Plug for Atomic Opera

www.atomicopera.com
sample: http://www.atomicopera.com/mp3/gc/Malediction.mp3

Malediction
The judges sat outside the law
And in their pride no evil saw
In setting teeth to Satan's jaw
And feeding him our children.
When viewed in terms of cost and ease
An unborn child is a disease
A holocaust seen fit to please
Our own convience.
A curse A curse the law it cries.
A curse a curse on mankind's pride.
A curse on him who would deny
God's image in mankind.
Torn from out their mother's womb
Denied the sky - denied a tomb
Conceived in lust to their own ruin
A sacrifice to pleasure.
The doctors with their blood red hands
Who love their money more than man,
With greed their god they lay their plans
The butchers of mankind.
A curse a curse the blood cries out
A curse a curse the heavens shout
A curse a curse on he who flouts
God's image in mankind.
O rid us of this evil, Lord
And turn our hearts by cross or sword.
Our nation cannot long afford
To live beneath your judgements.
A curse a curse upon their heads
O save them Lord or slay them dead
And fill our country with your dread
And turn away Your anger.

Insanity is not so bad.

As long as you tether your ankle to reality it's not a bad thing to go a little bonkers every now and then. I thought my son was going to fall of his chair when I took this on my cell phone!

No reason, I just like the sign.

Merry Christmas Rittman Ohio style!!!

No such thing as excess!!! The kids love this and we need some fun this year desperately!!! You have to give these people credit for boldness!!!

Goodwill Rocks!

Where else will a quarter get you something cool like these things?

He sees you when you're sleeping...he's making a list...and he carries an axe!?!?

Some of where it comes from...

An explanation will come soon. I'm tired right now.

This is Stanley Ryan. Sometime around 1910. I wish that I could have met him.

The Gospel of John Chapter 15. Heavy words.

I have heard so much soft doctrine over the years that there have been times I've actually believed it. Lately it has hit me in a very strong way that Jesus is not a genie in a bottle. There are still far too many people selling God in a way that sooths itching ears. I have read/heard this chapter at least ten times in the last month or so. The message here is very clear: Stick close to Jesus and He will stick close to you. Do your own thing and expect Him to be with you and it doesn't look like you are going to make it. It's been hitting me like a hammer.

John 15
1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17These things I command you, that ye love one another.
18If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
23He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
24If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
25But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
26But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
27And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

Blessings...

I put this picture up in advance of Thanksgiving day with the full intent of making comment prior to, or on, T-day. I'm not into the traditional "horn of plenty" but for me this is the real horn of plenty: A 50's fridge stuffed with processed food and pop!

Just kidding...It is a reflection of the state our fridge has been in ever since a large struggle began for me and my family. Through it all God has provided! We have not missed a house payment nor have we gone hungry. Truly the Lord is good even though His methods confuse the living crap out of me at times.

Due to the nature of cyberspace I don't feel like spilling this particular set of my guts out. Should you be at a point of confusion and struggle..and you feel like the voice of God is as quiet as a mouse breathing...don't be afraid to post a comment and we'll figure a way for me to contact you and I will try to encourage you with a little more detail. My situation may not line up with yours but a shared burden is indeed much lighter. The way I look at it is there is no point in going through rough times if you can't use that experience to help someone else either avoid it or bear a similar thing.

I'll never be able to eat bread again...

What happens when you get married too young...

Can you believe this handsome devil...

Turned into this in just a couple of decades???

Some thoughts on the Virgin Birth

A lot of things I write about are spinoffs of incidents in my life or conversations I have had with other people. The following is a variant of a conversation I have had recently with a great friend over coffee.

We were discussing various things in the Bible and one thing that popped up was the virgin birth. I have no doubt that someone else has said some variant of what's below and maybe a multiple of folks. For whatever reason it was the first time that I had thought of it.

There had to be a virgin birth. There wasn't any other way around it. While God could do anything he wants there are some things that he cannot do as they are contrary to his nature.

For one thing sex is for the marriage bed so for the Father to have sex with a daughter would not only be incredibly creepy it would be a violation of the ten commandments. So there's that.

For another thing, a soul is created at the point of conception so you cannot have a situation where a human soul is occupying Mary's womb and have God's spirit in the baby at the same time. This would be the equivilant of demon posession and God doesn't work that way.

