Of Vistas and Cats

Will Apple finally announced their new operating system. The Vista Vaporware is still out there somewhere being tested. Microsoft now charges for testing of alpha products, what they call beta. Microsoft beta products are usually called final release.

Does the future of computing really matter?

Will people be stupid enough to downgrade to Vista Vaporware? With all the DRM that is involved. Yeech.

I wonder how long till Apple moves down that evil path.

of Locusts and Carob Pods

"Where is your faith, at least it has been suggested that John the Baptist ate carob pods and not locusts."

Why is my faith questioned. Why because if I choose not believe something really odd with no evidence whatsoever my faith is questioned. "Can't you just have a little faith," is asked of me. Everyone seems to jump to Heb. 11:1: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." I agree with this but there is something I wonder of this passage

People want Heb 11:1 to mean blind faith of all the wacky things that are out there. If one considers the context of Heb 11:1 and remove the fake chapter divisions and the fake verse divisions we come with a new context. We see that the passage prior to the Heb 11 refers to persecution and that King Messiah is coming back for those who are faithful. Consider 10:35-39 the paragraph just before 11:1:

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

Now for my running commentary

So do not throw away [cast aside]your confidence [of faith in King Messiah just because times are getting rough]; it [your confidence of faith in Messiah] will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere [till the end] so that when you have done the will of G-d [preserving faith under persecution], you will receive what He has promised [in the world to come]. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay [King Messiah comes for his own]. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved [those who have kept the faith are given a place in the world to come].
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. [the rest of chapter 1 is what? Commentary on this verse and examples of 10:35-39.]

Okay so what is faith. Faith is belief to the end. We are all given reasons for faith. Meaning there are good reasons to believe. The Holy One, blessed be He, has not given us philosophical certainty for faith. If we had a philosophical certainty [or even a reasonable person's understanding of 100% that there is a G-d and His Messiah the 100% proof to back it up] then we would not need faith because there would be nothing to believe it would be as natural as accepting gravity. We could test and empirical prove that G-d is who He said He was. Then we would be expected to worship and be no better the angels, whom we shall judge. Instead, we are given an area in which we can believe or not believe.

Think about this for a moment. We are given the opportunity to believe. This belief is often described as a blind faith. nothing could be further from the truth. I do not have the time or space to list everything, I am going to assume that you are smart enough to read books and so I suggest:

Evidence That Demands a Verdict
Love G-d With All Your Mind
A Reasonable Faith
A Reasonable Faith (another)
Mere Christianity

I have faith that King Messiah will return one day. Why do I believe this, because everything else he has asked to be accept and believe, I do. I believe, based on the evidence, that he came and was born of young girl who had no prior relationships. Based on the evidence I believe that the BIble we have today is what was said way back when. I believe, because of the evidence that, He died on a stake, was buried, and rose again on the third day. As the words from one of my favorite traditional songs Ani ma'amin says:

Ani ma'amin,
Be'emuna shelema
Beviat hamashiach ani ma'amin
Beviat hamashiach, ma'amin
Beviat hamashiach ani ma'amin
Beviat hamashiach, ma'amin
Veaf al pi sheyitmahmeha
Im kol zeh, achake loh
Veaf al pi sheyitmahmeha
Im kol zeh, achake loh
Im kol zeh, im kol zeh, achake loh
Achake bechol yom sheyavoh
Im kol zeh, im kol zeh, achake loh
Achake bechol yom sheyavoh

Translation:

I believe with complete faith
In the coming of the Messiah, I believe

Believe in the coming of the Messiah
In the coming of the Messiah, I believe
Believe in the coming of the Messiah

And even though he may tarry
Nonetheless I will wait for him
And even though he may tarry
Nonetheless I will wait for him

Nonetheless, I will wait for him
I will wait every day for him to come
Nonetheless, I will wait for him
I will wait every day for him to come

So again, tell me why do I not have faith if I do not want to believe, against all evidence, that John the Baptist ate carob pods and not locusts.



Tags: Faith, Yeshua, Why Bother, Philosopy, veggies, Odd

The Republicans

I have been thinking about the future and the problems currently surrounding government. I have, since I could first vote, voted Republican as I came to age under Reagan. I am a solid social conservative and I am convinced of the need of a smaller government, less government control and the freedoms that we as Americans enjoy.

I am concerned. I am gravely concerned. The government of laws and the Constitution on which it is based seems to have some real problems of late. I have grave concerns of the Republican party which I have helped elect into office, donated to, worked for and defended over the past 20+ years.

1. I am concerned about privacy:

I am concerned that privacy is eroding and the government is grabbing what it can when it can. I am not an alarmist screaming the sky is falling. I am not a liberal trying to scare you, I am a conservative Republican.

A. All your emails are being read somewhere by some computer and looking for who knows what in the text.

B. Think skype is safe. Government wants to listen.

C. You have been listened to on the landline phone.

D. My bank account may have been compromised.

E. My ISP is being forced to archive where I have been.

Now you may say, "If you don't do anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about." Really? Are you so sure? I can guarantee you that somewhere in all those vast law books and tomes of US Code, you are guilty of something. It would only be theoretically possible to life so perfect that one does not violate some US Code, some state law, some local rule. Trust me, you are not that perfect.

I hope it never becomes directly illegal to be a Christian (it is becoming more legally difficult) or whatever other group you may be associated with. Those Bible web pages that you visit could come back to haunt you as the government collects two years of web pages (for the children).


What if we all of sudden have the type of anti-hate speech like Canada has? You are on the phone with your pastor and you have some reservations about a gay couple moving into your neighborhood. THe FBI may show up and help you to a readjustment camp. Your phone is being listened to.

Needless to say your computer calls all kinds of places you never thought of. Microsoft which runs about 85% of the nations computers is phoning home and you may never ever know it. Other companies such as Warcraft (I do not endorse the program) calls home every time you play, oh and it does not let you know.

Anything is being accepted as long as it protects the children. Both sides play this game. Your ISP will hold every site you have been too in the last two years just in case you are a pedophile. I hope your wireless internet is secure. Someone could download a naughty picture and you are in jail. Many people have found themselves on the bad side of the RIAA for such an offense.

2. I am concerned of the police state

People are being arrested for taking pictures of cops. One person had a video surveillance system at his home. He was questioned by the police. He went and complained and showed the evidence. He was arrested for video taping. Update: The person in NH was not charged.

I am still concerned with search and seizure laws. There have been a number of odd cases of cops getting away with a bad searches.

I will not even mention gun laws.

Seems police can do anything since 9/11.

What happened to our rights?





3. What about the Republicans?

We voted these people in and they seem to be worse the democrats. The Republicans are cowards and wimps. We gave them control of the White House and the Senate and the House and all we have received is:

A. All we have seen is an expanded social welfare programs
B. More government spending
C. Greater government increases
D. Being wimpy on judges
E. Many unfunded mandates (the biggest is NCLB)
F. Social security getting worse.
G. The patriot act


I have real doubts that I will ever vote republican again.

I recall what Ronald Reagan said, I used to be a Democrat but I did not leave them, they left me.


So, why should I vote for the Republicans?

Tags: Republicans, congress, Freedom of speech, The House, vote, Politics


UPDATE: After sending this off to Republican leaders I have received no response. It has been more then two weeks.