse-type video in which children sing songs and recite poems about how they will blow up Jews, since all Jews are considered "monkeys and pigs." An unrestrained Islamic revolution is spreading through Iraq, Lebanon, and the PA while the world sleeps. This revolution is fueled and fed by Iran; its final move is to take it to the streets of America.

What is the current status of your book, The Final Move Beyond Iraq, since it hit #1 on the New York Times list?

The second and third weeks, the book posted at #5, and the fourth week, it posted at #6.
What would the U.S. or Israel have to do to impede Iran's nuclear program?
Iran's three facilities in order of ascending importance would have to be attacked. They are the heavy water and plutonium reactors under construction at Arak, a uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, and a uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. Fifty Israeli jets would have to reach these targets to succeed: twenty-five F-151s and twenty-five F-161s.

What do the Iranians believe concerning the End Times?

They believe there are 50 signs of the coming of the "perfect human being," the Mahdi's resurrection. Some of those signs are:
Death of 1/3 of mankind
Elimination of scholars
Fireball in the sky (a nuclear event?)
Profanation of the house of Islam
Skyscrapers and technology
War - East verses the West (Armageddon)
The Mahdi and Jesus will jointly defeat the Dajjal (Antichrist), liberate Palestine, and unite the world under Islam
A cataclysmic situation will usher in the Mahdi
What do they believe about Jesus?
He was prophet, but not the Son of God.
He was raised to heaven but not crucified.
He will reign 40 years, die, and be buried in a tomb beside Mohammad.
The chosen devotees (144,000) of al-Mahdi will reach Israel within a short period of time to oppose the great deceiver, Israel.
He will be a faithful Muslim and make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
He will visit Mohammad's grave, salute Mohammad, and destroy Christianity.

Does Iran plan to attack the U.S. with nuclear weapons?

Yes, their goal is to detonate a nuclear device in the U.S. FBI director Robert Mueller said that the goal of the terrorists is to hit American cities - among them, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston, Houston, and Washington, D.C.

How can I see the documentary on the subject?

You may purchase a copy of the documentary on the website, www.beyondiraq.com, or you may watch a pay-per-view version. You can purchase it for $10.00 or watch it on pay-per-view for $4.95 by going to www.beyondiraq.com.

What can I do to help?

Send this email to everyone on your list; ask them to buy the book and watch the special.

Ask your pastor to preach on it. There is a message complete with PowerPoint information on www.beyondiraq.com at no cost. Also ask him to buy the book and use it as a study guide for church members. The book contains a 21-day call to prayer plan.

URGENT! PLEASE SEND THIS TO YOUR ENTIRE LIST AND ASK THEM TO PRAY. THIS IS A BATTLE BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT...

Dr. Mike Evans’ latest #1 New York Times bestseller, The Final Move Beyond Iraq, outlines the threat that Iran’s terror activities through its proxies, Hezbollah and HAMAS, holds for Israel, and indeed, the world.
The battle can be won, but it has to be fought by knowing the truth (it will set us free), and through prayer.

Millions of praying saints (Daniels and Esthers) can reverse the curse. Esther won the battle:

"If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. What's more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14)
Daniel won the battle: "The people that do know their God will be strong and do exploits..." (Daniel 11:28)

All royalties from the book will be used to bless Israel.

I had a wonderful Birthday. Much appreciated to the family. I was awaken by breakfast in bed. My little girl fixed breakfast for me. Yes, it was good. LOL

Here is most of the cookie cake the family provided. I love the local cookie cakes.

Lucky me, the kids couldn't wait for Fathers Day to give me those gifts too. I was provided awesome gifts, made by the kids and purchased by the wife. The most techy gift was a WinTV. It allows me to watch tv on my pc. Cool beans.

We played all day together and watched "Eragon" (one of my gifts), which turned out to be a really cool movie.

So, a wonderful birthday followed up by a great Fathers Day. We plan to watch movies today after church. The son and I will hit the new Fantastic Four, while the girls watch the Nancy Drew. I will probably post a review on it.

The best gift of all is the family I am blessed with. With all honest and sincerity, I can say, God has truly blessed this unworthy soul the best family one could ever wish for.

We utilize the cable company like most do around here. Primarily, I use them for the cable internet access. It hit our area before the phone DSL, so I obviously jumped on the cable highway as soon as it was made availible.

Given that, the cable company began to offer another tantalizing option, in the name of DVR. The digital video recorder came into the public spotlight by TIVO. Since then other companies have attempted to get into the mix, some were sued by TIVO for having too close of a product using their patent. From the looks of it, this niche will only grow.

I listened to the others having the dvr and was told by all, they love it. However, when I asked can you export that same video, no-one knew. Now before you jump in and say it's illegal to copy off the cable, I would simply remind you the VCR did the same thing and no-one blew a gasket over it.

The other day, I finally took in my regular cable box and traded it in for a DVR. There was basically a 10 dollar difference per month between the two. The DVR I acquired suppose to hold 40 hours of video. Not too bad, considering 80% will probably be taken up by 30 minute cartoons.

I tried to play with it last week by recording the show "Pirate Master" on Thursday night. I was able to view it Friday evening. I noticed the same 7 p.m. show was accidently recorded twice. You can view the "DVR Listing" and choose a recorded show. I chose one of the two and behold, it was a black screen with a rolling text on the bottom informing me this show can not be duplicated or copied.

'Interesting'.

I then chose the other recorded show and it played fine. So, the cable company has some type of firmware, within the box, that does not allow you to record the same show twice at the same time.

I haven't tested or tried to actually record from the DVR to a VHS/DVD combo.

Unfortunately, what I am seeing is a great attempt to put up a wall from the media/video itself. The VHS is being replaced with disc (similar to the cassette with cd's). Along with the change, the ability to duplicate is being removed.

Someone had suggested to read Richard Dawkins book entitled "The God Delusion". I was finally able to snag it at the library.

I also was able to acquire the video "The God who wasn't there" by the same Dawkins.
I understand he also had a couple of documentaries called "The root of all evil". I haven't seen those yet, but intend to view them as well.

Why would I read and view some information from the viewpoint of an Atheist? I am glad you asked.

When I converse with someone, I like to have a better understanding of that person's worldview. For me, it makes it easier to communicate when I understand the persons background and worldview.

Note I said converse and not debate. Over the years, I simply have found debates to be unproductive.

So I am reading why this, once christian boy, now has the worldview of a naturalist.

I read an interesting article that really made me think (no comments please).
The article is here.

Essentially, it reminded me of the precious times I have left with the kids. They looked at the Saturdays (50 per year) times the childs age minus 18.

So, my daughter is now 9, soon to be 10. 9 minus 18 equals 9. Take 9 times 50 (for the number of Saturdays per year) and I am left with 450 Saturdays to spend with her. Not much actually. My son is 8. 8 minus 18 leaves me 10. 10 times 50 is 500. So I have only 500 Saturdays left to spend with him.

Realizing I have less than 500 Saturdays, saddens me. This is in the perfect world of actually spending every Saturday with them. Sigh.

I would simply convey, Dads, spend more times with your kids. I am putting this PC down and doing just that.

For a four day week, it sure has been a long one. Been on-call all week, but still knocking on wood. I sill have this dreaded cold, but started to feel better yesterday. Perhaps, I am nearly over it.

Work continues to consume me. This weekend on Sunday Kel's family has a yearly reunion we will be going to. Last year, I took the kids while Kel worked. This year it looks like both of us will be able to go. From what I hear, there will not be many showing up.