When we become Christians God does indeed come into us but it is only through our willingness that he takes up cohabitation. If Jesus had an earthly father then a human soul would be there thus making it impossible for him to be God. If that had been acceptable then any of us could have been born God via posession and would have made the birth of Jesus arbitrary and trivial.

Going further, accepting the divine conception as truth, if Jesus had to ask God into his heart the way we do then he would have been born without a spirit and that doesn't work either. From the point of God's unique creation of the Christ child God stayed right there through the whole pregnancy.

I don't know how to describe it beyond this. Christ as an avatar doesn't sound quite right. What I do know is that there's no way around a virgin birth.

Matthew 10:29-31 NKJV

This little one got herself trapped in a house that I am remodeling/painting/breaking/fixing. We have the floor torn out of a kitchen and several contractors are working on multiple aspects of the estate. I was working in the basement at the time. I went upstairs to use the bathroom and I saw this sparrow flying all over the place banging her head into the windows over and over again in all of the rooms (I couldn't open the windows because it was too cold and other guys were painting in another area of the house and that's not good for paint at all). She was looking for release everywhere. From her perspective every window promised to reward her chosen direction. Each window lied to her. Many of the same windows lied to her several times. I tried catching her over and over again and she kept flying away from me. Obviously she didn't trust me to release her from her prison so I kept my moves slow and deliberate so as not to speed her on her way to an early demise. Eventually she flew down into the floor of the kitchen and hid. I backed off and went back to my work for a while to give her space. A little later I went back up and there she was again trying desperately for freedom. I started directing her by closing doors to the larger areas as I could steer her flight. After closing off four rooms I had her down to a room with a bathroom. She tried each of the windows again and then went into the bathroom and I followed. I just stood there for a little bit watching her fly around in a very finite space until she finally landed on the floor and just surrendered herself to whatever I had planned for her. I reached down and gently cupped her into my hand and took her outside taking just long enough to tell her that I really was watching out for her. Then I released her to where she really needed to be. Her life would have ended if I hadn't guided her through her false assumptions and move her back to the path that would sustain her.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."-God

Toolbox

I have a lot of old tools in my toolbox. I pick up a lot of stuff at yard sales or auctions. I was looking through them and noticing how battered they were and how many I have rigged together with duct tape and other crutches. It got me thinking about things on a larger scale and this post may sound sappy but I really don't care as it's the first time I have written anything in a while....
Whoops! Sorry, I saw something shiny...Anyway...

All those tools were things that nobody else wanted. Some of them I acquired for free. Pieces of steel and wood that others found no value in I managed to see something a little bigger than the initial appearance.

Like I said it got me thinking about things on a larger scale. Did you ever think about the tools that God uses? He doesn't have a single brand new screwdriver in the drawer. All of us just chunks of wood and steel born broken and tarnished and only getting moreso over time. {like we were manufactured in China ;)}

What the world has discarded in it's global yard sale God has been able to say of all of us "you know, I could use that" and even though he has an abundance of 12mm sockets he still picks up another one when it comes to him and puts it to use.

I like that idea. He can take the worst of us and turn us into "Craftsman's" and no matter how bad those might look they are guaranteed for life to the Owner.

(This one might have been a strech but I liked it.)

Appropriate

Lexington Blueberry Festival

http://www.lexingtonblueberryfestival.com/

This is a no charge family oriented festival. If you can make it you can watch all kinds of things including this:

Now this one was right!

what braveheart character would you be (scotland) created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Mad Stephen You are mad Stephen. You are Irish and claim to own Ireland. You also claim to talk to God personally. You're a bit of a loony. Mad Stephen 81% William Wallace 75% Edward the Longshanks 63% Hamish Campbell 63% Robert the Bruce 56% Murin 38% Princess Isabella 13% Edward II 6%

Family

You Don't Have To Be What You Were Born

Phillipians 3:7-11

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead

....and...

Ephesians 6:10-12

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

We are all born destined for evil. It's a fact. All we have to do is look at our track record and see where we have fallen short in at least one area of life. Prior to our acceptance of Christ all was lost. After our acceptance and yielding to Christ in our lives as ruler we are still left to contend with the things that we were born to be.

We hear it on the news all the time: "I am like this because this happened to me or this person did this to me".

I do not look down my nose at anyone's past. I don't look down my nose at my own past. I will not, however, let it determine who I am this minute, the next minute, or the next day.

Truly many of us have been scarred, manipulated, abused, molested, and/or assaulted at some point or points in our lives. For some people the points of these crimes occurred every day for years of their lives.

And if there is any exception to what I have just stated I can say this for the remainder and for all of us as a whole: we have all been deceived.

We have been told by psychology that we are the products of our environment. We have been sold the lie that we are bound to our cultural and genetic inheritence. These lies becomes the truth when we accept it as such.

When we become self aware, and I mean truly self aware, we break the bonds of our history and truly embrace potential. The truth of the matter is this self awareness can only reach it's full disclosure in the continued seeking out of God and who He is as well has what has been given up for us. We absolutely must come to the clarity that I/you were individually and collectively of such tremendous value that God would take our place in the penalty for our own past crimes. Make no mistake crime is sin and sin is crime. And none of us, whether victim or perpetrator can escape a measure of guilt.

But where am I going after all of this? Let's see...oh yeah "We do not have to be what we are born." We may have the tendency to go that route as it is what we are most familiar with, what's the easiest, what is most deeply known, or in many cases what we want.

When we accept Christ we start to see the evil thing that we have been and the things that evil person has done. Don't get me wrong, we are still destined for demonhood left on our own. The only difference between a Christian and a non Christian is the acceptance of the gift that God has given by the Christian. With that acceptance we also an inherit a revulsion for ourselves every time that we lean the old way or fall the old way. That revulsion is a good thing. A very good thing. That means the Holy Spirit's poking at us.

What the devil does with that revulsion, however, is a perversion. He will tell you that you cannot win, that you cannot change, that you are too bad to be of any use to God, and that you might as well just go back to the old path and enjoy what you can of it. After all, what's the use? We aren't perfect right?

This is by no means meant to be a cause and effect formula but often times the closer that we get to where God want's us the more troubles people get into.

And the devil's smart. He doesn't have to get you to go 180 degrees from God he just has to bump you off course enough that you forget about where you were going. Satan and his boys will tug and tug and throw crap in the path of the faithful. If nothing else take it as flattery. Personally, if my life was going 100 percent smooth I'd be nervous.

Don't feel bad brother or sister as you are not alone. Paul, arguably the greatest of the apostles, battled it all the time. The book of Romans details a great deal of flesh vs. spirit for control of our life. I'm going to mention only a spot:

Romans 5:19-6:2

19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

It's a war friends. A war around us and a war within us. But we don't have to lose. But we do have to fight. God will make up the difference from our weakness but we must fight. And the more we fight the better we will get at it. The battles will be swifter and don't be suprised if they are spaced out a little further from each other. Just don't expect them to disappear because they won't. Don't get complacent and don't be fearful. Just stay ready and remember Who's got your back.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
1 Peter 1:18-19 (New International Version)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXySJAqcnak

Praise You in this Storm

I was sure by now

That You would have reached down

And wiped our tears away

Stepped in and saved the day

But once again,

I say "Amen",

and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls

I barely hear

You whisper through the rain

"I'm with you"

And as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives

And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm

And i will lift my hands

For You are who You are

No matter where I am

Every tear I've cried

You hold in Your hand

You never left my side

And though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm

I remember when

I stumbled in the wind

You heard my cry

You raised me up again

My strength is almost gone

How can I carry on

If I can't find You?

I lift my eyes unto the hills

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord

The maker of heaven and earth...

-Casting Crowns

Lexington Blueberry Festival in Lexington Ohio

Here's the link: http://www.lexingtonblueberryfestival.com/

One of the items will be Highland Games and you will see some larger than average guys wearing kilts with shirts that have something like this on them:

Once Again A Child Holds A Clue That I Lost

I have had a couple of the toughest months in my recent years of life. I attend a couple of churches and was at one tonight. It is a practice within my faith for people to pray for each other while "laying hands on them". I'm not talking about a Benny Hinn punch to a forehead kind of a thing.

Anyway, I have a need in my life that most of the congregation knows about and the pastor insisted that I, along with others in need, go to the front during a prayer meeting.

We prayed, and the statement of my need is not required for this post, and we prayed for a little while. I felt something press lightly at my side and looked down to see a little girl no more than four years old standing there beside me praying for me with her one hand outstretched to me and the other hand to another person that was being prayed for.

If anyone needs a blessing in their life get a kid to pray for you. The act alone is a blessing to you but going beyond that I firmly believe that kids have a much clearer set of ears to hear God talking. She knew what she could do to help someone in need. The one thing that many of us, me especially, forget to do or leave till the last minute. The thing that we should be doing in the first minute of a challenge.

Tonight was a great night for me and one that was overdue although if you were to ask God I'm sure He would say it was just at the right time...

Some Science For a Belief in God

The Scientific Reasons for Why I believe. (At least a couple of them anyway.)
I will admit up front that the numeric values I will list in the course of the following are not numbers that I intuitively know. I did look into them though. There are two schools of science at play for me really when it comes to support of the belief of a creator God. Considering that you already know I am a professed Christian it's not going to be hard to figure out that I have an angle to my argument. Considering that my degree is in English you also know that I am not a scientist. In fact my grammar is slipping down the drain from a lack of use. But I did get an A in Mechanical Physics...
Biology:
Starting out with biology it's really a matter of the knowns that we have in conjunction with probabilities. In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy an infinite number of monkeys want to discuss a script that they had made for Hamlet. It's a joke that is based on the notion that if you have an infinite number of monkeys banging on an infinite number of typewriters you will eventually have copies of everything that has ever been written.
Here's some of what we do know about Biology (or at least what I am pretty sure I know). The numeric values may float a little bit depending on the scientist that you talk to but this will be fairly close. Close enough for horseshoes anyway and close enough for evolution in my discussion.

-Species. A species, per the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a fundamental category of taxonomic classification, ranking below a genus or subgenus and consisting of related organisms capable of interbreeding". This definition is in fact incomplete. There are members of different species that can definitely mate but they do not produce fertile offspring (mule). The true definition of species is a group of organisms that can mate AND produce fertile offspring. This is indeed key. The only way for a new species to be created is through mutation on a genetic level.
-Variation. This is not to be confused with species. There are 35,000 genes in humans that allow for over 3 million variations inside the genetic code. These variations all work inside of the single species of humans. I do not know the number of genes for any other animal or plantlife on Earth and I don't know if they will ever map out the codes of 2 million to 100 species but I will say that they are not the same as a human and will not be able to interbreed successfully no matter how much fun they have trying. (http://www.ernestrossi.com/what_is_life.htm )

-Mutations. Mutations do happen in the genetics of all living things on earth. The vast majority of these mutations however are not favorable. Evolution relies on favorable mutation occurring over time and in a surviving relationship to the environments of the organisms at hand. So far I'm cognitively following this. Where evolution takes two steps to the right outside of my head, however, is in the sheer number of species changing and thriving over billions of years. Keep in mind that the untold millions, if not billions, of multicelled organisms over billions of years must be able to find a minimum of one other mate having THE SAME mutation and they have to get along well enough to make more of them. The odds of surviving, finding food, not getting eaten, and finding each other are maddeningly slim to me. I will not go the direction of talking about the ill effects of inbreeding within a population other than to say that it is not a good thing for one species or 100 million species.

-How many species? It is estimated, sloppily, that there are between 5 and 100 million species of animal life on Earth today (http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/070803_gm_numberspecies.html ). There are indeed 2 million existing species that scientists have identified to date. This is a tremendous number. In relative terms it is the equivilant of filling between 20 Ohio Stadiums and 1000 Ohio stadiums with unique representatives that cannot get together at the game and make new babies. The implication is that, at minimum, there are at least an equal number of stadiums housing a single fertile mate for the others.

-Where am I going with this? Consider that the number of species listed above only accounts for organisms on earth today. Consider the claims of evolution that our our planet is billions of years old. Remember that each of these organisms must find it's counterpart somewhere in their environment just to produce one offspring. The odds are intensely against one common mutation thriving over any length of time beyond a single generation of that mutation. 2 million to 100 million however, and that's just a current snapshot of nature, thriving? Changing? Changing hundreds and thousands of times and finding each other?

Let's make it worse and step backwards from the organism. This could be exhaustive and I really don't want to belabor the biology side at this point. Life is to have found it's beginnings in chemicals and lightning. Michael Behe wrote a book called Darwin's Black Box. Mr. Behe is a Professor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem Pa. He is not well liked in the Biology department. I have not read the book but this is an excerpt:
page 39 of Darwin's Black Box : "By irreducibly complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning."

What's Behe saying here? Actually he says a great deal when you are talking about a single celled organism. Per evolution we came from the single celled life. But if you equate a single celled organism to a car then equate the engine, radiator, tires etc. to the elements of the animal. What he is saying is that the whole justifies the parts but there is no reason for the parts independent of the whole. For that matter there's even less of a reason for the subcomponents of the parts and that is even more important (an engine without sparkplugs) In other words, I think, the goo would not contain the core elements/parts to produce the whole.
"A prime example of Michael Behe's "irreducible complexity" is the bacteria flagellum. With over 40 essential parts, the flagellum is a rotary motor used to propel a bacteria in liquid. Spinning at 17,000 rpms, the motor is acid driven, liquid cooled and self-replicating." http://www.reviewevolution.com/irreducibleComplexity.php

To see a really cool diagram of this element of the animal go to: http://www.theplan.ofgphoto.com/example.html

and feel free to ignore what's written below the picture as the diagram is cool enough on it's own. Search the terms Michael Behe and Irreducable Complexity for much more depth both pro and con.

Ok I am done with Biology now....I'm moving on to Physics now and I promise it will be shorter.
Physics
I've found that a lot of folks in the realm of Biology get really pissed off at Physicists. Not all of them mind you but I think that some Bio's hate the fact that all of the physical reality that we know is governed by the rules of Physics. This includes Biology and Biologists. The science of Biology is governed by the science of Physics. You can't cheat Physics. You can copy and alter Biology but you just can't whip Physics. (Can you tell I like Physics?)
Anyway, I promised a shorter argument from Physics and here it is:
The Second Law of Thermodynamics: In a nutshell the natural world moves towards a natural state of maximum dis-order or a kind of equilibrium of all things. In a far larger explanation of Entropy please look at the following two paragraphs from

http://www.entropylaw.com/

"Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
The second law of thermodynamics (the entropy law or law of entropy) was formulated in the middle of the last century by Clausius and Thomson following Carnot's earlier observation that, like the fall or flow of a stream that turns a mill wheel, it is the "fall" or flow of heat from higher to lower temperatures that motivates a steam engine. The key insight was that the world is inherently active, and that whenever an energy distribution is out of equilibrium a potential or thermodynamic "force" (the gradient of a potential) exists that the world acts spontaneously to dissipate or minimize. All real-world change or dynamics is seen to follow, or be motivated, by this law. So whereas the first law expresses that which remains the same, or is time-symmetric, in all real-world processes the second law expresses that which changes and motivates the change, the fundamental time-asymmetry, in all real-world process. Clausius coined the term "entropy" to refer to the dissipated potential and the second law, in its most general form, states that the world acts spontaneously to minimize potentials (or equivalently maximize entropy), and with this, active end-directedness or time-asymmetry was, for the first time, given a universal physical basis. The balance equation of the second law, expressed as S > 0, says that in all natural processes the entropy of the world always increases, and thus whereas with the first law there is no time, and the past, present, and future are indistinguishable, the second law, with its one-way flow, introduces the basis for telling the difference. The active nature of the second law is intuitively easy to grasp and empirically demonstrate. If a glass of hot liquid, for example, as shown in Figure 3, is placed in a colder room a potential exists and a flow of heat is spontaneously produced from the cup to the room until it is minimized (or the entropy is maximized) at which point the temperatures are the same and all flows stop.
Boltzmann's View of the Second Law as a Law of Disorder
The active macroscopic nature of the second law posed a direct challenge to the "dead" mechanical world view which Boltzmann tried to meet in the latter part of the last century by reducing the second law to a law of probability following from the random collisions of mechanical particles (efficient cause (see Swenson (1990)). Following the lead of Maxwell who had modeled gas molecules as colliding billiard balls, Boltzmann argued that the second law was simply a consequence of the fact that since with each collision nonequilibrium distributions would become increasingly disordered leading to a final state of macroscopic uniformity and microscopic disorder. Because there are so many more possible disordered states than ordered ones, he concluded, a system will almost always be found either in the state of maximum disorder or moving towards it. As a consequence, a dynamically ordered state, one with molecules moving "at the same speed and in the same direction," Boltzmann (1974/1886, p. 20) asserted, is thus "the most improbable case conceivable...an infinitely improbable configuration of energy." Because this idea works for certain near equilibrium systems such as gases in boxes, and because science until recently was dominated by near equilibrium thinking, Boltzmann's attempted reduction of the second law to a law of disorder became widely accepted as the second law rather than simply an hypothesis about the second law, and one that we now know fails. It became the apparent justification from physics for solidifying Cartesian incommensurability and establishing the view of the two incommensurable rivers-the "river" of biology, psychology, and culture, or the epistemic dimension of the world characterized by intentional dynamics and flowing up to increasingly higher states of order, versus the "river" of physics flowing down to disorder. Such a view is entirely inimical to a science of ecological relations, since, as noted above, it is precisely through the interface of these two rivers that these relations occur, and if the interface is incommensurable then the relations are effectively prohibited, or at best, incomprehensible."

The second law of thermodynamics would have destroyed the primordial ooze before it even got oozey.

Done for now.

How a Midwestern Viking Spent his day on Friday January 11, 2008. 100% true.

The following is a true story. Anyone who knows me knows that I am capable and willing of doing what was done today.

I knew they were coming. What I was unsure of was their number this time. It hasn't been a year since I met upwith around six similar characters in a woods. Those were not alone and in fact were surrounded by a ring of folk common to them all with arms, hands, and fingers raised in support of those who faced me. But I beat each and every one of them and left their fans in silence.

This time would be different. There was equally twice the number. I knew this day was coming inside I just didn't know the date. As I said above I have met similar groups in my past. Sometimes I had the aid of others. No matter the occasion the occasion had one thing in common: Victory for me and those supporting me.

Today it was cold. The cold that amplifies itsself between fits of rain and balls of ice bouncing off the ground. There was a harmony of wind to add to the percussion provided by the sleet. These are the cold days that invite themselves into your marrow. How fitting...

So...it turned out that today was the day of a similar calling experienced less than one passing of the Sun. I looked outside of my barn door and there they were. Just sitting there. Easily a dozen but I was not taking the time for an official counting. I just knew what task lay before me. I took a deep breath, sat down my Busch beer that I had only just started. I grabbed my axe and asked them "how shall it be today?"

There was no answer from my opponents. There never has been with these types. Such is their way.

And so it began.
My opponents all easily weighed as much as me. Some weighing a great deal no more. They were of various ages and sizes all grouped together.

What of it?

I sized up one of their number, raised my axe in silence and struck my nemesis down. But with me it is never enough to just strike once. I have to make a point.I hacked, dismemembered, and cracked my axe against the first. I took this monster to task removing finger, limb, and disecting and redisecting torso till there was nothing left worth hacking at. Then I looked at the others and they just sat there saying nothing. Not even a word.

I moved on to the next and ignored the sheer number as they seemed content to sacrifice their comrades and simply wear me down to death.

The next fell faster.

The next, being much more stout, took many more strokes. At least eight blows beneath my seasoned axe before this beast was added to the pile of parts as well.

And on it went. They were a mixed group in terms of age and stature but I will say that not a one of them ran. I hacked and hacked, echoes falling on some blows from the sides of farms distant and adjacent to my own sacred barn.

After two hours I asked those who were left if they would mind if I took a break. Still no response from those left to the challenge. So, I picked up the Busch in one hand, never dropping the axe from the other, and finished my drink while the remainder waited in suprizing patience. If it had been me I would have taken advantage of the moment. But they were not me. They were something different.

By this time I had moved through half of the lot and the remainder were less of a challenge. The toughest of opponents had come first this time. So I dispensed with the remainder in half the time as those from the beginning with parts flying all about me. Bits of entrails sticking to my face and body as if they were glued there. Eventually their kin will come again. Eventually I will be defeated and I know that I will most likely die in the heat of such a conflict. But not today.

Epilogue: Today I won again. Admittedly I am not as young as I once was and in fact these types of fights are wearing me down. Not being one to gloat too much I only took ten minutes this time drinking down yet another beer at the end of the fray. I sat there perched upon top of of body parts contemplating my longevity. I know that at some point I will not win. There will come a day when one will fall upon me from behind and that will be that.

Out of respect to the group I began the arduous task of moving them into a part of my barn that I have converted into a morgue. But not too much respect mind you. I did not sort fingers from bellies for each who came to me. I did put them all together though so that...as they came to me in opposition...they'd meet their end...together.

Now I have been in these fights for years but I will tell you that while there is a tremendous joy in the hacking there is absolutely no pleasure in disposing of the remains. There's actually a brief feeling of sadness at the end of such fights.

But that's the way it is. If you are going to split wood for the wood burner you have to stack it somewhere....:)